Devils 2021 training camp thread (news, notes and speculation)

[Emperoreddy]

I legit don't care why. It's just awesome to have multiple players who want to play long term in New Jersey.

Whether it's because we drafted a brother or rained cash on Dougie.

Players are committing here. That's a good thing.

 

[Eggtimer]

There's just too many factors to definitively say drafting Luke would have any kind of impact in the future.

I used to think the same but after seeing Jacks reaction at the draft and his comments on how rare and awesome it is to be able to grow up together playing on the same team in the NHL makes me think it will have a bigger and more positive impact than I originally thought

 

[Emperoreddy]

Jack would have long term committed here either way, but him being so excited for Luke being here too is an extra bonus.

They are Devils for life.

 

[SpitfireG]

The more center depth the better.

I am not confident in any center in the organization to play on the top 3 lines aside from Hughes and Hischier.
McLeod is best suited for a 4th line role.
Zacha is a LEFT WINGER.
Boqvist is a ?
Mercer could surprise and snag that 3C spot but what if he doesn't?

During the season and prospect development, lines looks to come up this way
Zacha - Hischier - Tatar/ Bratt
Sharangovich - Hudges - Kuokkanen
Tatar/Bratt - Mercer - Holtz
Wood - MCLeod - Boquist

All top 6 are lefthanded, when Mercer & Holtz are righthanded

Among them a proved tandem chemistry have:
Shara - Kuokkanen,
Hischier - Bratt
Mercer -Holtz seems are on the same wage also
Expirienced Tatar could fit well this young duo to balance them in 5 vs 5 and being guru for them

The icing time will near equal for lines, with margin PP & PK

PK I find will work out nice together
Shara - Mercer (Mercer at FO)
McLeod - Hischier (McLeod at FO)

PP
with this update on blueline and point shooter like Shara, Tatar, Holtz 2 PP team with one D at point (Dougie and Ty) and 4 FW seems the logic skills/set for PP

PK defence cover mainly
Graves - Severson
P.K. - Siegenthaler

 

[FooteBahl]

During the season and prospect development, lines looks to come up this way
Zacha - Hischier - Tatar/ Bratt
Sharangovich - Hudges - Kuokkanen
Tatar/Bratt - Mercer - Holtz
Wood - MCLeod - Boquist

All top 6 are lefthanded, when Mercer & Holtz are righthanded

Among them a proved tandem chemistry have:
Shara - Kuokkanen,
Hischier - Bratt
Mercer -Holtz seems are on the same wage also
Expirienced Tatar could fit well this young duo to balance them in 5 vs 5 and being guru for them

The icing time will near equal for lines, with margin PP & PK

PK I find will work out nice together
Shara - Mercer (Mercer at FO)
McLeod - Hischier (McLeod at FO)

PP
with this update on blueline and point shooter like Shara, Tatar, Holtz 2 PP team with one D at point (Dougie and Ty) and 4 FW seems the logic skills/set for PP

PK defence cover mainly
Graves - Severson
P.K. - Siegenthaler

If Mercer continues his play throughout the regular camp and forces his way in, I would go with this:

Zacha-Hischier-Bratt
Tatar-Hughes-Sharangovich
Foote-Mercer-Johnsson
Wood-McLeod-Kuok

I wouldn’t mess with the top 6, but if Holtz also forces his way the bottom 6:

Johnsson-Mercer-Holtz
Wood-McLeod-Kuok

 

[HughJazz3dg]

I’m still in the camp of letting Mercer go to the AHL for most of the season. It’s tough because he’s good enough and fits the bill for a need of ours (3rd line C.)

I’d go with something like…

Zacha-Hischier-Bratt
Tatar-Hughes-Sharangovich
Wood-Mcloed-Kuokkanen
Johnsson-______-Boqvist

Not a super satisfying bottom 6, but it’s working with what we have. The 3rd line is a group that works together well.

Maybe Jankowski steps up and takes the 4th C job.

 

[Call Me Al]

probably prefer mercer developing in the at least for a little bit, holtz too but if they are ready to contribute let’s get them in

 

[OmNomNom]

lol ppl on insta were freakin out bc quinn liked one of the Devil's prospect camp posts

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

lol ppl on insta were freakin out bc quinn liked one of the Devil's prospect camp posts

The Quinn thing is silly IMO. Things will have to go very badly here if the Devils have the cap space to acquire Quinn when he becomes a UFA,

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

I’m still in the camp of letting Mercer go to the AHL for most of the season. It’s tough because he’s good enough and fits the bill for a need of ours (3rd line C.)

I’d go with something like…

Zacha-Hischier-Bratt
Tatar-Hughes-Sharangovich
Wood-Mcloed-Kuokkanen
Johnsson-______-Boqvist

Not a super satisfying bottom 6, but it’s working with what we have. The 3rd line is a group that works together well.

Maybe Jankowski steps up and takes the 4th C job.

Agree on Mercer. There are always injuries - he can be the first callup if playing well. Would be disappointing if Boq could not hold down a "C" spot. Hopefully Boq could win a "C" spot and IMO Jankowski would be fine for 13th F to start the season. I think Boq still has like 9-10 games before waiver eligible so he could start in the AHL as well.

 

[R8Devs]

Multiple people inside the Devils organization have indicated the entire active roster has received the COVID-19 vaccination. Active roster is a slight caveat there because the club just signed a handful of guys to player-tryout contracts and their status is not confirmed, but it appears the guys who have been under contract are all set in that department.
Devils' top forward prospects make a statement before training camp: 'We found some chemistry'

 

[MartyOwns]

Then my dad was a big fan of Patrice Bergeron, and that was my favorite player growing up. He’s just that well-rounded player.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I used to think the same but after seeing Jacks reaction at the draft and his comments on how rare and awesome it is to be able to grow up together playing on the same team in the NHL makes me think it will have a bigger and more positive impact than I originally thought

What I mean more was that I don't think not drafting Luke would've changed anything. And if it would've...what if Luke falls out and we trade him? Is Jack going to get grumpy and leave? That would be a problem wouldn't it? Or does the Luke drafting change things so much that Jack signs a mega massive home discount? Like I said, just uncertain to say anything for sure. Only the future will tell.

I just want to say, Brayden Point signed a deal that's at least 3 mill less than he deserved so to say I would be disappointed if Jack asks for like 9 mill on his next contract would be an understatement. Not because he wouldn't deserve it based on his potential but it wouldn't really be the same scale of a home discount.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

The Quinn thing is silly IMO. Things will have to go very badly here if the Devils have the cap space to acquire Quinn when he becomes a UFA,

Until we see what contract he signs as an RFA I don't think it's silly. Lots of players have not committed long term to a team despite their rights being owned by them, and tried to force their way to a preferred destination (Trouba, Fox, Seth Jones, Dubois come to mind recently, Matthew Tkachuk and possibly the Tkachuk bros I think are planning something as well).

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Until we see what contract he signs as an RFA I don't think it's silly. Lots of players have not committed long term to a team despite their rights being owned by them, and tried to force their way to a preferred destination (Trouba, Fox, Seth Jones, Dubois come to mind recently, Matthew Tkachuk I think is planning something as well).

But those teams have the cap space and those players did not take lower salaries to get there. It is very difficult to carry more than 4-5 players in the 9% or so of cap hit range. For example, TBL currently has 4 over 9% and Point comes next year. The Devils have Nico and Dougie after this year and hopefully Jack will earn a contract in that range. We will have to start rooting against our own players hoping none of them is good enough to command a 9% or so cap hit.

 

[Devils Army]

Loved what Jack had to say on 31 thoughts. Liked the way he talked about our team and the development of his own game. Knows he has all the skill but wants to become a more dominating presence by getting bigger and winning more puck battles. Talked highly of Nico and Lindy.

 

[Hisch13r]

Loved what Jack had to say on 31 thoughts. Liked the way he talked about our team and the development of his own game. Knows he has all the skill but wants to become a more dominating presence by getting bigger and winning more puck battles. Talked highly of Nico and Lindy.

Jack saw the JFresh micro stat card where he was elite at everything but puck battles lol

 

[Guttersniped]

What I mean more was that I don't think not drafting Luke would've changed anything. And if it would've...what if Luke falls out and we trade him? Is Jack going to get grumpy and leave? That would be a problem wouldn't it? Or does the Luke drafting change things so much that Jack signs a mega massive home discount? Like I said, just uncertain to say anything for sure. Only the future will tell.

I just want to say, Brayden Point signed a deal that's at least 3 mill less than he deserved so to say I would be disappointed if Jack asks for like 9 mill on his next contract would be an understatement. Not because he wouldn't deserve it based on his potential but it wouldn't really be the same scale of a home discount.

Brayden Point signed a contract with Tampa after winning a Stanley Cup and then won another Stanley Cup. You can the taxes and warm weather but I put most of weight on the chance to continue to ride the Unstoppable Juggernaut Cup Champion.

He wasn’t going to get 12.5m from Tampa. He took what Kucherov did in 2018, which shows the benefit of an internal cap on a winning team. It’s tough to get that to work. Boston and Carolina work that angle, you have to with salary though.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Brayden Point signed a contract with Tampa after winning a Stanley Cup and then won another Stanley Cup. You can the taxes and warm weather but I put most of weight on the chance to continue to ride the Unstoppable Juggernaut Cup Champion.

He wasn’t going to get 12.5m from Tampa. He took what Kucherov did in 2018, which shows the benefit of an internal cap on a winning team. It’s tough to get that to work. Boston and Carolina work that angle, you have to with salary though.

He was also the one who carried them in the playoffs....he could've demanded 12 million and be worth all of it. He took a gigantic pay cut to help the team continue winning.

 

[Guttersniped]

He was also the one who carried them in the playoffs....he could've demanded 12 million and be worth all of it. He took a gigantic pay cut to help the team continue winning.

I’m not debating anything? It’s nice if have that internal cap. It’s very tough to create that culture without winning.

To RFAs
Most RFA aren’t signing long term deals because 1) teams can’t afford them 2) people think that once the escrow debt get worked out the salary will jump up a lot and so they so they so they don’t want miss gravy train when that kicks in 3) that’s why the most analytical team in the NHL, Carolina, signed Svechnikov to a 8 year/7.75m deal, which is going to be an insane bargain 4) I would sign Hughes 8 year deal if it was feasible, (though I have no idea what the number would be)

 

[My3Sons]

I’m not debating anything? It’s nice if have that internal cap. It’s very tough to create that culture without winning.

To RFAs
Most RFA aren’t signing long term deals because 1) teams can’t afford them 2) people think that once the escrow debt get worked out the salary will jump up a lot and so they so they so they don’t want miss gravy train when that kicks in 3) that’s why the most analytical team in the NHL, Carolina, signed Svechnikov to a 8 year/7.75m deal, which is going to be an insane bargain 4) I would sign Hughes 8 year deal if it was feasible, (though I have no idea what the number would be)

My guess is that the first number would be an 8. I think the discussion would be over how close it would be to a 9 to get to an agreement.

 

[StevenToddIves]

If Mercer continues his play throughout the regular camp and forces his way in, I would go with this:

Zacha-Hischier-Bratt
Tatar-Hughes-Sharangovich
Foote-Mercer-Johnsson
Wood-McLeod-Kuok

I wouldn’t mess with the top 6, but if Holtz also forces his way the bottom 6:

Johnsson-Mercer-Holtz
Wood-McLeod-Kuok

L to R
Tatar-Sharangovich-Hughes
Zacha-Hischier-Bratt
Foote-Mercer-Kuokkanen
Wood-McLeod-Thompson/Clarke camp winner

extra Fs should be Boqvist and Jankowski, both of whom can fill in at either C or W. Send Johnsson to AHL on the unlikely, but remotely possible, chance that someone picks him up on waivers. I feel Holtz needs at least half a season (probably a full season, though) of North American hockey before coming up to the pros -- no need to rush the kid and risk his development.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Kuokkanen - Hughes - Sharangovich
Zacha - Hischier - Bratt
Tatar - Mercer - Johnsson
Wood - McLeod - Foote
Jankowski, Boqvist

Graves - Hamilton
Smith - Severson
Siegenthaler - Subban
Jaros

Blackwood
Bernier

Bingo:
F: Holtz, Gauthier, Clarke, Zetterlund, Studenic, Gambardella, Greer
D: Okhotiuk, Bahl, White, Walsh, Vukojevic
G: Wedgewood

 

[njdevils1982]

L to R
Tatar-Sharangovich-Hughes
Zacha-Hischier-Bratt
Foote-Mercer-Kuokkanen
Wood-McLeod-Thompson/Clarke camp winner

extra Fs should be Boqvist and Jankowski, both of whom can fill in at either C or W. Send Johnsson to AHL on the unlikely, but remotely possible, chance that someone picks him up on waivers. I feel Holtz needs at least half a season (probably a full season, though) of North American hockey before coming up to the pros -- no need to rush the kid and risk his development.

i would be happy with that

 

[Hisch13r]

i would be happy with that

It would be incredibly dumb.