by Roger Quinn

Created on: August 13, 2010

Last season the New Jersey Devils showed that team chemistry can be just as important as team talent.  They were at the top of the Eastern Conference and were undefeated against the Penguins and Capitals.  Then they decided to try to 'clinch' the Cup and went after Illya Kovalchuk.  Not surprisingly Kovalchuk did not fit into Lemaire's neutral zone trap and the Devil's fell apart and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

Offensively the Devils are a two line team if they can not keep Kovalchuk.  If they find a way to re-sign him they could move an aging Brian Rolston into more of a third line role and get some more depth.  New coach John MacLean promises to play a more up tempo style so hopefully Kovy fits in a little bit better.  A first line with Zajac, Parise, and Kovalchuk and a second line of Jason Arnott, Patrick Elias, and Jamie Langenbrunner could a very good combination.  Unfortunately for the Devils the second line is getting old.  Perhaps an up tempo first line and a trap style second line would work best.  And with some key losses on the blueline the Devils will need to play good team defense and score a few more goals.

Losing Paul Martin to free agency was a really bad loss by itself.  Add in the loss of Johnny Oduya and New Jersey needed to remake their defense in the offseason.  Getting Henrik Tallinder and Anton Volchenkov helps, but neither was the puck mover that Martin was.  The Devils could struggle to clear their own zone, and they will need the new defensemen to play about 20 minutes per game, which both can do.  Volchenkov is a tremendous shot blocker, and Tallinder is very underrated, but they are not offensive defensemen.  Paul Martin did not put up lots of points, but in Pittsburgh he will show how good he is with the puck.

In net the Devils finally got some relief for Marty Brodeur.  Johan Hedberg is capable of playing at a high level for 30-40 starts and Yann Denis is capable of the occasional spot start.  Brodeur is getting old and I think he showed in the playoffs that he needs some more starts off.  Also, being in a non-Olympic year will give him an end of season boost.

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