Brendan Shanahan agrees to terms

Brendan Shanahan will be back with the Devils in 2009-10.

The 40-year-old unrestricted free agent left wing has agreed to terms and will be ready to go for the start of training camp on Sept. 12, an NHL source said. The sides spent Tuesday finalizing the paperwork and the official announcement could come later today.

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said last week that he wanted Shanahan, who had received interest from other teams, to be sure about returning to the Devils and the role he would be playing, but expected something to happen by the end of this week.

Shanahan will be returning for a 22nd NHL season. He is the league's active leader with 656 regular season goals. He had six goals and eight assists in 34 regular season games in 2008-09 after signing with the Devils on Jan. 15. He added one goal and two assists in seven playoff contests.

Comments

[the_real_devil]

Yehey.

[Cupwinner]

Finally, now about that trade for a 2nd line center.

[NJromano]

sweet

[smc]

Great early morning news!!!

[Don F]

Great to hear, and welcome back Shanny!

TG, can you find out if he's sticking with 18 or if he'll move back to 14 now that Gio is gone?

[Craigwell]

Thanks for the great news break. I really like this move. Great for the room, plus Shanny still has clutch moments in him.

[Falcone]

Good leader in the locker room. Excited to have him back.

Now what about that second line center???

[Scratch]

"He had six goals and eight assists in 34 regular season games in 2009-10 after signing with the Devils on Jan. 15"
You must have been tired writing at 5:26 Am...do you have a "Devils Breking News" alarm clock? something new comes out the thing flings your laptop at you..hehe

[Scratch]

all joking aside, I'm very glad to see Shanny cack, he was a good addition last year and hopefully will be this year as well. He certainly makes up for his age with his great vision on the ice and that nasty shot of his. Thanks TG.

[Rob]

Woohoo!

[Kip Nicaragua]

Phew! That's a relief! Now I'm curious to see how he'll be used.

[Kris]

I like

[ct tom]

why waste a roster spot on a guy who will fade after 40 games? let the rangers have him back

[Mike]

Good move I like this. Maybe now they can find a center and do something with Pandolfo.

I hope they dont overuse Brendan though. He's old and at this stage he should be used as a part timer. Maybe get in around 50 regular season games before the playoffs.

[Diva4]

Actually, Shanny wore number 11 for the Devils when he was here originally...

[Mhowitzer]

man when we first were thinking of taking Shanny back I was totally against....as the weeks have gone on though i started to like the idea...i think his presence in the locker room and on the PP will be huge for us and especially our young guys coming it....i hope we didnt pay more than 1 mill for him though....

now lets get that second line center

[Johlmri's Ghost]

@Mike

I'm all for Shanahan being back with the Devils, so long as he:
a) doesn't see 2nd line time - he was most effective last season with fewer minutes

b) isn't automatically assumed to be a PP key guy - he very well may be on the second PP unit, but hopefully it's a position he earns through his work/results and not solely his reputation

c) doesn't play more than 50 games - he needs to be rested one of every back-to-back set and they need to try and put a cap on how many games/week he plays

I'm hopeful that all this talk about making sure Shanahan "understands the role he'll be playing" takes these things into account.

Regardless, on paper this makes the Devils' offense deeper and more versatile.

[DevilsFanForeva!]

I think this is a great move! Shanny is a warrior and if we got him for around 1 mill for the seaon he is going to be worth every penny imo.

His veteran experience with our young players will be very usefull and he still has a sniper shot and passing abilities that will win games for us this season.

That being said. We still need a 2nd line center that I am positive Lou will get us when the opportunity arrises.

In the meantime I think we will see our young forwards get a chance to show us what they can do in the NHL till then.

Lou is being very wise waiting and he's a Hall of Famer for a reason. Good job Lou.

GO DEVILS!

[RoShaCla]

Awesome!

And to all the people saying he needs to be be rested on back to back games etc: the guy is 40, not 50. Shanny will be in great shape and will be able to play every game and contribute regularly in a 3rd line/special teams role. There are plenty of players who have been his age and played regularly and been successful. You shouldn't be babying or doubting the man that is the NHL's active goal leader.

[Johlmri's Ghost]

@RoShaCla

I'm not basing this entirely on his age - I'm basing it on the results of his play over the past three seasons. He faded badly down the stretch for the Rangers, with a noticeable dropoff in his production between the first and second halves of the season. And as smartly as he played for the Devils last year, he didn't look like he had his legs under him by the playoffs; he was good positionally, but he moved up the ice seemingly in slow motion.

I would rather play it safe with Shanahan - provided this team looks like it will make the playoffs - and give him plenty of rest in order to try and keep him fresh. If the Devils can carry the water without him in the lineup every night, what's the harm?

[mikeP]

I'm sure Shanny won't play on back-to-back nights, and will be rotating in/out with PLx3, Pikkarainen and Bergfors. I won't expect Shanny to play more than 60 games in the regular season, and probably will play on the 3rd or 4th lines, depending on whether he's playing LW or RW. I don't expect more than 10 goals out of him, but he's being signed for his leadership more than anything else.

good signing by Lou

[Shanafan]

RoShaCla, I couldn't agree with you more. He always stays in great shape, and obviously knows how to play the game. How could this be wrong!! I'm very excited and I'm looking forward to seeing him prove the doubters wrong.

As for his number, he didn't have the greatest luck with 18... so maybe he could return to the #14 that he won 3 Stanley Cups with!!

Great move Lou, and welcome back Shanny! LET'S GO DEVILS!

[HoOn]

I'm happy he's back! We need a good older person who can help out the younger guys. :) GO DEVILS!

[modnarm]

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

[modnarm]

he faded with the Rags cuz they used him on the 2nd line most of the time, sometimes the 3rd! of couse he'd get tired in that role