The last two days I have cringed watching most teams in the East Division reload for next season. Apparently Hershey didn’t take going out of the first round to Charlotte in April lightly, as they went out the first day and snagged Calder Cup playoff leading scorer Ryan Potulny and lured forward Chris Bourque back from a one year stint in Europe. Wilkes-Barre responded by signing Colin McDonald, who only lead the AHL in goals last year with 42. Anaheim snagged former Bear Andrew Gordon, a possible win for Syracuse. Carolina signed goaltender Brian Boucher to back up Cam Ward, ensuring a potentially scary goaltending tandem in Charlotte with Justin Peters and Mike Murphy. Meanwhile all I saw New Jersey do (but they were good for the parent club) was re-sign Andy Greene and backup goaltender Johan Hedberg. With the Moose back in Jersey, it becomes a battle to see the goaltending pecking order when either him or Brodeur go down between Jeff Frazee, Keith Kinkaid, and a host of junior prospects. And I would assume David Caruso is still in the mix, even though I’m not certain of his contract status.
Then late last night, New Jersey did something smart (yes it is possible). Per a tweet from Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record and Capgeek, leading scorer Matt Anderson has been re-signed to a 2 year two way contract. Not a bad reward for someone who was just brought in on an AHL deal last summer. He only proceeded to lead the Devils in assists and points (Adam Henrique lead in goals by a 25-23 margin) in 76 games played. With Henrique a possibility to stick in New Jersey and possibly losing Chad Wiseman in free agency, this is a big step in the right direction. Another rumor I saw on my Twitter feed this week came via Norton Sports, who represents the Sestito brothers…possibly Tim re-signing with the Devils, meaning the Northway sibling rivalry between good (Tim) and evil (Tom) could resume next season.
In other Devil news this week, the team released six guaranteed home dates for 2011-12: October 8th (the home opener), November 5th, December 4th, December 17th, December 30th, and January 16th. Next step is waiting to see if there is a league realignment and the list of opponents for the season. And of course the wait for the schedule continues as well. Only 97 days to the home opener (but really who’s counting?)…
Thoughts Inside The Box 