Devils to make decision on Shanahan "soon"

The move Monday to place left wing Brendan Shanahan on the "non-roster list"  was just a temporary one until the Devils and Shanahan decide what they want to do going forward. Shanahan was let go by the Devils last Wednesday after being informed that there was no room for him to play on the team's top three lines.

Shanahan might soon be placed on waivers, but that's just one of the options.

"We'll make decisions on whether he goes on waivers or what we do," Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said this morning. "We'll make those decisions "soon."

Lamoriello said placing Shanahan on the "non-roster list" was, "all within the rules."

Lamoriello clarified that he did not have to get permission from the commissioner to place Shanahan on the "non-roster list", though that is what Article 16.12 (a) of the CBA stipulates.

"There are different rules in the book that allow you to do non-roster," Lamoriello said. "There are certain decisions you can make within the framework."

This is just a reminder that the CBA is such a long and confusing document that has so many different clauses about different subjects that you can never state anything firmly. That's why I try to reference the exact article to be sure.

Comments

[MattP]

I hope he decides sooner than he replaced Sutter "soon"

[NJromano]

can we package him with a prospect an make a trade??

Shanny,Greene, and a pick for -------?

[iamtheprodigy]

Greene isn't exactly a prospect, NJromano. And besides, if we get of Greene, then we have no solid back-up defenseman.

[Dan]

TG, can they place someone on waiver or release someone and bring Shanny back?

[iamtheprodigy]

Dan, why would they go through all of this trouble to get rid of Shanny just to bring him back a couple days later?

[MattP]

Who know why half the things that happen go on with this team?

[Dan]

Maybe they realized what a bad move it was?

[modnarm]

just bring him BACK ding dongs.

[Warren]

There is SO much more to this than we are finding out. You don't sign a 40 year old HOFer...have it count against the cap...have him wear the "C" in a pre-season game...skate him on the top line early...and then decide "oops, sorry no place for you."

Having said that...and I (and all of us) know nothing...how does the move look now that they've lost two home games to division rivals? And haven't played the class teams yet (Wash & Pitts)?

I'm not saying they'd have won both if Shanny was there...but I tell you this: it couldn't be any worse.

[MattP]

Well, I agree 100% on this point, it definitely could NOT have been any worse.

[Shanafan]

Warren, I couldn't agree more with your first paragraph...

[Scotty K]

Warren, we did have a spot for him. On the 4th line then he had a hissy fit. He would of got 6-8 minutes of 5 on 5 plus another 6-8 on the PP. Sounds reasonable for a 40 yr old who looked as slow as I do in the pre-season.

[sid]

yeah i agree with Warren on the first paragraph, I dont know about the devils not playing class teams yet though. Philadelphia is a great team and so are the rangers.

[Chad]

Shanahan has been pretty outspoken about the Paul Kelly firing and asking younger players to question the early morning NHLPA meetings that ousted Kelly. He does not exactly fit the Lou mold. The two events may be compleltely unrelated, but Lou does not like rabble rousers.

[Marc]

Best way to get younger is to keep our 40 year old players....

[Jason]

Once Shanahan is no longer on the Devils' payroll, im sure we will find out the truth.

[HoOn]

I really hope they bring Shanny back. He might be slow but does a lot of intangibles that Peters or Pikka cannot bring. Is it me or did they play more confident and better when Shanny was with the team. I'm not saying that they wouldn't have lost both games but confidence and leadership would have helped.

[iamtheprodigy]

"Having said that...and I (and all of us) know nothing...how does the move look now that they've lost two home games to division rivals? And haven't played the class teams yet (Wash & Pitts)?"

I don't think the move looks any more questionable than it did when he actually made it. Bergfors has been good, and if having Shanny would have meant Bergfors playing less, then I say that wouldn't have been worth it. As it stands, we weren't quick enough along the boards against either team, and if Shanny had been in there, he would have only slowed us down more. Also, the Flyers are rated as highly if not higher than both the Pens and Caps by most people. Plus, the Rangers are our biggest rival, and those games can always go either way. I'm not trying to make excuses, and losing the first two games sucks. But we got stuck with a pretty tough schedule early on and we have a team that's working on getting on the same page as far as game plan. So it's not surprising we've struggled early on.

[Jonathan]

Id rather have shanny than pando... But like Warren said an I couldn't agree more that there is more to this than Lou is saying

[iamtheprodigy]

"He might be slow but does a lot of intangibles that Peters or Pikka cannot bring."

And on the flip side, Peters and Pikka can potentially bring a lot of things that Shanny can't, like hitting and fighting. The coaches made the decision that we need those things more right now than Shanny's intangibles. We've got other guys that can lead the team and bring experience, it's better to round out our "tangibles" than bring in more "intangibles" IMO.

[iamtheprodigy]

"Id rather have shanny than pando..."

That's not really an option though. It's not as if Pando and Shanny have the same contract. Eating Shanny's contract is pretty easy, eating Pando's would be much more expensive and complicated. And by the way, Pando was one of our best players against the Flyers, so I don't know why everyone is still at his throat. He's overpaid, yeah, but his contract makes him difficult to move, so we'll probably have to live with him.

[Shanafan]

I posted something similar earlier, but I think it’s worth mentioning again… As Warren said, I truly think there’s more Shanahan’s situation than anyone will know right now. It could be something personal may have happened, and as a favor out of respect they're keeping him for a brief time so if things get sorted out he’ll have a place with the organization. TG said putting a player on the non-roster list makes them ineligible to play, but nothing was mentioned about taking them off to play at a later date. I’ve seen article’s where Lou stated the door wasn’t shut on Shanny to play later in the season or come back to the organization in some capacity, which could be very useful!! We won’t know the truth, but putting all negativity aside, maybe he’s experiencing health issues (God forbid) with himself or his family. In another interview, TG said Langs and Shanny were discussing "other issues", but never mentioned NOT being with the Devils... With this I admit I’m biased, and I’ll defend Shanny until I hear otherwise, because being the Shanafan that I am, I can't be negative towards him, especially if he has something major going on in his family. He isn't the kind of guy to turn his back on something he loves (family, hockey, etc.)… If he did leave because of not being on the top three lines, so be it, but until the truth comes out (if it ever does) I will doubt that was the sole reason.

[Jonathan]

Yes I will tak a first ballot HOFer over an over paid checking winger who has become overrated any day if the week

[JJ]

Maybe this is all just a smoke screen so they can pay him his $1 million to play half a season like he did last year without it counting against the cap? It's unlikely but who the hell knows anything these days?

[Jeff in Hoboken]

I said this in the game recap blog, but this whole Shanny situation is very suspect. Maybe the results of the first two games will be enough to try and get him back. But is that even legally possible? The legalities are so confusing!