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

[Lou Bloom]

Shades of Lou drafting where you go with the low risk/low reward and hope you already have the core to drag said players except this isn't the late 90's and 2000's. Everyone has to pull on that proverbial rope to win a Cup, from the 12th forward to the superstar center.

I don't even think that's an accurate representation of who Fitz has drafted. Holtz was a very risky pick but the upside of his scoring talent was very high, Muhk was very risky and was picked due to physical tools and raw skill. Luke was arguably the highest upside player along with Edvinsson. Nemec and Casey was betting on Two defenseman with offensive skill and puck moving potential and I actually think he took a bigger risk with Nemec than going with Cooley or Wright. Silayev was arguably the much riskier but much higher potential defenseman than Buium or Dickinson.

I think Fitz deserves criticism for the lack of impact players through his drafting but I think calling it low risk/low reward Isn't at all accurate.

 

[My3Sons]

I don't even think that's an accurate representation of who Fitz has drafted. Holtz was a very risky pick but the upside of his scoring talent was very high, Muhk was very risky and was picked due to physical tools and raw skill. Luke was arguably the highest upside player along with Edvinsson. Nemec and Casey was betting on Two defenseman with offensive skill and puck moving potential and I actually think he took a bigger risk with Nemec than going with Cooley or Wright. Silayev was arguably the much riskier but much higher potential defenseman than Buium or Dickinson.

I think Fitz deserves criticism for the lack of impact players through his drafting but I think calling it low risk/low reward Isn't at all accurate.

I think ceiling floor is shorthand for a player’s potential offensive skill in the case of ceiling and his size/strength/basic IQ for floor. Of course the scouts have to have a very nuanced approach but we’ve seen enough fan speak over the years to appreciate the differences. Would I prefer a smaller very skilled player who skates well and sees the ice well and shoots well over a bigger player who is an average skater and has average vision and touch, probably. I’d rather find the next Bratt over say the next Bastian. But no it isn’t that simple it’s more a philosophical point.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I don't even think that's an accurate representation of who Fitz has drafted. Holtz was a very risky pick but the upside of his scoring talent was very high, Muhk was very risky and was picked due to physical tools and raw skill. Luke was arguably the highest upside player along with Edvinsson. Nemec and Casey was betting on Two defenseman with offensive skill and puck moving potential and I actually think he took a bigger risk with Nemec than going with Cooley or Wright. Silayev was arguably the much riskier but much higher potential defenseman than Buium or Dickinson.

I think Fitz deserves criticism for the lack of impact players through his drafting but I think calling it low risk/low reward Isn't at all accurate.

That was more of an assessment of his overall drafts, his first rounders have usually been BPA or him swinging for the fences

 

[Dylan9z9]

Mercer, Dougie and Palat for Qinn Hughes NOW!

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Mercer, Dougie and Palat for Qinn Hughes NOW!

I'm not sure which version of the NHL video games you are playing but I don't think that's going to work in real life

 

[Dylan9z9]

I'm not sure which version of the NHL video games you are playing but I don't think that's going to work in real life

Why not.better then letting Quinn walk for nothing from what I've heard he wants to come here to play with his brothers

 

[fire Fitzgerald]

The defense is now set for a long ass time

Man, they can't develop offense and move the puck. It makes the 5-on-5 offense look weak.
We have too many of these “strong” defensemen.

Kovacevic, Siegenthaler, Dillon and Pesci are passengers on offense. Hamilton is just super slow and useless on offense except for his shot.

5 out of 6 defensemen are not suited to play fast and our forwards are not suited to play like Panthers.
This is a failure of Fitzgerald, a weak GM.

 

[JimEIV]

I just got caught up and read the last 7 pages... And all I learned was "snowflake" is bad, Palat is not even in the top 10 worst contracts, Robertson is too expensive, Zegras sucks and something about ceilings and floors.

Heavy reading for 6:30 am.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

"Devils looking, too

The Devils were among the 15 teams that tried on Jonathan Toews. GM Tom Fitzgerald continues to scour the market looking for top-six or top-nine forward help. I think he will keep an eye on where the Jason Robertson situation goes with the Dallas Stars, for example. But he also ended up making a more modest top-nine-type move by the end of the summer last year. All I know is that Fitzgerald has been active fleshing out the forward market."

Also:

"Everybody loves Allen

It’s good to be Jake Allen. It’s not a deep year at all on the unrestricted-free-agent goalie market. There are more jobs to be had than there are quality goalies available. Allen is the top UFA goalie on a market that also includes Alexandar Georgiev, David Rittich, Anton Forsberg, Alex Lyons, Dan Vladar, Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek.

Allen led all those goalies with a .906 save percentage in 31 games this past season for the New Jersey Devils. He hasn’t closed the door on returning, and I know the sides are still talking, but New Jersey may not have the cap space to re-sign him, depending on other moves it wants to make up front.

Allen, 34, coming off a two-year deal paying him $3.85 million average annual value, is probably looking to sign for around a $4 million AAV on a two-year deal or $3.5 million AAV on a three-year deal. There are seven or eight teams that have different levels of interest. The Kings, for one, are looking for a second goalie to partner up with Darcy Kuemper."

NHL rumblings: Why it could be a long summer, plus latest on Canadiens, Pettersson, Rust and more

Also, what a weak goalie market could mean for Jake Allen, and assessing the Ducks' logic behind the Trevor Zegras trade.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Mgd31]

"active fleshing"

 

[Clam Jensen]

"active fleshing"

Really fancy term for an exhibitionist

 

[thebeernerd]

"active fleshing"

With a side of fava beans and a nice Chianti?

 

[Better Call Sal]

Summer is typically when I wax nostalgic on historical Devils games and our prior glory. To think it's been 30 years since our first Cup is wild.

I'd love to hear from others who could give a better picture of that time. To date myself, I was only 6 when this happened so it was pre-Devils fandom for me. I moved to Jersey the following year and fell in love with the team the year after that, after getting to attend games with my first friend I made here. And we are still friends to this day thanks to what this team has brought us.

Screw it, here's the whole broadcast on Youtube.

 

[dzubrus8]

Ooh, a false choice, this is fun. Mercer played on PP1 a bit because of handedness. That's it.



The Devils don't have the ability to do this because they already give Jack Hughes this ice time. Which is why it's a terrible idea to even think about acquiring Trevor Zegras.

That’s what this comes down to for me. I like Zegras but the Flyers can do this because there’s less pressure for them to be good and they have defensively reliable centers (Couts, Catea) which allows Zegras to cherry pick. I see him being their replacement for Morgan Frost with the hope he pans out

Now if that were the trade package for McTavish this would be a different conversation. I’m reaching out to Anaheim offering 26-1 and Palat and seeing how much more they want for him. He’s exactly what I suspect GMTF is interested in

$2-4m FA - Hughes - Bratt
Gritsyuk - Hischier - Meier
Cotter - McTavish - Mercer
U-Haul - Glass - Noesen
Macdermid, UFA/camp invite

Hughes - Pesce
Siegenthaler - Nemec/Kovacevic
Dillon - Hamilton
UFA/camp invite

Markstrom
Daws/Poulter

 

[thebeernerd]

Summer is typically when I wax nostalgic on historical Devils games and our prior glory. To think it's been 30 years since our first Cup is wild.

I'd love to hear from others who could give a better picture of that time. To date myself, I was only 6 when this happened so it was pre-Devils fandom for me. I moved to Jersey the following year and fell in love with the team the year after that, after getting to attend games with my first friend I made here. And we are still friends to this day thanks to what this team has brought us.

Screw it, here's the whole broadcast on Youtube.

Honestly I only got into the Devils the following year, when I went to my first game and got angry when they missed the playoffs on the last day of the year. The year after that was when my hockey fandom started in earnest, when my uncle got me a book previewing the 1996-97 season and recapping the 1995-96 one, written by Ted Montgomery. I wasn't much older than you during their first Cup run. I was 8 and all I remember were the persistent rumblings of them moving to Nashville. But looking back, I'd argue it was their most important win because it probably saved them from that fate.

Post-lockout Lou was quite bad, especially after the last Cup run fell apart, but he did singlehandedly keep the Devils here. He'll always be a hero to this team.

 

[Lou is God]

Summer is typically when I wax nostalgic on historical Devils games and our prior glory. To think it's been 30 years since our first Cup is wild.

I'd love to hear from others who could give a better picture of that time. To date myself, I was only 6 when this happened so it was pre-Devils fandom for me. I moved to Jersey the following year and fell in love with the team the year after that, after getting to attend games with my first friend I made here. And we are still friends to this day thanks to what this team has brought us.

Screw it, here's the whole broadcast on Youtube.

I was there.

 

[Devils731]

Summer is typically when I wax nostalgic on historical Devils games and our prior glory. To think it's been 30 years since our first Cup is wild.

I'd love to hear from others who could give a better picture of that time. To date myself, I was only 6 when this happened so it was pre-Devils fandom for me. I moved to Jersey the following year and fell in love with the team the year after that, after getting to attend games with my first friend I made here. And we are still friends to this day thanks to what this team has brought us.

Screw it, here's the whole broadcast on Youtube.

I was 15 and the guy sitting next to me kept trying to buy me a beer in celebration.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Summer is typically when I wax nostalgic on historical Devils games and our prior glory. To think it's been 30 years since our first Cup is wild.

I'd love to hear from others who could give a better picture of that time. To date myself, I was only 6 when this happened so it was pre-Devils fandom for me. I moved to Jersey the following year and fell in love with the team the year after that, after getting to attend games with my first friend I made here. And we are still friends to this day thanks to what this team has brought us.

Screw it, here's the whole broadcast on Youtube.

I know I watched some of these games with my dad, but I was only 5 so I don’t really have any distinct memories of them. I do remember being at a street fair that summer and my dad bought me a poster of the team pic on the ice with the cup. I had that hanging in my bedroom until I moved out.

I start getting more distinct Devils memories the following year in 96 when I went to my first game vs the Islanders.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Honestly I only got into the Devils the following year, when I went to my first game and got angry when they missed the playoffs on the last day of the year. The year after that was when my hockey fandom started in earnest, when my uncle got me a book previewing the 1996-97 season and recapping the 1995-96 one, written by Ted Montgomery. I wasn't much older than you during their first Cup run. I was 8 and all I remember were the persistent rumblings of them moving to Nashville. But looking back, I'd argue it was their most important win because it probably saved them from that fate.

Post-lockout Lou was quite bad, especially after the last Cup run fell apart, but he did singlehandedly keep the Devils here. He'll always be a hero to this team.

I hope that the younger fanbase knows their history and understands what Lou meant to this franchise. Yes, his final years showed that changes needed to ultimately be made. But he was the Devils franchise and made us the success that we were for so long.

I know I heard he still wants to work (of course he does) but I hope he finally lets us honor him the way we should have years ago.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Really fancy term for an exhibitionist

 

[njdevils1982]

I was 15 and the guy sitting next to me kept trying to buy me a beer in celebration.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Why are people still crying over the Holtz pick ? Yeah, it sucks there are player taken after him who are Star Players/Contributors

That’s what this comes down to for me. I like Zegras but the Flyers can do this because there’s less pressure for them to be good and they have defensively reliable centers (Couts, Catea) which allows Zegras to cherry pick. I see him being their replacement for Morgan Frost with the hope he pans out

Now if that were the trade package for McTavish this would be a different conversation. I’m reaching out to Anaheim offering 26-1 and Palat and seeing how much more they want for him. He’s exactly what I suspect GMTF is interested in

$2-4m FA - Hughes - Bratt
Gritsyuk - Hischier - Meier
Cotter - McTavish - Mercer
U-Haul - Glass - Noesen
Macdermid, UFA/camp invite

Hughes - Pesce
Siegenthaler - Nemec/Kovacevic
Dillon - Hamilton
UFA/camp invite

Markstrom
Daws/Poulter

Anaheim isnt moving MacTavish for a 1 st round pick in 2026 & Palat's contract. With Zegras gone it makes MacTavish more valuable to the Ducks. He had a decent season playing under a system that was very defense heavy. Him and Carlsson are poised to breakout under Quenneville. Ducks are trying to win and wouldn't move him for an underwhelming return just because they did the same with Zegras...

 

[njdevils1982]

Why are people still crying over the Holtz pick ? Yeah, it sucks there are player taken after him who are Star Players/Contributors

Anaheim isnt moving MacTavish for a 1 st round pick in 2026 & Palat's contract. With Zegras gone it makes MacTavish more valuable to the Ducks. He had a decent season playing under a system that was very defense heavy. Him and Carlsson are poised to breakout under Quenneville. Ducks are trying to win and wouldn't move him for an underwhelming return just because they did the same with Zegras...

i think i'm going to start referring to quenneville as coach quack

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

 

[devsfan8]

Why are people still crying over the Holtz pick ? Yeah, it sucks there are player taken after him who are Star Players/Contributors

Anaheim isnt moving MacTavish for a 1 st round pick in 2026 & Palat's contract. With Zegras gone it makes MacTavish more valuable to the Ducks. He had a decent season playing under a system that was very defense heavy. Him and Carlsson are poised to breakout under Quenneville. Ducks are trying to win and wouldn't move him for an underwhelming return just because they did the same with Zegras...

No. But they might move him for Palat, a 26 1st, Mercer and/or Casey!!