This is the first installment of my player reviews for 2009/2010. This will be a daily feature were I review a players numbers and overall contribution to the team over the past season.

After much debate, it's been decided to go in number order so without further delay, let's look at #2, defenseman Mark Fraser.

Fraser's Numbers: Mark played in 61 games this season for the Devils and had 3 goals and 3 assists and was a +3 and had 36 penalty minutes which included 4 major penalties.

My Thoughts: Fraser spent the last 3 seasons playing for Albany/Lowell so this was his first season with the big boys. Fraser started out well as he got his first NHL point/goal in the first game he appeared in which was on Oct. 24th @ Pittsburgh. He would be in an out of the lineup as the season progressed, I never really looked at Fraser as an integral part of our defense scheme. I think Lemaire looked at him the same way because Fraser only played one game in the series against the Flyers and then sat out the final 2 games of that series.

Fraser's Future: He's a young kid and probably has some decent potential. As a whole, I wasn't overly thrilled with what the Devils defense brought to the table but Fraser is a guy I would consider hanging on to. Being that he is young and has had more experience in the AHL, I do want to see how he plays with guys like Matt Corrente and Tyler Eckford, so yes, lets keep him.

After a vote of confidence from the general manager and a still-burning passion for coaching, Devils’ coach Jacques Lemaire decided to call it quits after one season.

“After reflection and 17 years of coaching, I decided to retire,” Lemaire said to Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record. “It’s tough to leave what you like aside, but it’s a decision that I made and I will do.”

Lemaire originally thought of retiring last year, when he left the Minnesota Wild. But Lou Lamoriello went to Lemaire’s house in Montreal, convincing him to come back to coach the team this season.

Lemaire returned because he believed the Devils could win the Stanley Cup this season, a dream that ended Thursday night.

“When I accepted this (job), I thought we had a chance to go for the Cup and this is the reason why I accepted it,” he said to Gulitti. “You talk about frustration, it is. After one series, you’re out when you’re think of maybe making two, three, four.”

Lemaire said the Devils’ first-round exit isn’t the reason for his retirement. He said it was based solely on not having the energy to make it through an entire season.

"The year went really well. It’s not the problems that you have with the players. It’s nothing. It’s part of the game. It’s not the team. It’s not the lack of result that we had in the playoffs. It’s not that at all. I just find that it’s the end of the line. I’ll be 65. It’s just time."

Lemaire will remain with the organization in a capacity to be determined later.

The Devils will now hire their 11th coach since 1997-1998. In the five seasons since the lockout, the Devils have had five different head coaches – including Lamoriello (twice).

Lemaire took over last season for Brent Sutter, who decided to leave the organization to be closer to his family in Alberta, Canada. The former coach took the head coaching job for the Calgary Flames. Lemaire, hired on July 13, 2009, led the Devils to a 48-27-7 (103 points), their ninth Atlantic Division title and second seed in the conference. But the Devils were eliminated in the five games by the Philadelphia Flyers.

The 65-year old Lemaire, who guided the Devils to their first Stanley Cup in 1995, retired with a 588-441-183 record with 1, 213 NHL regular season games. He is the Devils’ all-time leader with 247 wins behind the bench.

Martin Brodeur will go for his 40th win tomorrow night against Columbus, which will be his eighth season of 40+ wins. No other goalie in NHL history has three 40+ win seasons.

Brodeur had three-straight 40+ win seasons until last year’s torn bicep injury ended the streak.

The Devils’ goalie believes reaching 40 wins is a significant achievement each and every season.

“It’s something I look at every year,” Brodeur said of reaching 40 wins to Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record. “It’s a pretty big number for goalies to achieve. Not many goalies have been able to put a lot of them together and I’ve been fortunate playing here to do that. But, because I play so much, I expect myself to get close and try to be there every there. But you’ve got to go out and do it. You’ve got to stay healthy.”

Brodeur failed to get the win in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the Blues.

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Ilya Kovalchuk was back in practice today after flying to Florida to be with his wife, Nicole, when she gave birth to the couple’s third child, Artem.

Artem weighed in at 7.8 pounds and was 20 inches. The Kovalchuk’s have a four-year old daughter, Karolina, and a one-year old son, Philip.

While Kovalchuk flew back to join the team, his family stayed in Florida. They have been living in their off-season home since the left-winger was traded to New Jersey. Kovalchuk plans to move the family up to his rented apartment in Hoboken, NJ.

Devils’ coach Jacques Lemaire believes the separation between Kovalchuk and his family could be weighing on the left-winger.

“We don’t know all that goes on in his mind,” Lemaire said to Gulliti.  ”He’s got the baby and moving and the wife and all of that. It’s part of worries.”

Kovalchuk has five goals and seven assists in 16 games for the Devils. Even with his struggles, Lemaire will stick with the left-winger on the powerplay.

“If his minutes would be too high, I would take some power play (time) off as long as we would score,” Lemaire said to Gulliti. “But if we’re not scoring, I want him on the power play first and then cut his minutes somewhere else.”

Only one more day until the Devils take the ice in Calgary to face off against the Flames. Here’s some news to hold you over:

Martin Skoula Joins Team In Calgary Tonight

Newly-acquired defenseman Martin Skoula joined the team tonight in Calgary. Lou Lamoriello assigned him number 28 – the number Valdimir Zharkov had all season. Zharkov has been reassigned number 18, which previously belonged to Niclas Bergfors and Sergei Brylin.

In an interview with Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record, Devils coach Jacques Lemaire seemed high on Skoula, who played for him in Minnesota.

“I think he can play as good as some of the guys we have,” he said to Gulitti. “I think he’s very solid in the defensive zone. He knows the game well. He’s a big body (6-3, 225). He protects the puck along the boards. He can make that first pass. When he’s got his game straightened up, he can do good stuff. It doesn’t mean he’s going to go ahead of our guys right away, but we’ll see what he can do and if he shows that he’s doing more things, then we’ll put him in the lineup. That’s how it works.”

Although Skoula arrived tonight, he is not expected to play in tomorrow night’s game.

Devils Players Don’t Seek Revenge Against Sutter

With the Devils facing their ex-coach tomorrow night, there would seem to be some extra incentive for the players to beat the Flames.

If there is, no one is saying it.

When interviewed today, many Devils players were indifferent about facing Brent Sutter, their coach for two seasons.

“I haven’t quite thought about it,” Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner said after today’s practice in Calgary. “We’re more concerned about starting to get something rolling than doing something him. I think they’ve got their own things to worry about trying to get into the playoffs. We’re trying to stay on top of our division.”

Sutter stepped down after the 2008-2009 campaign to be closer to his family in Red Deer, Alberta. Some players thought it was fishy when Sutter agreed to coach the Flames two weeks after leaving the Devils. His brother, Daryl, is the general manager of the Flames. But players aren’t showing any emotion about that situation either.

“That was a litle weird because we didn’t think (he was leaving) for that,” goalie Martin Brodeur said. “But, knowing the situation with his brother here and everything, if there was a place he was going to go this was it.”

There were some players, like Dainius Zubrus, who felt they were restricted in Sutter’s system.

“I’m happy now,” Zubrus said. “This year I’m way more involved in different things, whether it’s special teams. I’ve had more responsibilities than I had the past couple of years and that’s something I wanted. That’s about it.”

*Quotes from Fire and Ice Blog by Bergen Record reporter Tom Gulitti

In the third installment of “Devils At The Break,” I’ll take a look at the Brian Rolston, the Devils’ left-winger. His second go-around with the Devils has been subpar at best, and I’ll take a look at his performance.

In the summer of 2008, Rolston was one of the big free agents on the market. The 33-year old winger came off three straight 30+ goal seasons with the Minnesota Wild, and his big shot ability allowed him to quarterback the powerplay. And his powerplay numbers were stellar, as he accumulated three straight seasons of 10+ goals.

The New Jersey Devils needed a goal scorer, but Rolston’s powerplay ability enticed the team. The Devils didn’t have a true point man, with Paul Martin still a few years away from becoming an above-average offensive defenseman. The Devils offered Rolston a four-year, $20.25 million dollar contract, which the left-winger accepted. Rolston was, once again, a New Jersey Devil.

In his first season as a Devil, Rolston underperformed. The winger lost an edge and crashed into the boards in Atlanta, and had to be helped off the ice. Rolston suffered a high-ankle sprain, and the winger missed considerable time. The winger played through the injury, and his numbers reflected it. He finished last season with 15 goals, 17 assists, and 32 points, his lowest offensive output in seven years. He didn't deliver on the powerplay either, finishing with eight goals and eight assists.

This year, Rolston continues to underperform. The winger has 17 goals and 13 assists on the season, which will place him above last year’s numbers. But Rolston’s major problem comes from with his lack of shot accuracy. Although there is no specific stat to track missed shot attempts, I can confidently say that many of Rolston’s shots miss the net. He fails to hit the net time and time again, especially on the power play. Those misses greatly diminish the impact of his shot. Rolston can make goalies duck in fear, as Jean-Sebastian Giguere all showed us. His shot leveled Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, leaving him laying on the ice for several minutes. But the winger hasn’t shown that same power with the Devils. As a result, Rolston hasn’t been as effecitve scorer worth almost five million dollars a year.

But the Devils should have seen this decline coming before offering him a contract. Rolston, who recently turned 37, began to decline while with the Wild. Here are his numbers from his three years in Minnesota:

Year              Goals        Assists           Points          Plus/Minus         Powerplay Points

2005-2006       34             45                  79                 14                              32

2006-2007       31              33                 64                   6                              34

2007-2008        31             28                59                   -1                              28

As we can all see, Rolston’s production declined each of his three years in Minnesota. He was still productive, scoring over 50 points each season. However, his goals, assists, points and plus/minus all steadily declined. It should come as no surpise that, as Rolston ages, his production will decline. But with his offensive firepower, it shouldn’t fall off as steeply as it has. I cite his lack of shot accuracy as one of the main issues for his decline. But I’m sure that age accounts for part of the reason.

Almost halfway through his four year deal, Rolson hasn’t been the investment the Devils planned on. He hasn’t brought any significant upgrade to the powerplay, and his offensive skills look average at best. With the Devils in almost desperate need of some blue-line help, I would think Rolston would be the one dangled to other teams. It would be a tough sell for trades with his diminished production, but general manager Lou Lamoriello may be able to sell Rolston on his potential.

It’ll be interesting to see if Rolston stays for the length of the contract, but from what I’ve seen, Rolston already wore out his welcome. He’s become an older player whose skills have diminished. If he can find his offense, he can be a productive member of this team. But he continues to hurt the powerplay, and now skates on the third line (a checking line). Brian Rolston, a player who came with such high expectations, shouldn’t be expected to contribute as he did in Minnesota. He’s merely become an older player who will produce at a high level.

Photo Credit: Al Bello, Getty Images

In our second installment of "Devils At The Break", we'll take a look at some of the young players who have stepped in and contributed during the first part of the season. With the plethora of injuries the Devils faced this year, their AHL players showed the talent the team built within their system. None of us can be sure what the young guys will bring in the second part of the season, but their play has, without a doubt, positively impacted the team in the first part of the season.

Mark Fraser

In training camp, the Devils young defensemen showed they could perform in coach Jacques Lemaire's system. But when injuries occurred on the blue line, Fraser was the one defenseman to stick around.

Fraser was drafted in the third round of the 2005 draft, and up until this season spent considerable time with the Lowell Devils. While in Lowell last season, Fraser played 74 games, leading all defenseman with 14 assists and 17 points.

Fraser received his call up this year on October 19, and set the tone in the Devils first matchup against Pittsburgh. Fraser scored on a shot from the point at 9:50 of the first period, and the Devils won the game, 4-1. Fraser added another goal against Pittsburgh on December 21. For the first part of the season, Fraser recorded two goals and three assists. He also finished +4 for the first half, an impressive number for a young player.

Fraser hasn't seen much ice time, only averaging 12:12 of ice time a night. But the Devils young defenseman has played solid in his time on the ice. Fraser doesn't seem to be out of position often, and he often makes the smart play. While he hasn't become a staple of the defense yet, I think Fraser outplayed veterans such as Mike Mottau several times leading up to the break. It'll be interesting to see whether he receives more playing time once the Olympic break ends.

Niclas Bergfors

The now-departed right-winger, who went to Atlanta in the Ilya Kovalchuk trade, showed the offensive talent we'd all heard about for the past few years. He looked to be one of the promising rookies for the Devils this year, but fell out of favor with Lemaire, which led to his departure.

Bergorfs was selected by the Devils in the first round of the 2005 draft, and became a regular in the Devils organization in 2007-2008. It wasn't until last year that Bergfors broke out, scoring 22 goals and collecting 51 points for Lowell. He also recorded 12 power play points with the AHL club.

Bergfors broke camp with the Devils, and he was expected to contribute from the outset. He found success on the powerplay, where he scored tallied 13 total powerplay points - including eight goals. But his offensive success couldn't please his coach. Lemaire constantly berated Bergfors for not playing defensive hockey and taking too long with his shifts. The rookie only averaged 14:53 of ice time with the Devils, and his departure in the Kovalchuk trade came as no surprise.

His offensive talent shining, Bergfors has made an immediate impact for the Thrashers. In five games he's already scored three goals - two game-winners - and recorded four points. Despite his absence, the right-winger contributed to the Devils while he wore the red, white and black sweater.

Vladmir Zharkov

Another young right-winger, Zharkov was called up after getting off to a hot start for the Lowell Devils. Even though his offensive has slowed with the big club, Zharkov managed to stay around and become a productive member of the Devils.

The Devils selected Zharkov in the third round of the 2006 draft. The Russian-born winger joined the Lowell Devils in 2008, and over parts of two seasons (92 games) recorded 17 goals, 38 assists and 55 points. He also finished the 2008-2009 AHL campaign with a +23 rating.

The Devils right-winger made his NHL debut against the Islanders on November 28. Though he didn't get on the scoresheet, Zharkov put five shots on net and had several scoring chances. The rookie still hasn't scored his first NHL goal, but he's recorded eight assists while playing between the Devils third and fourth line. With some of the games he's played, I would think we'll see him light the lamp in the second part of the season.

What Zharkov lacks in offense, he's made up for with his defensive play. I haven't seen many of the Devils forecheck and play solid defense like Zharkov. The reason he's earned his consistent spot in the lineup comes from his solid play in his own end. He looks to pressure the puck whenever he's on the ice, which is something Lemaire stresses to all of his forwards. Zharkov doesn't play a ton of minutes, averaging 11:35 in ice time a game, but he's made the most of his opportunity. He's also seen some time with the powerplay, showing a little more responsibility for this team.

There have been other AHL players who played for the Devils this year, from Matt Halischuk (20 games) to Rob Davison (1 game). Many of these players contributed, but the three above contributed the most to the team before the Olympic break. With the injuries the Devils sustained this season, the play of Fraser, Bergfors and Zharkov helped to ease the pain of losing some key regulars. While none of them have become "twenty minutes a night" players, they've each given something to the team. Without their solid play, the Devils would have faced an even greater uphill battle in the first part of the season. While some of them may lose time or be sent back down, general manager Lou Lamoriello and Lemaire now know the caliber of players they have waiting in the wings.

Photo Credits:

Mark Fraser's photo: NewJerseyDevils.com

Niclas Bergfor's photo: Getty Images

Vladmir Zharkov's photo: Jonathan Newton, Washington Post