Schlemko has produced on the PP and could be an upgrade on a few teams, if Shero could pull a 2nd for Stempniak and a 3rd for Schlemko I'd be happy.

And there's always Tuomo Ruutu
- smellmyfinger

I'd keep the 28 year old Schlemko over a mystery 3rd. The guy is decent and will likely stay the same or slightly improve over the next few years. He brings more to the team than Merrill or Gelinas at this point..

I'd keep the 28 year old Schlemko over a mystery 3rd. The guy is decent and will likely stay the same or slightly improve over the next few years. He brings more to the team than Merrill or Gelinas at this point..
- MartysBetter88

You can't trade players you have yet to sign so why not move him because he is a tradable asset and then sign a even better d through free agency. You can upgrade your defence and get a pick for the future or you can do neither but I like the sound of the first option a lot better it's not like he is a top d man there are literally tons of adequate defenders out there who can replace him.

A lot of you guys wanted shinkaruk and he just got traded for pennies can't believe shero didn't want in on that can't see why they wouldn't offer him to an eastern team before a team in the division. Kind of makes me mad when a deal like that happens for the exact type of player we should be looking for and its once again not Us trading for said player.

Trade Stempniak and Schlemko. It's a no brainer, really. Let gelinas or helgeson play the rest of the season out and hopefully they take a step forward the last 20 games of the year. Let's try to ship out ruutu and tootoo as well. Although I'm not holding my breath on them two getting traded.

Trade Stempniak and Schlemko. It's a no brainer, really. Let gelinas or helgeson play the rest of the season out and hopefully they take a step forward the last 20 games of the year. Let's try to ship out ruutu and tootoo as well. Although I'm not holding my breath on them two getting traded.
- rawwdogg88

Didn't you read eks blog ? We are buys we want to add a plug like dale weise

Todd Cordell: The New Jersey Devils Should Be Sellers At The Deadline
- Todd.Cordell

People are so quick to make panic decisions.. A few days go they were on a 3 game winning streak and were 8-2-2 in their last 12.

He seems to be doing well in Toronto but I guess he was still thinking NJ could compete so he never went in rebuild mode in NJ? What happened with him and NJ? He was a solid GM for a bit but I guess the loss of Parise & Kovalchuk was just too much to bear
- twiztedmike

Lol. That hurt, but that's not what killed him. Years of poor drafting and trying to fill holes with bad contracts from UFA. When you don't draft well, you have to fill out a roster somehow. He gave longterm deals to UFAs like Clowe, Volchenkov. Went out and gave a lot of money to plug-ins like Ryder, Zubrus, Havlat, took on Ruutu....

There wouldn't be any need for those losers if you draft well, but his hand went cold a long time ago.

People are so quick to make panic decisions.. A few days go they were on a 3 game winning streak and were 8-2-2 in their last 12.
- TheJerseyDevil1

Hey that is true but in the big picture we have floated around generally the same spot and not once took a legit hold to a play off spot so we are deep enough now where we drop our high hopes lol

Lol. That hurt, but that's not what killed him. Years of poor drafting and trying to fill holes with bad contracts from UFA. When you don't draft well, you have to fill out a roster somehow. He gave longterm deals to UFAs like Clowe, Volchenkov. Went out and gave a lot of money to plug-ins like Ryder, Zubrus, Havlat, took on Ruutu....

There wouldn't be any need for those losers if you draft well, but his hand went cold a long time ago.
- TheJerseyDevil1

Yikes. I'm glad he's committed to a rebuild in TOR

Yikes. I'm glad he's committed to a rebuild in TOR
- twiztedmike

Just make sure you have a good head scout...

Just make sure you have a good head scout...
- TheJerseyDevil1

He's leaving it to Mark Hunter

Yikes. I'm glad he's committed to a rebuild in TOR
- twiztedmike

Doesn't mean he believes it will work though. He didn't and wouldn't do that here because he didn't believe in not trying to be competitive each year and as much as it might of hurt in the long run it also paid of for almost 20 years and there where a lot of other factors he could hardly control that played into whatever you want to call happened to him. Free agents have never wanted to sign here so yeah we over paid and took chances on some of the second tier free agents but he also had to deal with a bankrupt owner and being the only team to be punished for those ridiculous contracts. He gave us something to be proud of and a sense that he would never allow us to be in the basement. If we get back to glory people won't talk about is like they do the Hawks, pens and all those other teams that where garbage and got multiple top picks they will talk about how they built a winning environment and kept it even when the times where tough.

I mean what would those Hawks look like without those Keith and hossa contracts ? Only Norris caliber player in the league with a cap hit under 5 mil ?

I mean what would those Hawks look like without those Keith and hossa contracts ? Only Norris caliber player in the league with a cap hit under 5 mil ?
- blizzzard

It is very unfair how NJ was the only team that got screwed.

It is very unfair how NJ was the only team that got screwed.
- twiztedmike

Hawks fans get mad at us whenever we bring that up. But they're really the only team who that worked out for.. Pronger and Savard contract were disasters. Detroit's on their way to looking really bad very soon. Franzen already looks terrible and Zetterberg will slow down sooner or later.

It is very unfair how NJ was the only team that got screwed.
- twiztedmike

It is what it is but my point was if it was totally up to Lou in T.O like it was here you might not see him selling off like he has and them icing a pretty bland, safe product to try and stay in as many games as possible. It's boring as hell for most fans buts it's very strategic and a way to take a talent lacking team and make them stick around and seem competitive when maybe they aren't or shouldn't be. I didn't like a lot of the stuff Lou didn't do in is last few years but I can be proud knowing why he didn't do some things that maybe a lot of people thought he should have.

Doesn't mean he believes it will work though. He didn't and wouldn't do that here because he didn't believe in not trying to be competitive each year and as much as it might of hurt in the long run it also paid of for almost 20 years and there where a lot of other factors he could hardly control that played into whatever you want to call happened to him. Free agents have never wanted to sign here so yeah we over paid and took chances on some of the second tier free agents but he also had to deal with a bankrupt owner and being the only team to be punished for those ridiculous contracts. He gave us something to be proud of and a sense that he would never allow us to be in the basement. If we get back to glory people won't talk about is like they do the Hawks, pens and all those other teams that where garbage and got multiple top picks they will talk about how they built a winning environment and kept it even when the times where tough.
- blizzzard

Lou didn't believe in the scorched earth rebuilds but both times the team was reasonably out of playoff position at the deadline he sold. Its easy to say he should have drafted better after the two franchise players leave the organization, but franchise players are rarely found outside the top 10 of the draft. Had Kovy and Parise not bolted nothing else would have been put under the microscope.

Lou didn't believe in the scorched earth rebuilds but both times the team was reasonably out of playoff position at the deadline he sold. Its easy to say he should have drafted better after the two franchise players leave the organization, but franchise players are rarely found outside the top 10 of the draft. Had Kovy and Parise not bolted nothing else would have been put under the microscope.
- rmdevil313

Yes, it would have. The fact he let UFA's go was under the scope every time, including Rafalski, Gomez, Gionta, Clarkson, Martin. Imagine where we would be, all those would of fetched us a 1st each and more. And the drafting was even worse before the 2012 draft. Since then we drafted Severson, Kerfoot, Santini, Wood, Zacha, Q, Blackwood, Speers, Jacobs and traded a top 10 pick for a top 3 goalie.

I do think they made some poor choices drafting since 2012, like Baddock, Chatham over Point. Some others.

But to say it wouldn't matter if Parise and Kovy didn't leave is bullcrap, because people were always bringing up the bad drafting and UFAs leaving even then.

Yes, it would have. The fact he let UFA's go was under the scope every time, including Rafalski, Gomez, Gionta, Clarkson, Martin. Imagine where we would be, all those would of fetched us a 1st each and more. And the drafting was even worse before the 2012 draft. Since then we drafted Severson, Kerfoot, Santini, Wood, Zacha, Q, Blackwood, Speers, Jacobs and traded a top 10 pick for a top 3 goalie.

I do think they made some poor choices drafting since 2012, like Baddock, Chatham over Point. Some others.

But to say it wouldn't matter if Parise and Kovy didn't leave is bullcrap, because people were always bringing up the bad drafting and UFAs leaving even then.
- Devils9503

Imagine how pissed you would have been trading one of the teams better players when we were on of the best teams in the conference? Its not like the post 05 lockout teams were scratching and clawing to get to the playoffs, people were pissed we couldn't get out of the 2nd round at the time. This is hindsight at its finest.

As for the drafting, no one really brought it up until Parise left. Because until then we had our late first rounder that turned into an elite player and also did well with undrafted free agents. After that happened people were wondering where all the other elite players were not realizing that picking in the 20s for 2 decades takes a hit. Its a flip of the coin whether a player drafted 20-30 will even be good enough to play 100 games, let alone be an impact player.

Lou didn't believe in the scorched earth rebuilds but both times the team was reasonably out of playoff position at the deadline he sold. Its easy to say he should have drafted better after the two franchise players leave the organization, but franchise players are rarely found outside the top 10 of the draft. Had Kovy and Parise not bolted nothing else would have been put under the microscope.
- rmdevil313

I agree with this.

The past is the past. We can debate all day about "woulda, coulda, shouldas" when it comes to his decisions on contracts, Parise, Kovi's signing, etc. but what does it matter now? I remember Lou saying something to a reporter along the lines of 'yesterday is irrelevant, today and tomorrow are all that matters right now and moving forward'.

Lou Lamorirllo was always a rock of a leader for the Devils. Sure some of his decisions were seemingly odd but who knows all the variables he was up against at the time he made them.

I do miss Lou's elusive and coded remarks and answers to questions. You could never get a full read on what Lou was doing unless he wanted you to. Shero seems to give pretty generic answers which is not a bad thing but not something that makes you think at all either.

I agree with this.

The past is the past. We can debate all day about "woulda, coulda, shouldas" when it comes to his decisions on contracts, Parise, Kovi's signing, etc. but what does it matter now? I remember Lou saying something to a reporter along the lines of 'yesterday is irrelevant, today and tomorrow are all that matters right now and moving forward'.

Lou Lamorirllo was always a rock of a leader for the Devils. Sure some of his decisions were seemingly odd but who knows all the variables he was up against at the time he made them.

I do miss Lou's elusive and coded remarks and answers to questions. You could never get a full read on what Lou was doing unless he wanted you to. Shero seems to give pretty generic answers which is not a bad thing but not something that makes you think at all either.
- TRDevil

I'm not trying to make it out to seem like Lou made no mistakes but every GM does. Lou's only got magnified because the team didn't win in 2012/Parise + Kovy both left. If either of those things went differently people would be looking at it completely different.

Didn't you read eks blog ? We are buys we want to add a plug like dale weise
- blizzzard

No. I usually don't waste time reading his blogs. I only come on here to read todd's blogs and bs with you guys.

Yes, it would have. The fact he let UFA's go was under the scope every time, including Rafalski, Gomez, Gionta, Clarkson, Martin. Imagine where we would be, all those would of fetched us a 1st each and more. And the drafting was even worse before the 2012 draft. Since then we drafted Severson, Kerfoot, Santini, Wood, Zacha, Q, Blackwood, Speers, Jacobs and traded a top 10 pick for a top 3 goalie.

I do think they made some poor choices drafting since 2012, like Baddock, Chatham over Point. Some others.

But to say it wouldn't matter if Parise and Kovy didn't leave is bullcrap, because people were always bringing up the bad drafting and UFAs leaving even then.
- Devils9503

The team was never really in a position to sell when those players were set to be UFAs. I do wish he wouldn't have waited so late to start negotiating though that was his biggest fault.

The team was never really in a position to sell when those players were set to be UFAs. I do wish he wouldn't have waited so late to start negotiating though that was his biggest fault.
- K-dizzle

Lou was his own worst enemy when it came to his principles and policies. Too damn hard headed and stubborn to change with the times for the best of the team.

The team was never really in a position to sell when those players were set to be UFAs. I do wish he wouldn't have waited so late to start negotiating though that was his biggest fault.
- K-dizzle

Maybe, but the team was a financial train wreck and none of us know what he was able to do with Parise. If it was just a result of Lou's policy not to negotiate during the season then it was a mistake. That rule doesn't work in today's NHL.