Value of: Zajac in the off-season/draft day

[HiddenInLight]

In addition to the above, Roys contract makes him a good insurance pickup for if Henrique struggles this year. He is a prooven 70 point player who is coming off of a similar stretch as zajac, with one year left on on his deal, on a very reasonable cap hit (4 million) So if NJD think that henrique is their guy of the future, then Roy makes a LOT of sense coming back.

[DownFromNJ]

Trading Zajac make no sense to me. Josefson is far from a sure thing (and beginning to seem injury prone), and Elias is getting old. Zajac is one of the best two-way centers in the game, and would score quite a few points on a line with Parise and Kovalchuck.

[Saugus]

Originally Posted by HiddenInLight

That being said I think this deal depends more on the results of the playoffs then anything. If the NJD lose early, then I think the straight up one for one deal may be considered by the devils. If they lose a bit later then the sabres may have to add a little bit for it to happen. If they win the cup, or lose by some flukey goal in game seven of the finals, then it probably won't even be considered. So I wouldn't discount this move from happening completely until the NJD are done playing for the year.

If the Devils lose early, it won't be because of Zajac. Not sure how the length of the Devils' run means anything to this deal. It's a virtual certainty that he won't be traded regardless.

[HiddenInLight]

Originally Posted by Saugus

If the Devils lose early, it won't be because of Zajac. Not sure how the length of the Devils' run means anything to this deal. It's a virtual certainty that he won't be traded regardless.

I never said it would be because of Zajac. I said that how they do in the playoffs may dictate how willing they are to shake things up a bit. Maybe they lose all their games by one goal. That might be a reason that they say, maybe we should get a bit more scoring down the middle. Or maybe they lose Parise to free agency this year, they could make a deal such as this to replace some of his production. The events of the playoffs and FA often influence teams to make moves they might not have made before. Especially with NJ.

I also think that the fact that it is so late in Brodeur's career may impact their willingness to make changes such as this, so that he can cap off his career with a stanley cup near the end. Also please note that I'm not trying to take a shot at brodeur there, he is one of the best goalies in hockey history and I wouldn't ever be fooliah enough to say otherwise.

[engy]

I would say Zajac is available if the price is right, not Roy though. If you slot anyone between Parise and Kovalchuk (which is a combination I don't prefer), they would get a decent amount of points. And having Elias, Henrique, and Josefson should be good enough replacements.

[Saugus]

Originally Posted by HiddenInLight

I never said it would be because of Zajac. I said that how they do in the playoffs may dictate how willing they are to shake things up a bit. Maybe they lose all their games by one goal. That might be a reason that they say, maybe we should get a bit more scoring down the middle. Or maybe they lose Parise to free agency this year, they could make a deal such as this to replace some of his production. The events of the playoffs and FA often influence teams to make moves they might not have made before. Especially with NJ.

I also think that the fact that it is so late in Brodeur's career may impact their willingness to make changes such as this, so that he can cap off his career with a stanley cup near the end. Also please note that I'm not trying to take a shot at brodeur there, he is one of the best goalies in hockey history and I wouldn't ever be fooliah enough to say otherwise.

The forward corps is the greatest strength of the Devils, I doubt Lou would look for a shakeup there, especially because he generally doesn't make knee-jerk moves anyway. I should expand my statement to say that if the Devils lose, it won't be because of the forwards, it will be because of the ramshackle defence and because leaky Marty showed up instead of bulletproof Marty.

Even if Parise leaves, the Devils won't be looking to dump Zajac, who still has excellent chemistry with Kovalchuk. He just won't be available.