When the Devils signed Mike Cammalleri to a five-year, $25 million deal in free agency the assumption from many - myself included - is that he was brought in to play with Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr on the top line.
While Cammalleri will surely spend some time with those two throughout the upcoming season, Pete DeBoer is somewhat hesitant to commit to him playing in that slot.
Some thoughts on that and other Devils related notes:
- Given the production from the 3rd wheel on the Zajac-Jagr line wasn't overly encouraging, Cammalleri seemed like a sure bet to be a regular on that line. He played with Mikael Backlund, a possession driving two-way center (like Zajac), quite a bit last season and fared extremely well, so it made sense to give that duo (with Jagr on the other side) a try early. They'll inevitably play together at some point and if they play well, obviously, they could remain in tact. That said, DeBoer seemed to have some other ideas when Cammalleri signed, and his line of thought seems to be the same now.
Via FireandIce (July): “He’s played all over the place,… DeBoer said of Cammalleri. “Last year when he came in to play against us, he played center, too. So, this is a guy that I think you can put in a lot of places. That will all sort itself out in training camp.…Via FireandIce (September): “We’re going to try some different things. I haven’t put anything in concrete yet and it could be a moving target as we go through camp. The nice thing is he’s versatile, he’s a great player and I think he can fit in a bunch of different spots. So, we’ll just try to find the best one.…
- Given Reid Boucher and Stefan Matteau will be given a shot and a trade or two still could be made it's tough to predict the line combos. That said, if DeBoer is going to experiment and wants three scoring lines, something like this could work.
Zubrus - Zajac - Jagr Cammalleri - Elias - Havlat Clowe/Ruutu - Henrique - Brunner
- Late last season when Henrique was playing some left wing Pete DeBoer said it was a temporary thing and that he viewed him as a center long-term. DeBoer's stance on that seems to have changed, though.
Via FireandIce: “Again, I think he can do both. He’s a lot like Patrik Elias. If you look at Patrik’s career, depending on the situation and the team and the personnel available, that’s the luxury of those types of guys. They can help you in a lot of different areas.…
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