Patrik Elias has been here before, so forgive the Devils forward when from his depth of confidence comes a snarky answer.
With both Zach Parise and Petr Sykora gone from the Devils’ lineup one season after the team went to the Stanley Cup Finals, there is a void of 52 regular-season goals that has not been filled with any big replacement. So when asked the other day where all those goals are going to come from, Elias answered quickly, smiling.
“Inside the locker room,” he said. “Here.”
It’s a simple answer — or a naïve one — but Elias has not won two Stanley Cups out of coincidence. After both triumphs with the Devils, in 2000 and 2003, Elias watched some integral players leave the team. And each season that followed, new personnel were inserted into bigger roles and one of North America’s model sports franchises kept chugging along. Yet with almost the same roster coming back — minus Parise and Sykora — it seems the gap is as large now as ever for the Devils to sustain the already underwhelming offensive output.
“No question we lost some great players there, but this team always takes pride in keep going no matter who left,” Elias said. “Some guys are going to have a bigger role. … We believe in this talent, and when everybody is on the same page, you can be successful.”
Coach Pete DeBoer, who took the Devils to within two wins of hoisting the game’s most prized possession in his first season, said he is not planning on changing the system because offensive firepower has left the roster.
“There’s no doubt that when you lose some of the guys we’ve lost, other guys have to fill those holes,” DeBoer said. “You’re not replacing Zach Parise with one guy. It has to be by committee.”
And one man definitely on that committee is center Travis Zajac, who at 27 years old has finally emerged from Parise’s shadow, whether he’s ready or not. After missing most of last season with an Achilles injury, Zajac returned just before the playoffs and showed mettle and skill throughout the postseason run.
“I thought I had a strong playoffs,” said Zajac, who is in the last year of his four-year, $15.5 million deal signed in 2009. “It’s a big year for me. I think it’s a chance where I can hopefully take my game to another level.”
That’s a new level most in the organization are hoping for — and one that would fall right in line with the history of the franchise.
“I think with this team, we’ve dealt with that before, losing some important pieces, and found a way to overcome it,” Zajac said. “Collectively, we’ll all have to be better.”
Center Jacob Josefson did not skate again yesterday, but DeBoer said he expects the 21-year-old Swede to be back on the ice today and will be ready for the season-opener against the Islanders on Saturday.