Devils discussion (news, notes and speculation) - offseason edition

[JimEIV]

Yeah, 12 more goals and 100 points would have been even better. So what?

Also, in 1987-88 scoring league-wide was 3.71 G/PG, the 8th highest in the post-1967 NHL.

2024-25 was 30th with 3.01 G/PG.

If you go by Adjusted Points, Broten goes from 12th to 34th.

So if you adjusted for year what is Gomez 56 assists in 2004 with 2.57 G/PG average?

I tell you what is....still irrelevant. Nobody cares about assist without goals...

Like what was that guy's name from Dallas with the bad contract and all the assist. . I literally can't remember his name

 

[Bcap88]

Maybe, but he got bumped off because we did better with Noesen as a net front presence.

Team construction issues are on Fitz.

Meier was never a good bumper nor did he ever play it San Jose

He had 4 ppg goals the last two months and only had 3 the prior 5 months.

His shot is his best attribute and from the circle. Devils at times didn’t have anyone with one timer options

You put Meier on pp1 the whole year he probably has about 6-8 more goals which makes that 8.8 tolerable.

Hes been producing at 5 on 5 the same rate as he was in San Jose. It’s a role issue

 

[JimEIV]

Mike Ribeiro...yeah that's it.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Meier was never a good bumper nor did he ever play it San Jose

He had 4 ppg goals the last two months and only had 3 the prior 5 months.

His shot is his best attribute and from the circle. Devils at times didn’t have anyone with one timer options

You put Meier on pp1 the whole year he probably has about 6-8 more goals which makes that 8.8 tolerable.

Hes been producing at 5 on 5 the same rate as he was in San Jose. It’s a role issue

Totally agree. I think the team should move Bratt to PP2. Bratt and Jack do the same things on the PP. Jack has a better shot and therefore should stay on PP1.

Let Bratt be the main guy for PP2 with his puck rush skills.

 

[JimEIV]

Hes been producing at 5 on 5 the same rate as he was in San Jose. It’s a role issue

That's not true at all.

His 5v5 goals per 60 this season were his lowest since his rookie season

And his 5v5 points per 60 have been pretty shitty too since he got here.

 

[Goptor]

Totally agree. I think the team should move Bratt to PP2. Bratt and Jack do the same things on the PP. Jack has a better shot and therefore should stay on PP1.

Let Bratt be the main guy for PP2 with his puck rush skills.

It depends if you use Luke or Dougie on pp1. You want 2 puck carriers on a power play for the breakout so if dougie is PP1, you need jack + bratt there.

 

[Bad Goalie]

2 way deal doesn’t really change much. As long as it’s under the cap burying limit then a 1 way acts the same as the 2 way except for some pocket savings to the owners.

If they signed him to the 1-way you say wouldn't change much. On the cap you'd be mostly correct. It would however mean they'd pay Sprong circa $925K to play in Utica. People have been telling me for 3 years now that Devils ownership won't pay big $$$ to a guy to play in Utica. The Comets fan base wouldn't balk at that move. They might want to pay an AHL quality center a nice check as well. Not $925K, but $6 or 7K wouldn't be bad. LOL.

 

[BostonDevil]

Why give up so many assets when they can wait until Quinn is a UFA in two seasons. They have two seasons to open up cap space to sign him.

I would hardly consider some of those guys 'assets'

Why wait around if you can get him today? Not saying drop anything of extreme value but would you really miss Dougie if Quinn was here? Nemec? Casey?

We have 68 defensemen. Where is everyone going to play? Even 2 years from now, ideally, Silayev will be in the picture. If one or two of those guys have to go to get a 25 year old Norris Trophy winner the only thing you would regret is that you couldn't do it sooner.

Palat and Mercer might be addition by subtraction (I still kinda like Mercer though).

Sure you could use those guys for other deals but their value isn't going to get you this type of return.

Sitting around and waiting may be cheaper, but it might not be better.

Clock's ticking...

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

It depends if you use Luke or Dougie on pp1. You want 2 puck carriers on a power play for the breakout so if dougie is PP1, you need jack + bratt there.

Meier is capable of carrying the puck.

But your point about Hughes and Bratt. I still think Hughes was the main puck carrier. Yes Bratt supported him but for zone entries, I feel it was on Jack's stick at least 70% of the time. No data to back that up so correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I specifically remember a couple of dogged Palat forechecks where he turned back the clock. One set up a great chance for Nico in OT if my memory is right. He had a pretty good playoffs.

He definitely stepped it up in the playoffs. His forecheck helped create the Timo goal in Game 5 too.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Am I the only one that still wants Lazar back?

He's not coming back. If he can't get in the lineup ahead of Dowling, I don't see much of a future.

Hopefully the MacDermid experiment ends too. Waste of a roster spot.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Stop you guys are so silly with this stuff and no matter how mundane the metric it will never end.

I'm waiting for the player who opens the bench door quickly enough for changes the most stat and if that helps the team. It could make a huge difference when we have the long change on the opposite side of the ice. Shit that could mean the difference between a too many men penalty or our guys flying up ice to make a play.

You've just created a new advanced stat, bench assists. Brilliant!

 

[Better Call Sal]

He's not coming back. If he can't get in the lineup ahead of Dowling, I don't see much of a future.

He admitted in his media availability that he never fully felt 100% after the knee injury and that it was difficult for him to get out of bed and down the stairs some days without painkillers.

I don't think it's a big deal either way, but I could see them bringing him back on a one year deal. As a 4th liner or extra forward, he's fine so long as he's healthy. Unfortunately it sounds like he wasn't from November onward.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Meier was never a good bumper nor did he ever play it San Jose

He had 4 ppg goals the last two months and only had 3 the prior 5 months.

His shot is his best attribute and from the circle. Devils at times didn’t have anyone with one timer options

You put Meier on pp1 the whole year he probably has about 6-8 more goals which makes that 8.8 tolerable.

Hes been producing at 5 on 5 the same rate as he was in San Jose. It’s a role issue

And the reason he isnt in his proper spot on PP1 is because Jack and Bratt play those spots.

Keefe was asked about this today

 

[dgibb10]

If we just shuffle the chairs on the bottom 6 deck we'll be in the same exact position next season.

We need another primary goal scoring winger to play in the top 6. Two more would even be better. Palat and Noesen shouldn't see anything but fill in duty in the top 6.

Why.

We had:

Elite PP (so clearly no other top forwarded needed there)
Elite PK (so keep those guys)

When Jack and Bratt played together they were +11 5v5 and +7 in expected goals.
When Timo and Nico played together they were +3 5v5 and +7 in expected goals.

The problem was NOT the minutes from our top 6 (overall NJD was +24 5v5 with any of the big 4 on the ice). The problem was being -27 5v5 without said

The cost to bring in 2 "legit top 6 guys" would be sky high. And for what? To be disappointed by december when shockingly their point totals all drop since they aren't on PP1s anymore?

 

[glenwo2]

yes but you were doing that long before the discussion of Bratt's scoring for this season.

This coming from someone who worships the God Almighty Ben Lovejoy.

 

[dgibb10]

Totally agree. I think the team should move Bratt to PP2. Bratt and Jack do the same things on the PP. Jack has a better shot and therefore should stay on PP1.

Let Bratt be the main guy for PP2 with his puck rush skills.

Why are we trying to tinker with a PP that was 28% this year?

 

[BurntToast]

I know this might be controversial but maybe the biggest issue is Jack.

It’s obvious Bratt and J.Hughes have chemistry but outside of that Hughes struggles to elevate his line mates in a way a natural center would.

I would argue, moving Bratt around has yielded greater results.

That’s not to say Jack is bad. But he carries and shoots the puck a metric crap ton. I don’t think many expected him to be such a prolific scorer.

I don’t know if Bratt would achieve the same level of success away from J. Hughes, but we could see an increase in goals scored (from Bratt) and better results from players x-y-Bratt.

I am hoping that Gritz fits with J. Hughes or or Fitz can find at least someone to take pressure off Hughes. If you play Hughes with scrubs, he still produces but his turnovers increase.

Timo needs to be getting at least 30 goals to justify his contract. The Devils also need Mercer to be closer to 20.

It would also help if Dougie and L. Hughes weren’t the only defenseman to put up points. I am hoping we see playoff Pesce all season.

 

[glenwo2]

Mercer had 3 fewer goals and FIFTY fewer assists lol what the f*** are we even doing here man

It's Jim being Jim.

That's all.

 

[Goptor]

Meier is capable of carrying the puck.

But your point about Hughes and Bratt. I still think Hughes was the main puck carrier. Yes Bratt supported him but for zone entries, I feel it was on Jack's stick at least 70% of the time. No data to back that up so correct me if I'm wrong.

Meier is more of a breakaway rush guy. not someone to weave through defenders. Still need an elite skater as a backup, otherwise PK will just over commit to Hughes and force one of the other guys to gain the blue line.

Put Luke and Jack on the same pp and then you can move Bratt over. Only need 2 skaters for gaining the blue line

 

[glenwo2]

From the eye test, this is how I rank our postseason skaters.


(More than 2GP)

Legitimately Good:
Hischier
Dumoulin
Nemec
Meier

Good:
Bratt
Pesce
Palat
Siegenthaler
Kovacevic

Meh:
Mercer
Glass
Dowling
Haula
Bastian
Tatar
Cotter

Bad Bad:
Noesen
Hamilton

Interesting.

So you thought Timo was Legitimately good but Bratt was merely good?

I don't agree (I think Bratt could arguably be where Timo is) but that's fine, I guess.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I just caught up to the Fitz and Keefe presser from today, lol at Fitz with the depth quotes

Literally the Tim Robinson meme "We're all just trying to find the guy who did it"

 

[dgibb10]

Meier is more of a breakaway rush guy. not someone to weave through defenders. Still need an elite skater as a backup, otherwise PK will just over commit to Hughes and force one of the other guys to gain the blue line.

Put Luke and Jack on the same pp and then you can move Bratt over. Only need 2 skaters for gaining the blue line

OR.

And I know this may sound crazy.

But hear me out.

What if we use the power play that was top 3 in the league last year.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Interesting.

So you thought Timo was Legitimately good but Bratt was merely good?

I don't agree (I think Bratt could arguably be where Timo is) but that's fine, I guess.

We both thought he was good in the postseason, just to different degrees. No biggie. Also my list is in descending order so they were next to each other.

Meier had a bigger impact shift after shift in my eyes. He pushed play more which is why I put him up a tier. Both were good, no worries

 

[dgibb10]

Also, injuries were annoying in that, both this offseason AND last offseason, they've forced us to eat rollover bonuses that would have otherwise been paid for easily.

1.6 mill this year and 1 mill next year lost.