Devils 2021 offseason (news, notes and speculation) - part IX

[Buck Dancer]

This would be a coherent point if we didn’t have a 600+ game sample of Tatar being an excellent player. Your hate boner for the guy is ridiculous.

There are not 10 better options than him. There are zero better options in the free agent market and a couple options that probably aren’t even better via trade considering what we’d give up.

It is not telling that he hasn’t been signed yet. He’s a small 30 year old winger and we don’t know what he’s asking.

It’s all good because if Fitz would’ve wanted Tatar, he would’ve signed him by now, which is asses in my books!

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Lou's just putting the final touches on their contracts now

Lou's calling a press conference tomorrow at noon.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Lou's calling a press conference tomorrow at noon.

Oh wow you're right, the town crier just came by announcing it too

 

[Forge]

Zach, Palms, and Cizikas are apparently off the market as well with handshake deals on the island.

I feel like they have been saying this for days. I'm curious why no announcement...are they still trying to see if they can acquire Tank and then that just blows it all up ?

 

[JK3]

Crazy how much action there was on draft day and Wednesday, kinda bored now.

 

[MadDevil]

It’s all good because if Fitz would’ve wanted Tatar, he would’ve signed him by now, which is asses in my books!

Or maybe Tatar is asking for too many years and Fitz is waiting for his side to come down on their ask. There are explanations beyond "See he's still unsigned he sucks!".

 

[Buck Dancer]

Or maybe Tatar is asking for too many years and Fitz is waiting for his side to come down on their ask. There are explanations beyond "See he's still unsigned he sucks!".

That’s true but not having any news whatsoever from anyone isn’t a good sign IMO. It doesn’t mean I’m right, it’s just my gut feeling.

I’m just going on the theory that something would’ve leaked by now that he’s in talks with team a, b or c and that he’s asking for something in the ballpark of…

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

It’s all good because if Fitz would’ve wanted Tatar, he would’ve signed him by now, which is asses in my books!

You can just look at his career stats and see that he’s pretty good. I don’t want to build the team around Tomas Tatar. But he’s a nice complementary player. He would be our best wing unless Bratt takes a big jump.

 

[JK3]

After listening to Darren Pang I want Tarasenko as long as the price is right.

 

[Hisch13r]

After listening to Darren Pang I want Tarasenko.

I mean of course Panger would be pumping Tarasenko's tires. Also on the Panger note I'm really happy TNT picked him up

 

[Buck Dancer]

You can just look at his career stats and see that he’s pretty good. I don’t want to build the team around Tomas Tatar. But he’s a nice complementary player. He would be our best wing unless Bratt takes a big jump.

I’m not disputing that at all, I’m just saying that he’d be my last option after Tarasenko and bunch of other options.

 

[GameSeven]

After listening to Darren Pang I want Tarasenko as long as the price is right.

Do want, myself, but I'm concerned, since chatter has cooled, that more teams may be dipping a toe in the water. I felt like we may be the front runners on day one of FA, but feeling like more players are involved now.

 

[Hisch13r]

I’m not disputing that at all, I’m just saying that he’d be my last option after Tarasenko and bunch of other options.

What other realistic options are there? It's Tarasenko and Tatar. That's it

 

[Nubmer6]

That’s true but not having any news whatsoever from anyone isn’t a good sign IMO. It doesn’t mean I’m right, it’s just my gut feeling.

I’m just going on the theory that something would’ve leaked by now that he’s in talks with team a, b or c and that he’s asking for something in the ballpark of…

I think the Tatar situation is crystal clear.

Lou obviously signed him, and we'll find out about it when he suddenly shows up to the Islanders training camp.

 

[NJDevs26]

Gosh darnya Number6, you ninjaed my line

 

[JK3]

I mean of course Panger would be pumping Tarasenko's tires

Oh of course, he’s claiming that the doc that did the surgery says that his shoulder is good to go and he’s training hard. He’d have a huge chip on his shoulder (no pun intended lol) too looking to say FU to the doubters.

 

[TrufleShufle]

You can just look at his career stats and see that he’s pretty good. I don’t want to build the team around Tomas Tatar. But he’s a nice complementary player. He would be our best wing unless Bratt takes a big jump.

You can look at just last year. Zacha, Bratt, Sharon and Tatar all had about the same amount of points, Bratt and Zacha actually having more...

Out of those 4, historically 3 should progress a bit and one should regress if not stay the same.

Go ahead and advance stat me to death, but our guys should be getting better, I don't see Tatar getting better. I don't think he helps us in any meaningful way.

 

[Hisch13r]

Oh of course, he’s claiming that the doc that did the surgery says that his shoulder is good to go and he’s training hard. He’d have a huge chip on his shoulder (no pun intended lol) too looking to say FU to the doubters.

I'm fine with Tarasenko if we get Tatar as well. He's still a question mark and if he doesn't work then you're missing that guy still

 

[Nubmer6]

You can look at just last year. Zacha, Bratt, Sharon and Tatar all had about the same amount of points, Bratt and Zacha actually having more...

Out of those 4, historically 3 should progress a bit and one should regress if not stay the same.

Go ahead and advance stat me to death, but our guys should be getting better, I don't see Tatar getting better. I don't think he helps us in any meaningful way.

Well, you have to compare him to Kuokkanen, who would be our 4th winger currently. If you think Tatar's better, then he would help.

 

[Hisch13r]

You can look at just last year. Zacha, Bratt, Sharon and Tatar all had about the same amount of points, Bratt and Zacha actually having more...

Out of those 4, historically 3 should progress a bit and one should regress if not stay the same.

Go ahead and advance stat me to death, but our guys should be getting better, I don't see Tatar getting better. I don't think he helps us in any meaningful way.

He outscored Bratt at a 5v5 rate and Bratt slightly outscored him on an all situations rate. He outscored Zacha by a wider 5v5 margin and Zacha also slightly outscored him on an all situations rate. I think Tatar and Bratt are pretty comparable players. He's far better than Zacha. Zacha has one year of actual production and is a blackhole when he isn't attached to Bratt.

At worst Tatar should be our 4th best forward behind Jack, Bratt, and Nico. I think he and Bratt are comparable. Nico's hard to judge because of how last year went. Either could be better. Tatar's a fantastic addition on a 1-2 year deal and still decent one on a 3 year deal.

 

[TrufleShufle]

Well, you have to compare him to Kuokkanen, who would be our 4th winger currently. If you think Tatar's better, then he would help.

It said Bratt would need to take a big jump to be better than him. That's what I was responding to while adding in 2 other wings on the same level that don't need to even take that big of a jump to be better if at all.

But if you would like me to compare those two, are we fighting for the cup next year? If not, I 10 times out of 10 take the 23 year old who got 5 less points. If yes, I say go balls to the wall for an elite winger. Tatar IMO doesn't fit any scenario.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

You can look at just last year. Zacha, Bratt, Sharon and Tatar all had about the same amount of points, Bratt and Zacha actually having more...

Out of those 4, historically 3 should progress a bit and one should regress if not stay the same.

Go ahead and advance stat me to death, but our guys should be getting better, I don't see Tatar getting better. I don't think he helps us in any meaningful way.

What about the season before? Or the season before? Zacha stinks and Sharangovich is a question mark. Even with all those guys there is room for multiple wings. He obviously helps us in a meaningful way.

 

[JK3]

I'm fine with Tarasenko if we get Tatar as well. He's still a question mark and if he doesn't work then you're missing that guy still

This all still feels weird as a Devils fan after all these years in the desert. We’re getting greedy now lol but man adding some scoring punch with Jack is too tantalizing but it’s needed to take the next step.

I have no clue on the 3C situation, will be interesting to see how Fitz deals with that, not sure if we can handle that internally (Mercer, Boqvist, probably no McLeod and noooo to Zacha).

We’ve addressed a bunch of our issues already, as much as we’d like to we don’t have to do all of this in one offseason, Fitz has been great, don’t want to see him do something silly.

 

[Eggtimer]

I mean of course Panger would be pumping Tarasenko's tires. Also on the Panger note I'm really happy TNT picked him up

I still remember when Pang played . Imagine him paying now ? He is like a foot shorter than done if the guys playing now .

 

[TrufleShufle]

What about the season before? Or the season before? Zacha stinks and Sharangovich is a question mark. Even with all those guys there is room for multiple wings. He obviously helps us in a meaningful way.

Again, our young guys are getting better, as they should..... If they all got better this year in the "covid riddle season," that everyone likes to throw around to excuse bad play that happened from some, imagine in a real season? I see 3 equal wingers to him on the team right now who all should be getting better, plus a list of guys we would all love to see get a shot at that last slot.

Again, whether next year is a development year, or balls to the wall cup run, there are better options.