Fire & Ice

Centers of attention

Centers Scott Gomez, Daniel Briere and Chris Drury are expected to be the most hotly pursued unrestricted free agents when the market opens Sunday at noon. It will be interesting to see which of the three signs first. It could turn out they all end up waiting for one of the others to set the market. Briere turned down $5 million per season from the Sabres, so the bidding is likely to start at at least $6 million.

Although the Islanders are still hoping to re-sign left wing Ryan Smyth, don't be surprised if he ends up back in Canada with Edmonton or Toronto.

Time for business

So far this summer, Scott Gomez has given little thought to his pending unrestricted free agency, but that's about to change. He spent this week hosting some Devils' teammates,including Jay Pandolfo, Paul Martin, Richard Matvichuk and Brad Lukowich, and friends at his annual charity golf tournament in Anchorage, Alaska.  With the Summer Solstice beginning last week, it's been daylight 24 hours a day up there, so Gomez hasn't been getting much sleep. "It's a big event," he said. "I'm just so happy that these guys got a chance to see it."

On Saturday, however, Gomez will start focusing on his future. He'll head to Chicago with his father, Carlos, where they'll set up shop with agent, Ian Pulver, at an O'Hare Airport hotel. That's where they'll be when Scott offiically becomes an unrestrcited free agent at noon on Sunday. They;ll field offers there and when he decides where he will sign, he can quickly hop on a plane and head either East or West to his new -- or old -- team.

On the move

The Devils have already begun moving out of Continental Arena. They've removed all of their banners from the rafters and placed them in storage until they can be raised at the Prudential Center in the fall and have started moving their equipment out of their locker room as well. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said there is still no firm date for when the team will move its offices out of the Meadowlands.

When the team will name a new head coach also remains unknown. Lamoriello said everything is "status quo" with his coaching search and the Stanley Cup Finals would not delay an announcement if he had an agreement with a new coach in place.

Rafalski could return

Brian Rafalski's agent Bill Zito sounded confident Tuesday that the potential unrestricted free agent defenseman will re-sign with the Devils. "I think we will be able to work something out that he will be back," Zito said. "It's just a matter of sitting down and getting something done." Although Zito has yet to begin negotiations with Devils GM Lou Lamoriello, he said it was possible Rafalski could re-sign efore he is elibible to field offers from other teams on July 1.

Center Scott Gomez said Monday that the Devils have not talked to him or his agent, Ian Pulver, about a new contract since the season ended and reiterated his plan to see what other teams have to offer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Lamoriello locked up rookie defenseman Andy Greene with a two-year, $1.2 million one-way contract and has also been talking with Zach Parise's agent Neil Sheehy about a new deal. Parise, a potential restricted free agent, led the team with 31 goals during the regular seasona and scored seven more in the playoffs, putting him in line for a big raise from his $703,000 2006-07 salary. "I have known (Lamoriello) for many years and I think we work well together and I'm confident we can get something done," Sheehy said.

Defenseman Paul Martin is also a potential restricted free agent and his agent, Ben Hankinson, said he expects to begin contract talks with the Devils shortly. "I've talked to Lou and we're going to discuss it sometime soon," Hankinson said.  Unlike Parise, Martin has arbitration rights, which gives him a bit more leverage in negotiations. Just 22, Parise would be a tempting candidate for a Group 2 offer sheet from another team, though.

Lamoriello said the Devils would send qualifying offers to all its potential restricted free agents -- Parise, Martin, Cam Janssen and Johnny Oduya _ before the June 25 deadline.