Lou Lamoriello went into free agency looking to address the team's scoring woes by adding offense, and he certainly did that in signing signing Mike Cammalleri and Martin Havlat.
He also took care of some housekeeping in extending Stephen Gionta and Steve Bernier. Lamoriello hopes to re-sign Ryan Carter as well, and have also had talks with RFA Jacob Josefson about bringing him back into the fold.
If and when those two are brought back, the Devils will have 15 forwards signed to one-way deals on their roster. Only 12 play every night, and as it stands right now (even without Carter/Josefson signed) the Devils figure to have one or two of Tuomo Ruutu, Dainius Zubrus or Michael Ryder on the 4th line. All of them need top-9 roles to produce, and the Devils aren't paying each of them $3M+ to play 4th line minutes.
The numbers don't add up here, and as such I expect Lamoriello to make a trade or two before all is said and done.
Lamoriello hinted at the possibility on Tuesday.
Lamoriello on whether he'll be looking to move a forward now: “We have the ability to do something. We’ll see how things transpire.…
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) July 1, 2014The Devils can't carry all these forwards so it's a matter of when a deal is done, and not if. Someone will be moved. Perhaps two will be traded, especially if the team hopes to bring in another free agent, which I wouldn't rule out.
One way or the other, the Devils aren't done.
--
Note: I'll have more on all of the Devils free agent signings with my thoughts, where they might fit, etc. once things cool down a bit.
**
**
Devils posts
Jackets posts
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Email: NHLToddCordell@Gmail.com