Needless to say the memories of losing to the New York Rangers in 5 games last year do not fade away. That will definitely take some time. As the Devils lost 5-3 to the Rangers in Game 5, I remember saying to myself… “My god… we score and we can’t defend. We defend and we can’t score. Damn that has to change.”

So chug a beer after last year if you’re a Jersey fan… it may not make you feel any better though. The New Jersey Devils did get smart during the offseason. It did help naturally that the Devils were finally out of the Scott Niedermayer mess. Niedermayer signing with the Ducks messed up the Devils’ Salary Cap for 2+ seasons. Over the summer, the Devils were able to sign Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik and sent Vitali Vishnevski back to Russia. They also resigned several restricted and unrestricted free agents. A notable one was Bryce Salvador for 4 years, 11.6 million (until Jeff Finger signed with Toronto). With an improving, young defensive corp, the Devils could surprise many.

Why do I say that? Think about it! This year has been the annual Devils Bashing from media. I guess I have the right to name names at this point. The Hockey News as usual underestimates the Devils around 7th in the East but they are not the worst. ESPN actually has the Devils out of the playoffs. and they may be further from reality than ever. Case in point… ESPN has the Penguins winning the East. I won’t even say what CBS Sportsline thought.

Now hindsight is 20/20 folks. This is an annual occurrence and no one should be surprised. The reality is someday the New Jersey Devils are going to miss the playoffs but it won’t be this year. Here is why…..

I will say that Eklund is almost never right when it comes to these things. He had said that the Devils had the fifth worst offseason. Imagine what would have happened if the Devils had not signed Brian Rolston. Speaking of brainwashing… have you seen this one from Scott Burnside?

They haven’t missed the playoffs in years, but even if it takes 40 years they will eventually. I will predict it too. But how? I know! I will just predict them missing them every single year. I made look stupid at first but when they finally do miss them I will be looked at as the hockey guru of ESPN.

Sorry that will not happen either. I get the point….most network media does not like the New Jersey Devils. Okay well they do have some valid points. Martin Brodeur plays way too much. Hockeydb.com has all the evidence that you will ever need for this argument. All the practice rest in the world does not mitigate the debate at all. Playing games is playing games folks. You have to rest the big horse because face it, no rest equals early playoff exits and that is bad.

The offense was horrible… yet another valid point. However, it is not all bad for New Jersey. They seem to shoot an awful lot though but yet only had 206 goals (only the Isles at 194 was worse in the East). It is hard to make the playoffs with a stumbling offense. Patrik Elias only had 20 goals and 55 points last year and Zach Parise led the team with 65 points… not exactly numbers that scare opposing teams. These are players that probably should average a point or game… maybe even more.

The defense was not that good. Obviously many have said and rightfully so that Martin Brodeur is the Devils’ best defenseman. He does make the defense look a heck of a lot better than it actually was… especially last year. But with youngsters like Matt Corrente and a full season of Bryce Salvador…this team may not be so bad off after all. An improved defensive core is expected as they could not be worse than last year.

Special teams will improve… it has to. The Power Play was abysmal…. ranking 25th at 15.6%. Brian Rolston will be a key cog here and Bobby Holik may help on the second unit clogging the front of the net. Rolston, a natural QB, on the man advantage may even put the team in the top half of the Power Play rankings when all is said and done. The Penalty Kill was 82.8% which ranked a disappointing 13th. Now 13th does not sound that bad but this is the New Jersey Devils. For years, they were ranked in the top 5 or 10 on the man disadvantage. That may return this year with the return of Bobby Holik and Brian Rolston. Again as good as they are on offense..they are even better on the defensive end. With a little mix of youth thrown in, the Devils will improve on this statistic as well.

Prognosis: The Devils are an old, aging team to a point…they ranked 2nd in the league in current age…only Anaheim is older at 30.6. If Brent Sutter can find a way to keep the window open just a bit longer and playing Martin Brodeur maybe 70-72 games maximum… then the Devils will be better off in the long run. The team will improve overall but so has the rest of the Eastern Conference. However, with injuries and defections from teams… the New Jersey Devils will benefit. The Devils will finish 2nd behind the Philadelphia Flyers and again end up 4th in the Eastern Conference. Question will be what playoff lesson did they learn but that is for another time.

1. Alexander Ovechkin: It’s hard to imagine the Washington Capitals will let their franchise face go under any circumstance, but Ovechkin has already reportedly rejected a deal worth $7.5 million annually and will almost certainly get an offer sheet approaching the maximum $10 million per season if he hits the open market. Ovechkin will be a restricted free agent, so Washington will get the chance to match any bid, but the 22-year-old Russian superstar hasn’t been afraid to complain about the dearth of talent surrounding him in the past. The Caps don’t spend much on payroll to begin with, and if it takes 20 percent of their budget room to get him back, chances are it will create a situation that won’t leave anyone involved happy.

2. Marian Hossa: Hossa, who turns 29 next week, is one of the NHL’s most electrifying players and good for about 40 goals per season when he’s healthy. But he’s also now a $7 million-a-year player who will be expecting a raise and one who doesn’t seem too anxious to get it from the Thrashers. Hossa came to Atlanta from Ottawa in a trade after the lockout, leaving his original organization and one that was a perennial contender. That’s not the case in Atlanta, and although the Thrashers have plenty of available cap room to get him under contract, Hossa seems to be more interested in going somewhere where title hopes are realistic. That means the Thrashers have a tough decision to make by the Feb. 26 trade deadline. They’re on the playoff bubble now, and if they stay in contention, it will be hard to justify moving such a key component. But it won’t be any easier losing him for nothing if he bolts next summer.

3. Brian Campbell: The Sabres got burned last summer, losing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere to free agency because they didn’t extend them when they had a chance early in the season. Buffalo is risking the same fate with defenseman Brian Campbell, one of the league’s best puck movers from the back end and an integral component of the team’s attack. Campbell is only 28 and earns only $1.75 million, so he’s due a big raise, and if the Sabres don’t find a way to get him under contract before July 1, he’ll test the market and certainly get it some place else.

4. Corey Perry: The Ducks lost young forward Dustin Penner to an over-the-top offer sheet from Edmonton last summer and are trying to avoid the same situation this time around with Perry. He’s younger and a better all-around player than Penner and will draw lots of interest if he gets to July 1 without a contract, even if he is a restricted free agent. Anaheim needs to find the cap space to get a deal done, a situation that was complicated when Scott Niedermayer decided last month that he really wasn’t ready to retire. Ducks GM Brian Burke is a shrewd operator and has dumped some salary since then to clear payroll space, but not enough to get a deal done yet with Perry, who is finishing his first three-year NHL contract that pays him less than $650,000 annually.

5. Dion Phaneuf: Few people deliver as much punishment with their hits while putting up the kind of point totals Phaneuf does. He’s only 22 and should spend the next decade or so as a perennial Norris Trophy candidate, which is why the Flames want to lock him up as soon as possible. Easier said than done. Phaneuf is finishing his rookie contract and earning about $785,000 a year, but there should be more than a few teams willing to pay him eight times that if he gets to the market as a restricted free agent. The Flames probably will be able to match any offer sheet, but they already have about $38 million in salary commitments for next season and will have several other roster spots to fill as well.

6. Jay Bouwmeester: The Florida Panthers defenseman got a lot more attention when he was a junior superstar in Canada, but if he’s flying under the radar these days, it’s because of where he is, not because his game has slipped. Bouwmeester is one of the league’s best skaters at any position and an elite defenseman who is stuck on a team that always seems to be going nowhere. There is some very good young talent in Florida, and several of those players have been locked up for long terms, but at 24, Bouwmeester hasn’t seemed to be in a rush to join them. He’s making $2.25 million this season, is a restricted free agent when it’s over and will probably end up equaling or surpassing the highest salary on the Panthers if he stays.

7. Wade Redden: The Senators essentially chose him over Zdeno Chara a couple of years back and more often than not, they seem to have regretted giving him a contract worth $6.5 million a season. The 30-year-old defenseman hasn’t been a bust, but the feeling in Ottawa is that he hasn’t lived up to the elite status of someone being paid the way he is. He’s an unrestricted free agent after the season and has been mentioned in several trade rumors as a result, something that will likely continue until the deadline. Redden has hinted he might be willing to take a hometown discount to re-sign, but it will probably have to be a steep one for the Senators to bite again.

8. Mike Ribeiro: The Montreal native was run out of his hometown when he played with the Canadiens, but he’s been a revelation in Dallas, where he has turned into the team’s most prolific producer over the last two seasons. In fact, he’s in the midst of a career year. That costs teams money, and the Stars will have to come up with a lot more than the $2.8 million they’re paying Ribeiro now to keep him from testing the market as an unrestricted free agent next summer.

9. Shea Weber: There are some folks around the league who would take Weber right now over Dion Phaneuf. They’re both the same age and at the same stage of their careers, but the situation is a lot more tenuous for Nashville even though the new ownership group is officially in place. The Predators have one of the NHL’s lowest payrolls, and while the new owners got a sweetheart lease deal from the city, they haven’t really given an indication of how much money they’re willing to sink into payroll. Nashville lost several key players in a fire sale while the team was on the market and is facing free-agent situations with more than a half dozen players including key young restricted ones like Weber, Ryan Suter and Martin Erat.

10. Jeff Carter: The Philadelphia Flyers’ situation with Carter and R.J. Umberger is similar to that of Nashville’s, only at the other end of the scale. For Philadelphia, the issue isn’t whether it has the money to pay these young and desirable pending restricted free agents but if it has the cap room. The Flyers have already committed nearly $50 million in salaries for next season. Both Carter and Umberger are coming off their first contracts that paid each about $1 million a season. They’re due raises, but the Flyers might not be able to offer either or both enough to keep them from getting poached by someone else.

According to Greg Logan of Newsday it will be a three-year deal worth about $9 million in total.

Craig Custance of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Atlanta Thrashers are interested in forwards Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin of the St. Louis Blues, and Bryan Smolinski of the Chicago Blackhawks.

In fact, Custance reports on his blog that the Thrashers are the front-runners for Tkachuk.

Jorge Milian of the Palm Beach Post suggests that Florida Panthers defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski could be on the move before the trade deadline.

According to Pierre LeBrun of the Globe and Mail the Phoenix Coyotes are willing to part with pending unrestricted free agent goalie Curtis Joseph, and forwards Owen Nolan and Kevyn Adams.

LeBrun also reports that the New Jersey Devils will have some difficulties in making deals before the trade deadline due to their salary cap situation.

“I wouldn’t look at it that the cap will determine what we do or what we don’t do,” Devils GM Lou Lamoriello told CP on Friday. “Because if you do anything substantial, it has to involve players.”

“If you subtract, then you can add. And if you subtract you better make sure what you’re adding is better. This is a team right now, in my mind, is playing the way you’d like to see a team play. Chemistry and all of those ingredients have to go in any thought process of what you do or what you don’t do.”

CBS SportsLine.com suggests that the Buffalo Sabres may deal pending unrestricted free agent goalie Martin Biron for a forward to replace the injured Maxim Afinogenov and Chris Drury.

The league is still of the thought that its continued exposure to U.S. markets will grow the game throughout the country, so they want to receive more “media coverage” in the U.S. not less. That is why the National Hockey League want the Penguins to remain somewhere in the United States, if not Pittsburgh.

That means that if the Penguins were to relocate, it would be to one of four cities considered the “top four candidates” to get an NHL team: Kansas City, Houston, Las Vegas and Oklahoma City.

According to Wes Goldstein of CBS SportsLine.com, Seattle and Portland have also expressed “more than passing interest in acquiring a new tenant for the ready-made facilities now available in their cities.”