Assessing Lou’s Lone Move

First, let me apologize as I intended to post this write up a few days earlier. With another trade deadline past us and a whole quarter season to go, I feel obliged to share my thoughts on what moves (in this year’s case “move” if you don’t count the Kovalchuk trade) Devils GM Lou Lamoriello made…and didn’t make to prepare his team for the upcoming playoff run. As of 3 pm this past Wednesday, the big question stands: Are the Devils a better team?

My readers may know I tend to answer most questions indirectly through implying my opinions and dancing around what was asked. My input as to whether or not the Devils are now a truly better team may be explained no differently. Before Wednesday morning’s eleven o’clock hour, the Devils acquired 30-year old defenseman Martin Skoula from the Toronto Maple Leafs after he was dealt there by the Pittsburgh Penguins the day before. In exchange for Skoula, the Devils sacrificed a 2010 fifth round pick. The majority of reactions to the trade by Devils fans appear to be of impartial or contradictory nature as the annual reoccurring belief that Lamoriello may have failed yet again to address some of his team’s immediate needs at the most opportune time of the season resurfaces.

Let’s take a look at the latest member of the New Jersey Devils…at 6’3, thirty-year old Martin Skoula has participated in only thirty-three games this year, where he’s totaled three goals and eight points, going minus four. While his numbers this year aren’t necessarily encouraging, the fact he’s struggled during his stint with the Penguins shouldn’t be a newsflash. Considering Skoula’s track record, we’ll use the excuse he didn’t fit into Pittsburgh’s style of play and the change of scenery gives him a clean slate to work with. For a player that’s averaged about sixteen minutes of ice time in thirty-three games thus far, I would say three goals and eight points isn’t that bad. Assuming he plays the final twenty games for the Devils this year, he’s on pace for about five goals and thirteen points. Not that it might mean much, but as of now, Skoula’s scored three goals on twenty-three shots, currently giving him a career-high thirteen in shot percentage. Whether that numbers rises or falls in his upcoming stint with New Jersey remains to be seen.

Consider this…over the four and a half seasons he played with the Colorado Avalanche, Skoula averaged about six goals and twenty-four points a season, getting career-highs of ten goals and thirty points, while totaling a plus twenty-three. Skoula played in sixty-one games for the Stars in 2005-2006 and had four goals, fifteen points, went plus six, and even notched a goal and six points after being traded to the Minnesota Wild, where he played in seventeen contests that same year. It might seem I’m just throwing out seemingly meaningless statistics, but the point I’m trying to throw across is it appears Skoula’s played his best hockey when he was on winning teams. During the three full seasons he played for the Minnesota Wild, it was the first team Skoula played on for a full season that missed the playoffs. While he was a solid contributor for a mid-low pairing defenseman, he never put up the numbers on Minnesota that he did with his previous teams. With that said, would it be safe to consider the Devils a winning team this year if you know what I’m getting at?

That’s what I’ve interpreted from the numbers I compiled and what we should expect as far as the Skoula addition can affect the team on paper. While the fans don’t seem to fly with the acquisition just yet, GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Jacques Lemaire, who’s familiar with Skoula as he coached him for three and a half seasons in Minnesota are very high on him. In an article written by Tom Guliti, Lemaire and Lamoriello described Skoula as a big body that could play in multiple situations. Lemaire also said he considered Skoula the team’s best defenseman at certain points while he was with Minnesota, something that Brian Rolston, a former teammate of Skoula, agreed with. Having said that, this is coming from a Minnesota Wild team that’s never truly had a considerably threatening blue line. One potential upside is it’s only been a matter of months since Lemaire and Skoula went their separate ways so if Lemaire’s evaluation of Skoula is on spot, little time should have passed for Skoula’s game to take a permanent downturn, which most Devils fans are anticipating.

I know if anything was expected of Lou, it was him trading for a defenseman to replace the alleged void that formed when Johnny Oduya was traded to Atlanta. He was expected to get a defenseman, whose quality of play was expected to replace the “offensive skill” Oduya possessed. Before he left the Devils, Oduya only had two goals, four points, and was a plus two. Since being dealt to Atlanta, Oduya’s added three assists for seven points this year and is currently a plus six, having played forty-seven games for the season and forty with the Devils. On paper, you can say Oduya’s already been replaced when you compare his and Skoula’s seasonal statistics. Skoula played fourteen less games for the season and seven less compared to the time Oduya spent with the Devils. Does Skoula make the Devils a better team? As of now, it appears so on paper, whereas how it pans out on the ice remains to be seen. I don’t expect Skoula to become the top four defenseman this team’s sorely needed since the Brian Rafalski and Scott Niedermayer days, but considering the situational numbers I mentioned that Skoula brings in, I’m hoping he’ll at least become a serviceable defender, capable of appearing in most of the Devil’s remaining games this season.

One thing that differentiates Skoula from the previous two defensemen the Devils acquired in the past two trade deadlines (Salvador, Havelid) is the experience he has at his age. Since breaking into the league in 1999, Skoula’s played in seventy-nine playoff contests, compared to the twenty-five and thirty-six playoff contests Niclas Havelid and Bryce Salvador respectively appeared in before coming to New Jersey. Although Skoula’s playoff totals amounted to a goal, thirteen points, and minus seven, he does have a Stanley Cup ring (2001, Colorado) on his resume. Save his time with Pittsburgh this year, Skoula’s played his entire career in the Western Conference, which is arguably superior to the Eastern Conference in team and player quality. If the Devils make the playoffs, Skoula could be playing in a surely competitive, but less intense brand of hockey. I wouldn’t look into that too much, but it’s always possible it could give Skoula a slight advantage, especially if he maintains the mind set he may have had against the opponents he’s face throughout his prior playoff career.

Overall, Skoula looks like he’ll be a more useful addition than most critics may have originally sought. Although he’s never dazzled or awed anyone, he seems to have contributed on and off the scoreboard on every team he’s been on and like I said, the amount of overall experience he has at his age is a unique trait of Lamoriello’s recent deadline pickups. Having said that, he doesn’t lavishly stand out on this finalized Devils roster, but expect him to be utilized to the fullest capabilities of any role he’s given, not to mention how a player of Skoula’s caliber can cut the minutes players like White, Greene, and Mottau have been getting all year. As far as I know, it’s uncertain when Skoula is going to make his Devils debut, so don’t be surprised if the Devils wait until their first home game (March tenth Vs the Rangers) to unveil their latest team addition.