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A little after 3 PM, after the resigning of Steve Bernier, Rich Chere reported that the Devils were most likely done for the day, but Lou still was hoping to sign a veteran goaltender to backup Cory Schneider:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Devils are done for the day, but GM Lou Lamoriello said he will sign a veteran goaltender.</p>— Rich Chere (@Ledger_NJDevils) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ledger_NJDevils/statuses/484053083056771072">July 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
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That veteran goaltender happens to be ex-Devil Scott Clemmensen, who came up the ranks with New Jersey's old AHL affiliate the Albany River Rats and last played with the big club in 2009. Recently, Clemmensen has been seen down in Sunrise playing as a backup for the Florida Panthers. He has returned to New Jersey undoubtedly to compete with Keith Kinkaid to be the backup in New Jersey. Tom Gulitti reported the signing here:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Scott Clemmensen back in Devils organizationj on a one-year, two-way contract.</p>— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) <a href="https://twitter.com/TGfireandice/statuses/484061343868534784">July 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
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The fact that this is a one year, two-way contract makes the Clemmensen signing completely risk free. If he does not beat out Kinkaid, he will simply be sent down to Albany to play out his time there. If he does win the backup role, then he can become a big help to a team that has 18 back-to-back sets this season, and some very difficult stretches. Given the team's schedule, whoever backs up Schneider will undoubtedly play close to 20 games; therefore, it is important that the person is competent.
Clemmensen can perhaps be that guy. As recently as three years ago, he posted a respectable 91.3% save percentage in 30 games played with the Panthers, the year they made the playoffs and ultimately lost to the Devils on Adam Henrique's less heralded overtime series winner. More recently, however, he has not been so stellar. Last year, in 17 games with the big club, Clemmensen posted a rather poor 89.6% save percentage, which was 0.5% less than Brodeur's 90.1%. Clearly, Lou and the Devils are hoping that Clemmensen can return to his 2011-2012 form, and not the one that he showed last year.
In the end, this is a zero risk signing, and one that cannot really be argued against too much. Perhaps there were other, better backup veteran goalies to sign, but the deal that the team gave Clemmensen is so zero risk that it almost does not matter whether or not he makes the team. The hope is of course that he does, and that he performs well, but from a financial standpoint, it does not matter too much either way.
So, was the Scott Clemmensen signing a good one? Are you happy that he could be the next backup goalie for the New Jersey Devils? Or would you have preferred someone else, even if they needed to be given a higher contract? Please leave your comments below, and thanks for reading.