Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik

Who's Out: Vitaly Vishnevski, Sergei Brylin, Arron Asham, New York's Sean Avery signed in Dallas (probably worth mentioning)

What's Changed: Not a whole lot has changed in New Jersey, although it was interesting to see Lou Lamoriello open up the wallet during the off-season. The Devils brought back both Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik this summer in an effort to turn the clock back to 2000 (can Ken Daneyko and Scott Stevens be far behind?). Sources tell me that later this week Lou will unveil his plans to build a time machine in the basement of the Prudential Center. Actually the reasoning behind the signings was more than likely to, you know, improve the team but it's fun to imagine what schemes Lou is thinking up.

The team had a heck of a season last year, when most people were picking them to take a step back. Despite being in a tough division, the Devils managed 99 points and the third most points in the conference. They also managed to lose to the Islanders and Rangers a total of 13 times last year, which doesn't make any sense at all considering they only lost to the rest of the NHL 16 times. Obviously, they're going to have to focus a bit more on their tri-state area rivalry games.

The Devils are going into this season about the same they went in last year, except this time no one is sleeping on them. Despite a defense that leaves a bit to be desired, they still have Marty Brodeur and as long as they have him and he isn't aging horribly, you can't leave the Devils out. I apologize, because you're going to hear that line about a million times this year, and you've probably heard it a million times already. But it's true. He's still the best player on the team and posted a 2.17 GAA and .920 SPCT last season. Pretty sick numbers, to be sure. Oh and he's 36, which in goaltender years is almost unheard of. A few more years and the shelter is going to have to put him down for his own good.

There's a meme that has been circulating among hockey blogs and message boards for probably as long as those forums have existed that basically asserts that Martin Brodeur isn't a particularly talented netminder and that his frequently gaudy numbers are merely the result of playing in a painfully boring, but effective, defensive system. At least that's the meme in its current form, as the causal clause has had to be tweaked a few times (from "playing for Jacques Lemaire" to "playing behind Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer" to the more generic way it's repeated now) in order to isolate the true reason behind Marty's perennially minuscule goals against average (which is most certainly not the result of, you know, talent).

But whether or not Martin Brodeur is a fraud is a discussion for another day. Today we're taking a look at a guy -- Pascal Leclaire -- who just might be the heir apparent to Brodeur's throne. No, not in terms of all those wins, Cups, wives and Vezinas (though who knows?), but in terms of being called out as merely the beneficiary of a painfully boring, but effective, defensive system.

Perhaps Fedor Fedorov wants to be known as "the tough" Fedorov.

At 6'4" and 230 pounds, the Devils' pivot is a good two inches and 23 pounds bigger than his more celebrated older brother (the two are pictured at right), and he certainly has a bit of fiestiness to him that Sergei hasn't displayed (on the score sheet, at least) since he last dropped the gloves with Kelly Kisio back in 1992.

The younger Fedorov had 117 penalty minutes in 49 games in the RSL last season, at least fifteen of which came as the result of this scrap with former Washington Capitals wannabe pest Darcy Verot (who, to his own discredit, racked up a whopping 511 PIMs in just 43 games), and has already had his first scrap since coming back across the Atlantic, getting into a dust-up with Devils prospect Harry Young (who had 17 fights in the OHL last season) on the fourth day of Jersey's development camp.

Assuming that Fedor Fedorov is actually allowed to play in the NHL this season, he'll be picking up a torch he dropped when he last skated in an NHL game back on Halloween, 2005. Fedorov will be carrying on the great hockey tradition of being the far less talented of two brothers, in his case stinking relative to his nearest relative, Capitals pivot Sergei.

The standard-bearer in this tragicomic club, of course, is Brent Gretzky, he of the 13-game NHL career in which he fell just 2,853 points shy of his older brother's all-time regular season scoring record. But the Fedorov brothers are certainly up there in terms of total point differential, with a current differential of 1,144.

What makes each member of this grouping of brotherly busts noteworthy is that they had the talent (or perhaps merely the name) to get to the show, but nowhere near the skills of their superior siblings. They're hockey's Neil Connery. Puck's Jackie Jackson. The NHL's fat Kardashian sister.

Johnny Oduya has a really cool name, but that doesn't get the New Jersey Devils defensemen all that much attention. After being selected in the 7th round by the Capitals way back in 2001, the Caps gave up on him fairly quickly and he headed back to Europe, probably thinking he'd never get a shot in the NHL.

The New Jersey Devils, in search of a cheap defenseman to plug into their blue line, ala Brian Rafalski, signed Oduya away from the Swedish league, and the bullish defenseman has quietly become one of the better defensive defensemen in the NHL.

Oduya had 26 points and was +27 (eighth best in the league) in 75 games last season, suggesting he is a pretty solid piece of work. There is more, however, than meets the eye.

One of my favorite bloggers, the man who runs The Puck Stops Here, crunched some numbers to come up with an Adjusted +/- stat. Basically, how does a player affect the game while he is on the ice compared to when he is off the ice?

The top defenseman on the list? Johnny Oduya! That's right, he ranks even higher than pretty boy Nicklas Lidstrom.

Does this mean that Oduya is the NHL's best defensive defenseman? No. The stat does have flaws, but it does highlight the fact that Oduya's defensive play is excellent, and his effect on the New Jersey Devils is very much understated.

And for all of this, the New Jersey Devils had to pay a paltry $600,000 in salary to Oduya last season. Kinda makes that Jeff Finger contract look even worse than it already does.

Some teams like to use the free agency period to bring in new blood. The New Jersey Devils are not "some teams." With new faces popping up in new places all over the league today, the Devils turned the clock back to happier times by reaching deals with two UFAs, former Devils Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik.

Rolston is a nice pick-up (I guess I should say, "reacquisition") for the Devils. He's coming off of a 31-goal year in Minnesota and was on a lot of shopping lists today, with the Lightning even trading for his rights a few days ago in an attempt to lock him down before the deadline. The four-year/$20.5 million deal is probably a bit long, but with today's insanity it really doesn't seem that bad.

Holik is a different story. He's been downright brutal in three seasons with the Thrashers and isn't even worth the $2.5 million New Jersey is paying him. Apparently the chance to re-unite the late 1990s powerhouse Devils' team was just too much for Lou Lamoreillo to pass up.

The NHL Free Agent signing period kicked off a little more than an hour ago, and for the most part, what we've seen so far is teams making deals in order to clear some cap room. Here's a quick rundown of what's been confirmed so far:

The Edmonton Oilers dealt Raffi Torres to Columbus for Gilbert Brule, and also acquired Erik Cole from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defenseman Joni Pitkanen. Click here for details. Meanwhile, Carolina also signed ex-RSL defenseman Anton Babchuk.

Tampa Bay snagged winger Radim Vrbata away from Phoeinix.

The Anaheim Ducks signed winger Corey Perry to a contract extension.

The Calgary Flames obtained Rene Bourque from the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Red Wings have re-signed defenseman Brad Stuart.

Pat Lackey already wrote about Evgeni Malkin, but the Penguins also re-signed Pascal Dupuis.

The Devils re-signed Jay Pandolfo and Bryce Salvador, but said goodbye to Sergei Brylin.

First thoughts: The Brule deal with not be welcome in Edmonton, but the Cole deal is solid. I'm guessing with Vrbta signed the Lightning are done dealing with Brian Rolston, but you never know. And Chicago may be clearing the decks for a big signing.

Stick with us throughout the afternoon. I'm sure plenty of agents are pondering some big numbers right about now.

About the only way the 2007-08 NHL season could have ended better for Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin would have been with the Stanley Cup. But with that goal temporarily out of reach, Ovechkin seemed more than pleased to add the Hart and Lester Pearson Trophies to a collection that already included this year's version of the Art Ross and the Richard as well as the 2006 Calder as the league's Rookie of the Year.

But as much as the night belonged to Ovechkin -- the rest of the day in Washington, D.C. will belong to him too with plenty of public celebrations and a dinner-hour party and press event at one of the town's swankiest eateries -- there was plenty of other star power in the audience last night in Toronto for the NHL Awards. One who admitted plenty of surprise at being in the room was Ovechkin's head coach, Bruce Boudreau, who took top honors as winner of the Jack Adams as coach of the year. As it would turn out, the Caps would miss a clean sweep for their nominees when Chicago's Patrick Kane edged out Nicklas Backstrom for the Calder.

Oh, to be a 21-year-old free agent in the NHL.

Granted, former University of Minnesota star Blake Wheeler can't break the bank when he signs his first NHL contract. His earning power is severely limited by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, to the point where he could have made much more money by signing with Phoenix, who had his draft rights.

As of July 1, Wheeler is free to sign with any NHL team. He's been free to talk to teams since June 1.

Since teams can only offer him so much money, Wheeler can shop his services and find the best fit. He's apparently at work on that. Larry Brooks of the New York Post says he met Wednesday with the New York Rangers, and he also stopped by the Devils facilities for a chat.

Certainly, the Rangers present an interesting potential match, and there will be other earning opportunities readily available for Wheeler in New York City if he can play well. New Jersey's organization has been quite kind to college players as of late, with Zach Parise (North Dakota) and Brian Gionta (Boston College) serving as prime examples.

Meanwhile, Michael Russo reports that Wheeler isn't keen on signing in Minnesota.

"He loves Minnesota and loves living there, but we're looking elsewhere because I think he wants to get a different life experience, explore a different part of the country and grow and mature and experience new things," (agent Matt) Keator said. "The Wild has shown plenty of interest. They've been great."

Hard to argue with that point. I love Minnesota, but there isn't a ton to do or see here compared to other places.

It's no secret that the 2007-08 NHL season didn't end the way New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur wanted it to. As if seeing his team flushed out of the playoffs in just five games wasn't enough, Brodeur also got to endure a public beatdown at the hands of winger Sean Avery. No, Avery never laid a glove on Brodeur. Instead, he did something far worse: Avery shamed him with his antics, something that Brodeur only compounded as he refused to shake Avery's hand at the end of the series.

It's also no secret that Brodeur is closer to the end of his career than even he wants to admit, but if he has his way in a meeting with some fellow players and general managers in a few weeks, he'll be sure to have a significant influence on the game for many years after he's gone.

What am I talking about? This morning, the NHL and NHLPA announced the formation of the Goalie Equipment Working Group, a body consisting of five players and four general managers. According to a statement from the NHLPA, the group will "examine the configuration and dimensions of goaltender equipment with respect to safety and performance."

"If the working group decides alterations to the rules governing goaltender equipment are warranted, and will not jeopardize the safety of the goalies, these recommendations will be forwarded to the Competition Committee for consideration," the statement said.

In other words, if there's any way this group can figure out a way to shrink the equipment in order to increase goal scoring without jeopardizing the life and health of goaltenders, they'll do it. Then again, taking a look at the members of the group, my guess is we won't be seeing any dramatic changes after that June 11 meeting.