I did not realize it was 3rd. I thought Vegas was given the 4th spot so I assumed the same, but I may be mistaken on that one as well.
That's too bad, though it seems like there isn't a wide gap at this point in the top 5.
Devils 2021 team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - part XXVII
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That's too bad, though it seems like there isn't a wide gap at this point in the top 5.
The top 7 for the 2021 draft is very tight -- you can check out my draft rankings thread on the Devils HFBoards.
Though I currently have Matthew Beniers as my #1 overall and Dylan Guenther as my #7 overall, I'd say it's razor thin between these two -- which is just extraordinarily bizarre for an NHL Draft class. Both of these players could -- deservedly -- be the #1 overall pick in 2021 and so could the 5 players I have ranked between them -- Clarke, Power, Hughes, Johnson and Eklund.
Though I'm not disagreeing with you or agreeing with the person you are currently debating, I think we should add that McKenzie's rankings are pretty much from the beginning of the season. They're outdated. I think on the final McKenzie rankings, Hughes will certainly be top 7. Anyone who has Lambos or Edvinsson ranked higher than Hughes at this point is really opening themselves up to some skepticism.
Zajacs Bowl Cut
Lets Go Baby
Anaheim and Ottawa are right on our heels point % wise...
It's going down to the wire... backwards.
I find it funny how you say its close. Pronman and Wheeler both have their own rankings and neither have the same players in the same "talent tier" yet so many are claiming that the there is a definitive drop off in talent after the 3 defensemen.
The Wumpus
bottomless pit supervisor
I’m convinced we’re finishing 2nd last, just a few points higher then Buffalo... book it!
With Seattle picking 3rd, what’s the worst case scenario if we finish 2nd last... 5th overall?
4th. But if we end up with the third worst record we get screwed because then we start off 4th and can get bumped to 6th.
Two nice debates. I'm going to give Beniers the edge over Rossi. They are very similar centers in style and effort. Rossi would get a slight nod in puck skills, but Beniers gets a big edge in speed. Beniers plays the Toews/Bergeron type two-way game at a million miles per hour.
Again, we have a similar battle with Clarke and Drysdale. Clarke is a better puck handler and shooter -- which is no small compliment because Drysdale is terrific in both respects. But Drysdale is a bit more polished defensively and the better skater. I'm going to call this one a tie.
The important factor here is that these are two very close calls. These are four absolutely outstanding prospects whom any team would be very, very lucky to have.
Again, the difference between 4th and 6th is not so bad in the 2021 draft. The difference between, say, 6th and 9th or 10th is where it starts becoming a definable drop-off.
Clarke or Hughes or Power? That's a win-win-win scenario. Johnson or Guenther or Eklund? That's a win-win-win scenario. But Clarke/Hughes/Power or Edvinsson/Lambos? That's a major drop-off. Johnson/Guenther/Eklund or Lysell/Sillinger? Though the talent drop-off isn't huge, Lysell and Sillinger have some major question marks which Johnson and Guenther and Eklund do not.
I missed the back half of this game. Glad they fought back.
Welcome to Phil Rizzuto's Devils season-to-date recap sponsored by RWJ Barnabas' Pediatrics; "The kids you help today, might one day help the Devils...in 15 hours...literally...help...seriously."
- Sharangovich: "The Shooter". Yegor, has one job--to hide his wife's Tik Tok password. Ok, he has two jobs--the password thing and scoring. YG has 10 goals on the season and ranks third among rookies with Eeli Tolvanien and he has two less goals than three rookies, Suter, Norris, and Robertson. Not bad. He is performing above expectations. 10-20 goals cannot be on the first line, but it's a start. He's doing his job and nobody should say bad things on a digital hockey board.
- Kuokk: "The Finnish Spitz". The Finnish Spitz is a dog bred for hunting and Kuokk's job is to hunt pucks. Retrieve them, protect them, pat them on the head and call them george...and then make a smart pass. Janne has 20 points and that puts him on level with Patrick Laine, Finland's "Least Finnish Man" of 2018, Pius Suter (a name fit for a pope), Calle Jarnkrok (the sound my knees and hips make when I skate), and Pierre-Luc Dubious (which is french for mercurial). Not only has he joined Lindy Ruff's "Real Men Have Facial Tics" club, but he's looking like a solid 2nd line player. Dobber Hockey will corroborate my guess: Janne Kuokkanen - Fantasy Hockey Game Logs, Advanced Stats and more - Frozen Tools
- HUUUUUGHES: "Captain America......'s assistant". Jack's second year started electric and he was then drained of any super soldier serum, presumably by some Nazi scum. We know Nazis were running cloning experiments but we are just learning that there are soon to be 3 Hughes gems in the NHL. Presumably the Soul Hughes gem and the Reality Hughes gem are somewhere in the KHL. Once again, Dobber will tell you that Jack Hughes is 1st line/super star material. He's fun to watch AND he'll tell you exactly what's happening on Dawson's Creek any time you ask. Yes, he turns the puck over, but also generates chances like a broken slot machine. He has taken 1 penalty all year and scored 23 points as a 19 year old. 19. "Leave Britney Alone"
- Jesper Bratt: "InstaBratt". His IG skating videos make you want to give up hockey or quit or job and power skate until your tendons explode. I quit my job. He and Dr. Pavel are tied for 25 points and he was near a PPG pace before Trouba decided to hire Nancy Kerrigan to fix leg. 25 Points puts you just outside the top 100 NHL forwards. You're pretty awesome at hockey. Chris Lamoriello at one point had a plan to draft every Jesper in the Western Hemisphere to induce seizures in Dano but this one looks like a keeper. Once again, Dobber agrees with me labeling him as a "Tissue Soft, Floating Figure Skater Who Cuts the Crust Off His Bread". No, sorry, they list him as an "Effective Top Six, Offensive Minded Forward".
- Pavel Zacha: "Dr. Pavel". "Zacha Zacha Zahca Fozzy Bear". The Riddler as I call him. Build a hockey player: Speed (B), Hands (A), Vision/IQ (A), Passing (B), Shot (B+), Heart (C). Mix it together and what do you get? DEEPS B SAHDN A OISVNIIQ A PSSANGI B HTOS B REHTA C. Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me either. Zacha can and has gone on stretches of dominance. He SHOULDN'T be the top point getter on a good team. That's why he's #1 on the Devils, but he seems to have found a bit of consistency...even without benchings, which is good to see. He has 25 points and PP1 just before he got hurt, looked as good as it ever looked in years. His current whereabouts are unknown. There are rumors that he is wandering the Canadian arctic in a feral madness trying to understand his new found healing factor and adamantium bones. There's also a rumor that he's playing Fornite and chugging HoHo's because his season is over. Here's to further playing your A game. Pavel's his only limiting factor.
Welcome to Phil Rizzuto's Devils season-to-date recap sponsored by RWJ Barnabas' Pediatrics; "The kids you help today, might one day help the Devils...in 15 hours...literally...help...seriously."
- Sharangovich: "The Shooter". Yegor, has one job--to hide his wife's Tik Tok password. Ok, he has two jobs--the password thing and scoring. YG has 10 goals on the season and ranks third among rookies with Eeli Tolvanien and he has two less goals than three rookies, Suter, Norris, and Robertson. Not bad. He is performing above expectations. 10-20 goals cannot be on the first line, but it's a start. He's doing his job and nobody should say bad things on a digital hockey board.
- Kuokk: "The Finnish Spitz". The Finnish Spitz is a dog bred for hunting and Kuokk's job is to hunt pucks. Retrieve them, protect them, pat them on the head and call them george...and then make a smart pass. Janne has 20 points and that puts him on level with Patrick Laine, Finland's "Least Finnish Man" of 2018, Pius Suter (a name fit for a pope), Calle Jarnkrok (the sound my knees and hips make when I skate), and Pierre-Luc Dubious (which is french for mercurial). Not only has he joined Lindy Ruff's "Real Men Have Facial Tics" club, but he's looking like a solid 2nd line player. Dobber Hockey will corroborate my guess: Janne Kuokkanen - Fantasy Hockey Game Logs, Advanced Stats and more - Frozen Tools
- HUUUUUGHES: "Captain America......'s assistant". Jack's second year started electric and he was then drained of any super soldier serum, presumably by some Nazi scum. We know Nazis were running cloning experiments but we are just learning that there are soon to be 3 Hughes gems in the NHL. Presumably the Soul Hughes gem and the Reality Hughes gem are somewhere in the KHL. Once again, Dobber will tell you that Jack Hughes is 1st line/super star material. He's fun to watch AND he'll tell you exactly what's happening on Dawson's Creek any time you ask. Yes, he turns the puck over, but also generates chances like a broken slot machine. He has taken 1 penalty all year and scored 23 points as a 19 year old. 19. "Leave Britney Alone"
- Jesper Bratt: "InstaBratt". His IG skating videos make you want to give up hockey or quit or job and power skate until your tendons explode. I quit my job. He and Dr. Pavel are tied for 25 points and he was near a PPG pace before Trouba decided to hire Nancy Kerrigan to fix leg. 25 Points puts you just outside the top 100 NHL forwards. You're pretty awesome at hockey. Chris Lamoriello at one point had a plan to draft every Jesper in the Western Hemisphere to induce seizures in Dano but this one looks like a keeper. Once again, Dobber agrees with me labeling him as a "Tissue Soft, Floating Figure Skater Who Cuts the Crust Off His Bread". No, sorry, they list him as an "Effective Top Six, Offensive Minded Forward".
- Pavel Zacha: "Dr. Pavel". "Zacha Zacha Zahca Fozzy Bear". The Riddler as I call him. Build a hockey player: Speed (B), Hands (A), Vision/IQ (A), Passing (B), Shot (B+), Heart (C). Mix it together and what do you get? DEEPS B SAHDN A OISVNIIQ A PSSANGI B HTOS B REHTA C. Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me either. Zacha can and has gone on stretches of dominance. He SHOULDN'T be the top point getter on a good team. That's why he's #1 on the Devils, but he seems to have found a bit of consistency...even without benchings, which is good to see. He has 25 points and PP1 just before he got hurt, looked as good as it ever looked in years. His current whereabouts are unknown. There are rumors that he is wandering the Canadian arctic in a feral madness trying to understand his new found healing factor and adamantium bones. There's also a rumor that he's playing Fornite and chugging HoHo's because his season is over. Here's to further playing your A game. Pavel's his only limiting factor.
When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I’ve got that feeling once again
You would not understand this is not how I am
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Breathe...breathe in the air...It's all we can do. I wanted to write more but now I must sleep or my wife will kill me.
haha, I hear you, I sort of felt this way about picks 4-9 in the draft last year. I knew we weren’t getting Laf, Byfield or Stutzle, but I figured I’d be happy with the leftovers... that is until we missed drysdale by one pick. That really hurt. Now I just imagine the same thing happening again with Clarke.
Maybe I’ll focus on the extremely unlikely scenario where NYI continues to sputter down the stretch, falls out of the playoffs, and then delivers a bonanza with their bingo balls and NJ picks twice in the top 6. That would be fun.
Captain3rdLine
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Ya I mentioned that multiple times in previous posts. Said he has risen his draft stock since and would definitely be ranked higher.
billingtons ghost
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Run to the bedroom, in the suitcase on the left, you'll find my favorite axe.
Monsieur Verdoux
Registered User
Emperoreddy
Show Me What You Got!
Can't expect the Canucks to come back and do much winning either.
Covid ripped that team up and their schedule rest of the way is going to be brutal.
BurntToast
Registered User
It’s a bit of a catch 22.
Ideally, the Devils would like their vets to phase out as, when a prospect is ready to backfill their position. Unfortunately, the Devils didn’t have many (if any) prospects when this all started. Plus, to exacerbate the situation, the Devils veterans had little to no value. Ironically, the Devils also needed time to clear cap space.
The Shero had to cultivate value by making shrewd trades. The biggest blunder on this whole process was Corey Schneider. He cost the Devils a first, a few years of positioning, and I find it extremely odd that they didn’t trade him at his peak. He was literally the only good thing on those teams. It was an opportunity lost for both parties.
Ideally, the Devils would like their vets to phase out as, when a prospect is ready to backfill their position. Unfortunately, the Devils didn’t have many (if any) prospects when this all started. Plus, to exacerbate the situation, the Devils veterans had little to no value. Ironically, the Devils also needed time to clear cap space.
The Shero had to cultivate value by making shrewd trades. The biggest blunder on this whole process was Corey Schneider. He cost the Devils a first, a few years of positioning, and I find it extremely odd that they didn’t trade him at his peak. He was literally the only good thing on those teams. It was an opportunity lost for both parties.
SteveCangialosi123
Registered User
Foote looking good down the stretch would be great for the mood on this board. We need some damn hope. It’s not the end of the world if he doesn’t look ready but I hope he doesn’t look too far off.
AfroThunder396
[citation needed]
Like most good goalies, Schneider masked a lot of the teams problems early in the rebuild. People forget that in 2015-16 we were in the hunt up until February. That team was dead last in goals scored, but we were 17th in ROW because Schneider had a .924 SV% and 2.15 GAA. If the Devils make the playoffs that year he's easily the Vezina winner. I think that helped sell Shero on the idea that the team was closer than it actually was.
In Hynes's first season we were top-10 in PP, PK , SA/G, GA/G. But we were dead last in SF/G and GF/G. Henrique and Palmieri both hit 30 goals, Cammalleri was nearly a point per game. One could be forgiven for thinking that we were only a Taylor Hall and some depth away from competing.
Anything on Holtz? I googled it and saw an article from a week ago saying the Devils hope to get him some games in this year.
AfroThunder396
[citation needed]
Last week Fitz confirmed they are working on a contract and immigration but there was no specific details or timeline.
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