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Devils 2018-19 Team Discussion (news and notes) Part III

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Zacha is not a bust, but he is not a top 6 player. He is there moreso because of a lack of center depth. If he doesn't put up 45-50 points this season, I think Shero needs to seriously make moves to get a 2nd line C. Whether thats free agency (Duchene) or a trade. Possibly Boqvist could be a future 2C but that remains to be seen.
 
I also think having Bratt back will be a much needed benefit for the 2nd line. I think he can drive that line, he looked great in the preseason.
 
RSeen said:
Zacha is not a bust, but he is not a top 6 player. He is there moreso because of a lack of center depth. If he doesn't put up 45-50 points this season, I think Shero needs to seriously make moves to get a 2nd line C. Whether thats free agency (Duchene) or a trade. Possibly Boqvist could be a future 2C but that remains to be seen.
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That's what they told me about Kyle PalmierI when he was in Anaheim. He had 21 points as a career high when was the same age as Zacha in now.
 
Aethon said:
That's what they told me about Kyle PalmierI when he was in Anaheim. He had 21 points as a career high when was the same age as Zacha in now.
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Pavel has had chances in the top 6, Palmeri did not get those opportunities. Palmeri also had significant depth in front of him, Zacha does not.

On the surface because of the age these may seem comparable, but they aren't a good direct comparison if you look deeper.
 
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RSeen said:
Pavel has had chances in the top 6, Palmeri did not get those opportunities. Palmeri also had significant depth in front of him, Zacha does not.

On the surface because of the age these may seem comparable, but they aren't a good direct comparison if you look deeper.
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Come on...in 140+ games what did he play 20 games in the top 6? The overwhelming number of games he's played have been with the Noesen's Bennett's and Josefson's of our team.
 
Aethon said:
That's what they told me about Kyle PalmierI when he was in Anaheim. He had 21 points as a career high when was the same age as Zacha in now.
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There is a difference there. Palms wasn't a 6th overall pick. He was a late first rounder.

IDK what is up with Zacha, he has the tools. His shoot is heavy and hard, he has solid hands and can make some great passes.

If all he really becomes is a 3rd liner, so be it. It sucks the pick didn't work out, but it is what it is.

He's not a gigantic defensive liability, but I am still not happy with how this coaching staff handles him and refuses to use him on one of the PP units.
 
Cult of Hynes said:
There is a difference there. Palms wasn't a 6th overall pick. He was a late first rounder.

IDK what is up with Zacha, he has the tools. His shoot is heavy and hard, he has solid hands and can make some great passes.

If all he really becomes is a 3rd liner, so be it. It sucks the pick didn't work out, but it is what it is.

He's not a gigantic defensive liability, but I am still not happy with how this coaching staff handles him and refuses to use him on one of the PP units.
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I get wanting more out of a 6th overall but it doesn't always work that way....ironically nobody here was having any of that argument for our #4 overall and the argument then was misuse....go figure.
 
Aethon said:
Come on...in 140+ games what did he play 20 games in the top 6? The overwhelming number of games he's played have been with the Noesen's Bennett's and Josefson's of our team.
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He hasn't gotten significant opportunities because he hasn't produced enough offense when he has been there. At this point he has not shown enough offense to make me think he will be a 2nd line C. I think him being a 3rd line C is the most likely scenario, which is the reason we need to add a top 6 C IMO.
 
RSeen said:
He hasn't gotten significant opportunities because he hasn't produced enough offense when he has been there. At this point he has not shown enough offense to make me think he will be a 2nd line C. I think him being a 3rd line C is the most likely scenario, which is the reason we need to add a top 6 C IMO.
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Look at his most frequent partners he's played mostly with scrubs. Two of his most frequent partners aren't even in the league anymore. It's just not reasonable to say he has had significant opportunities.
 
Aethon said:
Look at his most frequent partners he's played mostly with scrubs. Two of his most frequent partners aren't even in the league anymore. It's just not reasonable to say he has had significant opportunities.
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I didn't say he had significant opportunities, I said he had opportunities. Regardless, he has not shown enough IMO to show confidence in his ability to drive a line offensively. His defensive play is strong, but he has to show significant progress offensively this season. If he doesn't, the team needs to figure out the 2nd line C position out in the offseason.
 
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RSeen said:
I didn't say he had significant opportunities, I said he had opportunities. Regardless, he has not shown enough IMO to show confidence in his ability to drive a line offensively. His defensive play is strong, but he has to show significant progress offensively this season. If he doesn't, the team needs to figure out the 2nd line C position out in the offseason.
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Hardly any 20 year old can do that....you think Nico has 50 points from the 3rd line last year? You think Bratt could've been successful with Josefson and Bennet?
 
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My thoughts is probably that Shero has some regrets on the offseason he just had. He probably put too much faith on kids stepping up, when the reality is they are not ready and we needed another 1 or 2 accomplished veterans on this team that can play 2nd and 3rd line to replace Maroon and Grabner.
 
Peter Sidorkiewicz said:
My thoughts is probably that Shero has some regrets on the offseason he just had. He probably put too much faith on kids stepping up, when the reality is they are not ready and we needed another 1 or 2 accomplished veterans on this team that can play 2nd and 3rd line to replace Maroon and Grabner.
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We're 4-2-0. The sky is not falling.
 
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Peter Sidorkiewicz said:
My thoughts is probably that Shero has some regrets on the offseason he just had. He probably put too much faith on kids stepping up, when the reality is they are not ready and we needed another 1 or 2 accomplished veterans on this team that can play 2nd and 3rd line to replace Maroon and Grabner.
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It’s like the first four games never happened?
 
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Can't believe we lost 73% of faceoffs...

Just write it off.. aren't surprises here.. we are a great team when we can skate.. we had some breakdowns, and we get a little squirrelly when we get knocked around.

It ain't gonna be sunshine all the time.

Well we will just have to go 80-2 now.
 
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Blaming Zacha's linemates at this point makes no sense. Year 1, fine, that year is done now. Last year here are the forwards he played more than 100 minutes with, in order:

Miles Wood, Kyle Palmieri, Stefan Noesen, Jesper Bratt, Drew Stafford, Taylor Hall. That's a pretty decent set of linemates - it's not great, but it's not significantly worse than what most 2nd/3rd line forwards are getting in terms of linemates. The production wasn't there yet.

We'll know a lot more at the end of the season. I think in those first two games he showed another level, and I see that other level on certain shifts in other games. If we see that more, the points will come.
 
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JQ was already sent back to the minors? I missed that, but saw in a Bingo game story that he was in the game, unless I read that wrong.
 
Peter Sidorkiewicz said:
My thoughts is probably that Shero has some regrets on the offseason he just had. He probably put too much faith on kids stepping up, when the reality is they are not ready and we needed another 1 or 2 accomplished veterans on this team that can play 2nd and 3rd line to replace Maroon and Grabner.
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Nick Lappin might have been able to replace the Grabner we saw over his Devils stint. What the hell did he even do?
 
Triumph said:
Blaming Zacha's linemates at this point makes no sense. Year 1, fine, that year is done now. Last year here are the forwards he played more than 100 minutes with, in order:

Miles Wood, Kyle Palmieri, Stefan Noesen, Jesper Bratt, Drew Stafford, Taylor Hall. That's a pretty decent set of linemates - it's not great, but it's not significantly worse than what most 2nd/3rd line forwards are getting in terms of linemates. The production wasn't there yet.

We'll know a lot more at the end of the season. I think in those first two games he showed another level, and I see that other level on certain shifts in other games. If we see that more, the points will come.
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It’s not just Zacha who’s been flat the last couple of games but - except for a play here or there - the team as a whole. That’s where the fix is going to have to come from.
 
NJDevs26 said:
Not yet but they'd better get a couple more wins before the end of the month with the November schedule coming up.
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We need to get wins all season. There are 82 games, you need to win a decent percentage of them. If we polled the board before the start of the season and asked if 4-2 would be a satisfying start, almost everyone would say yes.
 
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