Devils 2021 team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - part XXVII
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Captain3rdLine
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- Sep 24, 2020
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I know these are often paper moves but I’d love to see him play. He has also been injured for a bit I think but he must be healthy now. We’ll see if he plays for Bing tomorrow.
Would love to see him bully some Rangers this weekend if there’s any chance at that.
This kid is going to be a player.
beekay414
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RememberTheName
Conductor of the Schmid Bandwagon
Okhotiuk and Vukojevic have no doubt been the two most impressive Bing defensemen for me. I don't think they're NHL ready yet (I could see a case for Okhotiuk though) and I would keep them down in the AHL just for consistency's sake, but I have liked what I have seen so far from them.
I could see Okhotyuk being ready as well. I don't think they need to rush him but if he's ready he's ready.
BurntToast
Registered User
Unfortunately, the Devils are a disaster.
Maybe Fitz will make additional changes to personal? Or maybe he will be fired?
Ray Shero, did an ok job but his rebuilding strategy seemed aimless. Maybe he was being to opportunistic.
What do the Devils have? They play a low scoring game with solid goaltending and a good defense. Maybe they will just out score teams until the defense catches up. No, they are neither. Most will say the Devils need 2 scoring wingers and 2 top 4 defenseman. That’s not exactly easy to obtain.
Until Hughes actually scores and Nico is healthy/improves, the only real positive this season is Ty Smith. (Blackwood is inconsistent.)
Maybe Fitz will make additional changes to personal? Or maybe he will be fired?
Ray Shero, did an ok job but his rebuilding strategy seemed aimless. Maybe he was being to opportunistic.
What do the Devils have? They play a low scoring game with solid goaltending and a good defense. Maybe they will just out score teams until the defense catches up. No, they are neither. Most will say the Devils need 2 scoring wingers and 2 top 4 defenseman. That’s not exactly easy to obtain.
Until Hughes actually scores and Nico is healthy/improves, the only real positive this season is Ty Smith. (Blackwood is inconsistent.)
If you can't see Hughes progress this season as a positive you are just too beat down from results to be happy my friend. Bratt, Zacha, Sharongivch, Kuokkanen, McLeod, Bastian and even Maltsev have all either improved or shown enough that they are capable of being NHL regulars.
Bratt outside of his start to the season has been a PPG player for around a 30 game stretch. Zacha finally started producing offense and when he was able to play wing flashed signs of dominance. Kuokkanen and Sharongivch both showed they can play up in the lineup with talent as well as in a checking role with Zajac. These are all positive signs and not being able to see this is because you are so focused on results any bit of good gets lost. Not saying I blame you by the way.
Hughes is improving because if he would’ve stalled or regressed, he’d be labeled as a bust. So his improvement is noticeable but we’re still years away from getting the kid everyone was drooling over when we picked him 1st overall two years ago and he won’t get there any faster if he keeps playing with fringe NHL’ers. In his first two years, he’s been given mediocre to average line mates and if we want to move forward as a franchise, Fitz has to get him and/or Nico, a legit winger. One would say that the Zacha-Hischier-Bratt line is a lock to remain intact for next season and that’s great, so now we have to surround Hughes with talent and waiting for Holtz or Mercer to emerge as an option is way too long. This has to be addressed this summer and I don’t know how Fitz will do it but this has to be at the top of his "to do list" if we don’t want to screw up the potential of Hughes.
They did give him a legit winger - Palmieri - and his results with Palmieri are worse than with anyone else.
EDIT: This isn't true depending on how you define results, but the shot metrics are considerably worse, while the GF/60 is very slightly better.
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Unknown Caller
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This. There's also no guarantee that you go "get" a legit winger for a center and they're going to mesh. A lot of times it doesn't work. The Devils have so many options in house to slide into that role between Holtz, Mercer, Foote, Bratt, Clarke and potentially the 2021 pick, that I wouldn't go expending valuable assets on a speculative winger that isn't even guaranteed to mesh with Jack.
Also keep in mind that the line of Hughes, Kuokkanen and Sharangovich have been outright dominant. They haven't finished their chances, but it's coming. It also doesn't help that there's legitimately zero support outside of Jack's line, so the other team can key in on them entirely.
Unknown Caller
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They've tried it and it went nowhere. Hughes is not good on the wing. You also need both players to continue to develop down the middle and there needs to be some secondary threat outside of Jack's line. Hischier is the obvious option.
I edited my meassage "as long as Bratt and Zacha is out. But Hughes and Hischier was together last season when Hughes was strugling. Now Nico is little bit strugling because of his injury so I just though that Hughes would help him to get back. I agree with that it is good that both of them is playing middle.
Poppy Whoa Sonnet
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- Jan 24, 2007
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Just accept that the team will be awful down the stretch and put guys in the best spots for their development. Monitor the team to see if individual players have achieved development goals. If Smith/Hughes/Hischier can get PP1 going that's a win. If someone in the bottom 6 looks like an NHLer that's a win. If Blackwood gets back on track that's a win, etc.
Then in the offseason get these guys help. And I'd be relieved if Fitz didn't spend draft capital to make it happen, ideally he'd receive draft capital to make it happen (e.g. cap dump like a 1st round pick + Reilly Smith + Nick Holden for future considerations).
Then in the offseason get these guys help. And I'd be relieved if Fitz didn't spend draft capital to make it happen, ideally he'd receive draft capital to make it happen (e.g. cap dump like a 1st round pick + Reilly Smith + Nick Holden for future considerations).
SteveCangialosi123
Registered User
If Bratt and Zacha are out much longer they should give Foote a look. This team literally can’t even scratch out a single goal right now.
Zajacs Bowl Cut
Lets Go Baby
Again with this nonsense.
Yes, I would agree the Devils need two top 6 wingers and two top 4 DMen. Now, chances are that out of Holtz, Foote, Mercer, Clarke, etc we will probably get one of those. Would you agree? So that leaves 1 top 6 forward as a need.
The Devils are going to be picking in the top 5-7 unless something drastic changes. Now, there are 3 DMen who are all projected to go that high and I would imagine there is a really, really good chance that the Devils end up with at least one of Power, Hughes, or Clarke. That leaves 1 top 4 DMan to be acquired.
If the ONLY positive this season that you are seeing is Ty Smith...and not the growth of players like Jesper Bratt, Pavel Zacha, Janne Kuokkanen, Yegor Sharangovich, Mike Mcleod, etc then you are just being negative for the sake of being negative.
How can you suggest firing Fitzgerald? Like come the hell on man
SteveCangialosi123
Registered User
We have now dipped below Detroit in points percentage. Anaheim is reachable. Ottawa and Buffalo are probably beyond reach but who knows?
They gave him Palmieri by default, not because they thought he’d be a great fit or else they would’ve tried it last year.
I mean, they never played with one another and Kyle checked out after game #4 (don’t take this literally plz), so that duo was going to take some time to gel or fail because the shooter on that line was already somewhere else in his mind.
With that said, should Fitz just give up because that duo didn’t click? Are we supposed to groom our franchise player by giving him fringe NHL’ers or over the hill veterans that can’t keep up as his line mates for a 3rd straight year?
Holtz is a shooter and odds are, we took him over other skilled players because he has that skill no one has on our roster or our pipeline... his shot. With that said, he’s maybe 3 years away from being relevant for us and if we’re not going to give Hughes the support he needs during that time frame, that’s 5 years of him playing with meh talent and that’s not how you polish your gem.
Zajacs Bowl Cut
Lets Go Baby
first it was 2, now its 3.
Can I get 5??!?!?
You guys love your inflated made up timelines
I noticed the Detroit thing last night and didn't feel like posting it. It's seriously depressing to me, as bad as the Devils have been this season I did not consider them to be in Detroit/Ottawa territory.
Yeah, 2 or 3... and I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s 4, absolutely. If you think Holtz is coming to play on our top line in the next 12 to 24 months AND contribute as a legit top #6 winger, you’re dreaming.
This notion that our prospects are going to shock the world 1 or 2 years after being drafted is flawed and is one we shouldn’t want when looking at how poorly it worked with Zacha and others.
Jack Hughes wasn’t drafted to babysit Holtz or Mercer. He’s the one that needs to be groomed now so he can teach our prospects when they’ll be ready to crack our roster and take more responsibilities.
It’s not because Jack or Nico are adding more years on their resume at the NHL level that they’re growing as NHL player.
New Jersey Devils
Doc & Chico Forever
Luke Hughes is becoming less and less of a pipe dream at this rate.
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