Confirmed with Link: Devils buy out Volchenkov

[Better Call Sal]

So long Volchie. Real warrior of a player, I'll miss him in general but this move had to be made.

 

[glenwo2]

I'm very pleased that Lou got off his butt and did something. Lord knows I was expecting the worst-case scenario and him basically not doing ANYTHING as far as Volch/Sal goes.

Glad that my fears were proven to be unfounded....THIS TIME.

Hopefully, this is a sign of GOOD things to come from Lou.

Also, July 1st is just a few days away.....We'll know(hopefully) whether Cory gets an extension or that we're basically screwed. Joy.

Again, though, I'm glad that(to borrow Fayne Staley's words) this anchor is no longer holding us down. Yeah he was effective for what he was....but not at that Cap hit.

 

[Reid Boucher]

Might have already been said, but how much cap space do we gain from this?

 

[Basement Cat]

I'm very pleased that Lou got off his butt and did something. Lord knows I was expecting the worst-case scenario and him basically not doing ANYTHING as far as Volch/Sal goes.

Glad that my fears were proven to be unfounded....THIS TIME.

Hopefully, this is a sign of GOOD things to come from Lou.

Also, July 1st is just a few days away.....We'll know(hopefully) whether Cory gets an extension or that we're basically screwed. Joy.

Again, though, I'm glad that(to borrow Fayne Staley's words) this anchor is no longer holding us down. Yeah he was effective for what he was....but not at that Cap hit.

Its tomorrow!

 

[NC107*]

Its tomorrow!

Doesn't June have 31 days sometimes? Or is that February with 28 or 29 days?

 

[EnglishDevil]

I'm very pleased that Lou got off his butt and did something. Lord knows I was expecting the worst-case scenario and him basically not doing ANYTHING as far as Volch/Sal goes.

Glad that my fears were proven to be unfounded....THIS TIME.

Hopefully, this is a sign of GOOD things to come from Lou.

Also, July 1st is just a few days away.....We'll know(hopefully) whether Cory gets an extension or that we're basically screwed. Joy.

Again, though, I'm glad that(to borrow Fayne Staley's words) this anchor is no longer holding us down. Yeah he was effective for what he was....but not at that Cap hit.

Tomorrow lunchtime, literally less than 24 hours

 

[EnglishDevil]

Doesn't June have 31 days sometimes? Or is that February with 28 or 29 days?

February June always has 30 days.

 

[DirtyJerzey]

Oh lordy lordy lordy thank you Jesus

 

[glenwo2]

DAMMIT!!! I knew I should've checked my calendar.



Oh well. I meant Tomorrow. You all know that, right? RIGHT?

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Might have already been said, but how much cap space do we gain from this?

his full cap hit is cleared....$4.25 million for the next 2 years

 

[I Hate Tie DOMI]

DAMMIT!!! I knew I should've checked my calendar.



Oh well. I meant Tomorrow. You all know that, right? RIGHT?

What has been seen, can't be unseen.

 

[glenwo2]

What has been seen, can't be unseen.

I know. My reputation is now in shambles. *sniff*

I must now pick up the pieces and go eat a hat with A1 sauce. (Kaoss would love that)




So I'm wondering now whether Sal gets bought out next or will Lou just let his contract expire.....

 

[NJDevs26]

he did it because he wanted to know the cap limit before he made his decision. he doesn't do it to piss off the fans.

his methods won't make him a popular one on HF...but after reading some posts on here, we can count our blessings for that. time was on his side, he used it, and he improved the team by doing so.

Geez these threads are becoming combative today (not so much this post, just the general mood here and in the team thread).

Nobody assumed Lou would do nothing because he went two days into the buyout period without using it. Some of us (including me) feared Lou would do nothing because we've had two years of this defensive logjam and nothing was done about it.

And maybe the cap being $2 million less did factor in, or maybe Lou's just saying that to justify coming close to doing a double-take after saying a buyout was unlikely...whatever. I'm not doing somersaults over Volch being bought out, I like the guy - but it was something that had to be done.

 

[DirtyJerzey]

I'm very pleased that Lou got off his butt and did something. Lord knows I was expecting the worst-case scenario and him basically not doing ANYTHING as far as Volch/Sal goes.

Glad that my fears were proven to be unfounded....THIS TIME.

Hopefully, this is a sign of GOOD things to come from Lou.

Also, July 1st is just a few days away.....We'll know(hopefully) whether Cory gets an extension or that we're basically screwed. Joy.

Again, though, I'm glad that(to borrow Fayne Staley's words) this anchor is no longer holding us down. Yeah he was effective for what he was....but not at that Cap hit.

ummmm...... how does tomorrow sound ? lolol

 

[Sascha Goc]

 

[Oneiro]

I don't buy the notion that Volchenkov was effective at any facet of the game. I consider blocking shots to be a symptom of poor defending.

Volch seems like a good guy who plays hard, but I wouldn't consider him a good defenseman even if he could skate like Fowler. Salvador is a better positional defender by miles. They both lack mobility so that makes it a discussion.

Anyway. This is the worst contract Lou's given out in terms of value received by the team. Glad he did the right thing.

 

[Basement Cat]

Blocking shots is not a symptom of poor defending.

-signed by a defenseman who takes pride in blocking shots

 

[NJDevs26]

Part of the problem was Volch's best asset (blocking shots) was something Marty wasn't too high on in general. Signing a defenseman who is one of the best in the league at blocking shots to play in front of a goalie that doesn't like defensemen blocking shots...in hindsight that wasn't going to work out well. Plus he lost a step or three he couldn't afford to lose.

 

[MountainGoat]

I remember a lot of Devils fans saying hear a couple years ago that coaching systems really restricted Volchenkov from playing the game like he did in Ottawa. Do you still think that is true?

nah he's just a PK specialist at this point and he can't go for any big hits because he can't skate

if Volchenkov signed with us when he was younger we would have loved him

 

[Bleedred]

I don't remember the guy doing much to piss me off this year. Only in the first few weeks of the season when no one on the team know what the hell they were doing.

Would have preferred him over Salvador, but it had to be done with two years remaining. I wish him well. Hope he catches on somewhere else in the league.

 

[Semak]

Pretty much this, stick the kids in and get the growing pains over with, it will benefit us greatly in the long run.

I'm down with this too, would love to have Fayne back though.

Excellent, Thanks Lou. Now asking for Sal to go is that pushing it?

 

[MadDevil]

nah he's just a PK specialist at this point and he can't go for any big hits because he can't skate

if Volchenkov signed with us when he was younger we would have loved him

He was built for pre lockout 2005 hockey when the game was slower. Since it's gotten faster his lack of speed has become a huge liability. I'll always respect the guy for being an absolute warrior, but he had to go.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

He was built for pre lockout 2005 hockey when the game was slower. Since it's gotten faster his lack of speed has become a huge liability. I'll always respect the guy for being an absolute warrior, but he had to go.

Not entirely true, as Volchenkov peaked around 2007-08.

The more likely scenario is that he began breaking down in his late 20s due to a) existing milage and b) the type of game he plays.

 

[Devils Unseen Hand]

Volchenkov was the worst contract Lou's given out in terms of value received by the team. Glad he did the right thing.

2nd worse. Clowe's contract is horrific!!!

 

[AfroThunder396]

We're kind of biased against Volchenkov because he wasn't good for us but the dude was a top-tier defensive defenseman from '04-'09. And he was a tough son of a *****.

I'm glad he's not on the team anymore but I don't have any ill will towards the guy. Wish him the best of luck in the future.

That being said....this was 100% the right move. I'd argue Salvador is the worse player but Volchenkov's contract was pretty rough. I'm really glad Lou did the right thing here.