A look at former Albany River Rats still in the Devils organization

With the off-season trades of Brian Rolston and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, and the recent buyout of Colin White, the number of former Albany River Rats playing in the Devils organization is dwindling. Here's a look at who's left:

Patrik Elias (134 games from 1995-96 to 1997-98)
Cam Janssen (96 games between 2004-05 and 2005-06)
Zach Parise (73 games in 2004-05)
David Clarkson (56 games in 2005-06)
Mark Fraser (4 games in 2005-06)
Stephen Gionta (3 games in 2005-06)
Travis Zajac (2 games in 2005-06)

Chris Murray also played for the Albany River Rats (13 games in 2007-08), but as a prospect of the Carolina Hurricanes, plus he is not under contract for the 2011-12 season according to capgeek.com.

Did I miss anyone? Comment below or let me know on Twitter @HellOnSkates and I will update the post.

Note: Don Ferlazzo is not an employee of the Albany Devils, nor is this blog sponsored or influenced by the organization in any way.

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NJ Devils name Pete DeBoer head coach

As reported by Tom Gulitti:

The Devils finally ended all of the waiting and suspense this afternoon and announced in a Prudential Center news conference that they have hired Pete DeBoer as their head coach.

DeBoer, 43, spent the last three seasons as head coach of the Florida Panthers before being let go at the end of 2010-11. The Panthers went 103-107-36 under DeBoer, including 30-40-12 in 2010-11, and never qualified for the playoffs under him. His only winning record with Florida was in 2008-09 when the Panthers went 41-30-11 for 93 points, but lost a tiebreaker with Montreal for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Prior to working for the Panthers, DeBoer coached the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2007-08. The Rangers lost to Spokane in the 2008 Memorial Cup final.

It was during his time with Kitchener that DeBoer coached former Albany River Rats and current New Jersey Devils David Clarkson and Mark Fraser.

The rest of the New Jersey coaching staff has not been announced yet, as DeBoer only accepted the job earlier today. It is also unknown how Albany's coaching staff will be impacted by the announcement.

Note: Don Ferlazzo is not an employee of the Albany Devils, nor is this blog sponsored or influenced by the organization in any way.