Despite the Devil's recent lull in their play, they have proven that they can accumulate wins even while battling injuries to key players. With that said, when the Devils return to full strength (when Clarkson, Elias, and Martin return), they will have a solid lineup with one of the more impressive offensive lineups in the league: Parise, Langenbruner, Elias, and KOVALCHUK to name a few. That offensive force with the combination of the Devil's renowned defense makes the New Jersey Devils a serious threat to take home the cup. Plus the best goalie of all time is anchoring the team. THE CUP IS OURS

Having Kovy in New Jersey solidifies an already strong offense for them. The real question is what effect will it have in Atlanta. With the team already struggling to fill seats in a southern football town the loss of the one bright spot in the teams history will most likely spell doom for the Thrashers. Atlanta will become the first city to lose 2 NHL teams, and the new homed Thrashers will probably do well there, as the Flames did in the early 80's, immediately after acquiring another star player; Jim Craig. Kudo's to Waddell for trying so hard to retain him, and razzes to Kovy for not having any loyalty to a team that desperately needed him. See ya in Jackson, Mississippi Thrashers!!!

i can't believe that the devils would ever consider paying so much for a free agent. to me this is a great shock but also great news. the devils rarely ever bring in any free agents and only when it is absolutely nessasary to fill a great need. the devils have almost exclusively brought up their best players from their farm system witch is the best in the nhl. they were starting to slump lately mainly due to injuries but even without kovalchuk, the devils are still a great team with plenty of depth. kovalchuk brings a serious scoreing threat that the devils need to blow other teams off the ice instead of winning a lot of close games. i can definately see the devils skateing with the cup held high this season.