newjerseynewsroom.com

BY SAM HITCHCOCK

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

Like the Dallas Stars with Brad Richards last season, the Devils will be saddled with an impossible decision this coming February. Do they deal Zach Parise -- their franchise player, whom hockey experts have tabbed the top free agent available this upcoming off-season -- to a contender and gain as much compensation for him as possible? Or do they wait until the season, and his contract, end and try to negotiate with him while the 29 other teams in the NHL entice him?

One obvious benefit of trading Parise is that it would enable the Devils to add more blue chip prospects and glue guys, increasing their somewhat shallow depth. But if they want to hold onto him, one thing is clear: the better the Devils do this season, the better chance they have of persuading Parise that he still has a promising future in New Jersey.

At 8-6-1, the Devils have had a very intriguing start to the season. Despite being plagued by the injury bug (Travis Zajac, Jacob Josefson, Ilya Kovalchuk), they have managed to stay above water even with a very tough opening schedule and being the less talented team on a nightly basis.

Their production has come from unlikely sources. Parise has gotten off to a slow start in terms of points, although anyone who watches him knows his game is much more than just scoring. It has been veterans like Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora (finally, one of Lou Lamoriello’s old Devils coming back home actually works out!), and new faces like Adam Henrique, who have given them the fighting spirit. They are presently among the 11 teams over .500 in the Eastern Conference.

But let’s go back to their opening schedule of the past 15 games. The opponents they have faced have a record of 94-60-24. Three of the four teams they have played twice are the Capitals, Flyers, and Kings, each of which has a good chance of winning the Stanley Cup. Yet the Devils have stood tough. They are among only a few teams in the NHL that have played just 15 games, and their schedule gets easier after Saturday’s match-up with Tampa Bay. So let’s point to a few of the reasons why this team is overachieving, and figure out what it needs to do before mid-February rolls around.

I mention the trade deadline again because Lamoriello, Peter DeBoer, and the current players need to convince Parise that the Devils are headed in the right direction, and that signing a long-term contract with them is the right move. For Devils fans, that is the goal of this season. Realistically, the Devils’ best-case scenario may be squeezing into the playoffs; however, those who have watched them intently know they would struggle mightily to compete with any of the top five or six teams in the Eastern Conference, especially in a best of seven series.