What is Ken Holland's Plan B?

Let's all assume that the Detroit Red Wings plan to sign both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter on July 1st. This will be to replace Nick Lidstrom and to upgrade the top-6 forwards, giving Pavel Datsyuk a legitimate scoring winger. Both, in my mind, are legitimate needs if the Wings want to continue to challenge for the Cup in the post-Lidstrom era.

Ryan Suter looks like he'll hit the open market, but will still consider returning to Nashville, while Parise apparently wants to go back to New Jersey where he just came within two games of winning the Stanley Cup.

Even if both hit the open market, there's really no guarantee that Detroit will be able to sign either. Almost every team in the league is expected to express interest in one of the players, and some will likely offer more money than the Wings. So, what is Ken Holland's backup plan?

No matter what, he has to add a top defender. Other notable UFAs include Dennis Wideman, Matt Carle, Justin Schultz (a rookie who isn't expected to choose the Wings), and not much else. Matt Carle is expected to re-sign with Philadelphia, and Wideman doesn't inspire much confidence. Sadly, I think Wideman is the only realistic option if Detroit doesn't get Suter.

As for a top forward, the likely candidate if Detroit misses out on Parise will be Alexander Semin. He's scored 40 goals in the NHL before, but his work ethic doesn't really match with Detroit. Other options could include Shane Doan and Ryan Smyth, but both are short term fixes at best.

As for trades, Ken Holland simply doesn't trade roster players and isn't a position to trade top picks or prospects. The Wings currently need their prospects. So, I'd be stunned to see the likes of Rick Nash come to Detroit.

The bottom line is that Detroit needs Suter and Parise in the worst way. The question is whether they will choose to be sign up to be Detroit's missing pieces.

Why New Jersey Kept Their Pick

With an exciting playoff run coming to an even more exciting end for the Los Angeles Kings, the silly season has officially begun in the NHL. For those unaware, the silly season refers to three events in the NHL: the trading deadline, the week leading up to the NHL draft when teams often make lots of trades (next week), and first day when unrestricted free agents (UFAs) can sign with any team of their desire - July 1st.

It's been a while since I've blogged, but I'll probably be blogging pretty regularly the next three weeks as my schedule is lighter than it has been in years as I continue searching for a teaching job.

Anyway, this blog is going to focus on the New Jersey Devils and why they decided to keep their first round pick this year.

Here's a quick background:

• New Jersey singed Ilja Kovalchuk to a ridiculous contract two summers ago that the NHL ruled was illegal. They then penalized the Devils and said they had to forfeit one of their first round picks in the next four years. 

• Last year they were 4th overall, and obviously chose to keep their pick.

• This year, being the loser in the Cup Finals, they have the 29th (out of 30) pick overall. Thus, most anticipated they would give it up. 

• But... they didn't.

So why didn't they? Well, in the previously linked blog the reporter, Tom Gulitti, says that he spoke with Devil's GM Lou Lamoriello earlier in the day, so it's not like he forgot to notify the NHL. In my mind, there's only two reasons that make any sense as to why New Jersey would keep this pick. They are as follows:

1. The Devils plan on using the pick to select a goaltender of the future - possibly Malcom Subban who most mock drafts having going right around where New Jersey will be picking. The Devils would do this as future-Hall-of-Fame Martin Brodeur likely has only a year or two left before he'll retire leaving a major hole for the Devils. 
2. The plan on using the pick to trade for a young goaltender - maybe Jonathan Bernier of the LA Kings. Doing this would allow the team to have Brodeur mentor the young goalie for a year or two before giving the keys to the net tot that goalie.

The bottom line is that New Jersey desperately needs a plan for when Marty decides to retire, and dealing with this issue is the only reason why I would see the team holding on to this year's pick. Of course some people may think it's just Lamoriello being stubborn, which while possible, he's proven to be a smart and calculated GM in his time and this would be a very bad move as they may never have as low of a draft pick in the next two years. 

It'll be interesting to see how they choose to use the pick. 

Recapping A Busy Monday

Yesterday was a pretty busy in the NHL for a Monday in August. So let's recap on what happened:

• The Detroit Red Wings signed veteran defenseman Ruslan Salei to a one year contract with a $1.1 million cap hit. The move was a depth move, and I looked at what will likely be Detroit's roster in the previous blog. However, it was pointed out by others that Salei and other new Wing, Mike Modano, may not be the best of friends: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=17949205

• The Philadelphia Flyers organization and tough guy Riley Cote made a unique move. Cote, who didn't get much playing time last year, especially under new coach Peter Laviolette, retired from the NHL to become an assistant coach of Philadelphia's AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms. This is unique for several reasons, one being that Cote is 28 years old and had another year on his contract with the Flyers. That's quite young for a coach, particularly a professional coach. And it helps Philadelphia as they no longer have to worry about Cote's (small) cap hit. The Flyers are a team that needs cap relief in any way possible. Still, a fascinating move.

• The Anaheim Ducks officially signed winger Teemu Selanne to a one-year contract. The more interesting part of this is Selanne's $4.5 million cap hit. Seeing as how he's only playing because he wants to win (supposedly) and how he's trying to get his good friend Paul Kariya to sign with Anaheim, one though he would have been fairly cheap to re-sign. Apparently that wasn't the case. Also, if the Ducks do sign Kariya too, I wouldn't be surprised if they explored trading unsigned Bobby Ryan for an elite defenseman as they continue to retool their defensive corps.

• And finally the biggest news of the day: A private arbitrator ruled that Ilja Kovalchuck's crazy contract with the New Jersey Devils was indeed a bad contract and thus the contract has been officially rejected. This makes Kovalchuck an unrestricted free agent again, however it seems impossibly that he doesn't work out a new contract with the Devils who already held a press conference where Kovalchuck said that he was happy to be a Devil for life. Still, it means that his cap hit will likely be considerably higher than the $6 million it would have been with the previous contract, which will mean New Jersey will have to move some players in order to fit under the salary cap. Should be interesting! I'll post another blog regarding my opinions on the rejected contract.