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

[Buck Dancer]

I think everyone is a little overboard here. It isn't 'our centers, one winger and a bunch of shit' unless you are of the viewpoint that we need 4 full lines of ubertalented players with awesome player cards and super cool adv metric numbers.

That's not how winning teams are built.

I'll agree that after Bratt our priority is D- that Graves and Siegs should be Fitz's first business, followed by a 1b goalie with potential.

After that, clearly one top6 winger in a trade.

Holtz is coming.

Mercer + a kid from the pipe plus a good ufa two way fwd is great for the third line. Trotting out wood McLeod and Bastian for the fourth is perfect, esp if the first and second rounders games improve. They might be a third line really, as you could trot them out as shutdown... And then we just find kids with engines for the fourth.

I don't think we are that far away, esp if we turn some of those prospects into a top winger.

This!

People who thought we were turning a corner with Hall entering UFA status and Nico in his rookie year were definitly putting the cart before the horse. We have grown leaps and bounds since then and we have just about every asset you can ask for when looking at a team that is ready to compete. Our center depth is looking like it'll be one of the best one in the league in no time, we have a legit top pairing dman (RH no less), a bunch of promising prospects and despite all of that, we're still the youngest team in the league.

Blackwood is having his struggles but it's no coincidence that he's not performing as expected when he's been asked to carry this team on his back for 2 years in the most absurd of circomstances. I'm positive that the second we'll be able to find a backup that won't suffer a career ending injury the second we acquire him, it'll make us a better team and will give Blackwood the mental and physical rest he deserves.

 

[Buck Dancer]

I mean, we clearly like to pay for potential. We paid Hughes and Nico 8 and 7 million per respectively without having incredible seasons.

I just see no way Bratt looks at those deals and doesnt ask for that long term.

He can ask for whatever he wants, being a 6th round pick gives you way less "credibility" to ask for that whopper of a deal compared to guys who were drafted 1st overall and are expected to post up solid numbers.

There's a major difference between both situations and I don't see Bratt or his agent passing a fast one by Fitz with his track record. If Bratt was coming off the same #'s last year, he'd have a shot at what you're saying but he didn't, so I don't see it happening at all.

 

[Lou is God]

I think people around here are being a little over the top with the negativity in regard to Foote because he hasn't seized an NHL opportunity yet (he only just turned 21 after all) - he was pretty solid in the AHL last year and yes he has struggled a bit this year but it's still a small sample size. I am also willing to bet that part of the drop off in his scoring production is due to the Devils coaching staff having him focus on a "physical" game instead of just letting him play his game.

I haven't given up on him but at the same time I'm just being realistic on what we've seen, I don't think that's being negative about him. The type of game he brings to the ice is exactly the type we have been missing, hopefully he steps up his game and fills that void.

 

[NJDfan86]

I haven't given up on him but at the same time I'm just being realistic on what we've seen, I don't think that's being negative about him. The type of game he brings to the ice is exactly the type we have been missing, hopefully he steps up his game and fills that void.

Sorry, I didn't mean to explicitly say that you were being negative about him - it was more I have noticed the general "fandom" being a bit more down on him than I thought was warranted.

 

[Guadana]

I haven't given up on him but at the same time I'm just being realistic on what we've seen, I don't think that's being negative about him. The type of game he brings to the ice is exactly the type we have been missing, hopefully he steps up his game and fills that void.

Sorry, but what kind of game he brings? As player, not as a concept.
Foote isn't redirection master, he isn't active forechecker because he is very slow. I'm the man who want success for him a lot, but I think his road to be regular NHLer is long. He has good shot and enough passing vision, hope he will gain some speed somehow, that will help him a lot. But I think if he could be faster, he could be nhl player for now, and could be drafted in top-15.

 

[NJDfan86]

Sorry, but what kind of game he brings? As player, not as a concept.
Foote isn't redirection master, he isn't active forechecker because he is very slow. I'm the man who want success for him a lot, but I think his road to be regular NHLer is long. He has good shot and enough passing vision, hope he will gain some speed somehow, that will help him a lot. But I think if he could be faster, he could be nhl player for now, and could be drafted in top-15.

Like you said, I don't think his game is to dump the puck in and be the lead forechecker. Management/Coaches see players like him and dream about creating these forechecking monsters. What I have seen in the limited viewings:

+ Great shot
+ Good hands
+ Good along the boards
+ Solid passer

- Needs to improve the foot speed
- Needs to get better at carrying the puck
- Needs to be better in his own end
- Needs to adjust to NHL pace

I think it's possible he could be effective in the NHL right now if he played with players that can open up a bit of space for him, but if you are going to dump him on the 4th line he is going to look like he has looked so far IMO. Based on the comments from the coaching staff they want him to play more of the physical/cycle game but that is something that he is learning now, not something that he always had.

 

[Buck Dancer]

Sorry, but what kind of game he brings? As player, not as a concept.
Foote isn't redirection master, he isn't active forechecker because he is very slow. I'm the man who want success for him a lot, but I think his road to be regular NHLer is long. He has good shot and enough passing vision, hope he will gain some speed somehow, that will help him a lot. But I think if he could be faster, he could be nhl player for now, and could be drafted in top-15.

I don't see him carving out an NHL career with us, especially with the mindset that we want to build a fast attacking team.

I know we're all fans of the same team but expecting every, single, prospect to make it is wishful thinking. The truth is that there's a select few that will make it and there's even a smaller amount that will have an actual impact on the team moving forward. I'm in no way shape or form banking on guys like Foote, Boqvist, Zetterlund, Clarke, Walsh, Okhotyuk and even Bahl to be relevant players for us in the future. I view them as good replacements for injury call-ups or depth on a 4th line/3rd pairing, that's about it, which is always good to have.

 

[OmNomNom]

How is blackwood on covid protocol, didn't he just clear it the other day

 

[NJDfan86]

How is blackwood on covid protocol, didn't he just clear it the other day

No, I believe his first test was inconclusive so he needed a new one to confirm.

 

[jkrdevil]

So do we just play tomorrow with 6 skaters and an empty net?

 

[RangerDoggo]

So do we just play tomorrow with 6 skaters and an empty net?

God willing, we don't play at all

 

[NJDevs26]

Gillies is basically our only healthy goalie left

 

[njdevil26]

Unfortunately Mike McKenna isn't available.

 

[Eggtimer]

Like it’s been said ,I think the time is coming where we could use an already established elite player more so than another prospect that will be 2-3 years away.
We have to surround the kids we have now with talent or we will burn some good years of their prime with no supporting cast .
I’d love to add a Forsberg type player for help now.
However , this is all depending on where we pick in the first round amd who is available. If there is a slam dunk blue chip elite stud that will be a franchise player , then hold onto that pick

 

[My3Sons]

So for tomorrow it sounds like Bratt, Bastian, Geertsen, Kuokkanen, Schmid, Blackwood, and Severson remain sidelined with Covid (Hamilton as well but that's secondary to his broken jaw, poor guy)?

The lineup maybe looks like

Zacha Hughes Shara
Vesey Nico Tatar
Johnsson Mercer Boquist
Foote McLeod Studenic

Graves Subban
Siegs Jaros
Smith White

Gillies
@Guttersniped (years of season tickets finally pay off)

My guess is if nobody else tests positive by tomorrow they'll play. If the current situation was bad enough wouldn't they have canceled the game already?

 

[Hisch13r]

So who are our goalies? I assume Gillies and then ….

 

[RangerDoggo]

We shouldn't be playing tomorrow. So watch the NHL drag us out anyway.

 

[FooteBahl]

Gillies is basically our only healthy goalie left

 

[Bleedred]

We shouldn't be playing tomorrow. So watch the NHL drag us out anyway.

I can already see Lindy and Tom pitching to the league that we can’t play because we don’t play without Blackwood lol.

“Well you see, the only times we haven’t played him was when he was injured. We’ve even played him so sick. So we’re tired of having to play without him. Please postpone all games until he’s off” which with our canceled games in Canada next week and none after tomorrow, this should be the only game a lot of these guys are on the list.

 

[Bleedred]

I would just play the game. Just get it over with. Just play it.

The Islanders haven’t played in like two weeks either, so I’m sure they want to play.

It’s our only game still scheduled until Wednesday, so a lot of these guys will be off the list and able to play by that game.

 

[njdevil26]

I don't see this game being cancelled. We have most of our D/F roster players... we'll be forced to sign Mittens to an NHL deal or bring in an EBUG

 

[markog]

We shouldn't be playing tomorrow. So watch the NHL drag us out anyway.

So what? They're done anyway and will help the tank.

 

[Guadana]

I don't see him carving out an NHL career with us, especially with the mindset that we want to build a fast attacking team.

I know we're all fans of the same team but expecting every, single, prospect to make it is wishful thinking. The truth is that there's a select few that will make it and there's even a smaller amount that will have an actual impact on the team moving forward. I'm in no way shape or form banking on guys like Foote, Boqvist, Zetterlund, Clarke, Walsh, Okhotyuk and even Bahl to be relevant players for us in the future. I view them as good replacements for injury call-ups or depth on a 4th line/3rd pairing, that's about it, which is always good to have.

I'm pretty high on Okhotiuk. He has right pack of tools and use it. I'm higher on him than Bahl, and Walsh of course.
I think he will surprise devils fans after a year or a couple in a good way.

 

[Emperoreddy]

So who are our goalies? I assume Gillies and then ….

It's just Gillies right now. We don't have a second active goalie.

 

[Saugus]

So who are our goalies? I assume Gillies and then ….

Do we have a zamboni driver looking to get in his first NHL game?