5 best 5 worst

[Rhodes 81]

There were no positives to this season. None whatsoever. Being competent is not being good and not a single player on this team rose above competency.

agreed. the only person you could possibly make an argument for is bernier and it was really just him playing up to his skill level for the first time in 4 years.

 

[Chessarmy]

Weren't quite a few of Loktionov's points scored by or assisted by Kovalchuk?

Don't bother, he ignores anything he can't respond to.

 

[Uli Hiemer]

1. Greene
2. Bernier
3. Lokti
4. Carter
5. Gio/Zubrus/Anderson/Uncle Jesse (seriously)


1. Zajac (Laid a big egg, was suppose to have at least 15 goals, remember?)
2. Henrique (see above)
3. Volchenkov (disaster)
4. Hedberg (defense didn't help, but he let in some bad goals at the worst times)
5. Poni (i know he's a 3rd liner, looked beyond weak this year) skating in ****

Clarkson sucked at the end, but at least put up some points. Not his fault that nobody scored in his absence.

 

[JimEIV]

There are pluggers making 600k a year who have score more than 4 5v5 goals this season.

Stop and think about it...4 even strength goals this season. FOUR.

Brandon Prust had 5 in as many games and I'm sure as hell he didn't average 26 minutes a game

 

[Volodya Krutov]

But Prust don't hit posts

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

My 5 -

Best:
1. Greene - Clear cut no 1 imo;
2. CBGB - Couldn't split them, effort can not be faulted;
3. Loktionov - Made an impression;
4. Elias - Started strong, leading scorer;
5. Kovalchuk - Consistent when on ice.

Worst:
1. Zajac - Got the big contract, didn't deliver;
2. Salvador - Disappointing play, very disappointing leadership;
3. DeBoer - Shouldn't have rode Hedberg so hard when clearly he was struggling;
4. Hedberg - Time's up moose. Thanks for your effort but your no longer good enough;
5. Lou - Had a poor offseason with signings and the band aid acquisitions during the season - Poni, D'Agostini, Sullivan - failed with the exception of Lokti. Also he should of traded at least one of the 8 D-man.

 

[The 29th Pick]

There are pluggers making 600k a year who have score more than 4 5v5 goals this season.

Stop and think about it...4 even strength goals this season. FOUR.

Brandon Prust had 5 in as many games and I'm sure as hell he didn't average 26 minutes a game

No doubt Kovi should put up better numbers with all that ice time....no doubt

 

[captainscott]

My 5 -

Best:
1. Greene - Clear cut no 1 imo;
2. CBGB - Couldn't split them, effort can not be faulted;
3. Loktionov - Made an impression;
4. Elias - Started strong, leading scorer;
5. Kovalchuk - Consistent when on ice.

Worst:
1. Zajac - Got the big contract, didn't deliver;
2. Salvador - Disappointing play, very disappointing leadership;
3. DeBoer - Shouldn't have rode Hedberg so hard when clearly he was struggling;
4. Hedberg - Time's up moose. Thanks for your effort but your no longer good enough;
5. Lou - Had a poor offseason with signings and the band aid acquisitions during the season - Poni, D'Agostini, Sullivan - failed with the exception of Lokti. Also he should of traded at least one of the 8 D-man.

maybe we should rename the thread

to

met expectations:
clarkson
zidlicky
gionta
carter
tallinder
larsson
broduer ( barley)
kovy ( barley)
elias
fayne

exceeded expectations:
lokti
greene
bernier

did not meet expectations:
volch
salvador
hedberg
henrique
zajac
poni
josefson ...although i don't blame him but he was supposed to be a factor this year

i think the fact that our #1 and #2 center and our goalie for half the season is on this list pretty much sums it up

can anyone provide a link of ufa's this upcoming off season?

 

[Nick0930]

Best:

1. Greene
2. Bernier
3. Lotki
4. Kovalchuk (Talk about his ES goals all you want...Look at our record without him)
5. Elias

Worst:

1. Volchenkov
2. Salvador
3. HF Devils Fans
4. Clarkson after his quick start
5. Zajac

 

[JerryGigantic]

There were no positives to this season. None whatsoever. Being competent is not being good and not a single player on this team rose above competency.

mic dropped by Jim

Nothing more to see here.

 

[hlaverty06]

maybe we should rename the thread

to

met expectations:
clarkson
zidlicky
gionta
carter
tallinder
larsson
broduer ( barley)
kovy ( barley)
elias
fayne

exceeded expectations:
lokti
greene
bernier

Parsley met expectations:
volch
salvador
hedberg
henrique
zajac
poni
josefson ...although i don't blame him but he was supposed to be a factor this year

i think the fact that our #1 and #2 center and our goalie for half the season is on this list pretty much sums it up

can anyone provide a link of ufa's this upcoming off season?

 

[BrodeursCups]

Come on Jim, cherry picking stats with two qualifiers is beneath you.

His shorthanded production was an enormous part of our success early on and you know that.

I don't know why you're even trying. Its not beneath him at all considering he's been pouting all over the board regarding kovy for multiple years now...

Most immature poster we have.

 

[captainscott]

No doubt Kovi should put up better numbers with all that ice time....no doubt

kovy was an overall disappointment this season

 

[Wingman77]

I love Sal, but I stand by what I said prior to him being named captain

Shoulda been Mr Andy Greene

 

[Nick0930]

kovy was an overall disappointment this season

They won one game (Against a ****** Flyers team) out of 11 without him. Just his presence on the ice makes the team a whole lot better. Points aren't everything.

 

[JimEIV]

I don't know why you're even trying. Its not beneath him at all considering he's been pouting all over the board regarding kovy for multiple years now...

Most immature poster we have.

Multiple years....the two out of two years he was the go to guy we miss the playoffs... my frustration is the unwillingness of most of this board to evaluate him honestly.

If he was evaluated just at the same level as say David Clarkson is, an undrafted player who rose from nothing to nearly a core player and should be an inspirational story, the general thought would be he is garbage.

But the fact is he should be getting a higher level of scrutiny because this organization is so invested in him but for some reason our fans refuse to even question his play.

 

[JimEIV]

They won one game (Against a ****** Flyers team) out of 11 without him. Just his presence on the ice makes the team a whole lot better. Points aren't everything.

It was essentially a 20 game losing streak....he was there for half of it.

It's not like they fell of a cliff when he left, they were losing just as good with him in the lineup.

 

[captainscott]

They won one game (Against a ****** Flyers team) out of 11 without him. Just his presence on the ice makes the team a whole lot better. Points aren't everything.

not arguing they are not a better team with him in lineup but overall like most of the teams he was a dissapointmnet...but certainly not at top of list

 

[NJDevils17]

hey guys, new here, thought i could weigh in on what was an extremely frustrating season.

Best
1. Greene (one of the few positives)
2. CBGB(Just group them because they are all exceptional fourth liners)
3. Lokti (easily becoming one of my favorite players)
4. Kovy (was he great? no. but what did you expect with an average center and a grab-bag winger?)
5. Larsson (Is he perfect? heck no. but he made great progress and if he stops getting scratched he'll get his confidence back and play like the future of the franchise sooner rather than later)

Worst
1. Volchenkov(lets leave it at that)
2. Salvador (no leadership, offense, or great defense)
3. Zajac (big contract, major let down, he was fourth in points though, which i guess demonstrates lack of offensive talent)
4. Moose (love the guy, but he cost us some games)
5. Henrique(I guess expectations were too high but when you get a shot on net every 15 tries it's not too good)/Clarkson(excluding the first month of the season)

 

[Saugus]

Ya, lots of farming being done in that post. I was surprised to see no mention of potatoes.

Worst:
1. 8 defenceman musical chairs, this ties into the mishandling of Larsson and Fayne too.
2. Moose's craptacular stretch
3. Clarkson's bipolar act
4. Zajac not living up to the contract yet
5. Volchenkov sliding swiftly into uselessness

Best:
1. Loktionov for a fifth
2. Henrique keeping up his solid play as best he could with both Parise and Kovalchuk gone
3. Andy Greene
...

Ya, that's all I've got.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

Studs:
1. Ryan Carter
2. Andy Greene
3. Steve Bernier
4. Patrik Elias
5. Ilya Kovalchuk

Duds:
1. Bryce Salvador
2. Travis Zajac
3. Adam Henrique
4. Moose Hedberg
5. Anton Volchenkov

 

[Volodya Krutov]

I'm a big fan of his but it's true Kovalchuk's been disappointing. Something was wrong with his health this season anyway. And it was getting magnified in 5on5 situations, his biggest issue.

But saying he's somehow a real concern is laughable. The guy having a disappointing year is still hands down our most prolific player offensively.

99% of our players has never or will never reach the 0.8PPG mark on a season. He didn't score a lot but 4 of them were shorthanded goals, 4 others were game winners.

 

[captainscott]

They won one game (Against a ****** Flyers team) out of 11 without him. Just his presence on the ice makes the team a whole lot better. Points aren't everything.

and i always hate when people equate a critisism with the lack of points a player puts up...if that were the case i would say kovy should be run out of town...

ive certainly don't equate points as everything but he is in fact here to produce goals... i think ryan carter had a great season he only put up 6 goals...

i can count on one hand how many body checks he threw this year...( kovy) again i don't blame one guy and certainly not him, we saw what happened without him, but he on the whole was as big a disappointment as anyone else

 

[BrodeursCups]

Multiple years....the two out of two years he was the go to guy we miss the playoffs... my frustration is the unwillingness of most of this board to evaluate him honestly.

If he was evaluated just at the same level as say David Clarkson is, an undrafted player who rose from nothing to nearly a core player and should be an inspirational story, the general thought would be he is garbage.

But the fact is he should be getting a higher level of scrutiny because this organization is so invested in him but for some reason our fans refuse to even question his play.

I seem to remember him Being the go to guy last season. Let's call a spade a spade: he was A LOT better than Parise in the regular season and then led the team in pts in the playoffs despite a broken back. You can't ignore his great play last year while burying him for this season. Parise was damn near invisible in the playoffs because his shot is garbage and when the physicality/ intensity picks up in the postseason he's easily neutralized. What percentage of his playoff goals last year were empty netters? We've seen it time and time again. You can point back to ONE SERIES in all of Parise's years as a devil and say he dominated. Tampa bay. That's it. And it was against a Tampa team with garbage defense and goaltending..

Parise started off scorching hot this year but has been mediocre since. He's a 60pt player at this point in his career who's making 12/12/11/11/8 in his next five years. That contract will be a poison pill sooner rather than later.

He's not immune from criticism but you have to like how his game has rounded out as a whole. Best part about all of this is he has another go at it next year.

 

[captainscott]

my biggest concern was adam henrique...and not the point production just the way he plays the game...im not sure i like the way he plays the intensity seems to lack...definately want to give him a fair look as he seems to have the knack for the big goal and has good hands but i was expecting so much more from him this season...oh well