Devils 2019-20 Preseason/Season team discussion (news and notes)

[Brooklyndevil]

If Zacha holds out it will hurt him more than anyone else. And if he does, I don’t see him being a Devil for very long. The kid should sign and show management that he’s ready to contribute to the success of the team.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

If Zacha holds out it will hurt him more than anyone else. And if he does, I don’t see him being a Devil for very long. The kid should sign and show management that he’s ready to contribute to the success of the team.

I can’t think of one good reason why he would hold out other then he’s looking for a fresh start elsewhere and would like to discuss his new deal with the team acquiring him.

The kid has been underwhelming since he was drafted and was demoted to the minors to work on his game not too long ago.

With Hughes in the mix, his shot at being a top #6 center is nonexistent.

 

[devilsblood]

I can’t think of one good reason why he would hold out other then he’s looking for a fresh start elsewhere and would like to discuss his new deal with the team acquiring him.

The kid has been underwhelming since he was drafted and was demoted to the minors to work on his game not too long ago.

With Hughes in the mix, his shot at being a top #6 center is nonexistent.

Or maybe Shero, knowing the contracts that are coming, is being real stingy with Zacha?

As has been noted this is not a holdout. This is a player without a contract. Both sides need to agree to a deal.

 

[oxman44]

I highly doubt hes trying to hold out. For all we know Ray might not of even made an offer yet. Sometimes these RFA with no arb. right situations just get taken care of very last minute. I.e. Wood last year. And he got a pretty solid deal, I wouldnt be surprised to see Pavel get something similar. The only way I could see Zachas camp holding out is if Ray tried to extremley lowball him, for league minimum or something. And I dont see why he'd do that, seeing that hes proven to be a very useful defensive/PK center with offensive talent and upside still untapped.

 

[JrFischer54]

If Zacha holds out it will hurt him more than anyone else. And if he does, I don’t see him being a Devil for very long. The kid should sign and show management that he’s ready to contribute to the success of the team.

hes been a bust since he was drafted. part of me hopes he is dealt at this point and try to recoup whatever you can for him. maybe he does move on and catches fire and actually lives up to the draft position. guess what? that doesn't mean we shouldve kept him. sometimes players just need a new start somewhere to hit their potential.

if he is trying to hold out then he should look how well that worked out for woods last year

 

[Offseason Champs]

Zacha is very far from being a bust and he’s only 22. Sometimes the bigger guys take a bit more time to really grow into their own. I’m sure he will be signed by camp.

 

[Nico Hischier]

3 firsts plus severson for an unsigned Laine is a terrible deal for nj

 

[devilsblood]

hes been a bust since he was drafted. part of me hopes he is dealt at this point and try to recoup whatever you can for him. maybe he does move on and catches fire and actually lives up to the draft position. guess what? that doesn't mean we shouldve kept him. sometimes players just need a new start somewhere to hit their potential.

if he is trying to hold out then he should look how well that worked out for woods last year

I see it the opposite. I think Zacha can be the perfect complement, with his size and defensive play, and yeah his skill in the bottom 6, to the high end skill guys we have up in the top 6, and his early struggles likely play into our favor as he likely won't get a big $$$ contract.

And if you can sign him to a 4+ year deal for fairly cheap, and then he blossoms a bit, then you really made out.

Now I do think getting into camp asap is important, Wood is a good example of the struggles that can occur when you don't, but without knowing what Shero is putting on the table I can't say that he should cave in and sign whatever Shero has down.

 

[Nico Hischier]

I think zacha signs a 2 year team friendly deal or maybe something like lablanc 1 year 1 mil to bet on himself

 

[devilsblood]

Ah yeah, firing back up the Zacha debate.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

hes been a bust since he was drafted. part of me hopes he is dealt at this point and try to recoup whatever you can for him. maybe he does move on and catches fire and actually lives up to the draft position. guess what? that doesn't mean we shouldve kept him. sometimes players just need a new start somewhere to hit their potential.

if he is trying to hold out then he should look how well that worked out for woods last year

I don’t think he’s a bust but I also think that he was the wrong pick to make at the time because we needed forwards more so then d-men. It was the last f***up by Lou and his caveman staff. Ivan Provorov was the conscious pick at #6 and we opted for Dainus Zubrus 2.0 instead.

With that said, I do think he can be a real solid 3rd line center to take over Zajac’s role when his contract will be over.

 

[RangerDoggo]

Zacha hasn’t held out for as long or as loudly as Wood did last offseason. Let’s not go overboard in our ire towards him, at least in that regard.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Zacha is 100000% not a "bust"...I hate that word.

Busts are not regular NHL players

is he a disappointment for where he was drafted? Absolutely. That is something different

 

[Triumph]

Zacha has probably only been given his qualifying offer at this point.

 

[Triumph]

Even assuming a big contract for Hall, the Devils can afford one more big ticket item for at least three years. And even after that, they probably can resort to doing what Washington and Chicago has to do to shed salary if necessary. So far as Laine is concerned, you could give him the bridge contract he supposedly wants. You could trade him at the end of that (albeit at a discount) if necessary. Whether he is “overpaid” only matters if there are other moves to be made that you think make more sense. From my standpoint having a guy like him on Hughes’ wing seems to be something you can’t say no to, although that’s only based on his reputation.

Whatever the case, this was the same guy who said a Marner offersheet was imminent two months ago, so it’s obviously made up. I’ll guess that if the Devils want anyone from Winnipeg, it’s Dylan Samberg. He’s made some rumblings that he’ll go the Adam Fox route, and a large part of the Devils draft strategy was to find one or two players like him. Having his college teammate (Joey Anderson) in the organization might help too.

They can, but it means shoving money on to future seasons by buying people out or trading people like Bratt. I mean, that's fine if that's what it means, but as constituted they really don't have room. They have $8M free right now but Hischier and Bratt will eat up all the money being freed up by Simmonds and Greene being UFA - that's not even considering Taylor Hall. A $8-9M Laine really doesn't fit without major changes.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Do we know if there is going to be a stream of the prospect challenge games this weekend like there were last year?

 

[Devils731]

Do we know if there is going to be a stream of the prospect challenge games this weekend like there were last year?

Buffalo is streaming their games locally so I would be surprised if the Devils didn’t send a few people up there to stream and do some web content stories.

 

[Darkauron]

It could also be the fact that Halls contract talks are holding up the Zacha ones and other rfas not signing yet too.

 

[Tretyak 20]

Just went and re-watched some highlights of Jack Hughes and Nikita Gusev. Everyone needs to shut the f*** up and wait for the preseason.

 

[GameSeven]

Do we know if there is going to be a stream of the prospect challenge games this weekend like there were last year?

 

[devilsblood]

Buffalo is streaming their games locally so I would be surprised if the Devils didn’t send a few people up there to stream and do some web content stories.

Devils have been very good lately as far as providing access. So hope that trend continues here.

Do we know who is playing for us yet? I kind of assume Hughes will not.

 

[devilsblood]

I guess I should have kept on reading.

 

[devilsblood]

They can, but it means shoving money on to future seasons by buying people out or trading people like Bratt. I mean, that's fine if that's what it means, but as constituted they really don't have room. They have $8M free right now but Hischier and Bratt will eat up all the money being freed up by Simmonds and Greene being UFA - that's not even considering Taylor Hall. A $8-9M Laine really doesn't fit without major changes.

Ya very much dislike this idea of "who cares about 5 years from now, as we can always make a bad deal at that point to ease our cap situation".

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

real news!

 

[GameSeven]

Devils have been very good lately as far as providing access. So hope that trend continues here.

Do we know who is playing for us yet? I kind of assume Hughes will not.

While the roster has not been formally announced, although I expect it soon since last year they announced on the Tuesday prior, this article suggests that Jack will play.

Hughes 'ready to go and get going' for Devils