NHL

‘PERSONALITY’ IS A BIG DEAL FOR DEVS

When Lou Lamoriello makes the deal his team awaits, he’ll likely weigh more than just position, skill and salary. He’ll have to gauge incoming temperament for the squad Brent Sutter wants.

“I like a team that has a junkyard dog mentality,” Sutter said yesterday, discussing the personality of his team rather than the Feb. 26 trade deadline. “You don’t want to be a quiet team because a lot of times, you’re a quiet team on the ice, too.”

The Devils are still creating their Sutter personality, and some of their recent stars are struggling to score, none more than Brian Gionta, whose 48 goals two seasons ago set the team record.

As the Thrashers visit Newark tonight, Gionta has 14 goals this season after snapping a 13-game drought with the 3-2 OT winner over the Senators Wednesday.

Gionta’s pace is to score 20.14 goals this season, even worse than last year’s 25. Opposing scouts, who may be shopping for trade-deadline bargains, claim Gionta’s struggle this season is the result of the loss of the tip-bait Brian Rafalski used to send his way. It doesn’t explain last season, and Gionta doesn’t clutch that crutch.

Gionta offers no remedy, just the desire to help the Devils any way he can, even if goals are scarce.

“Even when I was scoring, it was doing things I could do to help the team win,” Gionta said. “When the team’s not winning you feel more pressure.”

He said he doesn’t feel he’s been helping enough.

“Not as consistently, no. That’s what I’ve been trying to do more lately, all the way up the ice, and in all facets of the game, not just offensively,” Gionta said.

Trade rumors have included Gionta as the veteran component of big deals, perhaps for Martin Havlat, Olli Jokinen or even Mats Sundin. It seems unlikely, though, that Lamoriello would deal such a goal-scorer at the bottom of his value.

That they’re still contending for the division and conference leads, with Gionta at 14 goals and Patrik Elias at 16, suggests that Lamoriello made no mistake in hiring Sutter, unless Sutter’s style suppresses scoring, and even then, many would say the end justifies the means.

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Jay Pandolfo was given the day off from a very short practice yesterday, a precaution against overtaxing the abdominal sprain that kept him out two months. . . . The victory over Senators gave Martin Brodeur his record 12th straight 30-victory season, with former record holder Patrick Roy the runnerup at eight.

mark.everson@nypost.com