New Jersey Devils Preview

The New Jersey Devils didn't add a flashy new addition to the roster and lost some long time stalwarts as well.
But the Devils took a different tack with the salary cap likely to shrink in size and went with youth.
Will the calculated risk pay off?
Considering the Devils recent playoff struggles,I cant see things dropping any,so I think the risk/reward ratio is fair enough and even though some of the players will be missed,the gamble is worth taking.

New Jersey will start the season without Patrik Elias and this could contribute to a possible slow start.
Elias bounced back from a few seasons that were less than his top output and the question now is which is the "real"Elias?
Jacques Lemaire has discussed using Elias at center as well as his customary left wing position,but Elias will miss at least the early part of the season.
The Devils top line is paced by left wing Zach Parise,who might be the second best left wing in the game right now or at least the Eastern Conference.
Parise scored 45 goals last season and could become the first Devil to score 50 goals in a season.
Travis Zajac showed huge improvement last season as Parise's center as he posted career highs in both goals and assists.
If Zajac can raise his game further,the Devils chances of repeating as Atlantic Division champions
grow larger.
Captain Jamie Langenbrunner completes the Devils top line on the right side.
Langenbrunner also reached career highs in goals and assists last season,but the 34 year old Langenbrunner might not have as much room to improve as Zajac,but the Devils should expect between 20 and 25 goals.
The second line has questions,but could prove to be productive.
Dainius Zubrus returns to center the line after two average seasons as a Devil.
Zubrus has been disappointing and overpaid,but is reasonably productive as a third line center,which he should become upon the return of Elias.
Brian Rolston will stay at left wing this season after playing the center and left wing under Brent Sutter.
Rolston and Sutter didn't seem to be a good mix and Rolston's most productive years were under Jacques Lemaire in Minnesota.
One hopes for an improved Rolston or his contract could be a burden around the Devils neck.
Finally,Nicklas Bergfors looks to get his first real shot to be a contributing member of the team after a few false starts through the years.
The flashy Swede could add some breakaway pop from the right side and could be an interesting addition to the shootout rotation.
The third line features two newcomers and one returnee.
David Clarkson had the type of year that fans love to see with 17 goals last season to go with over 160 penalty minutes.
The pugnacious Clarkson is not afraid to drop the gloves or do the muckraking work around the net and could top 20 goals this season.
The Devils worked on Clarkson as part of the power play in camp and that alone could bump him to the 20 goal mark.
Rob Niedermayer was signed as free agent late in camp to center this line.
Niedermayer scored 14 goals with Anaheim last season and is a solid enough defensive player.
A nice pickup,but nothing to change the teams fortunes either way.
Ilkka Pikkarainen returns to the team after some seasons in his native Finland.
Pikkarainnen spent most of his stint with the Devils in Albany and posted pedestrian numbers.
But his top scoring season ever was last season and Lou Lamoriello seems to be quite high on the Finn,so I am open minded.
Pikkarainen is on the IR right now,but could be activated for the opener.
The checking line is led by steady veteran Jay Pandolfo.
Pandolfo continues to be a top defender and one of the leagues top penalty killers.
The question here is how effective will he continue to be without long time sidekick John Madden,who was allowed to move to Chicago via free agency.
Former Ohio State Buckeye Rod Pelley finally has his opportunity to replace John Madden as the teams top defensive center after being groomed for the role for years.
Pelley spent most of last season at Lowell after being a parent Devil for most of the previous year in preparation for being giving the role.
Pelley should be able to approximate Madden's defense,but with a little less offense.
The other winger will vary between youngster Matt Halischuk and either of the two enforcers that the Devils kept on the roster in Andrew Peters or Pierre LeBlond.
Halischuk will have to impress early to stick around,because someone will have to go to activate Elias.
I was mildly surprised at first of the signing of Peters with LeBlond on the roster already,but this could be a proactive move to keep teams from pounding Parise around.

The defensive corps looks intact.
The Devils will continue to play Paul Martin and Johnny Oduya together as their top pair.
I think they would get more juice if they split them up,at least on non specialty situations,but that isn't the way they are going to go.
Colin White isn't getting any faster and combined with mistake-prone Mike Mottau doesn't exactly inspire confidence in this pair.
Steady Bryce Salvador will team with either speedy newcomer Cory Murphy or Andy Greene in the third set of blueliners.
I like Salvador's game better than some Devil fans,but he was prone to the bad mistake last season.
Murphy brings a bit of offensive game to town,but he is on the smallish side and will have add some pop from the outside to hold off Greene for the final spot.
Greene was disappointing last season after an interesting previous season that showed a lot of potential.

What more can I add to Martin Brodeur as the starter other than he will play 70+ games and I'll worry all season about his post season performance after playing so many games at the age of 37.
The Devils did bring in a new caddy for Marty with Scott Clemmensen moving on to Florida and Kevin Weekes doing Hockey Night in Canada,which seems to be the refuge for old backup goalies anymore.
Former Islander Yann Danis was passable in his stint filling in for the injured Rick DiPietro and should be at least equal to past Brodeur backups.

The Devils don't seem to be substantially improved,but they seem no worse for wear from last season.
It will be interesting to see if the play style changes with Jacques Lemaire instead of Brent Sutter in charge and Patrik Elias needs to return in form to keep the Devils from falling too far back.

Our prediction for the Devils is 2nd in the Atlantic Division and 4th in the Eastern Conference.