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

[TBF1972]

So is Nas going to coach the Defense or something?

i think he is best used as a special teams coach. he has perfected the fine art of punting under hines.

 

[TBF1972]

Of course. It would be great to have a team full of great players. But it's not feasible. You need guys who can play roles, and Zacha can play an admirable bottom 6 role for cheap. Try to fill that in free agency and you are going to overpay.

This will be moot in a few years when Mercer is on the team anyway. I really believe that Mercer will surprise people.

if mercer surprises us (in a positive way), i hope it won't be in a 3c role or the devils will have scary good forward depth. just imagine mercer is better than expected and won't be good enough for a top6 role.

 

[Camille the Eel]

i think he is best used as a special teams coach. he has perfected the fine art of punting under hines.

Both Nas’s D and power play (if he ever did power play) stank under Hynes. The PK on the other hand was serviceable. But . . .

Ruff himself is a fine defensive coach and overall coach of systems and technique. Ruff will be the best thing that ever happened to Nas in perfecting him as a coach. Nas showed good organizational and leadership qualities as interim last year. He developed authority and was respected. His weaknesses were precisely Ruff’s strengths and I believe the two of them should work very well together.

With Recchi in the mix, really I like this staff.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Both Nas’s D and power play (if he ever did power play) stank under Hynes. The PK on the other hand was serviceable. But . . .

Ruff himself is a fine defensive coach and overall coach of systems and technique. Ruff will be the best thing that ever happened to Nas in perfecting him as a coach. Nas showed good organizational and leadership qualities as interim last year. He developed authority and was respected. His weaknesses were precisely Ruff’s strengths and I believe the two of them should work very well together.

With Recchi in the mix, really I like this staff.

Nas didn't run the PP, it was Geoff Ward up until he left, and then Rick Kowalsky. I would assume Recchi is going to be handling that responsibility now.

 

[Blackjack]

if mercer surprises us (in a positive way), i hope it won't be in a 3c role or the devils will have scary good forward depth. just imagine mercer is better than expected and won't be good enough for a top6 role.

I think wing is more likely than center for Mercer, but if he turns out to be a better fit at center than wing, I'm more than fine rolling three strong lines. Between Holtz, Bratt, hopefully Palmieri, Foote, Boqvist, and Thompson, there should be enough skill wingers to fill out 3 lines that can each play 16-17 minutes per game. Mercer could be like Chris Drury was for Colorado, a 2nd line quality 3C that adds a huge punch to the depth.

Even though he'd be a "bottom 6" center, Mercer would still have quality linemates, good ice time, and a spot on one of the powerplays. Plenty of opportunity for offense.

 

[Ol Dirty Bstrd]

The ‘I want to see this guy under Ruff’ narrative is reaching comical meme level. Don’t mistake me for a Hynes fan but Ruff is not a miracle worker and there is a real talent issue on this team. I’d love to be proven wrong but I don’t see Pavel Zacha making me eat those words any time soon

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

The ‘I want to see this guy under Ruff’ narrative is reaching comical meme level. Don’t mistake me for a Hynes fan but Ruff is not a miracle worker and there is a real talent issue on this team. I’d love to be proven wrong but I don’t see Pavel Zacha making me eat those words any time soon

Well lets look at the Islanders as an example after and before they got Trotz

This isn’t football - this sport has the highest amount of luck and the highest factor of unexpected play/events in any sport. So a coach cant affect the game nearly as much

Trotz may be the best coach in the league but he didnt turn the Islanders into a conference finals team - he gave them the systems and inspiration to do as well as they could do (I see this as their peak), and they always had that potential. It just needed to be unlocked and certain players need to play certain ways (Barzal has been worse since Trotz came over, for example). Hell the Islanders are overachieving because they buy into the system and try 100%, when they dont they lose games badly cause their roster is kinda crap. So the new coach affect does wear off over time, no matter the greatness of the coach

If anything I think the ‘give him a chance under Ruff’ narrative is understated. Especially considering we have the youngest roster in the league by a mile if you took out every team’ 1-2 aging vets

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

The ‘I want to see this guy under Ruff’ narrative is reaching comical meme level. Don’t mistake me for a Hynes fan but Ruff is not a miracle worker and there is a real talent issue on this team. I’d love to be proven wrong but I don’t see Pavel Zacha making me eat those words any time soon

Hynes is not an NHL level coach

Ruff is certainly an NHL level coach. I didn't love the Ruff hire, but for a team full of young guys I think he will do well. Look at all the young talent he helped to develop in Buffalo and Dallas

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

The ‘I want to see this guy under Ruff’ narrative is reaching comical meme level. Don’t mistake me for a Hynes fan but Ruff is not a miracle worker and there is a real talent issue on this team. I’d love to be proven wrong but I don’t see Pavel Zacha making me eat those words any time soon

I don’t think he’ll have any impact on Zacha. I think he is what he is. But I can definitely see Jack and Nico benefiting. There’s a long list of young players that blossomed under Ruff.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

I don’t think he’ll have any impact on Zacha. I think he is what he is. But I can definitely see Jack and Nico benefiting. There’s a long list of young players that blossomed under Ruff.

Why wouldn’t he have impact on Zacha if Zacha’s problem was offense and Ruff is an offensive coach? Pavel is only 23 and finally grown into his body more

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Why wouldn’t he have impact on Zacha if Zacha’s problem was offense and Ruff is an offensive coach? Pavel is only 23

Because I just don’t think he has the goods. 4 seasons of showing very little with no real improvement.

 

[Devils731]

The ‘I want to see this guy under Ruff’ narrative is reaching comical meme level. Don’t mistake me for a Hynes fan but Ruff is not a miracle worker and there is a real talent issue on this team. I’d love to be proven wrong but I don’t see Pavel Zacha making me eat those words any time soon

For Zacha:

We see he is effective on the PK, an area with a lot of structure.

We saw he struggled to make an impact at even strength, an area where the Devils has little structure and lots of decision points.

—————

I don’t know what Ruff will run even strength but I could see Zacha benefitting from any even strength approach that has more structure and less decision points.

I agree that some players that struggled under Hynes will struggle under Ruff; but I think there is reason to believe Zacha could benefit from a new coach/system.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

Because I just don’t think he has the goods. 4 seasons of showing very little with no real improvement.

I mean Id say theres been real improvement for sure - there is way more to hockey than point totals, plus he was playing under Hynes the entire time and had confidence issues involving the absence of his father until he was like 21. Lets not forget Pavel started very young.

Pavel’s puck protection and decision making is leaps and bounds better than it was his rookie year. He started shooting more last year when Hynes left. He also started using his body to get inside toward the net more as well (even had a highlight goal from it)

Pavel is a surefire candidate when considering breakout seasons for Devils players under Ruff. Only 23 and just now really filling out his frame and getting more muscle mass (peak male muscle-structure growth doesnt end until 25-28). I could see him crushing his previous totals even from the third line.

Blake Coleman was practically a nobody until he was 25-26 and hes a smaller guy - lets give a bigger body guy, whos only been playing with real confidence for a two years now and never under a true NHL head coach, a chance before writing him off

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

Side note and this may be controversial but, IMO, Pavel has the best pass on the team outside of Jack, Jesper, and Nikita. His playmaking sometimes makes me go ‘damn thats a nice look’, and we drafted him to be a shooter.

I think Pavel has grown far more than many want to give him credit for. Perhaps that is just from me taking a coaches perspective on things when it involved my teams, as Im not only looking for stats and wins but also improvement in certain areas and attention to detail

 

[TorontoMedia]

Wow holy shit. This last page has been absolute nonsense.

For whoever needs to hear this (I personally thought it was pretty clear...) THE ONLY PERSON THAT CAN HELP PAVEL ZACHA IS PAVEL ZACHA.
He was in the doghouse because every time he played a good game he followed up with a shit effort. He is the laziest player I have ever watched on this team... additionally, the guy does not know how to get the puck deep off the glass. Legit throws it from the corner right into the high slot every time, which usually leads to a turnover or goal. Very problematic as a center.

he’s good for one insane highlight reel goal a year. If we found a way to move on from him it would be a no brainer. PLEASE stop the delusions with Zacha hype. He’s a 40 point player tops

 

[Call Me Al]

you can substitute ruff for “any other coach not named john hynes” and everyone would have the same thought

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I mean Id say theres been real improvement for sure - there is way more to hockey than point totals, plus he was playing under Hynes the entire time and had confidence issues involving the absence of his father until he was like 21. Lets not forget Pavel started very young.

Pavel’s puck protection and decision making is leaps and bounds better than it was his rookie year. He started shooting more last year when Hynes left. He also started using his body to get inside toward the net more as well (even had a highlight goal from it)

Pavel is a surefire candidate when considering breakout seasons for Devils players under Ruff. Only 23 and just now really filling out his frame and getting more muscle mass (peak male muscle-structure growth doesnt end until 25-28). I could see him crushing his previous totals even from the third line.

Blake Coleman was practically a nobody until he was 25-26 and hes a smaller guy - lets give a bigger body guy, whos only been playing with real confidence for a two years now and never under a true NHL head coach, a chance before writing him off

He mostly just floats around and doesn’t contribute offensively or defensively. He is just there.

And he isn’t just going to magically add muscle because he’s older. You have to put the work in to add size and strength — work he hasn’t been willing to do in the past.

 

[Ripshot 43]

I feel like I’ve reached the end of the Internet and there’s nothing new to read.

We need a controversial signing or trade so there is a new player to complain about.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I feel like I’ve reached the end of the Internet and there’s nothing new to read.

We need a controversial signing or trade so there is a new player to complain about.

we could always argue about Zajac

 

[Ripshot 43]

we could always argue about Zajac

That was like 2 days ago.

 

[Blackjack]

IIRC in the last few weeks we've argued about Zacha, Zajac, Butcher, Hischier, Hughes, Jonsson, Kulikov, and Blackburn. Not sure why we haven't argued about Severson recently. This offseason is just brutal. No hockey for, what, 8 months now? And at least two more. Yeesh.

 

[Nubmer6]

Sorry to continue the Zacha conversation, but I would definitely like to see him under a new coach. The biggest problem I saw was that we were misusing him. The guy's just not a shooter and we kept putting him in that role. Yes he's got a good shot, but he also needs the right mindset to find good shooting positions, which he isn't good at. He needs to be put into more of a playmaking role.

Hynes seemed to always want to wedge players into certain roles they weren't necessarily suited for and was completely inflexible about it. I use the defense as an example, where they were obviously coached to chase forwards around our zone and even up to the point, which was particularly ill suited for the slow D we have.

 

[JK3]

IIRC in the last few weeks we've argued about Zacha, Zajac, Butcher, Hischier, Hughes, Jonsson, Kulikov, and Blackburn. Not sure why we haven't argued about Severson recently. This offseason is just brutal. No hockey for, what, 8 months now? And at least two more. Yeesh.

What's with you and Blackburn?

 

[Darkauron]

Blackburn was one of a kind.Who could forget him.

 

[Triumph]

For Zacha:

We see he is effective on the PK, an area with a lot of structure.

We saw he struggled to make an impact at even strength, an area where the Devils has little structure and lots of decision points.

—————

I don’t know what Ruff will run even strength but I could see Zacha benefitting from any even strength approach that has more structure and less decision points.

I agree that some players that struggled under Hynes will struggle under Ruff; but I think there is reason to believe Zacha could benefit from a new coach/system.

Yeah, I'm not fully buying this - I don't think 5 on 5 was totally devoid of structure nor do I think Zacha thrives on the structure of 4 v 5 per se - because offense isn't structured 4 on 5 and that's where he excels. It's just that it's so simple 4 on 5 - you either shoot or pass, and you don't fight through the neutral zone or figure out a way into the zone, you go in if there's no resistance and dump and change if there is some. This is where Zacha struggles - he's actually excellent, percentage-wise, at zone entries, but he doesn't try them often enough. He doesn't challenge defenders enough.