Speaking of shaking up the whole team, how about Philadelphia? I have no clue what's going on there. They promised Carter that he wouldn't be traded. I seriously don't know what to expect from them at all. People still have them finishing at the top of the standings, but I just don't know about that, and this isn't the Devils fan in me talking.
On a Devils related note however, fans from other teams always say "Oh the Devils are stupid, Kovalchuk's contract will handcuff them for years blah blah blah." From a Devils fan perspective, his cap-hit is INCREDIBLE for what he can potentially bring to the team. His only problems are left over from his Atlanta days; He tries to carry the whole team on his shoulders, which NJ DOES NOT need him to do. Also, he wasn't very good at defense. Under Lemaire, he got better though, so I hope he continues to improve.
People shouldn't judge a 15 year contract by just one year where the WHOLE team (besides Elias <3 ) started out like garbage.