Would the Devils be able to sign Schneider long term and would he be happy in New Jersey?
Apparently,the answer was yes to both questions as New Jersey signed Schneider to a seven year contract worth 42 million dollars and should keep the twenty eight year old netminder in the crease for the remainder of Schneider's prime.
The deal will pay Schneider six million dollars in each of the seven years and contains a no trade clause so the Devils have committed to Schneider for the long haul and essentially have made him the face of the franchise for the term of the contract.
Give the Devils credit when they shipped a top ten draft choice to Vancouver for Schneider and two years remaining on his contract that they gambled that they could re-sign him.
That gamble paid off,now the question is this-Is Cory Schneider the type of goalie that you can plug into the lineup as a number one for years and not worry about the net?
I think so,but Schneider has never been the full time guy before,so I guess that is the next portion of the Devils shell game.
If he is,the Devils can address other needs over the next seven years.
If he isn't,then the team has paid a lot of money that will take up cap room and not settle the position.
I wish the deal had been a little shorter (5 yrs would have been better),but the Devils rarely negotiate contracts during the season,so getting it done now and eliminating the distraction is a good thing.
The biggest question now is who backs Schneider up?
Scott Clemmensen or Keith Kinkaid looms as the most interesting battle of the training camp and I'd rather write about that than will Cory Schneider re-sign articles.
The Devils might have another move in store before the camp,but I imagine that the heavy lifting is finished for the off season.
Now the question becomes-Have they done enough to return to the playoffs?
See you in October....
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