Confirmed with Link: Devils acquire Vitek Vanecek and 46th Overall pick from WSH for 37th Overall pick and 70th Overall pick

[glenwo2]

I totally forgot that Seattle claimed Vanecek in the expansion draft last year, only for Washington to send them a 2nd round pick to get him back about a week later.

Well they're not getting Vanecek back from us the same way. lol

 

[Bleedred]

I’m happy with those two in net next year.
From what I have been reading the last couple years many people don’t like Blackwood regardless of how he played. The fact that he wasn’t vaccinated still have people mad at him and biased and want him gone for that reason.
I get there are some people who don’t like him for his play, but when people don’t like him I take the comment with a grain of salt because I know a lot of it is because of his personal decision.

I don’t care that he wasn’t vaccinated. I don’t at all feel comfortable judging people based on those decisions. I wonder if he had certain medical paranoias based on having long Covid and that scared him from initially getting it. But that’s just speculation on my part. I don’t feel comfortable judging anyone based on those decisions.

I’m not offended by that. I’m offended by how he’s played in goal the last two seasons. Right down to his final game played this year, which was an embarrassment and definitely In his top-3 or 4 worst games of the season.

His mediocre AHL resume makes me wonder if maybe he just isn’t that good? Maybe he’s just not any good? I wonder if a healthy Blackwood struggles to stay above .900%, rather than the broken down injured Blackwood that struggled to stay above .890% and has been an .893% for 55 games now.

 

[ninetyeight]

Blackwood not getting vaccinated could be considered tribalism too if we want to play that game.

People can dislike or not dislike people for whatever reason they choose. His decisions hurt the team, and I dont like that. The end. Sorry this offends!

But he did get vaxed. He was just cautious with it since he had it pretty rough (covid). It is now common mainstream science that going through covid gives you way more antibodies than the shot, so it probably wasn't even that big of a deal. Yet he still got it, but people still can't forgive him since he didn't get it quick enough.

But I know how you feel about all of this, and we probably shouldn't continue this any longer. Fwiw I'm fully vaxed myself and a big supporter of vaccinations in general, but don't think these things are always as black and white.

 

[glenwo2]

Tribalism, eh?

Like the Tribalism where if you think Fitz made a mistake at drafting Nemec instead of Wright, you got lambasted for it?

But seriously, I couldn't care less about Mac's Vaccination saga. What I cared about was that he played horribly and whether that was due to outside factors or injury, the fact remains that on the ice : He sucked.

And there's only so many 2nd chances we can give him before bidding him "adieu".

 

[Bleedred]

But .. but... Your memory. Don't disappoint me

-edit-

One thing I'd like to add is that positional goalies tend to be described as "cerebral" while reactionary goalies tend to be described as "athletic". Because of that, I think the guy we just drafted is probably a positional guy. Mac Black is more reactionary. He relies on his athleticism, and injuries really hamper that. That's why I still have hope in him.

That’s funny cause I actually thought of him as a positional goalie. At least when he was actually successful/Melanson was coaching him.

Maybe he’s trying to be a reactional goalie now and that’s not helping him?

 

[ninetyeight]

And there's only so many 2nd chances we can give him before bidding him "adieu".

This is gotta be the last chance, even if there's another injury. Above .900 (or maybe even .910) or out of the organization.

 

[glenwo2]

This is gotta be the last chance, even if there's another injury. Above .900 (or maybe even .910) or out of the organization.

Nah. I'd give him .905 as the demarcation line.

If he goes below it, he's history. We've arrived at the point where he either delivers or he's gone.

enough already.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

the Caps weren’t exactly the best team defensively.

And the devils are? lol

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

And the devils are? lol

for what its worth, the Caps gave up 44 more high danger changes than the Devils at 5 on 5

 

[DevilDog]

for what its worth, the Caps gave up 44 more high danger changes than the Devils at 5 on 5

And there is certainly room for improvement on our back and if we get a full healthy season out of Hamilton, Smith isn’t a complete disaster and the new Assistants implement a better defensive system

 

[Nubmer6]

That’s funny cause I actually thought of him as a positional goalie. At least when he was actually successful/Melanson was coaching him.

Maybe he’s trying to be a reactional goalie now and that’s not helping him?

Rollie having him play deeper in goal, as much as I hated it, may have been better for him if he is indeed a reactionary goalie.

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

Blackwood could surprise us and come back hot.

Some goalies can have mental episodes of insecurity and their play can suffer. The only problem with this trait is they lose what is needed as professional consistency.

 

[JimEIV]

Tribalism:

 

[billingtons ghost]

I don’t care that he wasn’t vaccinated. I don’t at all feel comfortable judging people based on those decisions. I wonder if he had certain medical paranoias based on having long Covid and that scared him from initially getting it. But that’s just speculation on my part. I don’t feel comfortable judging anyone based on those decisions.

I’m not offended by that. I’m offended by how he’s played in goal the last two seasons. Right down to his final game played this year, which was an embarrassment and definitely In his top-3 or 4 worst games of the season.

His mediocre AHL resume makes me wonder if maybe he just isn’t that good? Maybe he’s just not any good? I wonder if a healthy Blackwood struggles to stay above .900%, rather than the broken down injured Blackwood that struggled to stay above .890% and has been an .893% for 55 games now.

Beating a dead horse here, but goalies don't play in a vacuum and if you could point to a goalie in the past two seasons who has done well playing for this team, I would give your "he might not be any good talk" even a moment of consideration. He was ridden hard thru a heel injury and two (three?) concussions behind a shit team that gave up more chances on it's own pp than it got.

If he's at .890 this year, VV will be right there with him.

Nah. I'd give him .905 as the demarcation line.

If he goes below it, he's history. We've arrived at the point where he either delivers or he's gone.

enough already.

And then what? For whom do you trade? Hughes for Vas? Bratt for Shesterkin? Sign Jesus as a UFA?

 

[goonybird]

can't wait to find out what career-ending injury he has!

 

[Bleedred]

Beating a dead horse here, but goalies don't play in a vacuum and if you could point to a goalie in the past two seasons who has done well playing for this team, I would give your "he might not be any good talk" even a moment of consideration.

How about I counter that with my own question

If you can point to a goalie in the past several seasons or even EVER that has done well NOT playing for this team or that is actually a good goalie or has history of being a good goalie in the NHL OTHER than Blackwood (and Bernier, who I thought played fine before he went down for good), maybe then I could give your position a moment of consideration.

And Hammond's FLUKE run 7 years ago doesn't count.

Wedgewood had his first ever average to above average season in the NHL this year, unless you count his 4 game call up which was SIX years ago.

Gillies has no success at the NHL level, he doesn't even get any game time between 2018 and this season. Same goes for Hammond, who has also not seen a second of time since 2018 until this year. He had a brief 2 season stretch of being a good to average goalie, but he was clearly overachieving at that time and it was truly one of the flukiest goalie runs ever.

I don't think Daws would have played well anywhere in the NHL this year, not with that many games that he got, at least.

 

[Bleedred]

I don't know what Vanecek's new deal will look like, but all I do know is that I really don't wanna be paying a Vanecek-Blackwood tandem $7-$8 million combined after this year.

If you're paying your goalies $7-$8 million per year then you damn well better have at the very least a borderline elite starter.

 

[BurntToast]

I don't know what Vanecek's new deal will look like, but all I do know is that I really don't wanna be paying a Vanecek-Blackwood tandem $7-$8 million combined after this year.

If you're paying your goalies $7-$8 million per year then you damn well better have at the very least a borderline elite starter.

I hate to break it to you, but..

When Goaltending values are down, backup goalies values are up. The Wings are around the 8m range. The Wild are around 10m. Tampa on the flip spent around 10 but Vas get’s 9.5m. The average is 8-10.

 

[BananaGenetics]

Nah. I'd give him .905 as the demarcation line.

If he goes below it, he's history. We've arrived at the point where he either delivers or he's gone.

enough already.

A .905 is pretty bad, thatd have him in the #30-40 range of goaltenders.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

A .905 is pretty bad, thatd have him in the #30-40 range of goaltenders.

.905 is barely below league average. I believe league average last year was .907

 

[BananaGenetics]

.905 is barely below league average. I believe league average last year was .907

While true, there were 42 goaltenders above .905 with 25+ games played last season

 

[Forge]

I don't know what Vanecek's new deal will look like, but all I do know is that I really don't wanna be paying a Vanecek-Blackwood tandem $7-$8 million combined after this year.

If you're paying your goalies $7-$8 million per year then you damn well better have at the very least a borderline elite starter.

I actually think he gets something similar to Mac. I'm thinking 2/6.

So I think between the two of them it'll be about 6 million. Then 4.125 for Bernier (ltir) + 2 in dead cap on Cory

 

[Bleedred]

I hate to break it to you, but..

When Goaltending values are down, backup goalies values are up. The Wings are around the 8m range. The Wild are around 10m. Tampa on the flip spent around 10 but Vas get’s 9.5m. The average is 8-10.

The Wings, I'll give you. But here's something to think about with them. I think the hope was that Nedeljkovic would be a clear cut starter. He played like he was for a lot of last season, but fell off a ton at the end. Now they're kind of in the same stage we were in last summer when Blackwood had a poor year and we signed Bernier. Only their Bernier is Husso.

The Wild have two ''Starters'' even if it's debatable whether either should be starters, but I think they're at least legit 1b types. Coming into this year they certainly are.

Vasi - Elite

Then there's a bunch of guys like Price, Quick, Gibson, Bobrovsky that are getting paid like they're elite because they got their contracts when they were elite.

Blackwood's last two years are worth about $1 million a season? At most?

Just to make my point completely clear, if we spend $8 million a year on goalies (Without a really good one on the roster) for a season it isn't the end of the world.

I'm talking about for multiple years going forward.

You can bet the Wild won't be doing it beyond this year. Talbot won't play there in 2023-2024 when his contract expires, if he's even there this coming year with all the recent agent drama with Guerin in the last few days.

 

[glenwo2]

A .905 is pretty bad, thatd have him in the #30-40 range of goaltenders.

.905 is barely below league average. I believe league average last year was .907

While true, there were 42 goaltenders above .905 with 25+ games played last season

Okay so I'm not knowledgeable on Goaltender save percentages.

Give me a f***ing break here.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

relax Glen, it aint that serious