Fire & Ice

Brendan Shanahan returning to the Devils? Brian Rolston likely will wing it

For Brendan Shanahan, that's the way it's looking right now, though nothing is done, yet.

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said this morning that he expects something to happen either way with 40-year-old left wing by the end of next week. (Perhaps another Friday announcement?)

"I'd say by the end of next week there will be something," Lamoriello said.

It is clear that the Devils want him back. It's also clear that Shanahan, 40, wants to return. At this point, it just seems to be a matter of time before the next step is taken, though Shanahan does have interest from other teams.

Are the Devils waiting on Shanahan to make up his mind or is the team holding up the process?

"I thiink it's really a combination of everything with reference to where Brendan is in his career," Lamoriello said. "He knows his abiltiies. He knows where he wants to be. It's just making sure that everything is in order. He has some opportunities and I just want him to make sure that this is where he wants to be with the role he plays and all of that so that you never look back.

"It's been straightforward from both sides and honest. There's no gray area. Brendan and I go back too far to have anything other than complete understanding of what the situation is.

"Do we want him back? We would not be talking to him if that weren't the case. Does he want to come back? He wouldn't be talking (to the Devils), but it's just making sure that everybody knows the role."

Lamoriello is rarely this open in discussing signing a player and, though it's never safe to make assumptions, that openess and other signs (which I can't discuss at this time) point right now toward Shanahan being back with the Devils in 2009-10. Until it's done, however, nothing is certain.

Devils sign Davison, Stephen Gionta, etc.

   Well, here’s some news that you’ve been waiting for. The Devils announced this morning that they have signed the following players:

 

    Goaltenders: Gerald Coleman (who played in Trenton last season), Jeff Lerg.

 

    Defenseman: Rob Davison.

 

    Forwards: Stephen Gionta, Kyle Kucharski, Brad Mills, Jeff Prough, Ben Walter.

    

    We already knew about the Walter signing, but, for some reason, the Devils are announcing it again. The Davison signing was reported elsewhere last week, but apparently wasn't officially done until this week.

         

    Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said all of the players signed two-way contracts

 

    "It's to put Lowell in a very strong position, but also (provide) depth for here," Lamoriello said of the signings.

 

    Davison, 29, played 23 games with Vancouver last season, recording two assists and 51 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound native of St. Catherines, Onatrio has three goals, 15 assists and 321 penalty minutes in 218 career NHL games with San Jose, the Islanders and Vancouver.

 

    Is Davison someone who could end up in New Jersey if needed?

 

    "He's been in the NHL for the last three years," Lamoriello said. "He has size and strength, is tough and can fight. So, once again, we'll see."

 

Opportunity for a good start?

A quick look at the Devils' early season schedule shows that they play seven of their first 15 games against teams that missed the playoffs in 2008-09.

Does this represent an opportunity for them to get off to a good start? Maybe.

There might be another adjustment period to another new coaching staff, so, perhaps, playing against lesser opponents will make that adjustment a little easier. It will certainly be a better way to start with a new coach than two years ago when the Devils played their first nine games under Brent Sutter on the road.

Of their first 15 games of 2009-10, the Devils play Tampa Bay twice and Florida, Atlanta, Buffalo, the Islanders and the Senators once each.

Their other nine games are against the Philadelphia, Rangers (twice), Washington (twice), Pittsburgh, Boston and Carolina (which returns to Prudential Center on Saturday, Oct. 17, so you won't have to wait long to hear talk about Game 7 of the 2009 conference quarterfinals).

***

There's still no word on Rob Davison, though, as I mentioned last week, I know the Devils were talking to him.

Also, no news on Brendan Shanahan.

But there were some requests for a new post, so I tried to give you something on a slow summer day.

Some of you have some good questions in the comments in the previous post, but there is plenty of time to answer them before training camp opens on Sept. 12 (Rookies on Sept. 8). Players are going to be less willing to give out their numbers if I call them for every little question during the summer.

Some of them will probably be showing up early to skate before camp opens. I'll try to get them then.

No news on Shanahan front

Having avoided Friday's arbitration hearing with Travis Zajac and re-signed the restricted free agent center to a four-year, $15.55 million contract, Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello can now turn his focus to re-signing Brendan Shanahan.

Shanahan's agent, Rick Curran, said today that things have remained quiet so far this week concerning Shanahan, though.

"There's nothing to report," Curran said.

Lamoriello has previously stated his interest in re-signing the 40-year-old left wing and Shanahan is interested in returning to the Devils.

Zajac happy to be back with Devils for four years, $15.55 million

After a long contract negotiation with the Devils finally reached an end late Tuesday night, center Travis Zajac can now look forward to the 2009-10 season  -- and his wedding coming up next month in Winnipeg rather than worry about an arbitration hearing on Friday.

Zajac signed a four-year contract for a total of $15.55 million or an average -- and cap hit of -- $3,887,500.  The new deal pays him $2.75 million in 2009-10, $3.5 million in 2010-11, $4.5 million in 2011-12 and $4.8 million in 2012-13.

His average salary is the fourth highest on the Devils behind only Patrik Elias ($6 million cap hit), Martin Brodeur ($5.2 million) and Brian Rolston ($5.062 million).

Last season, Zajac made $984,200.

"I'm glad we got a deal done and I'm excited," Zajac told me this morning.

Zajac said that both sides wanted a longer-term deal.

"I think we both were in the same ballpark for the term of the deal," he said. "I'm happy to be with the Devils for four years and I'm excited about the team next year and the coach and ready to go."

Zajac wasn't sure what to expect from the arbitration hearing.

"You don't want to (go to arbitration)," he said. "It's sort of a last option. I really didn't know what was going to happen, but I'm just glad we were able to come to terms and now I can get ready for this new year."

Zajac claimed there was no particular roadblock in the negotiations.

"It was more just that we wanted to be comfortable with the deal along with the Devils," he said. "We did get something done that we're both comfortable with and we're excited for the future."

Devils avoid arbitration and re-sign Travis Zajac to four-year, $15.55 million contract (updated with Lamoriello quotes)

The Devils have avoided Friday's arbitration hearing and re-signed restricted free agent center Travis Zajac to a four-year contract worth a total of $15.55 million

Zajac said it is a four-year deal, but would not divulge any other details of the contract.

Zajac, 24, is coming off a breakout season in which he posted career-highs with 20 goals, 42 assists, 62 points and a team-best plus-33 defensive rating.

"He's developed into a core player and getting him long-term I think is good for both him and his growth and for the organization," Lamoriello told me this morning.

Only Monday, Lamoriello said he it appeared as if the sides were headed to an arbitration hearing on Friday in Toronto, but these things have a way of working themselves out in the final days before the hearing and they reached adn agreement late Tuesday night.

"There was some movement on both sides," Lamoriello said.

Lamoriello said he was not worried about going to arbitration, but admitted that sometimes feeling can get hurt during the process. Avoiding that is a positive.

"There's been very good dialogue throughout the process," Lamoriello said. "We didn't come to an agreement until very late (Tuesday) night, but if we had to go to arbitration we were ready to go. All of our briefs were done. Arbitration isn't something to me that I was worried about. I've always said, 'If you tell the truth, you can't worry.' But, unfortunately, when you tell something in arbitration, it's usually what the player has already heard, but it becomes public and there's sensitivities and they're never recovered."

With Zajac now locked up, does that mean Lamoriello will turn his focus to re-signing Brendan Shanahan?

"We'll work on everything at the same time," Lamoriello said. "We'll make our team better in any way we can."

How did the prospects do at the Devils rookie camp?

I've had a few requests for something like this, so here's my evaluation of five prospects that stood out last week at the Devils' rookie camp. I should mention that I was trying to watch the 2009 draft picks over players I've seen before, so that plays into why I don't mention someone like Tyler Eckford, who I watched a lot more closely last year.

Mattias Tedenby was a 2008 pick, but this was my first chance to see him in person because he did not attend last year's rookie camp.

Matt Corrente played in only one scrimmage before having to sit out the rest with a left shoulder strain, so there is no way to tell if he's made any progress. Also, I always issue the reminder that playing well in a rookie camp against fellow rookies and AHL and ECHL players doesn't necessarily translate into playing well in the NHL.

1. Mattias Tedenby, LW: Quick feet, impressive stickhandling in traffic. Needs to get a little thicker to play in the NHL and needs to learn to keep his head up in traffic. There was one moment in Friday's scrimmage when Jean-Sebastien Berube could have taken Tedenby's head off if he had wanted.

2. Eric Gelinas, D: You could really tell this guy can skate from watching him just a little bit. He's still learning the position because he was a forward up until four years ago. When you have a guy who is 6-foot-4, 190 pound and he skates like this, those are very good tools to work with. Wasn't able to tell whether he plays a physical game.

Devils open preseason against Rangers on Sept. 16

The Devils will open their preseason schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 16 against the Rangers at 7 p.m. at Prudential Center. (I posted information on that game against the Rangers last week.)

That is the first of five games on the Devils' preseason schedule, which the team released this morning.

The Devils will play three of those exhibitions at Prudential Center. They also have home preseason games against Philadelphia on Saturday, Sept. 26 and the Islanders on Tuesday, Sept. 29. That Sept 29 game against the Islanders is their preseason finale.

The Devils open the regular season four days later against Philadelphia at Prudential Center.

Their two road exhibition games are on Wednesday, Sept. 23 against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum and Thursday, Sept. 24 against the Flyers at Wachovia Center.

All of the preseason games begin at 7 p.m.

Full Preseason Schedule

Wed., Sept. 16: RANGERS, at Prudential Center, 7 p.m.

Wed., Sept. 23: Islanders, at NassauColiseum, 7 p.m.

Thurs, Sept. 24: Philadelphia, at WachoviaCenter, 7 p.m.

Sat., Sept. 26: PHILADELPHIA, at Prudential Center, 7 p.m.

Tues., Sept. 29: ISLANDERS, at Prudential Center, 7 p.m.

Goaltender Kevin Weekes likely won't be back with Devils

Kevin Weekes said he's not closing the door a return to the Devils, but the 34-year-old goaltender admits that he probably won't be re-signing with the team.

"That's the way it's looking," he said today via telephone from Toronto. "You never know in pro sports, but right now that's the way it looks."

So, it appears as if Yann Danis or rookie Jeff Frazee will be the Devils' backup goaltender in 2009-10. Although Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello left the door open for Weekes to return when he signed Danis on July 10, the sides have not been able to reach an agreement and Weekes is exploring other opportunities.

"There's other opportunities, but it's also just looking at a lot of different factors," he said. "Like Lou always says, free agency is always an interesting thing. It's an inexact science. You can't always retain all of your free agents and in my case I fulfilled my obligation. I think I brought a lot of value to the role and I played my role with pride, even though I didn't get to play as much hockey as I would have liked to have played even when Marty (Brodeur) was injured.

"I still played my role with pride and I approached my job the same way and still tried to contribute all of the same things and all of the intangibles in addition to playing well when the opportunity presented itself. There are obviously other guys out there in the marketplace, a couple of other guys that are also experienced guys that I guess are backups and are considered to be character guys and add value to the position and just looking at where those guys were compensated versus where I was, there was a gap there.

It looks like Zajac and Devils will go to arbitration on Friday

There are still four days to go until Devils center Travis Zajac's arbitration hearing, so there is still time for the sides to reach an agreement and avoid the often-antagonistic process. At this point, howwever, it's looking like there will be a hearing on Friday in Toronto, though Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said he will continue to work to avoid that.

"As of right now, there is nothing that has been settled, so that's the indication (that they will go to a hearing), but you never know," Lamoriello said. "We'll try right up until the last minute (to re-sign Zajac)."

The Devils will still be able to re-sign Zajac after the hearing, but before the arbitrator issues his decision on the award. Usually, the arbitrator has 48 hours to hand down a decision, but, because the hearing is on a Friday, it is possible the decision might not come until Monday (rather than on a Sunday).

After the arbitrator hands down the award, the Devils have 48 hours to either accept the decision or walk away from it, which would make Zajac an unrestricted free agent. Lamoriello has already pretty much said that he won't be walking away from the decision.

Working a deal out before the arbitrator makes a ruling would allow the Devils to sign Zajac for more than two seasons. When the player files for arbitration, the team can only ask for a one- or two-year deal 

Lamoriello said he has not decided yet which of those he will ask for.

I left telephone messages today from Zajac and his agent, Kurt Overhardt, this afternoon, but have not heard back from either, yet.