Prospective Look at New Jersey

There were plenty of questions after Scott Gomez left the swamp for the bright lights of the Big Apple, but the Devils prevailed through the regular season and qualified for the playoffs, which made GM Lou Lamoriello look like he knew what he was doing. Sure, already having Martin Brodeur backstopping your team, you can easily build out from there and have a good shot at the post-season.

Looking forward, the Devils have a lot of their key players already signed on for next season and/or the long-term. Already, the Devils have 16 players signed on and ready to crack the line-up at a cost of $41 million. To fill the last seven players should be made easier with the extra cap space that they will enjoy this season as well.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Zach Parise	Paul Martin	Martin Brodeur
Patrik Elias	Johnny Oduya	Kevin Weekes
Brian Gionta	Andy Greene
John Madden	Colin White
Jamie Langenbrunner	Vitali Vishnevski
Dainius Zubrus
Tomas Zajac
Sergei Brylin
Mike Rupp

I guess if the numbers impressed you about the roster, after you looked at the roster who's signed on for next season must impress you more. Already having your Top 10 pool scorers signed for next season is a huge plus, especially when it includes Martin Brodeur and Zach Parise. The Devils could arguably be in some of the best shape going into the Draft season and Free Agent Frenzy.

Notable players going to free agency will include Karel Rachunek (unrestricted), Bryce Salvador (unrestricted), Richard Matvichuk (unrestricted) and Jay Pandolfo (unrestricted). The defense may be left alone to go for an upgrade, if at all possible, but Pandolfo should be a priority for Devils' management.

Going down the list of prospects for New Jersey, there really isn't a great deal of big names floating around. Nicklas Bergfors played in a game for the Devils this season, but the buzz has really fallen on him. This could very well be because of the lack of high draft picks in the past years, which is a testament to the Devils' management of money and free agents.

Speaking of low draft picks, the Devils will be picking from the 21st spot in the Draft and that may not be too terribly profitable, despite the deep draft. The Devils have had a hard time drafting NHL-ready players for the past few years and may need to make a surprise pick off the board to see if they can hit a homerun.