| | Associated Press
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Lou Lamoriello pulled off three
trades Monday, ensuring that none of the key players that helped
the New Jersey Devils win the Stanley Cup will be lost in next
week's expansion draft.
The Devils general manager also announced the team will have a
Cup celebration at the Continental Airlines Arena on Wednesday
night, and that he plans to resolve his own future with the
franchise soon in meetings with the new owners.
That decision might also affect the future of Larry Robinson,
who took over as coach late in the season and guided the Devils to
an NHL championship.
However, 48 hours after beating Dallas 2-1 in double overtime to
win the Cup for the second time in six seasons, Lamoriello was more
concerned with keeping the team together.
That meant wheeling and dealing so the Devils could expose two
forwards and one defenseman to the expansion draft for the new
Columbus and Minnesota franchises.
The Devils acquired right wing Steve Staios from Atlanta for a
ninth-round draft pick this year, and got right wing Ed Ward from
Anaheim for a seventh-round pick in 2001.
Staios and Ward were then left unprotected on the expansion list
the Devils had to submit to the NHL by 6 p.m. ET Monday.
Among the more notable players New Jersey also left unprotected
were backup goalie Chris Terreri, defensemen Brad Bombardir and Ken
Sutton, and forwards Steve Kelly and Steve Brule. They were all on
the Devils' Stanley Cup roster.
Kelly, who spent most of the year with Albany of the AHL, played
10 games in the postseason but none in the finals. Brule and
Bombardir played in one playoff game, and Sutton and Terreri
didn't see any action.
"We have kept this team intact and I feel good about some of
these things," Lamoriello said in a conference call about three
hours after the Devils took a team picture with the Stanley Cup,
then took time for group and family pictures.
Among those in the picture was Devils tough guy Krzysztof Oliwa,
who missed the playoffs with a knee injury. Hours after the
picture, Lamoriello traded him to Columbus for a third-round pick
next year and future considerations.
Oliwa, who had career highs of six goals, 10 assists and 16
points in 69 games, led the Devils in penalty minutes the last
three seasons, including 184 this year.
Owner John McMullen will complete the sale of the Devils to a
subsidiary of YankeeNets on July 12.
"It's going to be a big void," McMullen said after arriving
for the picture ceremony.
Harvey Schiller, head of YankeeNets, said he wants Lamoriello
back next year.
"It will be done as soon as it possibly can," Lamoriello said.
Robinson, who replaced Robbie Ftorek as coach with eight games
left in the regular season, has two more years left on his contract
as an assistant coach and two more as a consultant for the Devils.
He said he hasn't even thought about next season.
"I just want to relish what has gone on over the last couple of
months and not have to try to make decisions," said Robinson, who
admitted he was physically and mentally drained from the last two
months.
Robinson even said there was a possibility he might come back as
an assistant coach, although even he said that was just a
possibility.
As far as working for a George Steinbrenner-led group, Robinson
didn't know what to think.
"It's a new regime," Robinson said. "With Dr. McMullen you
know what to expect. I don't know what the new people are going to
want. The fact we won, I think our chances are pretty good. But
this year has been an emotional rollercoaster for me, and I want to
make sure the decisions we make are the right ones."
As far as unrestricted free agents, right wing Claude Lemieux
said he would like to return and go for his fifth Stanley Cup,
provided the money was right and his role was OK.
Forward Sergei Nemchinov would also like to return, while
defenseman Vladimir Malakhov didn't indicate a preference.
The players the Devils protected in the expansion draft were:
Goalie Martin Brodeur; forwards Bobby Holik, Jason Arnott,
Alexander Mogilny, John Madden, Randy McKay, Petr Sykora, Patrik
Elias, Jay Pandolfo and Sergei Brylin; defensemen Scott Stevens,
Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer, Colin White and Josef Boumedienne,
an unsigned draft pick in 1996.
The Cup celebration will be the same as in 1995, staged around
the parking lot of the arena.
"I think our fans know how to get here, and this is the place
and this is the proper place in life," McMullen said. "It's been
our home and I don't know of any other place to have it." | |
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