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

[KovalchukFistPump]

I think one of Zacha's issues is just plain ol motivation, maybe I missed it but I've never really heard him comment about working harder or putting the effort in to improve his game, he just screams lazy to me. Until he hits the weight room I'm keeping the Zacha dad bod meme alive lol. The dude never shows any intensity or emotion either, just kind of a going through the motions type thing. Not that you have to be a screaming maniac but theres times I want to poke him with a stick.

I'm hoping he's one of those big men that takes awhile and just breaks out one season in their early-to-mid 20s. You are right though, just doesn't seem to have the drive to take the next step.

 

[tailfins]

Has he shown it? No. But do I think Zacha has it "in him"? Absolutely.

I consider his timidness and risk aversion to be a product of his upbringing coupled with Hynes, whereas you consider it an indictment of Zacha himself. Reasonable minds can differ, and perhaps this is just a fundamental disagreement where we'll just have to wait and see.

I completely agree that there "comes a point where players have to fight through this" - next season is certainly the inflection point for Zacha. I trust Lindy and his strong track record with younger players to navigate Zacha's issues and to maximize his talent. Hynes, I think, had very rigid visions for each player, and that seemed to be the litmus test. Wood, for example, could make mistakes, contribute little else, but so long as he met Hynes' expectations for the pre-determined role assigned to him, Wood would continue to play a line or two above where he should have.

Zacha should fare much better under a more dynamic staff. There's a reason why Zacha's production jumped over 0.5PPG under Nas for 42 games after scoring ~0.35PPG in 200+ games under Hynes.

The NHL is a results league. Even in a "development" year, NHL teams need to put a professional product on the ice.

You can argue about how much of a development league the AHL really is, but the type of change you're talking about would be much more possible in the AHL than the NHL. Ruff will run out of patience far faster than Dennehy. It's one of the reasons I wanted Zacha to spend the rest of the season in the AHL after he was sent down in 2018 - 2019.

IMO, the Devils have not done a good job developing Zacha.

 

[My3Sons]

I can somewhat understand it, because Zacha sometimes looks lazy when he plays. But jumping straight to the conclusion that Zacha, therefore, is a lazy player, is an argument totally void of critical thinking.

It might look lazy, but I characterize it as Zacha 'playing timid.'

He went from a hardass father with zero tolerance for mistakes, to a blowhard coach who arbitrarily punished mistakes. Zacha has been conditioned to micro-manage himself on the ice, and it completely neuters his game. He overthinks, makes a mistake, then turtles back into his shell.

It's all psychological with Zacha, and I don't think it's just the "confidence issues" we've been citing for years.

110% agreement from me. I have a friend with a kid like that. Great player. You can almost see him second guessing himself in real time while he’s playing. Zacha seems similar to me.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

 

[MauDevils]

That's not how you spell Jesper Bratt.

 

[glenwo2]

Some of these posts have more effort put into them than Zacha has ever exerted in a game.

This is truly an underrated (and funny-as-hell) post.

 

[Xirik]

Just spitballing, it'll be interesting to see how we're going to deploy these guys.

Bratt - Nico - Palms/Gusev
Johnsson - Hughes - Gusev/Palmieri
Boqvist/Kuokkanen - Zajac - Merkley
Wood - Zacha - McLeod/Bastian

Johnsson will probably be effective anywhere, with Hughes and Goose that line is pretty small though, maybe put Palms there.
I can't wait till we get Foote and Holtz up here, bigger guys that can shoot, that will really transform our lineup.
Bratt - Zacha - Gusev was good down the stretch but it blows up all the other lines and drops Hughes to the 3rd line. I'm still down on Zacha, don't know where to put him, he did move up when we moved Hughes to wing.
I still don't see Zajac giving up his 3rd line duties any time soon, I think Merkley is a good fit there as well.
Hopefully Boqvist can step in somewhere in the top 6 in the future, not sure what we have with Kuokkanen though.
That fourth line is big and can skate, they could cause some havoc. I don't want Wood anywhere near the to 6.
Bastian intrigues me, he looked good during his call up but that was a long time ago. I hope he could carve out a poor mans power forward type role.

With how Sharangovich is playing I would like to see him in the line up sooner rather then later.

 

[Maine Fan]

The NHL is a results league. Even in a "development" year, NHL teams need to put a professional product on the ice.

You can argue about how much of a development league the AHL really is, but the type of change you're talking about would be much more possible in the AHL than the NHL. Ruff will run out of patience far faster than Dennehy. It's one of the reasons I wanted Zacha to spend the rest of the season in the AHL after he was sent down in 2018 - 2019.

IMO, the Devils have not done a good job developing Zacha.

I agree and they must start again now or release him or Zacha was the wrong pick.

 

[Maine Fan]

The NHL is a results league. Even in a "development" year, NHL teams need to put a professional product on the ice.

You can argue about how much of a development league the AHL really is, but the type of change you're talking about would be much more possible in the AHL than the NHL. Ruff will run out of patience far faster than Dennehy. It's one of the reasons I wanted Zacha to spend the rest of the season in the AHL after he was sent down in 2018 - 2019.

IMO, the Devils have not done a good job developing Zacha.

IMO the Devils have not done a good job developing many of the young players under the previous management and coaching staff. The coaching selected them at the wrong time to step onto the ice for the given situation. Young players need to be developed slowly in good low pressure situations like when the team is winning the game, not throw in when the ice is giving out and the team is losing by 1 goal.
I look forward to the new GM, coach, and new coaching staff.

 

[JimEIV]

IMO the Devils have not done a good job developing many of the young players under the previous management and coaching staff. The coaching selected them at the wrong time to step onto the ice for the given situation. Young players need to be developed slowly in good low pressure situations like when the team is winning the game, not throw in when the ice is giving out and the team is losing by 1 goal.
I look forward to the new GM, coach, and new coaching staff.

I don't know if that happens anymore? I remember in the old days young players never saw the ice in tight games...coaches would shorten their bench big time in the last 10 mintestinal of the 3rd...but I haven't really noticed this happening all that much anymore? Maybe I just haven't noticed, maybe we've been bad for so long I forgot how a competitive team behaves?

 

[Ripshot 43]

What kindve game does Sharangovich play?

 

[Triumph]

I don't know if that happens anymore? I remember in the old days young players never saw the ice in tight games...coaches would shorten their bench big time in the last 10 mintestinal of the 3rd...but I haven't really noticed this happening all that much anymore? Maybe I just haven't noticed, maybe we've been bad for so long I forgot how a competitive team behaves?

Coaches shorten benches but they trust young players a lot more now, and the game is played at a higher intensity level shift-to-shift than it was 20 years ago. Top players generally receive less ice time per game than they did in those days.

 

[MadDevil]

Carrick was on the PDOcast today for anybody interested. There wasn't much Devils related in it, but it was still interesting to hear a defenseman's viewpoint (even if he is a marginal NHL player) on the position.

 

[McDuffz88]

Out of all the free agents I would like one more forward. Would you guys mind giving someone like Duclair a 1 year show me contract? Worst case flip him at deadline. I still think we need 1 more signing thats a reliable bottom 9 who if needed due to injury can be bumped to the 2nd. We don't know if it will be Hughes or Zacha centering the 3rd. We cannot have another situation like last year where they had the 3rd line center with a bunch of no bodies. Thats a big reason Hughes only got like 20 points.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I would like Granlund on a one year deal. I think it would make sense for him to build up his value coming off a rough year. He could be dealt at the deadline if he plays well too. I’d prefer a better scorer but he’s still a quality wing.

 

[Blackjack]

Out of all the free agents I would like one more forward. Would you guys mind giving someone like Duclair a 1 year show me contract? Worst case flip him at deadline. I still think we need 1 more signing thats a reliable bottom 9 who if needed due to injury can be bumped to the 2nd. We don't know if it will be Hughes or Zacha centering the 3rd. We cannot have another situation like last year where they had the 3rd line center with a bunch of no bodies. Thats a big reason Hughes only got like 20 points.

Yes, I would definitely take Duclair, but the reason he hasn't signed yet is almost certainly because he's still hoping he can get a multi-year deal.

 

[Eggtimer]

Yes, I would definitely take Duclair, but the reason he hasn't signed yet is almost certainly because he's still hoping he can get a multi-year deal.

Duclair does not have a player agent and represented himself . He was offered a very fair offer from Ottawa and he turned it down....
I cannot remember the offer amount, but it was more than I’d want the Devils to give him . I am guessing that he will want term as well on his contract . I would think he will move on his asking price and term now that he realizes the market for UFA’s is crap

 

[Davegarri]

Duclair does not have a player agent and represented himself . He was offered a very fair offer from Ottawa and he turned it down....
I cannot remember the offer amount, but it was more than I’d want the Devils to give him . I am guessing that he will want term as well on his contract . I would think he will move on his asking price and term now that he realizes the market for UFA’s is crap

He turned down 3 years $4.25 AAV, which I thought was fair with covid and all.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

Duclair started the season with a bang and his scoring went south for like 25 games.

With that said, I’d still take him on a one year deal.

 

[nugg]

IMO the Devils have not done a good job developing many of the young players under the previous management and coaching staff. The coaching selected them at the wrong time to step onto the ice for the given situation. Young players need to be developed slowly in good low pressure situations like when the team is winning the game, not throw in when the ice is giving out and the team is losing by 1 goal.
I look forward to the new GM, coach, and new coaching staff.

The hot streak that the Bing went on after Hyney-head was canned, speaks volumes. They didn't change the coach up there, but the system was scrapped. What were they, 25-7 afterwards?

 

[glenwo2]

What kindve game does Sharangovich play?

Winning Hockey, I hope.

 

[BurntToast]

Hopefully we start seeing more information start to trickle out about how the NHL plans to get this season rolling. It will be interesting how they will juggle AHL players, this year. Especially with the AHL’s later start and the realistic possibility they might cancel the season. We have 3 or 4 prospects killing it in other leagues, if they don’t make the team do the Devils send them back?

It will be interesting to look back five years from now and see how Covid19 effects development. Luckily most of our important prospects are playing.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

What kindve game does Sharangovich play?

Defensive center that can PK. Good shot.

You would think he and McLeod will be battling for the 4C role at training camp. We need a player like him to make the team because we need more penalty kill options after the departure of Coleman at the deadline and Rooney due to free agency.

 

[devlzfan]

I'm surprised more of these free agents aren't just signing one-year deals. Any multi-year deal means they can easily be in Seattle the following season.

 

[hidek91]

I'm surprised more of these free agents aren't just signing one-year deals. Any multi-year deal means they can easily be in Seattle the following season.

Seattle isn't a 'career death sentence' anymore after what happened with Vegas and more importantly, due to the COVID, they could lose millions if they signed one year contracts and decline or get injured during that year.