Well the Devil is in the details as they say. In the case of the New Jersey Devils the cost of signing Ilya Kovalchuk continues to rise. Not only have they committed to $100 million in salary and a cap hit of $6.667 million but now they must hand over $3 million and first and third round draft picks to the league. Let's not forget the Devils also gave up a 1st round pick, Niclas Bergfors (a former 1st round pick), and junior prospect Patrice Cormier to Atlanta for Kovalchuk. That's a lot of first rounders moved for guy not named Phil Kessel. But that's still not the end of it. The Devils are currently $3.5 million over the cap so they must unload some salaries.
The ideal move would be Brian Rolston in a trade or demotion to the minors. His offense has dropped off significantly yet he is paid over $5 million per season with 2 years remaining on his contract. The only problem is that he has a no-movement clause so he's not going anywhere. The other names mentioned are Dainius Zubrus ($3.4 million) and Bryce Salvador ($2.9 million).
But the cost of signing Kovalchuk will continue to increase. Zach Parise is easily the best Devil even with Kovalchuk in the lineup. His cap hit is $3.125 million and he is on the last year of his deal. So what kind of money will Parise be looking for? It has to be something similar to Kovalchuk. To keep Parise the Devils will have to strip the team of even more supporting talent in order to hang on to their core.
So this has got to be the year the Devils take a run at the Stanley Cup. Martin Brodeur is not getting younger and their is little goaltending depth in the organization. Perhaps the biggest challenge will be to actually integrate Kovalchuk into their offense. The Devils have won 3 Stanley Cups on Brodeur's goaltending and their dedication to playing a conservative game. That style is not going to suit their new $100 million asset. So that means the Devils will likely change their game to take advantage of Kovalchuk's creativeness. Of course, who knows how that will impact on a team that has more or less invented the neutral zone trap.
No doubt all hockey eyes will be following the Devils this season.
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