Pikkarainen placed on IR to start season; will be in NJ when healthy; No need to place Elias on LTIR

The Devils placed right wing Ilkka Pikkarainen on injured reserve today to get down to the 23-man roster limit before the 3 p.m. NHL deadline.

Pikkarainen had the stomach flu last week and missed the last four preseason games. Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said the move is retroactive until Sept, 16 when Pikkarainen played in the preseason game against the Rangers. That means he is eligible to be activated to play whenever he's ready and not have to wait seven days. A player would have to be sent down to activate Pikkarainen.

Lamoriello said that Pikkarainen will "absolutely" be on the NHL team when he is healthy enough to come off injured reserve.

"We could have put him or Jay [Pandolfo] on IR because Jay is still coming back," Lamoriello said. "It's retroactive, so we'll see where he's at."

The Devils have not been specific about Pandolfo's injury, but he appeared to be testing his leg when he initially took the ice for Monday's practice.

"It's just soreness," Lamoriello said. "He got hit, but he's fine. He's going to practice [Thursday] and we'll see how he is."

When I asked Lamoriello if Pandolfo was injured in the game in Philadelphia on Thursday or during the morning skate on Saturday [he was supposed to play Saturday night], he said, "it was a combination of both."

The move buys the Devils a little time before sending someone down.

"Yes, but it's really that he's not able to play, so we had better keep the players here," Lamoriello said. "We still play Saturday [vs. Philadelphia] and Monday [vs. Rangers]."

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Patrik Elias (arthroscopic groin surgery) and Mark Fraser (probable head injury) also begin the season on injured reserve.

Lamoriello said Elias, who has not begun skating yet, remains on target to return in three to six weeks from the date of his surgery [Sept. 15].

"I'm going only on what the doctors said," Lamoriello said.

Lamoriello said it "wasn't necessary" to place Elias on long-term injured reserve, because they expect him to be back before the 10-game, 24-day limit. Lamoriello pointed out that if Elias misses more time than that, the Devils can always put him on LTIR retroactively. There is no need to put him on LTIR, however, because the Devils have no salary cap concerns. (Last season, the Devils never put Martin Brodeur on LTIR and he missed 50 games.)

The Devils went 4-0-1 in the preseason, but the games count starting on Saturday night against Philadelphia.

"Preseason is preseason," Lamoriello said. "I certainly like our team and I'm just anxious to get started, like everybody. I think Rob Niedermayer is going to help us down the middle and our defense and Marty [Brodeur] is similar to last year. We've just got to get everyone else going."

Other than the Elias being sidelined for the start of the season because of his surgery, Lamoriello was pleased with the way training camp went, especially for the young players such as Niclas Bergfors, Matt Halischuk, Rod Pelley and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond. Bergfors, Halischuk and Leblond are rookies.

"I don't think that you could be more happy with the young players," Lamoriello said. "They've progressed with all of the work they've done last year and during the summer, pre-training camp. They made it very, very difficult [to make cuts], which is a good problem. The young players are ready to play and we actually sent a couple down [that played well]. [Vladimir] Zharkov had an excellent camp. He's very close.

"Then, you've got Bergfors, Halischuk, Pelley and Leblond. These are players who are ready. They're making decisions difficult."

Devils coach Jacques Lemaire said Tuesday that he anticipated "other moves. We don't know when." 

That might have been a hint that the Devils were going to delay making another cut by putting a player on IR. Lemaire also said that, "Lou is looking at all the avenues."

I asked Lamoriello if that meant he was looking into making some other kind of move before today's roster deadline.

"I don't want to get into any of those things," Lamoriello said.

Here's the Devils' full opening night roster.

Goaltenders: Martin Brodeur, Yann Danis.

Defensemen: Colin White, Andy Greene, Paul Martin, Bryce Salvador, Mike Mottau, Cory Murphy, Johnny Oduya.

Left wings: Zach Parise, Brian Rolston. Brendan Shanahan, Jay Pandolfo, Andrew Peters, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond.

Centers: Travis Zajac, Dainius Zubrus, Rob Niededrmayer, Rod Pelley.

Right wings: Jamie Langenbrunner, David Clarkson, Niclas Bergfors, Matt Halischuk.

On injured reserve: LW/C Patrik Elias (groin), D Mark Fraser (head), RW Ilkka Pikkarainen (ill).

Comments

[2P]

just release him. what's the point of holding onto him? just to maybe get another look at him in a game?

[rob]

I'm sore from working out last night.. I wonder if my work will put me on injured reserve.. could also be a function of the golf game I played yesterday, or the 8 beers I drank while playing it. :-P

[mikeP]

TG, can the team send PikkaChu to Lowell on a conditioning assignment before activating him? I'd think after signing him to a 1-way deal, they wouldn't want to lose him on waivers after seeing him play in only 1 preseason game.

I'm not sure how the conditioning assignment policy works...

[Dan D]

You want to release him after 1 preseason game? Why?

[TG]

I've added above that Lamoriello said that Pikkarainen will "absolutely" be on the Devils when he is healthy enough to come off the injured reserve. So, it's not delaying sending him down.

[jerry]

Did they hint at any other moves? Trying to move Greene or Fraser or Murphy? What are your thoughts there?

[rob]

I hope Pikkarainen is the second coming of David Clarkson.

[steve]

TG, who is going down in your opinion when he comes off IR, Halischuk or PL3? Either way, I bet both will be gone when Elias comes back.

[modnarm]

Lou better know somethin we don't about Pikachu

[RickyM2]

We're gunna need someone to counter Carcillo and then Brashear. Both are new to their teams, and both are desperately (especially Brashear) trying to be a fan favorite

[RickyM2]

I dont want it to have to be Clarkson all the time. I liked how he and Rupp had a little tag team thing going. Both Philly and NYR took on 2 expensive goones. PL3, while may be a good scrapper, I think its gunna have to be Clarky for Carcillo, and some AHL guy looking to get picked up on waivers on his way back down to take down Brashear.

[gooball420]

This whole Pikkarainen thing is hilarious.

Lou is brimming with confidence about this "mystery signing". I do hope he's like the second coming of Clarkson. two Clarksons would be a great thing.

I do sense some good growth on our team. Parise, Zajac bergfors, halischuck, and the swedes of glory to come.... I would be quite pleased with Langs as the old man, and this young crew taking the reigns.

[iamtheprodigy]

Can we stop calling Pikkarainen "Pikachu"? It kinda creeps me out.

[dennybrute]

Yeah I agree with the Pkachu...

Guys ..I live just outside Trenton, between Philly and Newark and just discoverd that I WILL NOT get the game Saturday..I have DirectTV.

If I get CENTER ICE, am I guaranteed to get the game?

How in the world do I not get this game...is it because Im in the Philly market?

[Scotty]

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Scotty

[TheUnseenHand]

No way man! If he scores a goal they should put Pikachu (the Pokemon) up on the scored board shocking a logo of whatever team they are playing. That would be hilarious!

[Mikey]

dennybrute: yup, you got it. It's blacked out in the Philthy market because this whole area is "Comcast Country" *puke*. I'm about 50 miles north of Philthy and I am in the same boat. I have Center Ice and it will be blacked out. I am stuck watching the Cryer's broadcast on CSN on a cable feed...but it's better than listening to Matt and Sherry *cringe* (well, maybe not...have any of you ever watched an edition of "Coatesy's Corner"? OMG...someone slap that dude and put a gag in his mouth).

[frankied]

@Dennybrute: If you are in the Philly Market, then the game will be blacked out on Center Ice, because the game will be playing on the local Flyers broadcast, which you should be getting with a pretty basic package on DirecTV.

[dennybrute]

If you have Direct TV down here you lose both ways..no Devils via MSG and no Flyers via Comcast

[TGisamazing.]

TG,

Where is Alexander Vasyunov? Is he still in Russia, is he EVER gonna come over to the US and get a shot at the Devils, from what I've read, he has the tools to develope into a 25 goal scorer, why not bring him over? How old is he anyway?

[frankRizzo]

Called directv about versus and got center ice free for season. You should do the same.

[dennybrute]

yeah? what did you do? threaten to dump Direct TV? i like it..and im seriously considering it

[airsilks]

Dennybrute,

I live a little west of Allentown in PA and have directv Center ICE. You don't see any Flyers games whatsoever on CenterICE and they block both the home and away broadcast. Last year i wasn't able to see any Devils Flyers games on TV. I assume that has everything to do with Comcast in that market. Another downer for those with directv is that you don't get versus currently, though they claim they are in negotiations. That will be an issue for a few games this year as well and god forbid come playoff time.

[TheUnseenHand]

You ever notice how on the Flyers TV broadcasts when another team scores a goal 99% of the time the first thing out of Jones mouth is "fortunate" or "lucky"; and when the Flyers score it's always a great play? That whole broadcast team is the biggest bunch of homers in the world.

[devilsfan]

me too, Free CI at 163.80 plus $10's off per month for a year.

Pikk must me some talent, maybe the best player in the world not playing in the NHL these past few years. I think the odds are better that he's back in Europe in a few months rather than having an impact in the NHL.