Keith Kinkaid ranked among the New Jersey Devils’ AHL demotions on Saturday, which means that Scott Clemmensen “won” the New Jersey Devils backup role (at least for now).
“Won” is in quotation marks because the Devils’ No. 2 gig will likely amount to watching Cory Schneider try to prove that he’s worthy of the No. 1 gig and the seven-year, $42 million contract extension he signed this offseason.
(People probably won’t care that Schneider’s cap hit is still at $4 million for one more season if he struggles post-Martin Brodeur.)
Kinkaid, 25, is likely best served getting more reps in the AHL and could very well make like Dustin Tokarski in Montreal by grabbing starts over Clemmensen if Schneider were to suffer a substantial injury. That’s if the Devils believe in his potential more than Clemmensen’s experience, of course; at 37, Clemmensen enters his second tour with the Devils after spending five seasons with the Florida Panthers. He has 188 games of regular season experience at the NHL level, which is especially impressive if it helps you overlook a mediocre .906 career save percentage.
2012 first-rounder Stefan Matteau stands out among other demotions that include Reid Boucher and Seth Helgeson:
Reid Boucher, Stefan Matteau, Seth Helgeson and goalie Keith Kinkaid have been assigned to Albany (AHL). http://t.co/7Jrs9Ejsbn
— Rich Chere (@Ledger_NJDevils) October 4, 2014