Shanahan happy to be back with the Devils

Brendan Shanahan was the first player drafted by the Devils during Lou Lamoriello's tenure with the Devils.

The Devils took Shanahan second overall in 1987. He left four years later to sign with the St. Louis Blues, but now he's back after agreeing in principle to a one-year deal with the Devils today.

"I'm not looking at it in such big grand story terms, like (coming) full circle, but I kept a good relationship with Lou and I've got a lot of respect for him and the franchise he built there," Shanahan said in a conference call this evening. "I appreciate getting another chance to work with him."

Shanahan said he accepted Lamoriello's offer to come back to the Devils after meeting with him on Friday and talking to him again earlier today.

“I had been in contact with Lou throughout different parts of the season and just in the last few days things seem to pick up some momentum and it just seemed to work out,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan, who will turn 40 on Jan. 23, couldn't estimate how long it will take him to be ready to play in a game, but said he has worked hard to stay in shape.

"I can just say I feel really good," he said. "I feel really strong, but at the same time I feel very rested. I maintained my training regimen through the summer. I had always sort of hoped and felt that in any week it could happen with any team and I wanted to be ready. So, I've been skating and training pretty much through the summer and all through training camp and right on until the present day. In my own head, I thought that probably a lot of teams were doing mid-season reports and analyzing their own needs, so I was skating a little bit with a college team last week.

"It's going to be a lot more hard work and I look forward to doing that, to getting myself in game shape. It's one thing to stay fit and to train hard and it's another thing to be in game shape. But I think I have a very strong base and foundation to get myself there quickly."

Shanahan played the last two seasons for the Rangers and never made it a secret that he wanted to play for them again this season after he become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. In fact, he continued to skate at their practice facility even after the team left to open the regular season in the Czech Republic. But he grew tired of waiting for Blueshirts general manager Glen Sather to clear the cap space to sign him and made a decision in November to field offers from other teams.

“I think everybody realizes and it’s pretty clear that my intention was to stay on the team,” Shanahan said. “I felt that I was a part of the team and I wanted to continue and finish what I had started there. That’s why I didn’t negotiate with anybody during the summer and I didn’t do that alone. Glen and I were in constant communication and Glen had expressed to me very clearly that he wanted me to be on the team as well and that he thought that would happen. But I think that they also had salary cap issues that they thought maybe they could sort out.

 

“They went to Europe and he had told me to stay back and keep training and to be ready. I felt that in spite of the fact that I wasn’t signed early on that I was still going to be given an opportunity to stay. I had no desire to leave my team, but it didn’t work out and that’s sometimes the way it goes in the salary cap business. I had a great two years there. I feel really lucky to have played there and I had a great experience there. But I also feel lucky I had a relationship with some other teams in the Northeast. I believe it was right around Nov. 1 when I had said it wasn’t going to work out with the Rangers and I was going to start negotiating with other teams in the Northeast.”  

Shanahan admitted that he preferred to remain in the Northeast, though. It was believed he had offers from multiple teams in the Western Conference, including the Blues.

"I had some great offers from some very good organizations and good people out West," he said. "I didn't want to move my family. I have three children, all under six years old and they're in school and definitely my first choice was to do something close to home -- whether I could live at home or be a short commute for my family to come and see me as often as possible. That was my first choice, so I feel really fortunate."

Shanahan also said he had serious talks earlier this season with the Flyers, but general manager Paul Holmgren also was unable to clear the cap space to sign him.

"They always had an interest and I appreciated that about Paul and Flyers," he said. "They were another team that was a great option. I felt really lucky that they were interested, but they had severe salary cap restrictions that didn't allow Paul to do some of the things he wanted to do earlier in the season."

Shanahan finished last season with 23 goals in 73 games, but had 15 in his first 40 games and his production dropped off considerably after that. He blamed that on a sprained knee he suffered in a knee-on-knee collision with Edmonton's Dustin Penner on Jan. 5.

“I think that I was a pretty strong and a pretty effective player for the Rangers,” Shanahan said. “I think the injury I had [Jan. 5] in Edmonton set me back. I continued to play on it because we were in a playoff race and I felt that each and every game was crucial to us making the playoffs. In the end, I probably should have just rested it at the time to finish the season maybe a little bit stronger. But I really felt at the midway point, really up to Jan. 1 and up to that game, I thought I was having a pretty strong season, a consistent season. I had some overtime goals and was leading the team in goals at the time.”

Comments

[Josh]

Welcome home, Shanny.

[njteech]

In Lou We Trust! This is nothing new for Lou....hope it works. But is he done?

[Cornholio]

I find it interesting that Shanahan said things had picked up over the last few days. I know Lou said the team's recent play had nothing to do with it, but who knows?

Rangers and Senators just started. So did the Flyers and Leafs.

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

i wish there was a way for all 4 teams to lose!

[Pat D'Amico]

I have a feeling the Devils will be trading some players.

[Cornholio]

End of 1: Rangers lead Senators and Flyers lead Maple Leafs, both 1-0.

[Jim B]

Shanahan does bring more positives then negatives i believe, but my question is that it is probably Rupp or Clarkson who will be booted from the starting lineup and at this point both guys have played well enough to stay in. It is going to be very interesting to see how the lineup shapes up, but the Devils have some depth on offense now and that is a good thing and with the amount of injuries this team has had thus far it does somewhat makes sense. He is still a 20 goal in 82 games type of player and adds some grit, leadership, determination, and one hell of a shot on the powerplay.

[Cornholio]

Sutter should rotate the spare forwards in and out of the lineup to keep them fresh. If you have 13 forwards on the team, then keep three lines the same and have the other four guys play 75 percent of the time.

I don't think Shanahan's signing necessarily means someone is the odd-man-out for good. It could make guys like Gionta, Madden, and Pandolfo more easy to shop to other teams, but I don't think it means Rupp or Clarkson suddenly have to watch every game from the press box.

[Philly Devil]

Tom, can you please ask Shanny about his previous comment about the Devils fans being "The worst fans in the NHL."

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

i have to say..... after reading the whole interview now that the whole thing is up... It sounds to me that the Devils were the last option and Shanny is settling for the Devils. I like the signing even less now that i read this interview i don;t think he even wants to be here, i just think he wants to play in the league but not uproot his family.
In the words of the Horse on Renn and Stimpy, "Well sir, I don't like it"

[Cornholio]

I don't specifically remember Shanahan ever saying anything like that, but let's keep two things in mind:

One, if he said it after going to St. Louis, then that was a LONG time ago. When Shanahan left, the Devils still had those Christmas tree jerseys.

Two, during that time, the Devils weren't all-that-far removed from the "Mickey Mouse" monniker.

I say that even if he said it, let it go. After seeing the rest of the league and growing up over the years, perhaps he'll feel differently.

I have another thought. Remember the song that played at Joe Louis Arena whenever Shanahan scored for the Red Wings? Is there any way the sound guys at Prudential Center can get their hands on it?

[Salvatore from Garfield]

Everybody was busting one when the devils re-signed holik... now he's a favorite again. Take your time to see if he's still got it (that is, wait for more than one game).

[Pando20Rules]

So, who comes out of the lineup.... Pandolfo or Rupp? I can't imagine it be Clarkson or Holik. Unless Gionta is traded, I don't see another option, barring a different trade or an injury.

[Chad]

TG-Was the editorial decision to stay in NJ purely coincindental to the Shanahan announcement?

[Nick]

The difference was Holik never bad mouthed our organization, he only had good things to say. When Shanahan was asked about who he thought were the most knowledgeable fans and who were the worst, he said something along the line that New Jersey fans aren't really into to hockey and they don't understand the game.

[Mike O.]

Is Tom Chorske a FA?????

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

i still don't like the comments he made in the interview i feel like we were the last choice

[Nick]

We should probably get Arnott and Sykora back now too while we are at it.

[Mike O.]

I'm sure he will hear some boos.....until he scores.....then all is forgiven.

[Vishal]

Why the hell is he talking like he's still with the Rangers? I hope Lou heard that conference call and called off the deal for this clown. He played two years there and thinks he bloody well still plays there. Get over it wuss.

[Steve]

We all know the Devils need more offense. Yes -a top 4 offensive defenseman would be nice but that is even harder to find.

One more move for a rental center -(Comrie, Weight)

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

and Craig Wolanin... and Craig Billington, and Jiri Bicek

[Mike O.]

pearl jammed.....I agree. It's like: "I wanted to play with the Rangers, but they couldn't clear cap space. I talked to the Flyers, but they couldn't clear cap space. I don't want to move my family....so I decided to hold my nose and sign with the Devils."

Personally, I don't know what to think about this. I don't want one of our starters to lose a spot for a 40 year old. I don't care how many sit-ups he does a day....he's still 40.

[Cornholio]

RJ, you're probably right. He had other places he wanted to go, but would do his best regardless of where he played. As a professional, he will do what he can to help himself and his teammates. Those are the expectations, and I'm sure he and Lou would not have agreed to this without them.

The guy wants to play, and he can still play. As I said before, be glad he's not playing for someone else.

[Tom Gulitti]

It was an editorial decision.

I didn't get a chance to ask about the fans. The Devils ended the conference call after about 12 minutes.

That's a question for a later date.

To be fair to Shanahan, he could not have lied about the Rangers stuff. It was pretty clear he wanted to go back there. He might as well be honest about it.

I think he wanted to stay in the Northeast and the Devils were first team to make him an offer.

I never thought they were going to sign him and I think Lamoriello was telling the truth when he said that he didn't think he was the right fit earlier this season. They easily could have done it when they had all those injuries.

I guess after half the season, Lamoriello saw enough of what he had in the organization and changed his mind on Shanahan.