Devils discussion (news, notes and speculation) - draft and FA edition

[Better Call Sal]

I await the responses to this video.

 

[Devil X]

So we are at the stage of the offseason where every player thats NOT traded to the Devils is a stud.

Got it!

 

[thebeernerd]

I await the responses to this video.

Over/under on the amount of times Tom Fitzgerald invokes Tom Hanks from the Elvis movie and says "he's big"

 

[BostonDevil]

So we are at the stage of the offseason where every player thats NOT traded to the Devils is a stud.

Got it!

Yes, and to go along with that, every player in the organization is also a stud and can't be parted with.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Does a 2nd get it done? I don't know. What I do know is that we get zero offense from the bottom 6 and a 24 year old who put up 65 points in his last full season was available. HALF of that would put him #7 in forward scoring on this team last year.

He would also provide zero defense. Would not contribute to the PK. Be overshadowed by better players on the PP. He would truly be an awful bottom 6 player. His game is top 6 or bust, and he ain’t taking a spot away from Hischier or Hughes.

 

[The 29th Pick]

I can't think of a worse fit for the Devils' forward group than Trevor Zegras. Won't be on PP1, no open slot at center, he's basically Jack Hughes but worse in every respect.

He's also 6 foot tall 185ish pounds, we have enough of those "types"

 

[Nocashstyle]

I’m actually surprised but Zegras has awful PP production the last 2 years.

2 years ago he played almost 80 minutes on the PP and registered 1 goal and 0 assists. That’s crazy.

Yeah, but his NHL 23 rating was 87 overall

 

[Derps]

I await the responses to this video.

I'd pay a lot of money to never hear Fitzgerald speak again.

Just strikes me as a really dumb person overall. Maybe unfair, but whatever, I don't care.

 

[Mgd31]

I await the responses to this video.

Is that Steve Zhan?

 

[thebeernerd]

Personally, I'm glad Verbeek traded Jack Hughes's best friend in time for the busy Shore season. Doing Zegras a solid.

I'd pay a lot of money to never hear Fitzgerald speak again.

Just strikes me as a really dumb person overall. Maybe unfair, but whatever, I don't care.

Probably his accent. Boston accents aren't exactly the smartest sounding kind, in spite of the fact that the people up there think they're smart by osmosis because they're close to places like Harvard and MIT occupy the same space. And his is fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. A full blown one makes you want to scoop out your ears like a grapefruit.

At least stereotypical Jersey accents are inherently funny.

 

[BostonDevil]

He would also provide zero defense. Would not contribute to the PK. Be overshadowed by better players on the PP. He would truly be an awful bottom 6 player. His game is top 6 or bust, and he ain’t taking a spot away from Hischier or Hughes.

He's also 6 foot tall 185ish pounds, we have enough of those "types"

I'm not all that concerned about defense on our bottom 6 at this point. There are plenty of guys in this league that can't score 15 goals and play solid defense. Those aren't the guys we should be trying to get

We have enough size. We don't have enough skill.

If you were to throw Zegras on a line with Mercer and Palat, then give him some PP2 time, he would be fine.

I'm not saying the guy is great, I logically think the opposite, but we can't be picky about this. It's one year. Give it a shot. Take a chance.

We need more production from the bottom 6

 

[bossram]

Agreed with most on Zegras here. It's not a miss for the Devils. They need some middle-six players that can take some heat off of Nico in a shutdown role. Keefe would staple Zegras to the bench anyway.

Honestly would've been more interested in Poehling than Zegras from that perspective.

 

[BostonDevil]

Personally, I'm glad Verbeek traded Jack Hughes's best friend in time for the busy Shore season. Doing Zegras a solid.

Probably his accent. Boston accents aren't exactly the smartest sounding kind, in spite of the fact that the people up there think they're smart by osmosis because they're close to places like Harvard and MIT occupy the same space. And his is fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. A full blown one makes you want to scoop out your ears like a grapefruit.

At least stereotypical Jersey accents are inherently funny.

Hey! Hey! Hey!

 

[Devs3cups]

I await the responses to this video.

Thanks for the share! I like these types of videos.

 

[bossram]

Some lower profile bottom-six options to look at:
- Peyton Krebs (should be a 3C, already good defensively, perhaps some untapped potential still)
- Justin Brazeau (big, should be fairly cheap, has some offensive touch and was having a nice season before being traded to MIN)
- Pius Suter (perhaps not really lower profile, but he is a defensive/PK ace that still chips in ~15 goals every season)
- Gage Concalves (got some dawg in him, excellent AHL production and decent rate scoring with TB in limited minutes)
- Tanner Jeannot (we know the deal, but he should come cheap after a pretty down season)
- Linus Karlsson (complete player except for heavy feet, exceptional AHL player and AHL playoffs for Abbottsford, group 6 UFA)

 

[Nocashstyle]

Someone like Haula? No thanks.

You must have missed the acknowledgment that they need to be able to provide more bottom 6 scoring.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

The same people crying about not getting Zegras are the same people who mention how soft Bratt is in the playoffs, spare me the crocodile tears

 

[Edmonton East]

I'd pay a lot of money to never hear Fitzgerald speak again.

Just strikes me as a really dumb person overall. Maybe unfair, but whatever, I don't care.

Worse. He's a stupid person that thinks he's really smart. Give people like that power.....not great. Just another USA Hockey nepo baby that's done jackshit, but gets a long leash anyway. A brief history lesson:

Tommy Fitz moved from a brief stint in player dev with the Pens to AGM in 2009. The Penguins were coming off back to back Cup appearances and a Cup win. From 2009 onward, the Pens shockingly underperformed in the playoffs despite often being the preseason Cup favorite. During Fitz' tenure as AGM 09-15, the Penguins only got out of the 2nd round ONCE and never made a Finals appearance. Fitz leaves in 2015. Penguins win Cup again in 2016....the very next season.

2007, 2008 - Penguins win 1/2 Cup appearances
2009 - Fitz enters AGM. Penguins underperform for entire tenure
2015 - Fitz leaves and Penguins win Cup again....

WHY DOES THIS MAN HAVE A LONG LEASH?!

 

[BostonDevil]

You must have missed the acknowledgment that they need to be able to provide more bottom 6 scoring.

I did not. I was with you on that, and I don't argue with your larger point but we aren't going to get a guy who is big, can score, create space, play tough minutes, be strong defensively, win faceoffs and play on the PK.

If such a guy existed he would not be on a 3rd line (unless you're Florida) and, we couldn't afford him.

Gotta pick your spots. After what I saw last year, I'm prioritizing offense.

 

[thebeernerd]

Speaking of leash length, Zegras can't have a whole lot of that left. The expectation is that he'd be a top six center, and he hasn't reached that yet. Seems like it's put up or shut up time for him.

 

[Nocashstyle]

I did not. I was with you on that, and I don't argue with your larger point but we aren't going to get a guy who is big, can score, create space, play tough minutes, be strong defensively, win faceoffs and play on the PK.

If such a guy existed he would not be on a 3rd line (unless you're Florida) and, we couldn't afford him.

Gotta pick your spots. After what I saw last year, I'm prioritizing offense.

I don’t know what to tell you if you think Zegras is the only option to providing more depth scoring

 

[Forge]

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Markstrom's back up in Calgary, would make sense in that regard but my god some awful numbers career wise. Would be a very big downgrade from Allen

 

[Better Call Sal]

Thanks for the share! I like these types of videos.

As do I. I wish they were longer. It's cool to see some of the back and forth. I know plenty of it is cliche stuff, but I still find it interesting.

 

[Forge]

Markstrom's back up in Calgary, would make sense in that regard but my god some awful numbers career wise. Would be a very big downgrade from Allen

Don't worry, Rogalski would sort him out