Last season, the New Jersey Devils struggled mightily with the salary cap, finding themselves bumped up against the NHL’s $39 million payroll limit for much of the year. The trouble started when Scott Niedermayer left New Jersey to play with his brother in Anaheim. The chasm left by the star defenseman forced GM Lou Lamoriello to engage in an ill-fated game of catch-up, during which he made some surprisingly poor decisions with regard to available free agents.

Two Russian veterans turned out to be particularly bad signings, as both Vladimir Malakhov and Alexander Mogilny proved incapable of playing at a high level following the lockout. The two players took up a combined $7.1 million against the salary cap last season, and will do so again in 2006-07.

The good news for the Devils is that the cap has been raised to $44 million, which will give Lamoriello a bit more wiggle room in handling the albatross contracts of Mogilny and Malakhov. But the bad news is that the team’s payroll is already at $43.9 million, and some of its most important players remain unsigned.

Right wing Brian Gionta enjoyed a breakout season last year, tallying 48 goals and 41 assists while delivering a consistently stellar nightly effort. He elected not to take the Devils to salary arbitration, hoping instead to reach agreement on a long-term deal. But perhaps Gionta would be wise to instead wait until Mogilny’s and Malakhov’s contracts are off the books before he negotiates his own contract extension.

Playing for the team’s qualifying offer of $689,700 would also provide Gionta with ample motivation to deliver another stellar performance; two consecutive All-Star caliber seasons would assure him of a huge payday next summer. Lamoriello has a good history of rewarding loyal soldiers, and there is good reason to expect that Gionta would receive similarly excellent treatment.

Defenseman Paul Martin struggled a bit following Niedermayer’s departure. In his rookie season, he played extremely well alongside Niedermayer, looking more often than not like a seasoned veteran. But during the lockout, he played in only 11 games – for Fribourg-Gotteron of the Swiss Elite League – and the rust showed.

Martin scored fewer goals (5) than he did in his rookie year, despite a significantly increased role. And his plusminus rating fell from +12 to a +1, a significant drop-off considering the fact that he was playing in front of Martin Brodeur,quite possibly the NHL’s finest netminder. Accepting the Devils’ qualifying offer of $552,200 would be a wise move; a strong season would put him in line to receive a healthy chunk of the Mogilny-Malakhov money.

Signing Gionta and Martin – as well as defenseman David Hale and a back-up goaltender (either Scott Clemmensen or prospect Ari Ahonen) – should not be much of a problem for the Devils. Best of all, the four players will, in all likelihood, count for less than $2 million combined against the cap, making them wonderful bargains for the Devils to enjoy this season.

One player’s situation, however, is far trickier. Playmaking center Scott Gomez filed for arbitration – the only Devil to do so – and the result of that hearing will go a long way toward deciding whether he has a future in New Jersey.When the arbitrator evaluates Gomez, the determining factor will be his “comparables.”

The accompanying chart includes a group of centers whose playing style and on-ice performance can be fairly compared to Gomez’s. More likely, Gomez’s “comparables” will be some combination of Patrick Marleau and Pavel Datsyuk. The three players all scored 80+ points, and all were key components of their teams’ power plays. But Gomez has one edge over the two: his key contributions to two Devils’ Cup-winning teams.

If Carlos Gomez – Gomez’s father and agent – decides to shoot for the moon, he can, with some justification, compare his son to Tampa Bay Lightning star Brad Richards. Their statistical achievements are similar, with Richards’s edge in assists mitigated by Gomez’s more prolific goal scoring and higher plus-minus rating. Though Richards is more highly valued by most NHL GMs, in the game of salary arbitration, the numbers are what matters most.

It is unlikely that Gomez will be effectively compared to any of Brendan Morrison, Chris Drury, or Daymond Langkow, but as Richards provides a ceiling, they provide a reasonable floor. Morrison consistently played alongside two of the NHL’s best forwards (Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi) for most of the past three seasons, yet his statistical production is far lower than Gomez’s. And Drury, though a well-respected leader, is also statistically inferior.

Realistically, Gomez’s award will probably fall in the $4 million range. With the payroll already at $43.9 million, and with $2 million needed for the quartet of Gionta, Martin, Hale, and Clemmensen/Ahonen, Lamoriello has some dealing to do, and fast. He is allowed to spend up to $48.4 million (10% over the cap) until the start of the season, at which time the payroll must be pared back down to $44 million or below. But the $6 million that it will likely cost to get these five players signed will put Lamoriello about 15% over the cap, leaving him in a very undesirable position from which to nego tiate trades.

A trade (or trades) should really precede Gomez’s arbitration hearing, so that Lamoriello can retain his first line center or at least has the flexibility to do so. One out-of-the-box possibility is to package a valuable roster player along with Malakhov or Mogilny in a deal to a team with substantial space under the cap. Malakhov is currently suspended, so he would be a cap liability but wouldn’t need to actually get paid. Mogilny, meanwhile, could make a meaningful contribution to a young team in need of veteran leadership.

The St. Louis Blues have the cap room, as do the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins. But will any of them have the inclination to help the well-respected Lamoriello out of this conundrum?