Zach Parise Out Three Months, Devils Smoldering

  The Devils bad start just became tenfold worse. It was announced Tuesday that top-line right winger Zach Parise will undergo exploratory surgery on his torn Meniscus in his right knee, and will subsequently miss three months.

  On the same day, the Devils also announced that rookie center Jacob Josefson will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks with a detached ligament in his thumb which had put him out the two games prior to last night’s contest.

  The injury to Parise occurred in Saturday night’s loss to the Los Angelis Kings in the second period in a collision with Kyle Clifford, which sat Parise out for the third period and now apparently for the next few months plus.

"The good news is that the meniscus is 100 per cent intact," Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press late Tuesday evening. "They didn't have to do anything to it other than stitch it. It will be a 100 per cent recovery and there will be no risk of anything down the road later and that's the most important thing."

  Though the collision with Clifford was slight, the awkward fall was brutal. Parise admitted to having originally injuring his right knee back in August, something he’s had to deal with over the off-season and through the first 12 games of the regular season.

"It’s been bothering me," he said. "I know exactly when I hurt it. I hurt it in August and it’s been bothering me. It hasn’t gone away. I kind of hurt it every game."

"It's something I hurt skating this summer and it hasn't gotten better," Parise said via telephone from home in New Jersey. "Every game I feel like I'd hurt it more. It would just keep happening and I feel like I've been ineffective on the ice. At the end of the second period I came off the ice and it hurt really bad," Parise said. "Every game I'd re-hurt it or re-tweak it and it gets to the point where you tell yourself it's not getting better."

  The fact that Parise played through injury doesn’t come as a surprise considering the fact that he’s a hockey player, nor surprising with the fact that the Devils have more-than needed the star top-line winger’s services. The truth is, however, Parise would have served himself and his team better by finding a solution in a quicker manor. Having gone through this injury myself and having two surgeries on the same knee, the meniscus can be tricky, and definitely hindering.

  Parise is a pivotal piece to his struggling team, and currently sits in a two-way tie for 3rd best in team points, having scored 3 goals and 3 assists, and is tied three-ways in total goals scored for 2nd best on the team, all whilst being injured.

  Last season, Parise had a solid year in point production scoring 38 goals and 44 assists for 82 points in 81 games, followed up with a +24 rating and just 32 penalty minutes. In the Olympics for Team USA, Parise netted four goals and four assists with a +4 rating in six games, his biggest goal being the game tying tally with 24 seconds remaining in regulation to send USA to overtime against Team Canada in the gold medal game.

  Parise, 26, has in short order become one of the top wingers in the National Hockey League. Through 419 NHL games Parise has scored 163 goals and 178 assists for 341 points, a +62 plus/minus rating and 145 PIMs.

  In short, any time a player of Parise’s caliber goes down for three months (plus) it’s bad news for a team, but the fact that the blow was dealt to the Devils is devastating to the franchise.

  The New Jersey Devils, who are currently 27th in the league, have gotten off to their worst start in 27 years. The Devils are 4-9-1 through 14 games, are tied for dead last in goals (25), and also tie for league worst in goals against (45). The questions of the usually dominant team’s play this season have been plentiful, and there seemingly isn’t one place the Devils aren’t struggling in.

   There is no doubt an emphasis put on the injury bug, having lost 56 man games to injury entering Monday’s contest in Vancouver. The list includes left wing Brian Rolston (sports hernia, Oct. 9, 10 games), defensemen Matt Corrente (broken left hand, Oct. 27, two games), Mark Fraser (fractured right hand, Oct. 13, eight games), Anton Volchenkov (stiff neck, Oct. 9, 10 games), Bryce Salvador (concussion, 12 regular season/two preseason games), and Anssi Salmela (knee, 12 regular season/six preseason games).

  In last night’s contest against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Devils achieved a much needed victory, but lost star goaltender Martin Brodeur during the course of the game to a mild injury to his elbow. Thankfully, Brodeur’s injury isn’t serious as he expects to play in next Friday’s contest. Backup Johan Hedberg came in relief, and backstopped the Devils to their first victory in three games.

"It's not pulled or torn," Brodeur said. "I just banged it. From past experiences with bruises, usually it takes a couple of days to feel 100 per cent.” He went on, “We'll see how this one reacts."

"Adversity is part of life," GM Lamoriello said. "As I said earlier, it's how you handle it and what you do with it. Right now, we just have to do what we are capable of doing. The players who are here have to step up and make the best of the opportunities they are going to get right now."

  While injuries have been an issue, the true issues with the team are deeply seeded, and will take extensive work to right. The problems start at the top, as the team has been poorly structured by the oft sharp hockey mind of general manger Lou Lamoriello under the salary cap rules of the NHL. The Devils sit at the absolute ceiling of the $59.4 million cap limit, with top name, high paid players such as the aforementioned veteran forward Brian Rolston, who makes over $5 million and is currently off the books due to long term injury. A good look at the team on CapGeek.com has one scratching his head.

  At some point, all of these players will be healthy, and I would think regardless of a change in production; a change is looming.

  The major problem for the Devils has been overall team chemistry, as nobody has taken charge to set themselves apart and lead the team offensively. Ilya Kovalchuk currently leads in points (3-5-8), while veteran off-season signing Jason Arnott took the reins in goal scoring leading in last nights’ contest against the Hawks, raising his total to just 4 goals.

  Ilya Kovalchuk has undeservedly taken the brunt of the bashing for the Devils’ offensive slump, after he signed a 17-year $102 million contract on the offseason, essentially causing Lou to get off track with his salary structuring. There is no doubt Kovy has and needs to find another level to restore his usual 40-goal (plus) per-season pace, but the blame may fall perhaps more undeservedly on rookie head coach John MacLean.

  MacLean most likely isn’t the one at fault here. While the team has not found consistency or chemistry, MacLean has struggled immensely trying to get his team to produce, even going as far as benching the star winger Kovalchuk and juggling lines about the best he can. Unfortunately for MacLean, if the team continues to play this way, as often is the case; MacLean will be the first man out.

  For as much as salary and injury have been a struggle for the Devils, the fact that they have made the Playoffs 13 years strait has also produced a somewhat thin depth chart. They have dressed 9 depth players, 6 of which are rookies, who all combine for no more than 38 NHL games of experience heading into Friday night’s game. By a long shot, rookie defenseman Matt Taormina has done a splendid job, recording 3 goals and 2 assists in his first 14 NHL games, and is one of only six players with a plus rating. 

  It is the defensive end of the game that the Devils have struggled with too, with players such as forwards Patrik Elias (-7), David Clarkson (-8), and defenseman Andy Green (-10) sitting an embarrassing 647th, 657th, and 665th in plus/minus respectively out of a total 669 players to step onto the ice this season (keeping in mind that a multitude of players are tied for true player positions).

  The defense has been depleted heavily in terms of veteran defensemen, as the Devils have currently half of their defensive unit making their respective NHL debuts.

  Even the legendary Martin Broduer has been far from excellent this year, thus far recording a 3-8-1 record in 14 games, with a 2.70 GAA, a .904 save percentage, and two shutouts. The 38 year-old veteran is used to a solid defensive style of team play, and a solid corps of defensemen in front of him. Broduer, too, has come under fire, with many critics questioning his ability late in his career. I don’t personally buy this for a second, and with the organization in shambles like it currently is, I see Broduer as the probable strongest asset of this team.

  The Devils certainly have some work to do, whether it be in regards to the coaching staff or the trading block (or both), the Devils expect better results, and with the roster they have there isn’t any real reason why they shouldn’t get there.

  There isn’t really a single player that doesn’t need to step it up in the absence of Zach Parise and Brian Rolston on offense, but particular names do come to mind. Veteran team leader Jamie Langenbrunner is a skilled right winger that needs to step up and play the big minutes he’s used to getting. So far this year, like most of the team, he has underperformed. He did get going in the right direction last night against the Hawks, netting a goal and two assists, but his 2-6-8, -5 rating through 14 games isn’t impressive. Despite his lackluster performance thus far, he is tied with Kovalchuk for team lead in points, and is but two goals away from the team lead in goal scoring as well which really makes you look at the rest if the team. Veterans Jason Arnott, Patrcik Elias, Dainius Zubrus, and Travis Zajac must be better. These six players (not including Parise) only account for 14 goals through 14 games.

  We placed New Jersey at the top of the Eastern Conference in our LTL Power Rankings due to their solid roster of players and veteran presence. I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong, but I truly don’t think we are far from it. The Devils will find a way, but the bridge to be gapped will be tough, and possibly quite painful for the Devils fan to endure.

- Kendall Grubbs