Could a former
first overall pick in the NHL cost his former team; the same first overall pick?
It certainly is not out of the question; who are we referring to? None other
than Ilya Kovalchuk & the New Jersey Devils.
Three years ago
when Devils signed the Russian forward to a 15 year contract; the NHL ruled it
to be a circumvention of the salary cap. Penalizing the Devils by removing a 1rst
& 3rd round pick. For some weird reason the Devils in the first
three years didn't want to give back the first rounder; forcing them to go
without their first rounder next year.
Is it far fetched to
say they’ll be one of the worst teams next year? Absolutely Not. They were the
third worst team in regards to goal scoring with an average of 2.29 goals per
game (also 21st ranked PP); this before losing Kovalchuk & power
forward David Clarkson. Legendary goalie Martin Brodeur is down by those two
leaving. It's the two guys I spend a lot of time with on and off the ice," Brodeur told Northjersey.com.
Yes the Dev’s have brought in Ryane Clowe & Michael
Ryder; but far from the consistency as those who left. While Travis Zajac &
Adam Henrique will have somewhat of a bounce back season; it’s hard to see 38-year-old
Patrick Elias maintaining a 70 point pace (next year). If not the first overall
pick; it could easily be a top five or top ten the Devils will lose.
Don’t expect
Devils to be free spending
The one positive if
anything is the cash strapped Devils shed a large contract off the books. As we
speak currently they have around 51.5 in salaries; with just over 10.5 million
in cap space. Don’t expect the Devils to acquire Ales Hemsky or Tomas Vanek; or
to throw 4 million per year at Jamy Jagr and/or Damien Brunner, the ownership
is no hard up for cash, even more so than the Phoenix Coyotes.
Elias who re-signed
a 3 year contract; did so thinking he’d be playing side by side with the
Russian star.
"I've never seen anything like this in my 18 years," Elias told the Star-Ledger.
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