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

[Puckclektr]

It's pretty easy

- Doubling down on Lindy Ruff, retaining Recchi/Nas all season
- Missing out on DeBrincat, Fiala
- Hammond trade
- Shakir pick
- Butcher trade

I'm sure he'll give us something else in a few days. I do give him credit for Dougie signing and Mercer, but the Ruff thing and missing out on the wingers is indicative of an unserious GM. If he can land JG and offload Zacha I'll sing his praises.

LIndy Ruff?Reccchi I agree
missing out on Debrincat and Fiala? huh. No guarantees you are getting him and with 31 other teams maybe it didnt' make sense.
Hammond? Trading a career AHLer for a goalie when we had goalie issues most of the year kind of made sense.
Shakir pick. Questionable. Too early to tell.
Butcher trade? Was he a star in the making. No he was pretty much terrible.

what if JG doesn't work out? will you still be signing his praises there.
Look, Gaudreau for free is an excellent add, but so was Tavares and in a salary cap world you may prevent other players from getting signed in the coming years while we continue with a smallish less physical forward group.
What if he is signed for 9.5 million and starts falling after he hits thirty and you still have him signed for 5 years while Holtz, Hughes and Mercer are going to need to be signed with big RFA money and then there isn't any left? Are you going to be praising him then?

As for Zacha. I am still on the Zacha train. I think he just needs a new coach or a scare this year. For what we can get for him, it is worth it to tell him he needs to be at his best or he is sent to the minors. Why give him away for a third, which you can only hope turns into another Zacha. If he sucks send him down and take the chance of losing him to waivers. But push the kid and tell him this is your last shot.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Fiala only wanted to go to LA. Cat wants to go to free agency. Topping Ottawa's offer just so he can walk would have been beyond stupid.

 

[LoktionovMVP]

So basically, you want a gm who makes big splashes. There's plenty of teams who do that. Prob better to go root for them. Did you hate Lou too?



hm yea, I've probably seen worse goalies at just stopping the puck in the shootout but this guy went flopping at the first sign of a deke. Also the infamous million stick handling at slow motion players and he just stands there watching it, no pokecheck.

I would like a GM who does things. Besides things like drafting Chase Stillman

 

[MasterofGrond]

All the dudes we have now who suck are because fitz did things lmao

 

[TBF1972]

If Blackwood is healthy and gets back to where he was 2 yrs ago he should be the starter an play the majority of the games... but its a big if. Nice to have Vanny there to keep Mack honest

sorry for picking your post to reply, but this can't be a discussion.

after a season, which saw the devils using 7 goaltenders, calling up both prospect goalies from the ahl, risking their development, acquiring two emergency goaltenders, which royally s*cked, and getting the worst goaltending in the league, we are b*tching about, which one of our three goalies should be in the net?

i am happy, when we have one nhl level goaltender in the net. i am even happier, when we have a second one dressed as his back up. i am over the moon, if we have a third one in the press box instead of the irl or even worse the lt-irl. they can alternate the starter to keep each player fresh and sharp and spur the competition. or lean on one (or the other) as the starter. i don't care at all, as long as muffins from the blueline without traffic in front don't regularly pass the goal line.

sign vanecek, get bernier healty. go from there.

 

[Bcap88]

It's pretty easy

- Doubling down on Lindy Ruff, retaining Recchi/Nas all season
- Missing out on DeBrincat, Fiala
- Hammond trade
- Shakir pick
- Butcher trade

I'm sure he'll give us something else in a few days. I do give him credit for Dougie signing and Mercer, but the Ruff thing and missing out on the wingers is indicative of an unserious GM. If he can land JG and offload Zacha I'll sing his praises.

-mistake corrected by getting rid of Recchi/Nas
-Debrincat would have came without an extension, Fiala was only signing with one team
-Hammond trade for Nate schnarr a career ahl player lol
-Shakir pick, prob about to only gripe from you that can be a valid cause of dislike.
-Butcher trade ? Lol

A lot of weird stuff to dislike fitz for

 

[TBF1972]

Hate Fitz but this is a good deal. Way better than giving 5x5 to Campbell or something which carries too much risk

let's first see, where the vanecek contract lands.

 

[kliq]

So is Bernier done? I thought he was set to return this season. I can't find any updates on him outside of this:

Jonathan Bernier (hip) hopes to be ready for training camp in September.​

Bernier mentioned that he is not where he would like to be in terms of recovery and rehab following hip surgery. He also said this past Sunday that he skated last week for the first time with no equipment.
SOURCE: Amanda Stein on Twitter
May 4, 2022, 5:14 PM ET

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

So is Bernier done? I thought he was set to return this season. I can't find any updates on him outside of this:

in Fitzgerald's press conference pre-draft last week, he basically said (without saying) that Bernier won't be ready to start the year. I would be surprised if he played, tbh.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I would like a GM who does things. Besides things like drafting Chase Stillman

Last I checked, Fitz has done things.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Bernier won't suit up again for us. I'd bet on it.

 

[Saugus]

Bernier won't suit up again for us. I'd bet on it.

I agree, Goalies don't come back from hip injuries. Bernier is likely done and LTIR bound.

 

[Bleedred]

I agree, Goalies don't come back from hip injuries. Bernier is likely done and LTIR bound.

They come back a lot of times, they just don't come back good very often.

And at his age. well, Rask (who is just a year and a few months older) had the surgery last offseason and came back around New Years and if you caught any of his games, they weren't good and his last one was so bad he retired a few days later.

Francouz at age 31 somehow came back from DOUBLE hip surgery and played fine so far, but his play in the playoffs was right down there with Kuemper's and he was undefeated in the playoffs in spite of himself.

We know another goalie around here that was a couple of years younger than Bernier when he had his hip surgery/hip problems start and while he was able to physically play still, he was merely a shell of his former elite self.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Sharks just gave Kahkonen 2 years. $2.75 AAV

I think thats a fair comparable for Vanacek as they have similar career numbers

 

[SwedishFire]

Why this draftpick shuffle??

A high 2nd and a goalie for a mid 2nd and a 3rd.

By that it sounds either as a team finding a trade up to get someone they like, or a team in dear need of a back up goalie.
That it should be both is like a strange happening.

My bet is that Jersey took the intiative.

 

[Bleedred]

Sharks just gave Kahkonen 2 years. $2.75 AAV

I think thats a fair comparable for Vanacek as they have similar career numbers

I actually came here to post this when I saw the Kahkonen extension.

I know somewhere in the $3's was mentioned, but I'd say something around what Kahkonen just got or Blackwood's current deal (which is nearly the same in AAV but a year longer in term) is probably what he'll get.

I think the Husso deal might have made it look like Vanecek will get more than he will.

 

[Nicomo Cosca]

Last I checked, Fitz has done things.

Nah, I’m pretty sure it was Amanda Stein that landed Dougie Hamilton, signed Jack Hughes to what will very soon be one of the biggest bargains in the entire league, and it was definitely her that drafted Dawson Mercer…

 

[Nubmer6]

Nah, I’m pretty sure it was Amanda Stein that landed Dougie Hamilton, signed Jack Hughes to what will very soon be one of the biggest bargains in the entire league, and it was definitely her that drafted Dawson Mercer…

You don't give Matt Laughlin enough credit.

 

[MadDevil]

Nah, I’m pretty sure it was Amanda Stein that landed Dougie Hamilton, signed Jack Hughes to what will very soon be one of the biggest bargains in the entire league, and it was definitely her that drafted Dawson Mercer…

It's all in the handwriting my friend.

 

[TBF1972]

It's all in the handwriting my friend.

the handwriting is just to avoid the character limit on twitter

 

[NjDevsRR]

“The New Jersey Devils today agreed to terms with restricted free-agent goaltender Vitek Vanecek on a three-year contract with an average annual value of $3,400,000. The breakdown is as follows: 2022-23, $3,550,000; 2023-24, $3,750,000 and 2024-25, $2,900,000. The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald.”

 

[glenwo2]

And there it is.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

well I was wrong on that one for sure...didnt think he'd get that much AAV

 

[Goptor]

BUT THEY WENT TO ARBITRATION

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

not what I expected. I don't care too much though. It's not outlandish