Devils Fans, It's Time to Move On: The Upcoming N.J. Offseason

The Devils' monumental collapse with 80 seconds left is 72 hours old. I have calmed down; the initial anger and shock have passed. It's now time to look at the important offseason upcoming.

This New Jersey club has a lot of decisions to make; obviously, they can't keep everyone, and who would want to after this season's ending?

But before I look at th summer of 2009, I first want to look back at the 2008-09 additions.

Brian Rolston

His salary was $4 million, yet he didn't produce like it. Lou overpaid for Rolston because he wanted a player who fit the Devils' system; the idea was that a former player was going to mesh seamlessly, so he received a bonus for it.

Rolston missed a substantial amount of time with a high ankle sprain, which is an injury that lingers. But recovery time accounted for, his stats (15 G, 17 A, 32 PTS) are still underachieving.

Grade: C

Bobby Holik

Holik was payed $2.5 million to come back, and that was another system bonus for a hoped seamless transition. He was not brought in for numbers (4 G, 5 A, 9 PTS), but to agitate the opponent.

Throughout the season, I believe he accomplished his main goal, but he took a lot of penalties at bad times. He finished the season a healthy scratch after Pandolfo, who came back from a healthy scratch, excelled.

Only a year contract can be fixed in this year's offseason.

Grade: D

Scott Clemmensen

Lou looks likes a genius bringing in the career minor-leaguer and Toronto castaway back to the team that drafted him. He played in Lowell until Brodeur went down with his injury.

At that point, he was supposed to backup Weekes, but he played so great that he became the starter in Brodeur's absence. Unfortunately, he had to be sent down immediately following Brodeur's return due to a complicated waiver process, but he saved the season, and the Devils excelled with him in net.

Grade: A

Brendan Shanahan

Shanahan was brought in when no one else wanted him: The Rangers couldn't afford him, so the Devils swooped in in January and signed him to a pro-rated $800,000 contract.

The move brought veteran leadership and a few goals and assists (6 G, 8 A, 14 PTS). He was overall a solid player, and performed younger than his age indicated. However, he did need a few "maintenance days" here and there.

Grade: B

Niclas Havelid

Acquired in the trade deadline deal for young Anssi Salmela, Havelid looked good on paper, but do not think it was coincidence that the Devils had a slide after his acquisition. He constantly gave up to puck in the defensive zone and was a point on the power play but showed no promise in that position.

He's an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Grade: D

The Current Offseason Situation (initial cap space of $1.686 million)

Unrestricted Free Agents

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