The New Jersey Devils locked up recent first-round pick Pavel Zacha to a three-year entry level deal on Tuesday. The Devils plan to give the big Czech centerman, a guy they handed a contract to that includes a sliding scale of bonuses based on the team reaching the playoffs and his playing big minutes in the latter portion of the season, "every chance" to make their roster, according to GM Ray Shero, via Tom Gulitti of Fire and Ice.
"The goal was always to sign him and now that he's signed he has that opportunity," Shero said. "We'll still go back to the same thing: We'll make the decision we believe is best for the team and best for him and Sarnia's on line with that. I talked to their GM a few times and if he doesn't play here he's going to play back in Sarnia."
Despite Zacha looking at a potential roster spot, with the buyout of veteran winger Dainius Zubrus late last month, Shero says he's still considering a possible forward addition. The team does have a rookie like Alexandre Goulet signed to a tryout contract and expected to attend training camp, so it's possible he could make the team. Shero may also invite a veteran or two to Devils camp on a tryout. Still, he indicated to Gulitti that he remains in conversation with agents on many free agents.
"There's lots of agents that call on free agents that are out there and we're still having conversations with some teams," Shero said. "But, this will be ongoing. If there's something there that makes sense, we'd do it today. If it doesn't, then we won't. There's plenty of time before camp starts (on Sept. 17), I guess. We'll have coaches' meetings next week and after that there's some other stuff. So, we're kind of evaluating. If there is one player that makes sense to us for some particular reason, that's fine. Maybe there's a tryout or two. We'll see. We'll have to wait and see what the next week or so brings."
As for veteran winger Ryane Clowe, whose 2014-15 season was cut short by concussion issues, Shero had nothing new to report. Clowe, in 13 games for the Devils last season, managed just one goals and three assists before going down for the year. In 2013-14, his first year with the Devils, Clowe potted seven goals and 19 assists in 43 games. At 32 and with continuing health issues, Clowe may no longer be a player Shero and the Devils believe they can depend on for any type of impact.
