2012 Projections: New Jersey

The Ilya Kovalchuk era in New Jersey has not gone very well in its infancy, as the Devils were not a very good team, mired with injuries in 2011, struggling to score goals and then having their number one goalie (one of the best goalies of all time) lose his stride and they had a deep hole to climb out of.  To their credit, they did put up a good fight in the back half of the year, but that hole was just too deep.  Nevertheless, there was some hope left behind.

The off-season didn't bring much for help, as it appears that there is still some philosophy concerns, like 'which direction is this team going to go in?'  Of course, when the team is using $28.1 million of your $64.3 million cap space on five players (Kovalchuk, Elias, Parise, Volchenkov and Brodeur), the direction might have some clarity... make sure the highest cap hit players are the best players on the ice every night.

The Devils have not really been known as an offensive team, relying a lot on their defense and goaltending to lead them through the regular season and even to some championships, but with the firepower they have invested in now, it would be silly to think 'defense first,' right?

Forwards		Defense		Goalies
Zach Parise	80	Andy Greene	30	Martin Brodeur	70
Ilya Kovalchuk	75	Mark Fayne	20	Johan Hedberg	30
Patrik Elias	65	Henrik Tallinder	15
Mattias Tedenby	40	Anton Volchenkov	10
Travis Zajac	40	Bryce Salvador	10
Dainius Zubrus	35
Nick Palmieri	35
David Steckel	20
David Clarkson	15
Rod Pelley	10
Eric Boulton	5
Cam Janssen	5
Adam Henrique	30	Matt Taormina	20
Jacob Josefson	25	Adam Larsson	20
Vladimir Zharkov	10	Matthew Corrente	15
		Peter Harrold	5
		Mark Fraser	5

Pool Worthy Forwards (Inside the top 160, 35 points)
It is definitely arguable, but Zach Parise has to be one of the most anticipated returns to the ice going into the 2012 season.  Parise missed all but 13 games last season and is certainly considered one of the elite forwards in the league, combine that with getting the chance to play with Ilya Kovalchuk full time and he might have himself an excellent season.

Speaking of Kovalchuk, getting the shot with Parise full-time should also help his numbers out, making a dynamic duo offensively in the swamp.  The Devils' power play will likely get a good shot in the arm with these two working closely together as well.

Rounding out the big three, Patrik Elias will likely have to anchor the second line and the second unit on the power play, with some time with the top units when struggling, so his numbers may not climb quite as high, as there are some depth concerns down the line for the Devils.

Pool Worthy Defensemen (Inside the top 80, 20 points)
Offense from the back end could potentially be a problem for the Devils, likely one of the reasons why Kovalchuk will work the point on the power play on a regular basis.  Andy Greene is the projected leader of the pack for the Devils, but 30 points isn't something to really get excited about.

Depth also looks like it could be an issue here for the Devils, as I only have five regular defenders up on top of the table (the expected roster players), which makes for a lot of question marks and a look at plenty of bubble players.

Pool Worthy Goalies (Inside the top 40, 25 points)
There were times where Martin Brodeur looked like he was learning how to skate from square one in some games in 2011, but at the same time, he still recorded six shutouts, so all was not lost.  I would be surprised if we saw Brodeur falter like he did last season, but I don't think we'll see as much of the dominant side of him either, so I'm projecting him for between the two extremes, still having a good season.

Let's not forget the Moose, Johan Hedberg... he's still working well as a serviceable back-up, taking the load off of the regular starter and winning those games.  He should make a good late round pick, if you're still in need of a keeper.

Pool Worthy Rookies
The youth movement for the Devils hasn't made a lot of noise over the years, but they have been quietly developing some quality talent and then having a quality draft pick this Summer also helped the movement along.

Up front, with a lack of real scoring punch, I like the possibility of a kid like Adam Henrique to possibly come up and make some noise.  Also, because of a depth concern on the blueline, look for Adam Larsson to get a long look at camp this year.

Unsigned Players
None.

Key Injuries
The loss of Travis Zajac to an Achilles tendon injury will be a tough one to deal with early on for the New Jersey Devils, as they do not expect him to be back in the line-up until November, which theoretically, could have been much worse.  With the Devils offensive struggles early on last year, you would assume that offense might be job number one and they'll need a healthy group of players to pull it off.