Devils sign Leach, DiSalvatore, Wiseman
The Devils announced today that they have signed defenseman Jay Leach and forwards Jon DiSalvatore and Chad Wiseman. All three are expected to play in Lowell of the American Hockey League.
In addition, defenseman Matt Cohen and forwards Tyler Burton, Eric Castonguay and Brad Mills signed contracts with the Lowell Devils.
Leach, 28, played two NHL games last season with Tampa Bay and 75 games in the AHL with Portland and Norfolk. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Syracuse, N.Y. native has played in four career NHL games (two with Boston in 2005-06) and registered no points and seven penalty minutes.
DiSalvatore, 27, notched 22 goals, 24 assists and 46 penalty minutes in 66 games last season with San Antonio of the AHL. The 6-1, 200-pound right wing was drafted 104th overall in 2000 by San Jose. The former Providence College standout got in five NHL games with St. Louis in 2005-06 and did not register a point.
Wiseman, 27, played last season for Wolfsburg in Germany. The 6-1, 210-pound left wing played in four NHL games for the Rangers in 2003-04 and scored one goal and has played in nine total NHL games, posting one goal and one assist.
Cohen, Mills and Castonguay all played for Lowell and Trenton (ECHL) last season. Burton played six games for Lowell (one goal, one assist) after leading the ECAC with 23 goals and 41 points in his senior season at Colgate.
Based on those signings you would almost think that Lou is ready to move some existing D-men in the big club and some of the prospects from Lowell will make the big team.
Unless all those were depth signings.
Posted by: MoonDragn | July 17, 2008 at 03:39 PM
Wiseman had a cup of coffee on the Blueskirts during one of their 7 consecutive playoff-less seasons.
Posted by: Mike from Elmwood Park | July 17, 2008 at 04:33 PM
Yep Moon, sounds like Corrente is coming up for sure now. This pretty much crushes the Gionta-Bieska rhetoric does'nt it?
Posted by: Richer's Ghost | July 17, 2008 at 04:45 PM
I doubt these signing indicate something bigger taking place. These look like defensive depth signing since Lowell was horrible last year with the crew they had in place.
If the Devils do aqcuire a defensemen, I don't think they will go after anyone "big", they really don't have a lot of room after the signing of Rolston and Holik. Gionta will not be traded until the atleast the trading deadline early next year. Lou has said that many of the forwards on the team underachived last season including Gionta, it does not sound like Lou is ready to give up on Geo yet, unless he has a crappy 1st of the season.
Posted by: Zavior | July 17, 2008 at 04:46 PM
Wouldn't count on Corrente coming up just yet. Maybe a mid-season call up if he's looking real good in Lowell but doubtful out of camp.
Posted by: JJ | July 17, 2008 at 04:50 PM
i agree, I don't think these signings are for any more of a reason to add depth, exprience and possibly leadership to the Lowell roster, similar to what they brought by bringing in Clemmensen.
Posted by: Pando20Rules | July 17, 2008 at 05:02 PM
these are mainly just depth signings for Lowell, who lost Malmivaraa, Matvichuk, and most likely Moran and Grand-Pierre
it seems that the forwards signings would seem that Bergfors, Tallackson, and/or Vrana would get a good shot at starting in NJ, since they will have plenty of forwards such as S.Gionta, Patrick Davis, Palmeiri, Halischuk all playing down there. Noah Clarke is a UFA and Khavonov (sp?) left for Russia
I sure would like Lou take a run at Boumeester, who would most likely want $5M in a new contract, but I'm not holding my breath
Posted by: mikeP | July 17, 2008 at 05:39 PM
I forgot about Mike Swift as well
Posted by: mikeP | July 17, 2008 at 05:40 PM
I doubt the signings of Jay Leach and Matt Cohen will have any impact on or say anything about who will be with the big club or if Lou Lamoriello will trade for an NHL defenseman.
Posted by: TG | July 17, 2008 at 05:51 PM
TG - Has there been any signings w/ the Devils from players who went undrafted this year? We seem to do real well with undrafted players. Granted, Rafalski was in his own when signed but still interested in those that go unnoticed.
Posted by: Brandon | July 17, 2008 at 06:57 PM
Any word on whether Matvichuk is garnering any interest? Or did he decide to retire?
I'm surprised Moran never got a shot. He had a couple decent years with the Pens.
Posted by: Jason | July 17, 2008 at 08:41 PM
Stop the presses........Lou continues to insult the fan base...don't be surprised to see some of these slugs with the big club. Last year we had a half dozen AHL ers and other team cast offs.
Lou must go...The Devils will file for Bankruptcy within 2 years. No reason to pay "The Rock" prices to see this team.
No one with the stature to sell seats will ever come here to sit for the checking lines. And the youg skilled guys will continue to leave as UFA's as long as "interchangeable Lou" continues to run not only the team but the company.
Any truth that Lou is talking to Peluso and Mackay.
Lou will cause us to loose the Devils because it's all about him and his genius.
Posted by: Jersey Jeff | July 17, 2008 at 11:20 PM
Put down the vodka jersey jeff.
None of those D guys are signed to play for the big club. Any sober person can see that, go sleep it off...
Posted by: topshlf | July 17, 2008 at 11:46 PM
We still need to move VV. He's useless. I also think we need to open the gates to more Lowell guys coming up. We really don't do that much. We normally keep the guys we have and never really have rookies on the team. The teams that are successful have the right blend of veterans and rookies. We need to find that blend.
Posted by: Falcone | July 18, 2008 at 07:24 AM
Falcone, I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. Over the past few seasons we've seen rookies get some prominent roles in our lineup (Parise, Zajac, Greene, Clarkson). Bergfors started the season in the NHL but got hurt in his first game, then struggled with his injury the rest of the season down in Lowell. Lou has also stated that he doesn't want Bergfors playing a 4th line role, but rather a 1st or 2nd line spot when he comes up.
As for the other guys, I don't think the organization, or more specifically Sutter, is completely sold on Vrana, maybe because of his size, even though he was the best player in Lowell this past season. It'll be interesting what kind of look Sutter gives him in camp
Other than that, there weren't many other options down in Lowell to help the team. Mark Fraser had a decent season, but he plays the same type game as White, Salvador and Vishnevski, so there was no reason to recall him when he would just be a 7th/8th d-man
Clarke and Tallackson got shots this past season because they had decent seasons, but I think that was moreso due to the great season Vrana put up (they were his wingers)
Posted by: mikeP | July 18, 2008 at 08:13 AM
jerseyjeff stop being such a pessimists. nobody likes downers. the team is not going to "file for bankruptcy." lou knows exactly what he's doing which is why he's the GM and you're a nobody. as for gionta, i wouldn't count him out being traded just yet. vancouver is waiting to hear from sundin before they make any moves. if sundin goes to montreal, it's more than likely gio is gone. lou's been quoted that he needs to "give the younger players a shot," which means bergfors (who will only play on one of the top two lines, probably in place of gio) and vrana (who will probably replace rupp on the fourth line) will be given every opportunity to make the opening night roster. don't be such a fairweather fan. have some faith in your team
Posted by: gripitandripit | July 18, 2008 at 08:39 AM
The first line in Lowell was pretty weak in comparison to other AHL teams. Bergfors is the only one there who has a shot at becoming a top 6 forward in the NHL. Hopefully he'll have a strong camp and create some depth at forward on the big club.
On defense unless Corrente totally blows the staff away in camp you can expect to see a lot of Greene & Mottau in the first 20-30 games while he and the other young pups log major minutes in Lowell to learn their craft or until a trade is made if they're not ready.
Posted by: JJ | July 18, 2008 at 08:42 AM
Lets crush the Bieska-Gionta rumor right now. Vancouver doesn't have as much depth on their blue line as people are painting them. They need Bieska. They will in no way trade him for Gionta so stop even hoping for it. There is no way. Not for Gionta who's contract ends next year. Not for Bieska who still has 3 years on his contract at a reasonable salary.
Vancouver fans know this, and I don't understand why some of us Devils fans keep deluding themselves. This is NOT happening.
What I think may happen is that VV may get traded and there may be an off chance one of our other rookie/scrub D-men may get packaged in a deal for some picks. I don't think we'll be trading for a #1-2 d-man but if we do, the only person I'd want back is Boumeester.
I believe that either Corrente or Eckford will play in the big club this year, unless they totally screw up training camp.
I also believe either Bergfors or Vrana will be up as well, if they can prove they are better than Pelley, which I believe they can.
Pelley will probably play with the big club as a reserve forward, so that leaves really only one open slot on the roster.
As for Lou, he turned this club around from nothing into the team that heads into the playoffs every season. Even before we got Brodeur. Don't think you are better than Lou, cause you're not.
Posted by: MoonDragn | July 18, 2008 at 08:53 AM
TG: They say Fedor's signing has been brought into question by the IIHF and that he's been suspended by them from playing in international tourneys. Any updates?
Posted by: Vishal | July 18, 2008 at 09:16 AM
Im going to ask this here, because i don't know if it'd get answered in a previous topic, but with the schedule now released, I have forgotten when tickets usually go on sale, or if anyone has an exact date that'd be perfect. Ticketmaster alerts like to sometimes be a day late and even though im sure i'd hear before hand I just want to make sure im notified.
Posted by: MikeDeadworks | July 18, 2008 at 10:01 AM
It appears the Russian league is challenging whether Fedor Fedorov is still under contract with his team there and the International Ice Hockey Federation is investigating. That might explain why Lou Lamoriello keeps saying the deal isn't done yet.
Posted by: TG | July 18, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Season tickets are on sale, but the team has not yet announced when individual game tickets will go on sale.
Posted by: TG | July 18, 2008 at 10:36 AM
none of the above mentioned players mentioned are going to be playing in the NHL this year barring a MAJOR catastrophe. ESPECIALLY the forwards. There is barely any room for Bergfors, and there really ISN'T any room for Vrana on the club this year. Both of those guys are going to have to earn it if they want to play on the big club this year. and to be honest Vrana i don;t think stands a chance at all if were still looking at him to be a C. were so deep at C now its almost silly.
Elias/ Roston C 1st line
Zajac C 2nd Line
Madden C 3rd Line
Holik C 4th Line, and Rupp can play C as well
So we have 6, COUNT 'Em 6!, Centers with NHL experience, and say what you will about Rupper but after last year its more than apparent that Sutter trusts rupp and likes to play him. So like i said above NONE of those guys who we just signed are going to see NHL time barring a catastrophe. especially considering that there is barely enough room for our own top prospects to crack the roster. and if Corrente does make the team out of camp, he will probably be used as the proverbial "7th" defenseman for at least the first month of the season unless lou drops some dead weight off our back line
Posted by: Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti) | July 18, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Oh and someone posted in another thread about a Devils season ticket exchange to sell their tix. i think this is a great idea, and because my wife and i are expecting in January, if no one in my fam/ friends circle wants the tix[i will post them here first if anyone wants ;)] i think its a great resource, because this team is going to be pretty good i think this coming season
Posted by: Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti) | July 18, 2008 at 11:12 AM
sorry don;t know where my head is at, the end of Feb is when i will probably have to take a month long hiatus from the rock :(
Posted by: Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti) | July 18, 2008 at 11:13 AM