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

[HBK27]

Devils only had 22 of the 23 active roster spots filled. With Comrie in now they have no spots left. When Vatanen and Bratt are ready then room needs to be made. Then when Hishier comes off IR or Dell clears COVID quarantine, then they will need to make room for them, by demoting two current roster guys to taxi/AHL.

Yeah, will definitely be some decisions to be made.

The easy thought was to just send Tennyson down for Vatanen, but now that he's played the opening 3 games you have to wonder if Carrick might be the odd man out on defense.

The forward group becomes difficult as well if they continue to carry 3G / 8D. Kuokannen is the most likely candidate to be sent to the taxi squad. He has the least amount of ice time on the team at 10:24 - more than a full minute below Bastian at 11:31 and McLeod at 11:55. McLeod has been playing well and contributes more to the PK than Bastian, but Fitz would be taking the risk of losing Bastian by sending him down as he has to pass through waivers. I'd really rather not see them take that risk. Boqvist is also an option as he does not require waivers, though he's been getting more ice time than Gusev and Johnsson.

I guess this is where it gets tricky carrying 3 goalies, as short-term injuries will only make things worse since players have to miss 7 days if placed on IR.

If one of Carrick/Tennyson clears waivers, you could always try to send the other one down as well. I know Ruff likes to practice with 8 defensemen, but you can fill that hole with a guy on the taxi squad.

Devils could also try to waive Wedgewood in the hope he clears waivers and if so, then waive Comrie.

 

[HBK27]

If we absolutely need to make space when Hischier and Bratt come back, I'd probably reluctantly bench Boqvist (or at least strongly consider it). I think Kuokkanen is a given, and the other choice may be Johnsson. I'd add Zacha to that list too, but he's valuable on the PK for now (at least until we start getting Hughes and Nico there).

Tough thing though is that some moves would need to be made before we can consider benching a Johnsson or Zacha as the 3 extra roster spots right now are occupied by 2 defensemen and a goalie.

 

[I Hate Tie DOMI]

Umm... I think we had 22 spots filled. Were carrying 8 D.

Sorry I ninja-edited it before you posted your response. You're right

 

[LeedsMonster]

Isn't there a difference between being invisible but playing a simple overly safe responsible game that doesn't lead to penalties or bad chances against even if offense is inhibited and being noticeable for bad play that leads to chances against while still not making any offensive contribution? I think some guys like Boquist and McLeod fit into the first category from what I've watched, while some other guys maybe a bit too much of the second category. It's definitely a work in progress not only from incorporating so many young guys into the lineup but adding a new coach and system as well. If the young players develop that's most important and some of that will take time and maybe some growing pains along the way. Writing off Kuokannen as a bad player after three games would be unfair even if he hasn't been very good. Same with Boquist although he's looked pretty good in multiple facets of the game to me even if his confidence is not there yet to allow him to create more offense. We still need to have patience to let this play out.

Koukkanen has been better than Boqvist to my eye. Boqvist is a total non factor without the puck and plays soft. Koukkanen has been way more effective in all 3 zones. The scoring will come.

 

[tailfins]

Should have been his alone but someone had to go offside.

Clearly he didn't want Jack breaking his record

 

[RememberTheName]

Kuokkanen has done literally nothing thus far. He hasn't even taken a shot through three games. Boqvist has been great defensively, he has a very active stick that he's used on numerous occasions to deflect passes out, he's much better offensively than Kuokkanen in my opinion. Every time I see the fourth line in action, I feel like every time, it is McLeod and Bastian driving, not Kuokkanen. He's replaceable.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Koukkanen has been better than Boqvist to my eye. Boqvist is a total non factor without the puck and plays soft. Koukkanen has been way more effective in all 3 zones. The scoring will come.

.....you are joking right? All of these is false.

 

[tailfins]

Yeah, will definitely be some decisions to be made.

The easy thought was to just send Tennyson down for Vatanen, but now that he's played the opening 3 games you have to wonder if Carrick might be the odd man out on defense.

The forward group becomes difficult as well if they continue to carry 3G / 8D. Kuokannen is the most likely candidate to be sent to the taxi squad. He has the least amount of ice time on the team at 10:24 - more than a full minute below Bastian at 11:31 and McLeod at 11:55. McLeod has been playing well and contributes more to the PK than Bastian, but Fitz would be taking the risk of losing Bastian by sending him down as he has to pass through waivers. I'd really rather not see them take that risk. Boqvist is also an option as he does not require waivers, though he's been getting more ice time than Gusev and Johnsson.

I guess this is where it gets tricky carrying 3 goalies, as short-term injuries will only make things worse since players have to miss 7 days if placed on IR.

If one of Carrick/Tennyson clears waivers, you could always try to send the other one down as well. I know Ruff likes to practice with 8 defensemen, but you can fill that hole with a guy on the taxi squad.

Devils could also try to waive Wedgewood in the hope he clears waivers and if so, then waive Comrie.

When are you changing your username to "Waive Comrie"?

 

[JimEIV]

Koukkanen has been better than Boqvist to my eye. Boqvist is a total non factor without the puck and plays soft. Koukkanen has been way more effective in all 3 zones. The scoring will come.

How can the scoring come without shots? He literally doesn't have a shot this season. And I went back and looked at the 1 game he played last year and he didn't record a shot then either. He doesn't have a shot on goal in 4 games with our team.

 

[billingtons ghost]

I was going to wait for a 10 game losing streak to provide this silver lining, but.....Our youth is incredible.

Of the 28 players listed on our roster/taxi -
15 of them are 25 or younger, with Wood being the only 25 year old. 9 are 22 or younger. 10 of them are first or second round picks.

Only 5 are 30 or over - Zajac is 35, and only Subban, Tennyson, Kulikov and Dell are the others. They all might be gone next year as expiring contracts, or expansion. Only Trav (and arguably Subban) could be considered core.

We have $6m in cap space - and in two years Subban's $9m comes off the books if not sooner with expansion/buy out.

UFAs that matter Palms/Gusev aren't helping their case for raises three games in, but I can't imagine we'd give them much more than $5m anyway - so the cap impact would be negligible. Ryan Murray won't make a whole lot more than his 4.6 to resign.

Hughes/Wood/Zacha/Boqvist/Bratt are RFAs in 3 years, Severson UFA in 4, Blackwood RFA in 4.

We've got this year and next year before any cash has to be dealt out at all - and then most are at least RFA controlled so we could bridge to UFA years.

All pretty good stuff.

 

[Oneiro]

That picture of Josefson on draft day kills me.

He was such a well-intentioned cupcake of a hockey player.

 

[Blackjack]

Should have been his alone but someone had to go offside.

Still think that type of play should be ruled as having possession. Palms did that on purpose and he came away with the puck

I read the writeup of the game from the Rangers beat writer on the Athletic and he said that the offside review is an asinine rule, hundreds of calls (his words) are missed per game, but the league has chosen this one arbitrary case where coaches can rewind the clock and erase a goal for a missed call. It's f***ing stupid, and they need to get rid of it.

 

[Zippy316]

Kuokkanen has done literally nothing thus far. He hasn't even taken a shot through three games. Boqvist has been great defensively, he has a very active stick that he's used on numerous occasions to deflect passes out, he's much better offensively than Kuokkanen in my opinion. Every time I see the fourth line in action, I feel like every time, it is McLeod and Bastian driving, not Kuokkanen. He's replaceable.

Kuokkanen is fine. You don’t notice him because McLeod and Bastian are noticeable. It’s the same reason you don’t notice Zajac half the time he’s on the ice because Wood is constantly skating and drawing attention. Kuokkanen is still likely to be the odd man out when we get another forward back unless he starts producing or Johnsson keeps struggling.

The biggest problem right now for the forwards is the Zacha line. Zacha isn’t engaged which is what he needs to do to be effective, Johnsson has struggled, and Gusev hasn’t been able to get the puck with time and space like he needs to be effective. Those two need to find ways to open up the ice and get the puck to Gusev. When Zacha coasts around, he gives the other team way too much time to get set and it inadvertently affects Gusev who ends up in the corners more than he should be.

 

[HBK27]

I read the writeup of the game from the Rangers beat writer on the Athletic and he said that the offside review is an asinine rule, hundreds of calls (his words) are missed per game, but the league has chosen this one arbitrary case where coaches can rewind the clock and erase a goal for a missed call. It's f***ing stupid, and they need to get rid of it.

It is an asinine rule. It should only be reviewed/changed if the offside lead directly to a goal - as in on the rush that the offsides occurred (within 2-3 seconds). Otherwise, you let it go. Human error is and always has been part of sports. It happens with penalty calls and non-calls and can happen with offsides.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Gusev is not a good player. This has been my opinion since the first game I ever watched him. What exactly does he bring to the lineup. Zacha is in fact better than Gusev, faster, bigger and more skilled and he’s good on the pk. People gotta stop ragging on Zacha just because he didn’t turn out based on where he went in a good draft. He’s still a valuable player.

okay Pavel, time to log off

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

Boqvist was a non-factor in his first extended look, too.

I'm not worried about Kuokkanen long-term. But he's been very irrelevant in these first 3 games.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Koukkanen has been better than Boqvist to my eye. Boqvist is a total non factor without the puck and plays soft. Koukkanen has been way more effective in all 3 zones. The scoring will come.

I totally 100% disagree with basically every word of this.

 

[Hisch13r]

It is an asinine rule. It should only be reviewed/changed if the offside lead directly to a goal - as in on the rush that the offsides occurred (within 2-3 seconds). Otherwise, you let it go. Human error is and always has been part of sports. It happens with penalty calls and non-calls and can happen with offsides.

The main issue I have with it is that they're being so strict on offsides but like half of the dump ins from center should be called icing if they went by the book. So many dump ins are from right before the red line and they just let it go. Offsides should be like that. Only call it if it's egregious

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Nikita Gusev was one of the best 5 on 5 playmakers in the entire NHL last season...and that is WITH him struggling for the first month or two.

Yes, he has struggled for the first few games of this year...no doubt. But those insinuating that he is the worst player on the team or whatever are out to lunch.

 

[Blackjack]

It is an asinine rule. It should only be reviewed/changed if the offside lead directly to a goal - as in on the rush that the offsides occurred (within 2-3 seconds). Otherwise, you let it go. Human error is and always has been part of sports. It happens with penalty calls and non-calls and can happen with offsides.

The only problem with that is that it becomes impossible to draw a line between what leads to a goal and what doesn't. I would just point out that egregiously offside goals (i.e. the classic Matt Duchene goal) are rare enough that you don't need to address them with a special rule. There are bad calls over the course of a game, and some of them inevitably lead to goals or prevent goals that should have been scored. We live with them in all other cases, we can live with them with offside.

 

[Guttersniped]

Gusev was an extremely productive even strength producer after a rough start last season. Pavel Zacha is not a valuable player at all. He is one of the most replaceable players on the roster.

Zacha is useful for special teams, he’s actually somewhat productive on the power play. Some of the non-Bratt production people remember from last season was from the PP. He’s a top penalty killer, we currently only have two for sure functional ones and maybe McLeod right now. He’s produced points short-handed with whomever he’s been paired with: Boyle, Rooney, Nico etc. Zacha is useful.

He’s just not worth having as a center because he’s a Tweener, not good enough to be a scoring or a defensive center. If Wood is playing “his game” this season, what is Zacha’s game?

He’s defense is still a mess, Zacha has managed to lead in High Danger Scoring Chances Against (HDCA) in 5v5 both with raw count and /60 rate. He was second behind Wood last year, tied with McLeod. Wood has wildly improved and McLeod has slightly improved from last year, while Zacha’s current ones are way worse (small data set obviously) . (And Gusev’s are real bad too).

McLeod has offensive struggles but I’m fine with giving a continued tryout as a 4th line center. He’s limited too though because he’s useless as a winger. I certainly will be excited if and when that blessed first goal comes. And when comes to Zacha, everyone focuses on his middling 5v5 offense but don’t sleep on his terrible 5v5 defense.

 

[JK3]

Boqvist has been strong defensively and has looked pretty good without the puck, he busted his ass to get back and tip away a really good back door attempt last night. For sure we'd like to see him rack up some points but as long as that line isn't spending a ton of time in our own zone and chipping in some goals we're good.

 

[Blender]

Boqvist has been strong defensively and has looked pretty good without the puck, he busted his ass to get back and tip away a really good back door attempt last night. For sure we'd like to see him rack up some points but as long as that line isn't spending a ton of time in our own zone and chipping in some goals we're good.

I thought one of those sequences in the last few minutes of the game where we got trapped in our zone, and finally a winger got to the bench and Boqvist came on for him, was a ringing endorsement by Ruff for him.

 

[The Devil In I]

The only problem with that is that it becomes impossible to draw a line between what leads to a goal and what doesn't. I would just point out that egregiously offside goals (i.e. the classic Matt Duchene goal) are rare enough that you don't need to address them with a special rule. There are bad calls over the course of a game, and some of them inevitably lead to goals or prevent goals that should have been scored. We live with them in all other cases, we can live with them with offside.

My idea for this has been that if the puck goes past the goal line during the offensive zone possession, usually indicating a cycle happened after the zone entry and the offside didn't directly lead to a rush that scored the goal, then offside review isn't applied.

Still not perfect but better than goals being called back because 45 seconds earlier a player was a bit offsides.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

WTF, we’re on a condensed schedule and we have close to week off after our game on Thursday?

Is it just me or do we get screwed more often then not with the schedule on a yearly basis?