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

[My3Sons]

We cannot get fooled again... Keep him down with Johnsson-Merer. That could be a good 3rd line and that's where Zacha belongs

who is going to play with Hischier? He can’t be saddled with Vesey and Tatar. They aren’t second liners either. I’d give some consideration to playing Zacha Vesey and Tatar as a third line and put Hischier between Johnsson and Mercer. It’s not ideal no matter how you slice it but for now Shara Jack and Bratt makes sense as does McLeod and Bastian. The rest is very fluid.

 

[Hisch13r]

who is going to play with Hischier? He can’t be saddled with Vesey and Tatar. They aren’t second liners either. I’d give some consideration to playing Zacha Vesey and Tatar as a third line and put Hischier between Johnsson and Mercer. It’s not ideal no matter how you slice it but for now Shara Jack and Bratt makes sense as does McLeod and Bastian. The rest is very fluid.

I'm more talking about next year. This year is already f***ed so who really cares.

 

[Lou is God]

We cannot get fooled again... Keep him down with Johnsson-Merer. That could be a 3rd line and that's where Zacha belongs

I think that's one of the things that makes Zacha an enigma is he's not consistent enough as an offensive player to be top six but he also doesn't do the little things you want from a bottom six player.

Johnsson is somewhat similar but he does give a genuine 100% effort and hustles and is great in the locker room. The latter being an important role to fill with the injury of Wood, who too was an important figure off the ice.

 

[Hisch13r]

I think that's one of the things that makes Zacha an enigma is he's not consistent enough as an offensive player to be top six but he also doesn't do the little things you want from a bottom six player.

Johnsson is somewhat similar but he does give a genuine 100% effort and hustles and is great in the locker room. The latter being an important role to fill with the injury of Wood, who too was an important figure off the ice.

I have no issues with Johnsson as a middle 6er. Outside of last years nightmare year for him he's been a really productive 5v5 player. 5v5 P/60 in the other 3 years is 2.49, 1.49, 2.65. Always at least decent underlyings

 

[Lou is God]

who is going to play with Hischier? He can’t be saddled with Vesey and Tatar. They aren’t second liners either. I’d give some consideration to playing Zacha Vesey and Tatar as a third line and put Hischier between Johnsson and Mercer. It’s not ideal no matter how you slice it but for now Shara Jack and Bratt makes sense as does McLeod and Bastian. The rest is very fluid.

I'm ok with Mercer shifting down next to Nico as a forward for now or certain occasions, but I do think we need to go with Jack, Nico and Mercer as our top three centers down the line, work around that. I never understood the case being made it's waste to have Nico or Mercer as a 3C, it's not going to stop any of them from getting top minutes as both will be active on the PP and PK plus having three lines centered by players of their caliber along with Jack is something most teams only dream of having, a three-headed monster at the center position.

 

[Hisch13r]

I'm ok with Mercer shifting down next to Nico as a forward for now or certain occasions, but I do think we need to go with Jack, Nico and Mercer as our top three centers down the line, work around that. I never understood the case being made it's waste to have Nico or Mercer as a 3C, it's not going to stop any of them from getting top minutes as both will be active on the PP and PK plus having three lines centered by players of their caliber along with Jack is something most teams only dream of having, a three-headed monster at the center position.

Staal for example was Pittsburgh's "3C" for their Cup. He averaged ~19 minutes. Gimme that strength down the middle

 

[Lou is God]

I have no issues with Johnsson as a middle 6er. Outside of last years nightmare year for him he's been a really productive 5v5 player. 5v5 P/60 in the other 3 years is 2.49, 1.49, 2.65. Always at least decent underlyings

One thing I always liked is he plays hard and all the time, he's kinda like the Tasmanian Devil, never stops working and it turns out him and Mercer have really good chemistry.

 

[Devs3cups]

One thing I always liked is he plays hard and all the time, he's kinda like the Tasmanian Devil, never stops working and it turns out him and Mercer have really good chemistry.

I honestly wouldn’t mind keeping Johnsson after next season… I wouldn’t mind giving him a 4-ish year deal. He seems to like it here, as you said he gives a shit, funny guy to be around from what we hear, 40-50 pts middle top-6 guy, and he’s still only 27 years old.

 

[Lou is God]

Staal for example was Pittsburgh's "3C" for their Cup. He averaged ~19 minutes. Gimme that strength down the middle

Once we get more north-south forwards in the top nine on each side of the three of them along with Holtz and who knows, we will rarely be an easy two points for anyone anymore.

Just think the average age of Jack, Nico and Dawson is just over 21 years.....that alone makes me giddy at night thinking of them 2-3 years down the road. And they compliment each other so well, each bring a different game to the ice, Jack is the flash, Nico is the blue collar worker and Dawson is bit of each.

The one thing that is the same among all of them is their exceptional high hockey IQs.

 

[Hisch13r]

Once we get more north-south forwards in the top nine on each side of the three of them along with Holtz and who knows, we will rarely be an easy two points for anyone anymore.

Just think the average age of Jack, Nico and Dawson is just over 21 years.....that alone makes me giddy at night thinking of them 2-3 years down the road. And they compliment each other so well, each bring a different game to the ice, Jack is the flash, Nico is the blue collar worker and Dawson is bit of each.

The one thing that is the same among all of them is their exceptional high hockey IQs.

Until the goaltending craters on them lol

Another thing is that while Jack might be the "flash" the guy is FAR from a slouch defensively.

 

[Lou is God]

Until the goaltending on them lol

Another thing is that while Jack might be the "flash" the guy is FAR from a slouch defensively.

I didn't want to mention that and ruin a positive discussion lol, but yeah, that needs to taken care of and sooner than later.

And Jack has a very unique style of playing defense, he's fast enough and his skating is so f***ing good that he can sneak up on anyone and just take the puck away three seconds before the opponent realizes the puck is gone, they don't even see it coming.

 

[Hisch13r]

We're 17th in GF/G (26th in PP% and 14th in 5v5 G/60). We're 11th in AS xGA/60. This is not a bad team right now. I've been saying for a bit that we're a pretty average skater group that's just being sunk by the 2nd worst goaltending in the league. Now obviously that's scary because if you have no goaltending then you can't do anything in this sport and it isn't always an easy fix. It's also promising that the youngest team in the league is an average group. If the goaltending gets sorted out then we're going to be good.

 

[DevilDog]

After last night Bastian now has more goals than all but two players from the Kraken. Thanks again Seattle for giving up on him!

 

[devilsblood]

After last night Bastian now has more goals than all but two players from the Kraken. Thanks again Seattle for giving up on him!

Also tied for 2nd on the Devils in goals since his return.

And for the entire season he is tied for the team lead in pp goals. Granted only 2 goals, but I don't think it's flukey that he's had some success there as he is a good net front presence. Big body, solid on his skates, with good hand eye. Tipping pucks is verry much something he is good at. Pretty sure when he first came into the league at the end of the 18-19 season and scored 3 goals in 7 gp that a couple of those were of the tip variety as well.

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

I haven't given up on Blackwood and believe he is a very good goaltender. Sometimes confidence is lost and you need a summer to regain it. He has impressed me in the past and I would not throw him out.

McLeod and Kuokkanen: Here are the two that I hope do not turn into multi-year experiments. I don't think either have real NHL talent.

Severson: I watched an entire career of this guy forgetting to protect the net.

Subban: The worst showboat media-hype contract the Devils have ever signed.

Zacha: He was playing well. What happened? He used to play 2-way. I would dangle him and I bet you get something nice in return.

Ruff: This is where it all ends. The coach was a fixture in underachieving Buffalo for almost 2 decades. We can't do any better? The team is in chaos. How can anyone be happy with this sloppy team skating around anywhere and everywhere?

 

[NJ DevLolz]

We're 17th in GF/G (26th in PP% and 14th in 5v5 G/60). We're 11th in AS xGA/60. This is not a bad team right now. I've been saying for a bit that we're a pretty average skater group that's just being sunk by the 2nd worst goaltending in the league. Now obviously that's scary because if you have no goaltending then you can't do anything in this sport and it isn't always an easy fix. It's also promising that the youngest team in the league is an average group. If the goaltending gets sorted out then we're going to be good.

If this team gets average goaltending, we’re on the bubble. If we get good goaltending we’re in the playoffs. Depressing, yet, it sort of makes you optimistic

 

[devilsblood]

I haven't given up on Blackwood and believe he is a very good goaltender. Sometimes confidence is lost and you need a summer to regain it. He has impressed me in the past and I would not throw him out.

McLeod and Kuokkanen: Here are the two that I hope do not turn into multi-year experiments. I don't think either have real NHL talent.

Severson: I watched an entire career of this guy forgetting to protect the net.

Subban: The worst showboat media-hype contract the Devils have ever signed.

Zacha: He was playing well. What happened? He used to play 2-way. I would dangle him and I bet you get something nice in return.

Ruff: This is where it all ends. The coach was a fixture in underachieving Buffalo for almost 2 decades. We can't do any better? The team is in chaos. How can anyone be happy with this sloppy team skating around anywhere and everywhere?

McLeod is 100% back. He's a perfect 4th line center. Very good at faceoffs, very good on the PK, fast, physical, cheap.

His 5v5 defense is up for debate, but he's been asked to play nothing but difficult minutes at the age of 23. That's a tough chore. If we can't say he is a well above averae defensive center now, I suspect we will be able to say it in a couple years.

Would like to see a few more goals but he is on pace for 22+ points playing that defensive role.

Kuok is OK, maybe last night signals he could bring something to a 4th line, but one thing we have is a ton of 4th liners. Vesey I've really liked, Wood when he returns, plus the Utica guys like Zetterlund(though maybe he's proving to be better then that). McLeod and Bastian are locks for the forseeable.

 

[devilsblood]

If this team gets average goaltending, we’re on the bubble. If we get good goaltending we’re in the playoffs. Depressing, yet, it sort of makes you optimistic

I'd say our goal tending is likely only a short term issue and in the long term this won't effect our trajectory, but we've seen good teams struggle for years trying to figure out their goal tending.

 

[devilsblood]

Zetterlund's season this year has been an under the radar story.

The thought was he could perhaps find a spot on that 4th line, but you wonder if his season isn't a signal that he could be more than that.

From the highlights he seems to have a knack for PP one timers from near or below the dots. So maybe he can find a niche there?

I don't know how physical his game has been but strength has at least been noted as positive.

 

[Triumph]

Zetterlund's season this year has been an under the radar story.

The thought was he could perhaps find a spot on that 4th line, but you wonder if his season isn't a signal that he could be more than that.

From the highlights he seems to have a knack for PP one timers from near or below the dots. So maybe he can find a niche there?

I don't know how physical his game has been but strength has at least been noted as positive.

Almost everybody on Utica is on a giant shooting percentage bender. Schnarr is shooting slightly above 20%, Zetterlund and Holtz are just short of 20%, and every forward who has a goal has scored on more than 10% of their shots. They're scoring almost 4 goals a game. None of this can continue although I imagine shooting percentages should be higher because of how that's affecting the goaltender position.

 

[devilsblood]

Almost everybody on Utica is on a giant shooting percentage bender. Schnarr is shooting slightly above 20%, Zetterlund and Holtz are just short of 20%, and every forward who has a goal has scored on more than 10% of their shots. They're scoring almost 4 goals a game. None of this can continue although I imagine shooting percentages should be higher because of how that's affecting the goaltender position.

That's fare, but you look at many of Z's goals, and Holtz's too for that matter, and they are of a variety that is missing in NJ. Burying spot up one timers. If you have that skill in the AHL, you likely shoot a high %.

The question with each is, are they playing a good enough all around game so that the needed skill can be inserted into the lineup. Having watched him, I absolutely question that with Holtz. Zetterlund I just have not seen enough of.

 

[Camille the Eel]

n

who is going to play with Hischier? He can’t be saddled with Vesey and Tatar. They aren’t second liners either. I’d give some consideration to playing Zacha Vesey and Tatar as a third line and put Hischier between Johnsson and Mercer. It’s not ideal no matter how you slice it but for now Shara Jack and Bratt makes sense as does McLeod and Bastian. The rest is very fluid.

There's no Problem with Nico centering Vesey and Tatar in my eyes. Let Nico drive the line's offense and score more personally but they will get their share of scoring at wing too, both wingers are skilled and that line can also be a good shut down line to match on other team's better units too. I think keep Mercer at center and he's done well with Johnson and if they get Zacha producing wow that's nice too.

 

[My3Sons]

n

There's no Problem with Nico centering Vesey and Tatar in my eyes. Let Nico drive the line's offense and score more personally but they will get their share of scoring at wing too, both wingers are skilled and that line can also be a good shut down line to match on other team's better units too. I think keep Mercer at center and he's done well with Johnson and if they get Zacha producing wow that's nice too.

Im just not seeing it with them at wing. To me they play like a defensive line and Tatar is miscast in that role. I have a feeling they will revamp the forwards this offseason so it won’t be a long term issue.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Subban: The worst showboat media-hype contract the Devils have ever signed.

What a bizarre comment to make after he had a fantastic game last night.

Also, Devils never “signed” him at that contract, they traded for him because they desperately needed D. Also, the cap was meaningless for this team for the last few years which is why they could afford that cap hit. I am also pretty sure the way his deal was structured that we didn’t pay him the real dollars of his cap hit every season he’s been here. Either way, his contract is pointless on this team.

 

[Hisch13r]

If this team gets average goaltending, we’re on the bubble. If we get good goaltending we’re in the playoffs. Depressing, yet, it sort of makes you optimistic

In a normal year definitely but the top 8 is sooooooo strong this year we’d still have no chance. Washington’s 8th in pt% and on pace for 107 lol