Devils 2020-21 team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - part VIII

[ninetyeight]

I must admit I'm a little less excited about Merkley after watching him struggle a bit in Liiga. I don't think the skill level in Liiga is even AHL level right now. He's a weird guy, when he's on he's really on, looks like a first liner. Great hands, amazing passing, tough physical play. But then for the next few games he does absolutely nothing.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

He plays with top quality defensemen on a team that is fantastic at transitioning pucks out of the defensive zone and generating offensive pressure. I don't think it's unreasonable to wonder how he will look on a team that is routinely caved in its zone. FWIW, I think those are legitimate concerns with Cirelli and Sergachev too. It doesn't mean that they're not contributing to Tampa's success or that they're passengers or anything, but any time a player goes from one of the best teams in the league to one of the worst, you have to expect their performance to take a hit.

I mean, when is that last time a defenseman stepped on the ice for Tampa and looked bad? Stralman, Shattenkirk, and Bogosian are all very recent examples of defensemen that looked terrible either prior to or after playing for Tampa, but looked absolutely fine, if not downright good playing for the club. It's why I'm very reluctant to give up a good asset for any one of their RFAs. Happy to take an asset to help them move a contract (not TJ unless the price is huge), but the last thing we need to do is give up a good asset for Cernak and have him come in here looking like Mirco Mueller or something.

TBL's GAR chart has been posted on the web. GAR is far from perfect and has its limitations but Cirelli had a great season via GAR last year. He was 3rd behind Point and Hedman and was over 15. To give you an idea how good of a season he had according to GAR historically about 2.5% of seasons are over 20 and 3.5% are in the 15-20 bucket.

While I doubt he will be moved, I would be really curious to see how his GAR would hold up on a lesser team.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

I don't know, I don't think that necessarily is us trying to trade him but rather he, we got this, what do you want to do?

Zajac blocked a trade via his NTC. He must have told them he was unwilling to accept a trade at all last year so the Devils no longer pursued trades.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

if he is so great, why did no teams take him on last week when they could have had him for literally free?

Also, do you think that playing in Tampa inflates a players numbers?

Lastly, what type of contract do you think he'd get if he was UFA right now?

He didn’t get claimed because teams are nit going to bail out Tampa by simply taking Johnson for free. They’ll want Johnson AND a sweetener for bailing their asses, which is just normal.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

He didn’t get claimed because teams are nit going to bail out Tampa by simply taking Johnson for free. They’ll want Johnson AND a sweetener for bailing their asses, which is just normal.

if Johnson was such a good/valuable player, someone would have taken him whether it helped another team or not

teams care about themselves first

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

if Johnson was such a good/valuable player, someone would have taken him whether it helped another team or not

teams care about themselves first

And that’s why they want more then Johnson.

If a team wants to think about themselves first, are they going to go with deal #1 or #2...

1- Tyler Johnson for free
2- Tyler Johnson for free and a sweetener for future considerations

It’s a pretty easy choice for me

 

[Billdo]

Zajac blocked a trade via his NTC. He must have told them he was unwilling to accept a trade at all last year so the Devils no longer pursued trades.

Yeah, but that's not necessarily the team wanting to trade him, it could just be them asking him and him saying no.

 

[Triumph]

And that’s why they want more then Johnson.

If a team wants to think about themselves first, are they going to go with deal #1 or #2...

1- Tyler Johnson for free
2- Tyler Johnson for free and a sweetener for future considerations

It’s a pretty easy choice for me

This is once again assuming that there are 2 teams in the NHL. There's not. If a team waived a good player on a good contract, he would be claimed, because a team would be afraid that this player would not pass through waivers.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Johnson would be fine if he was making like 3 million a year. But his current cap hit is just brutal for the term he has left considering his age. I don’t think he’s shot as a player, but he is shot as a guy that is worth 5 mil a year.

 

[My3Sons]

FYI, Zamboni was the name of the inventor and the original company that made ice resurfacers starting in the 50s. Their brand name became the name for it, like Kleenex or Q-tips, but other companies also make them now.

Is the flame ice surface scorcher an option like traction control or a panoramic sunroof or is that standard on ice resurfacing vehicles now like airbags and tire pressure monitoring?

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

This is once again assuming that there are 2 teams in the NHL. There's not. If a team waived a good player on a good contract, he would be claimed, because a team would be afraid that this player would not pass through waivers.

That’s absurd. You can’t jump on the first chance you get when you and everyone around the league knows that Tampa is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Teams that have cap space are perfectly aware that they can get much, much more from Tampa and would be foolish to just grab TJ and leave a lot more on the table.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Yeah, but that's not necessarily the team wanting to trade him, it could just be them asking him and him saying no.

They spoke about a specific deal according to his agent.

Zajac’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, recently told Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that the New Jersey Devils approached the veteran forward with a potential deal but that he was not willing to waive his no-trade clause right now. Overhardt explained, “We’ll see about the future after the season,” indicating that Zajac doesn’t want to go anywhere at the moment. At the end of the season, Zajac will be 35 and have one year remaining on his contract, which carries a $5.75M cap hit.

Devils' Travis Zajac currently unwilling to waive no-trade clause

 

[My3Sons]

Yeah, I was referencing Adam Boqvist and the Hawks.

I’m not necessarily looking to trade Boqvist, but Stan Bowman is a moron and I could see him overvaluing the brother connection and overindulging in this “youth movement” they’re suddenly committed to.

Unless CHI wants to swap him for a guy like Regula or some other similar young player with upside I don't think NJ has any need for a guy like DeHaan or some other meh vet they'd try to unload.

 

[Devils731]

That’s absurd. You can’t jump on the first chance you get when you and everyone around the league knows that Tampa is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Teams that have cap space are perfectly aware that they can get much, much more from Tampa and would be foolish to just grab TJ and leave a lot more on the table.

As a GM, you’d barely end up making any moves if you tried to bleed every deal for maximum value. If a team think Johnson on his contract is valuable and helpful to their team then they should have claimed him; otherwise they’re more likely to end up with nothing than getting the help.

 

[Triumph]

That’s absurd. You can’t jump on the first chance you get when you and everyone around the league knows that Tampa is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Teams that have cap space are perfectly aware that they can get much, much more from Tampa and would be foolish to just grab TJ and leave a lot more on the table.

The point is that Tyler Johnson isn't very desirable, not that teams have leverage over TB. If Tampa waived Stamkos (which they can't do) someone would figure out a way to make that work, not just wait to gain more leverage.

Most teams with cap space right now won't be able to 'weaponize' it - there's enough LTIR space and other shenanigans teams can do to get under the cap.

 

[Triumph]

I must admit I'm a little less excited about Merkley after watching him struggle a bit in Liiga. I don't think the skill level in Liiga is even AHL level right now. He's a weird guy, when he's on he's really on, looks like a first liner. Great hands, amazing passing, tough physical play. But then for the next few games he does absolutely nothing.

This just sounds like a guy playing in the Finnish league who knows he won't be there at season's end keeping himself in shape. I'd like to see more out of him but obviously if he's not dominating Liiga it's either A: he's injured B: he's not trying or C: he's not adapting to the Finnish game. But guys who score at a 1st line rate in the AHL generally do well in Finland on the rare occasions they end up there.

 

[Xirik]

If Tampa bay wants to keep all their UFA's then perhaps we should try for Cal Foote + Johnson retained at some amount.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

If Tampa bay wants to keep all their UFA's then perhaps we should try for Cal Foote + Johnson retained at some amount.

even if they retain 50% on Johnson, that only saves them $2.5 millon which isn't much

 

[Lou Bloom]

Nobody is saying that Johnson is worth his contract, There's just a huge gulf of difference between someone like Johnson who's still a quality middle six player and actual dead weight contracts that are huge anchors to their team. It just seems crazy how many people act like his contract is so poisonous that even adding a young, proven top 4 defenseman still isn't enough.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Nobody is saying that Johnson is worth his contract, There's just a huge gulf of difference between someone like Johnson who's still a quality middle six player and actual dead weight contracts that are huge anchors to their team. It just seems crazy how many people act like his contract is so poisonous that even adding a young, proven top 4 defenseman still isn't enough.

Nate Schmidt is a legitimately good DMan and he got traded for basically nothing
Ryan Murray went for nothing
Andreas Johnsson went for basically nothing (Anderson is fine but yeah)
Stastny went for nothing

I'd much rather have any of those players than Tyler Johnson and he has a much, much w0rse contract out of any of them. FOUR more years.

 

[TrufleShufle]

Nobody is saying that Johnson is worth his contract, There's just a huge gulf of difference between someone like Johnson who's still a quality middle six player and actual dead weight contracts that are huge anchors to their team. It just seems crazy how many people act like his contract is so poisonous that even adding a young, proven top 4 defenseman still isn't enough.

Take him, as the player and age he is right now with the same contract, go back to last offseason. You would be right.

But if you can't look around the league and see how much the landscape has change in the last 2/3 weeks as far as "the market" goes, you aren't paying attention.

 

[Lou Bloom]

Take him, as the player and age he is right now with the same contract, go back to last offseason. You would be right.

But if you can't look around the league and see how much the landscape has change in the last 2/3 weeks as far as "the market" goes, you aren't paying attention.

In a normal market you're not getting Cernak for taking on Johnson's contract.

 

[Zippy316]

Killorn + Cernak would be the dream deal to finalize this off-season for me.

I know the market has flipped for any type of cap dumps, but I’d be willing to give up a little value to get that done.

Gives us the two things we’re sorely missing. A solid all-situations veteran forward to staple next to Hughes and a young top four defender.

 

[Zippy316]

They spoke about a specific deal according to his agent.

Zajac’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, recently told Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that the New Jersey Devils approached the veteran forward with a potential deal but that he was not willing to waive his no-trade clause right now. Overhardt explained, “We’ll see about the future after the season,” indicating that Zajac doesn’t want to go anywhere at the moment. At the end of the season, Zajac will be 35 and have one year remaining on his contract, which carries a $5.75M cap hit.

Devils' Travis Zajac currently unwilling to waive no-trade clause

Judging by how Shero was and assuming that Fitzgerald will follow suit, it a seems like with veteran or respected players they always try to find to a quality fit.

I would have to imagine a team that was a legitimate Stanley Cup contender had a deal on the table and Fitzgerald came to Zajac to see if there was any interest. I don’t think the Devils we’re shopping him as he seems to be one of those veterans that comes in, works hard, and won’t fuss about roles.

 

[TrufleShufle]

In a normal market you're not getting Cernak for taking on Johnson's contract.

Yeaaa...... that was my point...... This is not a normal market....