The Devils will return a different team than the one that skidded into the Olympic break. Whether they’ll be better depends on whether coach Jacques Lemaire can restrain himself and un-burn them out.
They’ll be better just for the returns from fractures of Paul Martin and David Clarkson, better for the further acclimation of Ilya Kovalchuk, and better for the trade that sources told The Post general manager Lou Lamoriello is still pursuing for another center.
Lamoriello, sources say, was in the hunt for Matt Cullen, who went to Ottawa from Carolina, and has made inquiries about Matt Stajan, who left Toronto for Calgary. His interest in a center is a certainty.
Another forward, Alexei Ponikarovsky, who plays like a center, is likely to be moved out of Toronto, and he may be the best they had. There has been speculation, idle or not, from NHL team officials that he could be Jersey-bound.
The main issue confronting the Devils is the fatigue on their best players, a situation only deepened by the Olympics, where Martin Brodeur, Zach Parise, Kovalchuk, and Jamie Langenbrunner will get none of the rest they so urgently need (although Patrik Elias shouldn’t be so affected, having played only 37 of 61 games). They looked a tired bunch after they hit their high-water mark of 32-11-1 by beating the Rangers in a 1-0 shootout Jan. 12. They’ve won five of their last 17 (5-10-2) thereafter, Jekyl and Hyde.
The Devils worked miracles by working like dogs in the first half of the season, pure and simple. By February, they were worn out. Brodeur had played far too often and showed the tell-tale effects, first by allowing short-side goals, second by over-anticipating passes, third by struggling against long shots.
The break — and especially the return of Martin — should be a blessing for defensemen Andy Greene and Mike Mottau, logging 24 and 22 minutes respectively, without complaint, playing the right side as lefties — a task difficult enough that Scott Stevens was reknown for his unwillingness to flip. Foes are starting to come at them, they’re worn out from heavy and underappreciated difficult duty, and it showed.
Where they’ll put Clarkson is a happy question. They’re loaded with wingers as it is, but they’ll find a place for this sparkplug, who was one of the highlights of their early season, sharing second place in team goal-scoring when he left the lineup.
But it won’t much matter if Brodeur, Langenbrunner, Parise and Greene are fried for Game 1. Lemaire must force himself to limit their workload, and if they fall from the division lead, so be it. Otherwise, a third straight first-round exit looms.