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

[My3Sons]

We had bad periods in other games too. I think it's more of an issue giving a full 60 minute effort.

I think there are somethings that youthful exuberance cannot make up for. Vets know how to work smarter not harder. A young team wastes energy and can get more tired than the old guys who know where to be and what to do without much extra effort. As others have noted these growing pains will torpedo some games but I don’t think it’s an effort issue.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Re 3d periods - or a sign of a very young team that’s learning to manage and close out games.

 

[glenwo2]

Silver Linings.

 

[jkrdevil]

The third period wasn’t different than the second period or the last of of the fist. They were getting beat pretty soundly since the first goal. Difference was the penalties in the third the the Caps cashed in on.

 

[glenwo2]

Sorry but I will take the viewpoint of someone(SAL) who knows what he's talking about over any HFBoard'er any day.

 

[haak84]

Would take mueller/Greene over vats/subban on the pk every damn time.

 

[Guttersniped]

People have mentioned Coleman and while he’s big loss, this team basically lost all of their PK pairings. Obviously Zajac (188:21 5-on-4 PK minutes) had been paired with Coleman almost exclusively for a couple years. Other than Coleman (130:58) last season, Zajac’s 2nd most common partner was Joey Anderson (30:01) and then Zacha (17:40).

Zacha (131:43 5-on-4 PK minutes), after PKing quite a bit with Brian Boyle in 2018-19, was paired mainly with Rooney (71:52). His 2nd most common partner was Nico (21:37) and then Zajac (17:40).

Nico (53:46 5-on-4 PK minutes) didn’t PK regularly until paired with Zacha (21:37) and then his 2nd most common partner was Rooney (11:04).

Severson (165:31 5-on-4 PK minutes) had the second most PK minutes on defense, with main partner Greene (95:15) and his 2nd most common partner was Mueller (28:39). He wasn’t partnered much with Subban (22:12) or Vatanen (12:34).

Subban (112:06 5-on-4 PK minutes) had third most PK minutes and his most common PK partner was Mueller (31:16) and then Severson (22:12), Greene (21:46) and Vatanen (14:40).

Vatanen (91:52 5-on-4 PK minutes) was fifth after Mueller in total PK minutes. His most common partner was Greene (41:28), then Mueller (16:07), Subban (14:40) and Severson (12:34).

So it’s really the combined loss of Coleman, Greene, Rooney, Mueller and Anderson. Somehow, even with resigning Vats, we don’t have any long time defensive pairs to lean on.

Murray had 51:25 5-on-4 PK minutes in 27 games in Columbus which works out to the 3rd most PK minutes per game on the BJs, after Jones and Werenski.

Kulikov had 69:15 5-on-4 PK minutes in 50 games in Winnipeg and was 8th on his team in PK minutes per game, 5th among defensemen.

With our forwards all we have is a few pieces from last season’s PK and a bunch of kids. We didn’t sign a defensive forward vet and that’s why we have spots for the forwards from Bing. The downside is we didn’t replace Coleman and Rooney and there is a reason teams bring in vets. With the defense, it’s tough with a lot of turnover, I’m shocked how well it’s gone for the most part but a major minute muncher is gone and Greene wasn’t really replaced with same kind of player.

Ruff has paired a lot of players together and sussing out who, if anyone, is working well-together can be a subject for a different long boring post.

If you click on a player and go to their summary one the of tabs is “teammates”
Player Season Totals - Natural Stat Trick

Defensive Pairs - Natural Stat Trick

Player Season Totals - Natural Stat Trick

 

[Guttersniped]

Nothing like a long endless post on penalty killing stats to brighten everyone’s evening. Thrilling stuff, I know.

 

[haak84]

Haven’t been ok with two straight regulation losses in a long time.

 

[Emperoreddy]

 

[Guttersniped]

My endless post (which took me a while to write btw) is basically saying the same thing with a lot more words and numbers but this works too I guess. *sigh*

 

[glenwo2]

I think what Sal is truly trying to say is "Stop Whining".

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

The things that are wrong with the PK are not lack of familiarity with teammates

The system allows forwards to set up unimpeded in front of the goalie. That is the major reason that the PK is struggling. Nearly every goal is a deflection or screened shot. That has to change.

 

[Derps]

Yeah, I mean their PK% is more than 10 points lower than the worst PK team of all time. I don't care if it's the Pope that starts tweeting that they just need is a little more chemistry, I'm not convinced it all boils down to that.

 

[Derps]

The things that are wrong with the PK are not lack of familiarity with teammates

The system allows forwards to set up unimpeded in front of the goalie. That is the major reason that the PK is struggling. Nearly every goal is a deflection or screened shot. That has to change.

YUPPPPP.

They are *so* passive. I have never seen anything quite like it.

 

[Emperoreddy]

They are passive because they are unsure of themselves and unfamiliar with each other.

 

[Derps]

They are passive because they are unsure of themselves and unfamiliar with each other.

I ain't asking them to move around like a well-oiled machine, but I dont think it's too much to ask not to let players sit *literally* untouched in prime puck tipping areas like they do more than any other team in the NHL.

 

[Unknown Caller]

They are passive because they are unsure of themselves and unfamiliar with each other.

I don’t agree. Penalty killing is pretty universal, it’s one of the easiest things to do in hockey. Your responsibilities are pretty isolated from your teammates.

There are two maybe three possible coverage strategies and that’s it. As a forward you take away the seam pass and get in shooting lanes. As a defenseman you limit net front and low slot opportunities. They aren’t executing.

 

[glenwo2]

I don’t agree. Penalty killing is pretty universal, it’s one of the easiest things to do in hockey. Your responsibilities are pretty isolated from your teammates.

There are two maybe three possible coverage strategies and that’s it. As a forward you take away the seam pass and get in shooting lanes. As a defenseman you limit net front and low slot opportunities. They aren’t executing.

So it's the system or they aren't executing...

Which is it?

 

[Unknown Caller]

So it's the system or they aren't executing...

Which is it?

Exactly what I said, they aren’t executing. Zone coverage on a penalty kill is very basic and any difference in a “system” is generally small nuances aimed at achieving the same results that I discussed above.

The only real changes that can be made are personnel and aggressiveness (how passive you want to be while the other team works the puck). The Devils are a little too passive in my opinion and the personnel is not executing their responsibilities.

 

[Eggtimer]

I really want to rescue Forsberg from the the Preds

Same . But I’m guessing it would take more than I’d be willing to give up . I’m guessing Holtz would be the base ask from the Preds plus another prospect and/ or pick .
If it took Holtz or Mercer ... no thanks . I’d rather wait for them to develop and see what we got in them .