Devils 2021-22 team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - part XII

[guitarguyvic]

Hughes right now is having a 35 goal, 82 point pace season. Even if he just did that the rest of his career, he’s a hall of fame player.

How much more would he have to learn and produce to be a good first overall pick for you?

LOL what…we’re discussing the flaws of his game and whether he’ll eventually overcome them and you’re talking about him sustaining a point per game pace for the next 20 years? Yeah no shit he’d be a HOF player if he did that.

If he can’t fix his current flaws he’s not gonna score 1600 points in his career.

What a take.

 

[Triumph]

You can enter the zone and the promptly turn it over badly. Which is coincidentally often what happens with him.

I’m not even saying he’s a bad player so these rebuttals are weird.

These rebuttals are because you are giving the lukewarmest of Hockey Guy takes like 'sometimes Hughes turns the puck over too much'. It's expressed like he isn't already excellent at gaining the zone. He has made some very bad decisions with the puck in recent games, but I have confidence he will figure that stuff out because that's what smart hockey players do, especially those who play at this level when they are 20, a level you were skeptical he would ever reach 6 months ago.

 

[Devils731]

LOL what…we’re discussing the flaws of his game and whether he’ll eventually overcome them and you’re talking about him sustaining a point per game pace for the next 20 years? Yeah no shit he’d be a HOF player if he did that.

If he can’t fix his current flaws he’s not gonna score 1600 points in his career.

What a take.

So with his flaws you expect him to have less production in the future?

That we may be seeing the best Jack Hughes will ever be? What are the odds of that do you think?

I’ll also re-ask, what production level for Hughes this season would have made his production good enough? Since his current production leaves something to be desired.

 

[Bleedred]

We don’t even play either the rest of the season so…

Oh, we're done with the Blue Jackets already? Sweet. There's one less game that's pretty much almost an auto loss.

I knew we were done with the Flyers. We played them 3 times and it felt like they were all in a 2 or 3 week span.

 

[MadDevil]

Don't really understand why we would be scouting two division rivals.

Laine to NJ (E5)

 

[NJDevs26]

Oh, we're done with the Blue Jackets already? Sweet. There's one less game that's pretty much almost an auto loss.

I knew we were done with the Flyers. We played them 3 times and it felt like they were all in a 2 or 3 week span.

I missed another game in the armory (at CBJ) at the beginning of March, but still wouldn't make much sense to scout them for that, especially after just playing them twice.

 

[MadDevil]

Just looking through our scouts I had no idea Anders Nilsson was our European goalie scout.

 

[Saugus]

Laine to NJ (E5)

Eklund, what a blast from the past. Is that old fraud still kicking around somewhere?

 

[Bleedred]

Just looking through our scouts I had no idea Anders Nilsson was our European goalie scout.

That's random. He works for the Devils? I knew he wasn't playing anymore because of concussions I think, but I figured he'd start out somewhere for a team he used to play for or some connection to someone working there with one of the team's he played on.

 

[Lou is God]

Eklund, what a blast from the past. Is that old fraud still kicking around somewhere?

Alive and well:

Last night the Devils fell to the Coyotes and word is that time may be running out on Lindy Ruff. Meanwhile, the Flyers have dropped 9 straight and tonight host Columbus in what must one considered a must-win for Coach Yeo.... I have heard both teams are poking around at other coaches and Paul Maurice could be one of the possibilities....And of course, as I've stated before, many at Comcast in Philly are canvassing for Rick Tocchet to bring "Flyers Hockey" back to Philly...

HockeyBuzz.com - Eklund - Johnny Gaudreau Could Extend in CGY, NJ and Philly Changes? Buzz @ 330

 

[Bleedred]

Alive and well:

Last night the Devils fell to the Coyotes and word is that time may be running out on Lindy Ruff. Meanwhile, the Flyers have dropped 9 straight and tonight host Columbus in what must one considered a must-win for Coach Yeo.... I have heard both teams are poking around at other coaches and Paul Maurice could be one of the possibilities....And of course, as I've stated before, many at Comcast in Philly are canvassing for Rick Tocchet to bring "Flyers Hockey" back to Philly...

HockeyBuzz.com - Eklund - Johnny Gaudreau Could Extend in CGY, NJ and Philly Changes? Buzz @ 330

Oh come on dude. Time running out on Ruff and Yeo are both easy bets. Anybody could have wrote that and tried to pass it off as legit from inside sources lol. Same with the Tocchet thing which has been going on since even before AV got fired. They were even talking about it with him in studio on TNT and the other guys were egging him on and asking him if his phone rang yet and how he was just on the phone a few minutes ago and he said it wasn't for that lol.

The Paul Maurice one is just really out there. I mean, Paul Maurice could come back and coach this year or next, even though he claimed he was burnt out. It has happened before, but that is just really bizarre and out there.

 

[NJDevs26]

LOL how many teams make two coaching changes in the same season? If Fletcher has to make a second coaching change he should be put on blast for hiring and firing one guy within weeks. And if they hire Rick Tocchet, Fletcher may be making a third coaching change before the season's over

 

[MadDevil]

That's random. He works for the Devils? I knew he wasn't playing anymore because of concussions I think, but I figured he'd start out somewhere for a team he used to play for or some connection to someone working there with one of the team's he played on.

Ironically his first career win and shutout were against us.

 

[Bleedred]

Ironically his first career win and shutout were against us.

Sadly I remember it and I think it was on Daytona 500 weekend because I remember being so angry and wanting to turn the race on.

We played him the next week and almost got shutout 1-0 by him again, but he gave up an absolutely brutal goal to David Clarkson with less than 2 minutes left, then we got a power play and I think Zidlicky scored the game winner in the last minute of regulation and that was it.

I screamed so loud when we scored and then even louder when we took the lead. My windows here were open and I was jumping up and down and it was at like 9:30 or whatever at night. I'm sure the whole neighborhood heard me.

 

[GameSeven]

Laine to NJ (E5)

Then hire Torts for the lulz

 

[glenwo2]

has this been posted? both video and mason geertsen's grandma's reaction

Somebody tell Grandma that he did apologize because apparently she stopped watching the moment he said it.

 

[Bleedred]

LOL how many teams make two coaching changes in the same season? If Fletcher has to make a second coaching change he should be put on blast for hiring and firing one guy within weeks. And if they hire Rick Tocchet, Fletcher may be making a third coaching change before the season's over

The Kings fired Terry Murray in 11-12, the year they beat us for the cup. They promoted John Stevens to interim head coach for a few games and then hired Sutter a few games later. I don’t think it was much more than a week later.

I always remember that because John Stevens is one of the few interim head coaches that started out as an assistant with the team and then got moved back to assistant after that. And Nasreddine is one of the others. But John Stevens was interim coach for like literally a minute and not a half a season like Nas does.

There were a lot of people that believed Torts was coming in to Florida soon enough after the Quennevile resignation even though they immediately made Brunnette the interim. But that doesn’t look like it’s happening now.

They’d only fire Yeo if Tocchet wanted to take over today and it doesn’t like he’s gonna be there and take over until next season.

 

[glenwo2]

finding a player like bratt late in the draft is suppose to be the cherry on top that helps you speed up a rebuild or to be a contender quicker when you find those hidden gems. finding bratt that later does make up at all for busting on zacha at 6. in a perfect world the devils should've walked away with barzal and bratt and this team would be lightyears better. thats not intended to get into a debate about who they should've drafted just used as an example on how hitting the 1st early pick helps when combined with the 7th round gem.

jack hasn't held us back so thats why i didnt mention him. nico the only reason i mention him is because compared to who went after him thats where it set us back. again this isn't saying the devils should've drafted makar its just mainly the fact the devils are gifted the #1 pick and somehow they dont walk out of the draft with the best player in the draft thats what hurts this team. has he been better this year? sure he has but thats not saying much just highlights how meh hes been in previous years. again this franchise is a lot better off if nico is widely considered the best player out of the draft but hes not and thats what hurts the team.

I thought the draft where Bratt was drafted was also the same that McLeod was drafted in, not Zacha.

Zacha was drafted in 2015; Bratt was drafted a season later in 2016.

If anything, Bratt made it up for the Devils busting on McLeod being drafted at #12.

 

[guitarguyvic]

So with his flaws you expect him to have less production in the future?

That we may be seeing the best Jack Hughes will ever be? What are the odds of that do you think?

I’ll also re-ask, what production level for Hughes this season would have made his production good enough? Since his current production leaves something to be desired.

The odds this is the best he’ll ever be aren’t high, but it’s also not close to zero. You could stake a bet on it, but if you’re going all in on anyone outside of an obvious generational talent that’s just foolish.

And if he maintains a ppg pace that’s satisfactory production for a prospect of his caliber. When have I ever said otherwise? Please don’t just make shit up.

 

[Buck Dancer]

Laine to NJ (E5)

If only!

 

[SKNJD9]

If only!

He would be hated here after a month once everyone realizes how lazy he is. He's a better Zacha honestly.

 

[Buck Dancer]

He would be hated here after a month once everyone realizes how lazy he is. He's a better Zacha honestly.

Not when playing with guys who can actually feed him the puck. With talented guys like that who own a special talent, the best thing you can do is feed it instead of trying to turn him into a grinder and other things he never did his entire career.

Pair the guy with Hughes and call the firework factory because both guys would be lighting the league on fire.

 

[guitarguyvic]

These rebuttals are because you are giving the lukewarmest of Hockey Guy takes like 'sometimes Hughes turns the puck over too much'. It's expressed like he isn't already excellent at gaining the zone. He has made some very bad decisions with the puck in recent games, but I have confidence he will figure that stuff out because that's what smart hockey players do, especially those who play at this level when they are 20, a level you were skeptical he would ever reach 6 months ago.

You are conflating lower bullishness with outright skepticism, but that’s par for the course. Certain posters get their fee fee’s hurt when others are not comfortable proclaiming with near certainty that a prospect’s potential will be reached.

 

[SKNJD9]

Not when playing with guys who can actually feed him the puck. With talented guys like that who own a special talent, the best thing you can do is feed it instead of trying to turn him into a grinder and other things he never did his entire career.

Pair the guy with Hughes and call the firework factory because both guys would be lighting the league on fire.

No one tried to turn him into a grinder they just wanted a consistent effort, he has had attitude/work ethic issues going back to his pre-draft yrs. Torts just had a lower tolerance for it than Noel and Maurice did.

 

[Buck Dancer]

No one tried to turn him into a grinder they just wanted a consistent effort, he has had attitude/work ethic issues going back to his pre-draft yrs. Torts just had a lower tolerance for it than Noel and Maurice did.

Torts tried to turn him into a player he isn’t by working the boards instead of trying to find the soft spot in the slot. Laine never played that style of game and that’s not why he was drafted 2nd overall. He has one of the best releases in the game and the lack of a playmaker is detrimental to his game and the good of the team because they’re not utilizing his full potential… just like we’re not utilizing Jack’s full potential by giving him mediocre wingers since we drafted him 3 years ago. We did give him Bratt this year, which is great but he’s not a sniping winger, which would raise his level of play another notch.