LCS Hockey - The Devils And The Deep Blue Sea

The Devils And The Deep Blue Sea
by John Alsedek, Correspondent

The Devils And The Deep Blue Sea
Why New Jersey's favorite NHL team is stuck between a rock and a hard place, an irresistible force and an immovable object, Scylla and Charybdis, blah blah blah.

Since I'm already starting with a bunch of cliches, how about one more: the more things change, the more they stay the same. If any team in the NHL is destined to exemplify that in 1998-99, it's the guys with the pointy tail on their jerseys.

For most of the 1990's, the New Jersey Devils have been the NHL's answer to Prozac: a (generally) airtight defense-first-last-and-always squad that won lots of 2-1 snooze- a-thons that were seldom memorable even to the Devils themselves. Hell, there were probably games that a guy like Bobby Holik didn't even know he'd scored till he checked the boxscores the next morning.

Coach Jacques Lemaire took a lot of flak from, well, everybody, for making the game so darned boring, and he certainly deserved a portion of the blame. However, to be fair, when your only two proven stars are a goalie and a stay-at-home defenseman, you can't be faulted too much for emphasizing defense above all.

It would have been all well and good if the Devils hadn't won the Cup in 1995; however, they did, and thus inspired a plethora of other NHL teams to adopt their own neutral-zone trap systems - remember Mike Milbury's 'Lobster Pot', or that drowsy feeling that overcame you the instant puck hit ice in a Florida-Ottawa game? However, some of those teams learned a bit too well. That the Devils got bounced in the first round of the playoffs this year by one of their own progeny, the Ottawa Senators, seems a fitting irony, albeit one that Lemaire could have done without: shortly afterwards, he resigned. It seemed to be a sign of New Jersey's imminent retooling - and it was, but not in a good way.

First, long-time Albany River Rats coach Robbie Ftorek was named to replace Lemaire, a move that many thought would lead to a more offensive game. Unfortunately, these folks must have never seen the River Rats play. While players might get the green light to rush the puck a little more often, Ftorek has already said that he intends to have his boys play a smart, defense-first game...in other words, the trap. However, if that move was considered a modest step forward (Ftorek is considered more of a player's coach than his predecessor), the steps that followed were most definitely of the walking-backwards variety.

Prior to the Expansion Draft, the Devils tried to trade little-used but highly-prized backup Mike Dunham to the Oilers; however, no doubt still smarting from the aftermath of his ill-advised trade for underachiever Jason Arnott, Devils GM Lou Lamoriello tried to squeeze Edmonton's Glen Sather for two hot young forward prospects (Boyd Devereaux and Mike Watt). Sather, no dummy he, wasn't biting, so Lamoriello lost Dunham for nothing to the Nashville Predators.

Things only got worse on July 1st. After offering New Jersey unrestricted free agents Steve Thomas and Doug Gilmour new contracts worth $1.7 million and $4 million, respectively, both signed with new teams. The loss of Thomas was unfortunate, but fixable: while still a gutsy, hard-nosed player, Thomas' scoring touch had cooled off to the point that his roster spot could be ably filled by a younger player like Jay Pandolfo or Vadim Sharifajanov.

Gilmour, on the other hand... When the Devils let 'Killer' go off to greener pastures, they lost their power-play QB, best penalty-killing forward, and, most valuable of all, a leader for promising kids like Petr Sykora and Brendan Morrison to learn the finer points of the game from. How did Lou Lamoriello replace that? Um, he didn't. And it's going to show, sooner or later. And, to top it off, New Jersey's premier - okay, only - puck-rushing defenseman, Scott Niedermayer, is locked in mortal combat with Lamoriello over a new contract, which, given Lou's track record, means that Nieds will get traded, sooner rather than later. Just ask Claude Lemieux or Bill Guerin. Not a good way to prepare for the new season.

So what will Lamoriello do? Probably what he's done over the past few seasons: deal off one or two prospects to get some short-term veteran help, then lose 'em over the summer. He did it in '96, trading steady young blueliner Cale Hulse to Calgary for a month's rental on Phil Housley. He did it again in '97, sending Alyn McCauley, Steve Sullivan, and Jason Smith off to the Leafs for 'Killer'. This year's candidate to go? Probably someone like Petr Sykora or Brian Rolston, talented kids who, so far, haven't lived up to their potential as scorers. For that, Lamoriello will get a guy like Theo Fleury, who'll come in, score enough goals to get the Devils into the playoffs - where they'll get knocked off early on - and then follow a big-bucks contract off to Philly or New York or Dallas during the off-season. Next year, they'll probably do the same, etc. etc.

Does that mean that GM Lou Lamoriello is at the heart of the Devils' problems? No, not really. Actually, if it wasn't for Lamoriello, they wouldn't even be able to make deals like that. For all his faults as a trader (the ill-advised Lemieux-for-Thomas and Guerin-for-Arnott swaps are just two examples), Lamoriello and his staff are great judges of young talent, and have traditionally drafted well. That they've been able to trade off young players the way they have, and yet never lose a guy that they felt was a core player, is a testament to their smart drafts. Unfortunately, they haven't - and won't - reap the full benefits of their drafting for one reason: money.

Ah yes, money. Not unlike the teetering-on-the-edge Pittsburgh Penguins, the Devils have a number of strikes against them in today's $-driven NHL. They are a small-market team (compared to NYC, Philly, etc) in an aging arena that they've got an unfavorable lease in. That means enforced fiscal responsibility, which, in itself, is not too unappealing to team owner John McMullen, who has always preached fiscal responsibility anyway.

But what it also means is that Lamoriello has to save his pennies where he can. What that means is that veteran free agents aren't re-signed, regardless of whether or not they are, in fact, invaluable to the team.

What that means is that you let 1996 fourth-round entry draft selection Scott Parker (to give an example) go back into the draft and have a fairly promising career with another team, rather than spend the extra bucks to get him under contract.

What that means is that you play hardball on a new contract with your only real scoring threat on the blue line, and take the chance that another team will sign him to an offer sheet, or you'll have a disgruntled player on your hands who you'll never get full value for, or who'll sit out the season.

And what all that means isn't anything good.

In the short term, the Devils should be okay this year - at least in the regular season. They likely won't contend for the President's Trophy again, but they should be above .500, and good enough to get the sixth or seventh seed in the East. But, in the long term, the Devils are in deep trouble.

That they need new digs isn't argued by anybody. Where, however, is being argued quite vociferously. McMullen wants the State of New Jersey to finance the construction of a brand-new arena in cosmopolitan Hoboken, and wants for himself the prime plum of any arena - the luxury box revenues. Not surprisingly, the State of New Jersey isn't real enthused by McMullen's plan. Instead, they want him to share a proposed new arena in Newark with the NBA's Nets, which McMullen absolutely refuses to do. The most likely solution to this impasse? Remember back to 1995, when the Devils came within a hair of moving to Nashville? Heck, they'd just won the Stanley Cup when that happened. If it could almost happen to that team, it could happen to this year's edition.

And then there'll be, um, hell to pay.