2-on-1: With Healthy Parise and New Coach, Are the Devils the Devils Again?

In their final conversation previewing the 2011-12 seasons of the local N.H.L. teams, the New York Times hockey writers Jeff Z. Klein and Christopher Botta ponder whether the Devils are ready to return to regular-season dominance.

Botta: Let me confess something, Jeff. I saved the Devils for last because, in seasons of triumph or last season’s freefall, the Devils can make the prognosticators look even sillier than usual. Is there a chance Peter DeBoer gets the Devils back to being the Devils again?

Klein: It’s true, Chris, the Devils have been the model of consistency for so many years (or at least the second model of consistency, after the Red Wings). But it seems to be coming apart now, and Peter DeBoer doesn’t seem to have the track record at the N.H.L. level to make them “the Devils” again. As the former Panthers coach, it feels like he may be more John MacLean than Jacques Lemaire.

Botta: I like DeBoer as a coach and enjoy speaking with him. I’m not going to hold his Panthers experience against him. He never had the players. The book is not out on him yet.

Speaking of having the horses, I’ve always loved to watch Ilya Kovalchuk play. But it doesn’t feel like he has connected with one linemate, let alone two in his season-plus in New Jersey.

Klein: True that, and especially when he was taken so publicly to the woodshed by MacLean. But what a rally he staged last season when Lemaire came back.

Botta: He was good in the second half, as just about everyone was. Brian Rolston, the new Islander, his numbers were terrific. Looks like Kovalchuk will start on Dainius Zubrus’s line.

Klein: It’s the big question: what happens with the $100 million man this year?

Botta: Lou Lamoriello has always said he won’t negotiate contracts during the season. Although I’d like to think he might make an exception for Zach Parise, do you think the new captain’s uncertain future in New Jersey will have a negative effect on the season?

Klein: Well, I think making Parise captain is the first step toward getting him to sign a long-term contract. As captain, he’s certainly obligated to keep contract matters submerged for the greater good of the team. But in the end, who are we to question the inner musings of Lou?

Botta: Oh, it’s not sacred anymore. He missed the playoffs last year and the Devils haven’t won a Cup since 2003! Mr. Lamoriello can handle it. To his credit, he answers the tough questions put to him.

Which reminds me. I know this question has been asked for years — Lamoriello always likes to point that out to us — but does Martin Brodeur have another 65-game, Vezina Trophy finalist season in him? This lineup needs it.

Klein: Brodeur could certainly have a good season, but a Vezina finalist? No way. He’s definitely on the downswing of his great career. It’s different now than it used to be for him. Age, wear and tear brought about in part by his own refusal to cut down on his workload, and the burden over the last couple of years of having to face more shots than he ever had with the Devils — all of that has took its toll on him. His last two, very shaky playoff performances showed that.

Botta: Maybe I’m a softie, but I have a hard time counting out Brodeur. Yes, his Vezina days may be through, but I still think he’s capable of keeping his goals-against average under 2.30 and leading a team into the playoffs.

I do like their defense more than some of our colleagues, Jeff. They need more out of Anton Volchenkov, who is compensated like a top defenseman, but this is a big, tough and mobile group. O.K, Andy Greene isn’t big, but he should put together a complete season after taking a step back last year. And Adam Larsson…what a treat he’s going to be to watch in this area for a long time.

Klein: Indeed, Larsson is an exciting arrival. But I tell ya, Chris, when the Devils lost Paul Martin to that broken arm and then sent him away, that was the end of a very long line of excellent defensemen in New Jersey that stretched back to Stevens, Niedermayer and Daneyko.

Botta: A new era may begin with Larsson. He’s that good. The Devils are really intriguing to me this season because they need strong production up front from talented but still-raw kids like Josef Josefson, Mattias Tedenby, Adam Henrique and Nick Palmieri. That’s very unDevil-like and could be asking for too much. There’s not a lot of depth in their minor league system.

Klein: You’re right. They have a future. I’m just not sold on them being a top team this season.

Botta: While I take a final few seconds to come up with a prediction, tell me, Jeff: where are the Devils finishing this season in the conference?

Klein: I have them at the same 11th-place finish they managed last year, give or take one spot.

Botta: Man, I’ve gone back and forth on this one a long time. I even texted some friends, analysts on N.H.L. broadcasts without connections to the team. Five out of six of them said the Devils would finish ahead of the Islanders in the standings. I picked the Islanders for 10th in the East. I’m going to respectfully ignore those experts and pick New Jersey for 11th.

Klein: So to sum up, I have the Rangers fifth and you have them sixth. We both have the Islanders finishing in 10th and we both pick the Devils to be one spot below them.

Botta: Part of me hopes we’re wrong, Jeff. The New York area needs a little more buzz around the Stanley Cup playoffs. Eight of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference qualify. At least two out of three teams should not be too much to ask.

Parise on His Contract Status, His Knee and Batting Practice

Zach Parise was named captain of the Devils on Wednesday; that was the easy part. In this interview, Parise discusses his comeback this season after surgery for a torn meniscus in his knee and his approach to handling questions about being in the final year of his contract.

Before training camp a year ago, you and your pal Kyle Okposo took batting practice with your hometown baseball team, the Minnesota Twins? Did the knee injury from last season make you take a pass on BP this year?

Nah. My health is good. It had more to do with our Twins’ having a rough season. As pro athletes, we figured it wouldn’t be right for us to be out there having a blast on the ballfield when the Twins were going through some bad times. Hopefully next year they’ll be back on top and we can have some fun again. That was a real thrill for me.

So let’s talk about the knee. Would you say you’re 100 percent going into the opener against the Flyers on Saturday?

No question in my mind. It feels good. More importantly, it’s out of my head. I worked hard to get it to this point and got great treatment and advice from the trainers and medical staff. With each exhibition game, I felt more confident and like I had added energy. I’m ready to go and can’t wait for the games to start for real.

You were around the team for most of last season while you were injured, but it can’t be the same emotionally as being in the lineup and contributing.

You really miss the little things. Like you said, I was around, but it’s so different when you’re not throwing on the jersey before warmups. You miss all the little things about being on the road with your friends and trying to be better than the other team. I’d always heard athletes say this, but now I know the feeling. When you’re away from the game for just about the entire season, you appreciate your team and everything you have even more.

You came back to play one game late in the season, which I admit surprised me. In hindsight, was it the right thing to do?

Absolutely. No one has any regrets with how we handled it. The one game I came back for, that’s when we were fighting for our playoff lives. I told everyone then that I was good enough to play. We ended up losing the game and were eliminated from getting a playoff berth, so we all got together and decided the smart thing to do was to shut me down. I’m glad I gave it my best shot, and shutting down for the last few games of the year gave me a jump-start on my off-season training. It was not a fun process, but every step of the way I feel we did the right thing.

It’s one thing to be asked every few weeks by the New Jersey and New York beat writers you deal with on almost a daily basis. But I’m wondering if you have an answer about your contract status prepared when you visit the hockey-mad cities like Toronto and Montreal during the season. You have to know you’ll be surrounded at the morning skates.

[Laughs] That’s a good point. I haven’t prepared anything, no. I guess I’ll just tell them what I tell everyone else: “I’m not worried about it, I’d like to stay and I’m sure something will get worked out, but my focus is on our team and this season.” That’ll have to do.

Parise On His Contract Status, His Knee– and Batting Practice

Zach Parise was named captain of the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday; that was the easy part. In this one-one-one interview, Parise discusses his comeback this season after surgery for a torn meniscus in his knee and his approach to handling questions about being in the final year of his contract.

Before training camp a year ago, you and your pal Kyle Okposo took batting practice with your hometown baseball team, the Minnesota Twins? Did the knee injury from last season make you take a pass on BP this year?

Nah. My health is good. It had more to do with our Twins’ having a rough season. As pro athletes, we figured it wouldn’t be right for us to be out there having a blast on the ballfield when the Twins were going through some bad times. Hopefully next year they’ll be back on top and we can have some fun again. That was a real thrill for me.

So let’s talk about the knee. Would you say you’re 100 per cent going into the opener against the Flyers on Saturday?

No question in my mind. It feels good. More importantly, it’s out of my head. I worked hard to get it to this point and got great treatment and advice from the trainers and medical staff. With each exhibition game, I felt more confident and like I had added energy. I’m ready to go and can’t wait for the games to start for real.

You were around the team for most of last season while you were injured, but it can’t be the same emotionally as being in the lineup and contributing.

You really miss the little things. Like you said, I was around, but it’s so different when you’re not throwing on the jersey before warmups. You miss all the little things about being on the road with your friends and trying to be better than the other team. I’d always heard athletes say this, but now I know the feeling. When you’re away from the game for just about the entire season, you appreciate your team and everything you have even more.

You came back to play one game late in the season, which I admit surprised me. In hindsight, was it the right thing to do?

Absolutely. No one has any regrets with how we handled it. The one game I came back for, that’s when we were fighting for our playoff lives. I told everyone then that I was good enough to play. We ended up losing the game and were eliminated from getting a playoff berth, so we all got together and decided the smart thing to do was to shut me down. I’m glad I gave it my best shot, and shutting down for the last few games of the year gave me a jump-start on my offseason training. It was not a fun process, but every step of the way I feel we did the right thing.

It’s one thing to be asked every few weeks by the New Jersey and New York beat writers you deal with on almost a daily basis. But I’m wondering if you have an answer about your contract status prepared when you visit the hockey-mad cities like Toronto and Montreal during the season. You have to know you’ll be surrounded at the morning skates.

[Laughs] That’s a good point. I haven’t prepared anything, no. I guess I’ll just tell them what I tell everyone else: “I’m not worried about it, I’d like to stay and I’m sure something will get worked out, but my focus is on our team and this season.” That’ll have to do.

Metro Puck: Ranking the Top Offensive Forwards Among the Rangers, Islanders and Devils

There are now nine elite scoring forwards among New York and New Jersey’s hockey teams. Two years ago, list-makers would find it challenging to nominate more than one each from the Rangers, Islanders and Devils. Now it’s an embarrassment of Richards and Tavares and Kovalchuk.

These gentlemen – no, really, they all play this nasty game fairly – are capable of scoring a minimum of 30 goals, averaging a point a game, or both. The oldest is 35 years of age, the youngest just 21. The relative youth among the nine means we should finally see more playoff hockey in Manhattan, Uniondale and Newark over the next few seasons.

A few words about the criteria for this one-man poll: the players are ranked not on potential, but simply on value to their teams for the 2011-12 season. While these humble hockey players may be honored just to be in each other’s company, you are invited to submit your own list (and other worthy candidates) in the comments space.

1. Brad Richards, Rangers: Richards has never scored 30 goals in his ten-year N.H.L. career; he established his high of 28 last season with Dallas. But the Rangers’ must-have free agent acquisition from this summer has eclipsed the 70-point plateau 7 times. In reuniting with his playmaking center on the 2004 Cup-winning squad in Tampa Bay, Coach John Tortorella is relying on Richards to set up Marian Gaborik all season long. An 80-point season for Richards is a reachable goal.

2. John Tavares, Islanders: Every Canadian junior league scout could tell you Tavares, 21, would be a masterful sniper in the N.H.L. within close range. What has surprised some league observers is his ability to make a pinpoint pass opponents do not see coming. Tavares had 24 goals and 54 points as a rookie and 29 goals and 67 points last season. The Islanders, who signed him to a six-year contract extension this summer, have reason to believe he can reach at least 35 goals and 75 points in year 3.

3. Zach Parise, Devils: The U.S.A. Olympian missed all but 13 games last season with a torn meniscus in his right knee, but looked in a preseason win on Saturday over the Flyers like he has made a complete recovery. Parise, who is on the last year of his contract and could become an unrestricted free agent next July 1, averaged 42 goals and 88 points over his two seasons before getting hurt. If he returns to the top of his game and matches those numbers, the 27-year-old will be in position to pick his team next summer. Count, as the Devils surely are, on Parise staying in New Jersey.

4. Ilya Kovalchuk, Devils: Inarguably the most explosive player in the region, the left wing from Russia has more to prove as a Devil. Last season he had 31 goals and 60 points – his lowest totals since his rookie year with Atlanta in 2002-03 – and was unable to lift his club when Parise was injured and players sulked under former coach John MacLean. The bar is higher for Kovachuk, and it’s not because of his 15-year, $100 million contract. Expectations are great because of his skill level.

5. Michael Grabner, Islanders: In a shocking waiver wire steal, the Islanders lifted Grabner from the Panthers after the Austrian struggled through a slow start in his first Florida training camp. Grabner, who won the Fastest Skater competition on N.H.L. All-Star weekend, scored 34 goals for the Islanders. If he can improve his ability to finish his innumerable breakaways, Grabner can become of the league’s top game-breakers.

6. Marian Gaborik, Rangers: There will be no excuses for Gaborik, a highly skilled sniper who scored just 22 goals last season. Richards has arrived and the pair is expected to elevate the Rangers from a fringe playoff team to a squad challenging for home-ice advantage in the first round.

7. Ryan Callahan, Rangers: New York’s newly-christened captain set career highs last season with 23 goals and 48 points in 60 games last season. Although he may never be a big goal scorer, Callahan is revered among his teammates and coaches for his physical play. He is viewed as one of the most effective second-line forwards in the game. His only downside: Callahan plays so hard – often selfishly giving up his 5-11, 195-pound body to block a shot – he could be prone to breaking a few bones, as he did last season in missing 22 games and the playoffs.

8. Matt Moulson, Islanders: Moulson scored 30 and 31 goals the last two seasons for the Islanders after never getting his big break in the farm system of the Los Angeles Kings. He averaged just 20 assists the last two seasons, which suggests Moulson is a finisher and not much of a passer. If he continues to pot at least 30 goals each season playing to the left of Tavares, no one with the Islanders is going to complain.

9. Patrik Elias, Devils: Check out the Czech’s point totals since 2006-07: 69, 55, 78, 48 and 62 last season. While the ups and downs may have been affected in part by the quality of his linemates, the 35-year-old Elias must have a 30-goal, 30-assist campaign to help the Devils qualify for the playoffs. Elias is a proud competitor. Don’t bet against him.

Close: Brandon Dubinsky, Rangers; Kyle Okposo, Islanders

Developing: Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson, Devils; Nino Niederreiter, Islanders

Metro Pucks Report: Staal, Streit, Avery, Josefson, Parise, Nabokov

The uncertain status of their best defenseman looms over the Rangers as they prepare to leave Monday night on a European road trip that includes four exhibition contests and the first two games of the regular season.

Marc Staal, the 24-year-old anchor of the club’s blue line, participated in an hour-long, non-contact practice on Sunday, but he will not travel with the team to Prague, where the Rangers play the first of four European preseason games on Thursday. Staal is still experiencing symptoms from a concussion sustained in a game in Carolina in February, when he absorbed a punishing hit from his brother Eric, a star forward with the Hurricanes.

Rangers Coach John Tortorella told reporters on Sunday that Staal was continuing a series of tests and treatments, including acupuncture. The club’s medical personnel should be able to provide an update on his condition by the end of the week. Tortorella would not rule out the possibility that  Staal would meet the team in Europe and be in the opening day lineup. The Rangers play the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 7, and the Anaheim Ducks the following day. Both games are in Stockholm.

“We’re going to try and get him on the trip,” Tortorella said. “Once he feels better and we know he can get into all the stuff we need for him to be ready for the regular season, he’ll come out.”

While the Rangers wait for answers, the high hopes of the franchise and its fans for Stanley Cup contention are tempered, at least temporarily. New York added the first-line center Brad Richards as a free agent in July, addressing the roster’s primary need. The Rangers have a balanced attack at forward and an All-Star,  Henrik Lundqvist, in goal. But without Staal, the team’s leader in ice time and a defender who plays in every crucial situation, the coaching staff will struggle to find effective matchups against Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin and the other high-powered forwards of the Eastern Conference.

As coaches do, Tortorella tried to spin Staal’s absence as a chance for other defenders to showcase their ability. But Tortorella, who does not go about his profession with a lack of zeal, was a bit halfhearted in his pronouncement.

“Everybody bumps up,” he said. “Everybody gets more of an opportunity. I guess that’s the best way to put it.”

Tortorella may have no other choice. The roster includes a veteran shutdown defenseman in Dan Girardi and the emerging young talents Ryan McDonagh and Michael Sauer. All are capable of logging extensive minutes in a pinch. But over the six-month grind that is the N.H.L. regular season, no one on the Rangers’ roster can replace Staal if his absence is prolonged. In the salary cap era, there is also no way to replace a player of his caliber with a trade or free-agent signing.

“If we don’t have him,” the Rangers’ captain, Ryan Callahan, said of Staal, “there’s a huge hole.”

Expect the Rangers to continue to be cautious with Staal. He can always meet them further down the road.

TRENDING

Up: Mark Streit – On Saturday the Islanders defenseman reminded the league what his team missed last season when he was sidelined for all 82 games with a serious shoulder injury. In his first game in 17 months, a preseason contest against the Devils at Nassau Coliseum, Streit played 24 minutes and had a goal and two assists in a 6-2 Islanders victory.

Down: Sean Avery – The Rangers’ shift-disturbing wing has neither played nor misbehaved his way out of the lineup. Avery appears to trail Mats Zuccarello for the final forward position available and is joined in the battle for a job by the youngsters Dale Weise and Carl Hagelin and the veteran shootout specialist Erik Christensen. The Rangers possess more depth than they’ve had in years. Unless Avery shines in the team’s final five preseason games, starting Monday in Philadelphia, he could be placed on waivers and start the season with the minor league affiliate in Connecticut.

SHOW OF HANDS
The Devils are counting on 20-year-old center Jacob Josefson to be a playmaker on a line with Zach Parise or Ilya Kovalchuk this season. As Josefson, New Jersey’s 2009 first-round pick, demonstrated in this goal on Friday against the Rangers, assisted by Kovalchuk, the Swede can finish, too. His rapid release gave Rangers goaltender Martin Biron no time to react.

NOTES

In the league’s worst-kept secret since the Atlanta Thrashers’ springtime relocation to Winnipeg, the details for the 2012 N.H.L. Winter Classic will be announced on Monday in Philadelphia. The combatants, whose prize is four weeks of strong, uncensored exposure on the HBO documentary series “24/7,” are the Rangers and host Flyers. The outdoor game will be held on Jan. 2 at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Over the last two weeks, the Islanders named Streit as captain and the Rangers selected Callahan. Next up are the Devils. Their choice is expected to be Parise, the gifted goal scorer and United States Olympian who could become a free agent at the end of this season.

After starting Rick DiPietro in Boston on Friday and Al Montoya at home on Saturday, Coach Jack Capuano figures to give Evgeni Nabokov his shot this week in the Islanders’ goalie competition. The team plays its final exhibition games on Tuesday in Calgary; Friday in New Jersey; and Saturday in Bridgeport, Conn. against the Bruins. Also, look for the team to sign 37-year-old defenseman Steve Staios, who has impressed management during his training camp tryout with gritty play and inspiring leadership.

Chris Botta will report all season on the Rangers, the Islanders and the Devils.