Devils 2019 offseason team discussion (news and notes) XI

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

It's amazing that only like, the last guy truly understood things when I thought I was being really clear in my wording.

If you want to offersheet Marner, if that is the goal, if you want Mitch Marner on this team we are going to need to pay Mitch Marner a hefty sum.

On the other side of that, if we want to retain our other impact players, Nico, Hall, Hughes and give them contracts extensions. We will have to use cap space for that as well.


With these moves in place we will not longer have "plenty of cap room".

Trading Zajac comes in for giving us more flexibility on the Marner sheet in which we will already be pretty cap-hit after all extensions come into play. A Zajac trade is breathing room when Zacha makes less money, can play his spot and we have a horde of NHL ready centers we can put on the 4th line.

So yes, if you really want Marner and if you really the best chance to give out those big money contracts to our star players, trading Zajac and his deal would be a good way of getting it done.

Another situation could be trading Schneider but that should only be discussed if it's to be believed that Blackwood is to be starter, 100 percent and with no uncertainty about it.

well I don't want to offer sheet Marner (for four firsts anyways) so yeah

 

[BenedictGomez]

If we offer sheet Marner, they aren’t trading Zajac. They are trading Hall to get back some of what they gave up as compensation.

But let me be clear....they aren’t offer sheeting Marner.

I cant believe how many, "the Devils should offer sheet Marner" articles I've read in the last week, must have been 3 or 4. So stupid; kept the 4 First Round draft picks, that's how you build cheapest with decent players on initial contracts. Hell, I'd rather have 3 decent $4M players on my lower lines or 2 decent $6M players than losing 4 picks and tying up $12M on 1 First-line winger.

 

[Goptor]

It feels like some weird alternate reality HF Boards where we want to trade Zajac so we can watch a Rooney and trade Vatanen so we can watch a Santini

 

[AfroThunder396]

Ray isn't going to add any more core pieces IMO. Any other forwards he brings in will have to be willing to come in on a one or two year deal like Simmonds.

Maybe guys like Ferland and Dzingel get desperate as we get closer to August, but Ray won't be giving out big ass 4+ year deals knowing we have to pay our young guys over the next few summers.

 

[Goptor]

I cant believe how many, "the Devils should offer sheet Marner" articles I've read in the last week, must have been 3 or 4. So stupid; kept the 4 First Round draft picks, that's how you build cheapest with decent players on initial contracts. Hell, I'd rather have 3 decent $4M players on my lower lines or 2 decent $6M players than losing 4 picks and tying up $12M on 1 First-line winger.

Blame the writers for putting out crap because there isn't anything going on. Just filling up their weekly quota.

If it was going to happen, it would have been before Toronto threw away a 1st round pick for cap space and before the Devils added Subban's $9mil contract.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

I feel like people are sort of under appreciating Marner, but the cost is very steep. I think its way more likely the offer sheet for marner will be 3 years 10.6 million or so, leaving him in his last year of RFA status so the team signing him still has some control but Marner gets to sign his next contract after the Seattle Expansion, the lockout (potential), the new CBA, and the new TV deal. Is that type of deal worth it for us? I'm not sure but I would certainly dish off a few bottom 6 or bottom 4 D men to make the money work with hall/Nico/Bratt and have the top 6 of Nico, Hall, Marner, Hughes, Bratt, Palmieri. Keep in mind we have a ton of forward prospects who will be on entry level or low level deals over the next few years so rounding out the forwards wont be too difficult. the 12 million dollar tag is difficult, that's a lot but if its for 5 or 6 years maybe its worth it, but that's if Hall isnt worried about his AAV being super high and is willing to come in around 10 Mill. It's something to think about for now and when the MArner situation finally comes to an end we will all move on to the next big rumor, wouldnt get too worked up over it. I just personally love marner and think with him this team is absolutely a playoff team and those 4 picks are shots in the dark (or at least the next 3). Looking at NBA trades theres a part of me that wishes NHL trade were so ridiculous but the nature of the draft is so different so it never will come close.

 

[Bcap88]

Yes, but 10 million for Kyle Connor is an awful lot of money. On top of giving up two 1st round picks, a 2nd, and a 3rd. No shot I would do that from a Devils perspective.

It is most I would go for Connor for is 7.5-8 mil a year

 

[Wingman77]

Injuries will happen. Can’t have enough depth at center.

There are also still a fair number of players on the roster where we dont know what will be gotten out of them. If things click and go well with most of the lineup, it should be a competitive team eyeing a playoff spot.

If those injuries or inconsistent play comes about, the team still does not have enough firepower at the moment. Hughes, Subban and Simmonds were solid and needed additions.

The upside is great on all 3, we havent had a prospect like Hughes in quite some time, nor a defensemen like Subban, nor a player with the capabilities of scoring and physical play Simmonds could bring, in a few years either, but each also has their share of valid question marks to be answered. More so Simmonds, less so Hughes and even less so Subban, but both sides have to be taken into account.

It would be nice to have another reliable option or two in case things do not pan out as expected in some areas.

 

[RangerDoggo]

Shero has been forthcoming in saying that he isn’t done. I think he should only make one more move for a winger, personally.

 

[Triumph]

I feel like people are sort of under appreciating Marner, but the cost is very steep. I think its way more likely the offer sheet for marner will be 3 years 10.6 million or so, leaving him in his last year of RFA status so the team signing him still has some control but Marner gets to sign his next contract after the Seattle Expansion, the lockout (potential), the new CBA, and the new TV deal. Is that type of deal worth it for us? I'm not sure but I would certainly dish off a few bottom 6 or bottom 4 D men to make the money work with hall/Nico/Bratt and have the top 6 of Nico, Hall, Marner, Hughes, Bratt, Palmieri. Keep in mind we have a ton of forward prospects who will be on entry level or low level deals over the next few years so rounding out the forwards wont be too difficult. the 12 million dollar tag is difficult, that's a lot but if its for 5 or 6 years maybe its worth it, but that's if Hall isnt worried about his AAV being super high and is willing to come in around 10 Mill. It's something to think about for now and when the MArner situation finally comes to an end we will all move on to the next big rumor, wouldnt get too worked up over it. I just personally love marner and think with him this team is absolutely a playoff team and those 4 picks are shots in the dark (or at least the next 3). Looking at NBA trades theres a part of me that wishes NHL trade were so ridiculous but the nature of the draft is so different so it never will come close.

There's absolutely no reason to give Mitch Marner this kind of money. Look at what the top wingers in the NHL make and look at what Mitch Marner does. You're offering to pay him $10.6M and give up 4 1st round picks and then he's going to look for $13M+ on his next deal. Why?

The one thing Marner brings, the Devils already have lots and lots of - Marner's not a finisher. He's a distributor - yeah, he will take a lot of shots, in the same way that Taylor Hall does, because he controls the puck a lot. Like Taylor Hall he'll have a year where the puck goes in a lot, but it looks like he'll normally be a 25-30G/82 guy.

If you're going to offersheet him at the 4 1st round picks level, there's no upper limit to the contract. Give him 55/5, which would already make him one of the highest paid wingers in the NHL despite not being one of the best, and that's it.

 

[MartyOwns]

we should definitely be in on this

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

There's absolutely no reason to give Mitch Marner this kind of money. Look at what the top wingers in the NHL make and look at what Mitch Marner does. You're offering to pay him $10.6M and give up 4 1st round picks and then he's going to look for $13M+ on his next deal. Why?

The one thing Marner brings, the Devils already have lots and lots of - Marner's not a finisher. He's a distributor - yeah, he will take a lot of shots, in the same way that Taylor Hall does, because he controls the puck a lot. Like Taylor Hall he'll have a year where the puck goes in a lot, but it looks like he'll normally be a 25-30G/82 guy.

If you're going to offersheet him at the 4 1st round picks level, there's no upper limit to the contract. Give him 55/5, which would already make him one of the highest paid wingers in the NHL despite not being one of the best, and that's it.

How is he not one of the best wingers in the NHL? He is absolutely better than Panarin

 

[OmNomNom]

the only forward piece i want is a top 6 RWer. a top pairing LD would be nice but i'm okay with not doing anything (unless we get rid of our backlog, since we gotta make room for ty)

 

[Better Call Sal]

we should definitely be in on this

Hmmm, well we're without our 2nd round pick for next year from the Subban trade. Wonder what our offer would realistically be.

 

[Triumph]

How is he not one of the best wingers in the NHL? He is absolutely better than Panarin

No he's not, Panarin has shown a significant ability to tilt the ice in favor of his team and Marner has only shown a bit of this. Some of this may be team effects but I'm not so sure.

Nevertheless, the Rangers did not have to give up any picks to sign Panarin.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

No he's not, Panarin has shown a significant ability to tilt the ice in favor of his team and Marner has only shown a bit of this. Some of this may be team effects but I'm not so sure.

Nevertheless, the Rangers did not have to give up any picks to sign Panarin.

If your real opinion is that Marner isnt one of the top wingers along with that analysis, then I dont know what to tell you. And yes unrestricted free agent signings continue to cost the team nothing more than a contract, shocking statistic.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I feel like people are sort of under appreciating Marner, but the cost is very steep. I think its way more likely the offer sheet for marner will be 3 years 10.6 million or so

If you offer the max just below that which triggers the four 1st Round picks it's $10.56M, and you give up 2 First Rounders, a 2nd, & a 3rd. But if it's true Marner is hell-bent on making $12M per year, Toronto can have him.

 

[Camille the Eel]

To name the elephant in the living room, the rest of our moves - if any - depend on what Hall does as far as extending. Where that is going needs to be resolved first, only then can you see what $ are available and what your needs are.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

If you offer the max just below that which triggers the four 1st Round picks it's $10.56M, and you give up 2 First Rounders, a 2nd, & a 3rd. But if it's true Marner is hell-bent on making $12M per year, Toronto can have him.

Was more speaking to our situation and we cant offer anything less than that threshold, its possible someone sheets him at 3 years at just below that threshold to not have to give away the 4 firsts but then Toronto likely matches with only 2 first coming back.

 

[Triumph]

If your real opinion is that Marner isnt one of the top wingers along with that analysis, then I dont know what to tell you. And yes unrestricted free agent signings continue to cost the team nothing more than a contract, shocking statistic.

He's not better than Panarin, and he's not better than Stone, and he's not better than Taylor Hall, and I can keep going. He is one of the top wingers. Paying him like he is the best winger is overpayment.

 

[SKNJD9]

Eklund is off his rocker today for anyone wanting a laugh

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

He's not better than Panarin, and he's not better than Stone, and he's not better than Taylor Hall, and I can keep going. He is one of the top wingers. Paying him like he is the best winger is overpayment.

welcome to any sports league with a growing cap, the contracts go up on a yearly basis. Also his contract will be in his prime with no years over 30... that's worth more money than someone who is getting paid into their 30's significantly especially with how many players are dipping after age 30 in this league. I'm not sure if he is better than any of those 3 because thats hard to absolutely justify, although I think he is better than panarin now, but he's arguably the best winger in the NHL under 23 years old and just had over 90 points and plays a very strong overall game. That's worth a lot, maybe 11+ million and four 1st round picks, I think it's something to think about and it seems most people think its a absolute no for the Devils on doing an offer sheet.

 

[Andre Palot]

It feels like some weird alternate reality HF Boards where we want to trade Zajac so we can watch a Rooney and trade Vatanen so we can watch a Santini

Again, we want to trade Zajac so we can have more cap flexibility to offer sheet Marner.

As it is, and this is the third time I'll be saying this, we won't have that luxury of our precious cap space once we have Hall, Nico, Bratt, Hughes locked into new deals and with Marner locked into the mix.

That's just our forward corp alone. What happens if Ty Smith is the next defensive force that we've been looking for to eventually slot into the that top pairing spot? He will need a big contract too.

So yeah, if we want Marner and all these other cast of characters on the team, we are gonna have to have league minimum players on the fourth line or those on their ELC.

Or we don't retain one of our top pieces. Simple as. Like, I think you all expect that we are gonna have our cake and eat it too.

That's not gonna be able to realistically happen

 

[Blender]

If you offer the max just below that which triggers the four 1st Round picks it's $10.56M, and you give up 2 First Rounders, a 2nd, & a 3rd. But if it's true Marner is hell-bent on making $12M per year, Toronto can have him.

We can't do the lower offer though. We'd have to acquire our 2nd round pick back from Nashville.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Zajac's contract has 2 years left on it. Hughes will still be on his ELC at that point. Hall, Nico and Bratt will be on the first year of their new contracts.

like I said, I don't want to offer sheet MArner for four firsts, but if we do I am not trading Zajac to make room for it, especially if you realistically only need the space for 1 year. You can make room in other ways if need be.