More players packing up for the offseason.
The second part in our four part series on the Devils players and their grades. By the way, if I didn’t grade them….just presume they got an incomplete and are undergoing intensive Devils training.
And now I turn the floor over to the Professor…….
Our next set of players starts with…….
Jamie Langenbrunner (W)
2006-07: 23 G 37 A 60 pts -10…82 games
Well hey he did lead us in PPG’s this season with 12. He was also the POP in the ZZ Pop line. I did get the amount of points right…that is scary folks….very scary. Jamie plays hard…damn hard but for some reason couldn’t finish in the playoffs…and that did kind of drag Parise down a bit….he did score the game winner against Ottawa in Game 2 however but missed a number of wide open chances in Ottawa. A solid season but subpar defensively for Jamie and that is unusual…I expect him to bounce back next season but we have to grade him on his body of work this season and that wasn’t so hot.
Grade: B- (C+ for the playoffs)
Brian Rafalski (D)
2006-07: 8 G 47 A 55 pts +4…82 games
He’s 34….and too old to be making some of the mistakes he did towards the tail end of the season and in the playoffs. Sometimes I really don’t know how he was a +4. His offensive numbers were good…but actually could have been better. The lack of speed has become his undoing as I believe he has lost a step….and doesn’t have the positional ability of a Stevens to make up for it. Rafalski never got in the way of Marty like he did at times in the playoffs…and now that he is an UFA…one wonders if his time is up in New Jersey….the Devils could go in a different direction. I like Brian…but defensively his game may be up…great on the PP…good as an offensive d-man but not what he once was.
Grade: C+ (C- in the playoffs)
Travis Zajac (C,W)
2006-07: 17 G 25 A 42 pts +1…80 games
Hit a bit of a wall this season and then in the playoffs. Was part of the ZZ Pop line that really made a splash against Tampa….played really solid and then for some reason just stopped….even his defense wasn’t so hot against Ottawa but then again who’s was. Solid player who still has a bit to fill out in his frame. When he does, look out. Until then, he will continue to mature under John Maclean who really has helped him out in practice. Also, dishing to Zach Parise is like watching those old North Dakota Fighting Sioux games…ah those were the days. Travis had a very nice season…I thought he could have done a little better at the end (that long 15 game scoreless streak kinda soured things a bit).
Grade: B (C+ for the playoffs)
Sergei Brylin (W)
2006-07: 16 G 24 A 4o pts -5…82 games
Maybe all that playoff hockey is finally catching up to Sergei…I don’t know. He was one of the toughest players to grade because I really like the guy as a hockey player…he is the truest trooper you can ask for. His 40 points were right about what I expected…but what really fell off was his defense….damn that seems like a theme for this team…doesn’t it??? The speed wasn’t there….it was almost as if he had sympathy groin pain late in the season right thru the playoffs. Played the two rounds at times like he was in quicksand and that is just not Serge-like…hopefully he comes back ready for next season….Devils should sign him.
Grade: C+ (D+ for the playoffs)
John Madden (C)
2006-07: 12 G 20 A 32 pts -7…74 games
UGH! This is all I can say. The shorthanded specialist….really didn’t deliver like he normally did in past seasons. The groin injury really slowed him down for the playoffs…I am firmly convinced he was not 100% at all. However, his play slipped a few notches even before the injury…and really had a subpar season honestly. Yes, +/- can be overrated but the Tampa and Ottawa series did not lie and it showed that maybe the time is now that Madden doesn’t need to be matched up against the team’s top lines all the time. It does wear a player down. Madden honestly has potential to score more and so does Brylin….its all in the confidence…and that confidence dried up for Madden late in the season and he never got it back offensively or defensively.
Grade: C+ (D for the playoffs)
Stay tuned for Part 3……coming soon……….
