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

[devilsfan950003]

Sprong does not bring speed. There is zero evidence of speed or offensive prowess actually

He's scored in the NHL before. He had 21 goals with Kraken and 18 with the red wings. Speed? He's not Luke or Cotter fast. But he's faster than Bastian!

"Daniel Sprong is generally considered a good skater with dynamic skating ability, quick acceleration, and a good stride. He's known for being explosive, quick, and agile on the ice, making him difficult to defend, especially on rushes. He's also praised for his balance and agility when carrying the puck."

 

[NJersey]

Omg guys!! I saw Brady thachuk, at ocean house in seabright nj. He said he is going to force a trade to New Jersey this offseason!

 

[Guadana]

Omg guys!! I saw Brady thachuk, at ocean house in seabright nj. He said he is going to force a trade to New Jersey this offseason!

You are biting some people.
They will die on the "Fits could easily trade him but he didn't" hill. Its a mass slaughter.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Brady's wife is from NJ I'm pretty sure, it's a nothing burger with Brady being in Jersey for the summer starting this MDW

Lol quick google search confirms that also

 

[MadDevil]

Should've kept Boqvist and traded Bratt for Brady.

 

[NJ07102]

Should've kept Boqvist and traded Bratt for Brady.

Yes and no.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Bratt is (still) a better player than Brady Tkachuk.

 

[MadDevil]

Yes and no.

It was a joke. Mostly about the cyclical nature of offseason discussions.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

You are biting some people.
They will die on the "Fits could easily trade him but he didn't" hill. Its a mass slaughter.

Given that trading for Brady means Matthew also forces his way to NJ in my fan fiction it's a firable offense.

 

[Lou is God]

Omg guys!! I saw Brady thachuk, at ocean house in seabright nj. He said he is going to force a trade to New Jersey this offseason!

If you're not bullshitting and he really said that to you he's probably just having fun and messing with you, even if he wants out what leverage does he have with four years remaining on his contract, he's have to pull a JT Miller and be a total dick and a disruption in the locker room.

 

[devilsblood]

I don't really disagree, but I think the bigger issue is they have a really bad bottom 6. These other teams bottom 6 is just way better.

Looks like Florida has been rotating a 4th line that consists of guys like Nosek, Greer, Gadjovich and Sturm in these playoffs. Those guys combined for 11 regular season goals for Florida this year.

Boqvist looks(just going by toi) to be playing 4th line in the playoffs, but was playing 3rd line minutes much of the year.

Point being their 4th line during the regular season was very unimpressive.

So a distinguishing difference between us and Florida is perhaps their 3rd line. Or more specifically their top 9 depth. And their ability to push a guy who scored 12 regular season goals down to the 4th line come playoffs.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Chandler Stephenson

 

[AfroThunder396]

That's a problem with the team then, not something the gm should be working around. Jack needs to get his injury stuff fixed, simple as that

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. The forward core wasn't good enough with Hughes in the lineup and it's certainly not good enough without him in the lineup. If it needs to get better then it needs to get better.

um...literally every single one of them lol

C'mon, this is absurd. Noesen would probably be the 5th or 6th best forward on Edmonton based purely on how top-heavy they are, but he wouldn't be anywhere near the 6 best forwards on Dallas, Florida, or Carolina. Mercer had 36 points and Palat didn't even crack 30, they are both depth players and not particularly great one.

 

[The Wumpus]

4th liners are probably more WTF year-to-year than journeymen goalies. They falter in one place and thrive in another, then falter in that same place the next year.

 

[My3Sons]

yeüü exactly, should never make fun of your boys.

so back to slapping Fitz, do we think he likes that kinky stuff?

Did you not read what I wrote? Don’t make me come back there. I will turn this message board around.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I didn't like losing Boqvist and I'd say the problem to me is it showed that Fitz has a very particular vision for how certain supporting players should look/play and Boqvist did not fit his vision for a bottom 6 center so they moved on even though he was a useful player. In all of his acquisitions he "overpays" in order to get that player archetype he wants, and it's a dangerous scenario to be in this offseason.

 

[njdevils1982]

Sprong isn’t fast but he also isn’t slow, his speed is middle of the road.

I think he pretty obviously brings offense though. He averages 19 goals per 82 games and does it in not a lot of ice time.

His issue has been not playing defense and a team game but individually he can bring a fair amount of offense.

 

[devilsblood]

I see no reason for the bolded to be true.

The 3rd winger on Jack-Bratt and Nico-Timo's lines has had little to no impact. This role of complimentary top 6 winger is one of the more overrated ones in terms of importance by a large amount.

Both of those lines did excellent last year. I see no reason to spend significant assets trying to make marginal improvements to a pair of lines that already dominate

Palat with Jack and Bratt was noticeably(by the numbers not the eye test) less effective then those 2 without him. Palat with Jack and no Bratt was downright bad. So not only was Palat on the top line less effective, but you lose line flexibility as well.

Similarly playing Timo on the 3rd line leaves Nico's line bare. Lacking in line flexibility.

The problem is that if Jack gets hurt (likely) or Timo decides to take 70% of the year off (also likely), now you have Bratt + Nico having to carry 4 guys and we saw how well that worked against Carolina.

I really don't see how anyone can watch what happened down the stretch and not think that we need a significant upgrade to our average forward quality.

EDIT: Look at the four teams left and tell me how many of them would have guys like Noesen, Mercer, or Palat on one of their top two lines.

Ya, you can maybe pencil meh guys into the top 6 at the start of the season, with the thinking your stars will carry those lines. But when the inevitable injuries begin to happen, you then have multiple meh players playing together in your top 6, and fringe NHL players on your 3rd line.

I would kind of like the idea of Glass as the 3rd C, but with Jack's injury history, I really can't make an argument for it. I think Grits could be a top 6 guy right out of the gate, but if he's not, and if one of Timo or Bratt miss games then you have one legit top 6 winger in the lineup(something we luckily didn't deal with this year, but did last year). If you have a combo of any of our top 4 fwd's missing games the lineup really looks depleted.

I think we need a legit 3C, and that makes Glass a very good 4C. But another proven top 6 winger is how I would approach the wing depth issue. Add a high end guy allowing the likes of Grits, Mercer, Ham's(starting in Utica) to be the quality depth. And because of Bratt and Meier's ability to play RW, LW is probably where I would look to add.

So top 6 LW, and 3rd line C. Everything else can shake out around those moves.

 

[Triumph]

I didn't like losing Boqvist and I'd say the problem to me is it showed that Fitz has a very particular vision for how certain supporting players should look/play and Boqvist did not fit his vision for a bottom 6 center so they moved on even though he was a useful player. In all of his acquisitions he "overpays" in order to get that player archetype he wants, and it's a dangerous scenario to be in this offseason.

I don't really think that's what it demonstrates. The Devils opening lineup in 2023-24 had Nosek and Lazar and McLeod - it's hard to imagine Boqvist dressing for opening night, and it's hard to keep around a young player who was a healthy scratch in the playoffs and would likely be a healthy scratch for Game 1 the next season - is that player happy in that role? He'd been here for 4 seasons without much success, he was a soft-minute scorer but otherwise was not good territorially and had no other role, the Devils tried him a little bit on the penalty kill but not much. Eventually a young player needs a chance somewhere else.

Now if you want to argue the Devils should've given him more opportunity, that's fine, but the 2022-23 team didn't really have much of a place for him either. He grew a bit as a player between now and then, he's much more physical, but he's still not playing every night in Florida, and he didn't play every night in Boston.

 

[HersheyBob27]

He's scored in the NHL before. He had 21 goals with Kraken and 18 with the red wings. Speed? He's not Luke or Cotter fast. But he's faster than Bastian!

"Daniel Sprong is generally considered a good skater with dynamic skating ability, quick acceleration, and a good stride. He's known for being explosive, quick, and agile on the ice, making him difficult to defend, especially on rushes. He's also praised for his balance and agility when carrying the puck."

Nhl edge numbers had nate clocked at a way faster top speed this year

 

[devilsblood]

I don't really think that's what it demonstrates. The Devils opening lineup in 2023-24 had Nosek and Lazar and McLeod - it's hard to imagine Boqvist dressing for opening night, and it's hard to keep around a young player who was a healthy scratch in the playoffs and would likely be a healthy scratch for Game 1 the next season - is that player happy in that role? He'd been here for 4 seasons without much success, he was a soft-minute scorer but otherwise was not good territorially and had no other role, the Devils tried him a little bit on the penalty kill but not much. Eventually a young player needs a chance somewhere else.

Now if you want to argue the Devils should've given him more opportunity, that's fine, but the 2022-23 team didn't really have much of a place for him either. He grew a bit as a player between now and then, he's much more physical, but he's still not playing every night in Florida, and he didn't play every night in Boston.

But Nosek was brought in that offseason.

Lazar was used less in the 22-23 playoffs then Boq was.

Now Lazar was used much more for faceoffs in those playoffs then Boq was, and Nosek was a good faceoff guy so that was something they put value in(boq was 1-7 in the dot in those playoffs). And physicality was something they put value in as well. To you're point it's why they used Boq as little as he was, and it's why they let him go. It's why they brought in the likes of Lazar and Nosek. These things are all based on the same line of thinking, and it is all indicative of Fitz valuing other aspects of play above speed. (though I'd say Ruff not playing Boq is different then, and predates, Fitz moving on from him).

Whether Fitz had an inkling of McLeod being effectively kicked out of the league is a whole other consideration.

End of the day I really don't sweat Fitz not keeping Boq, I think if Boq played with more compete/physicality they probably would have kept him, but I do think it is an example of Fitz veering too far from the team speed dynamic of that 22-23 season.

 

[Triumph]

But Nosek was brought in that offseason.

Lazar was used less in the 22-23 playoffs then Boq was.

Now Lazar was used much more for faceoffs in those playoffs then Boq was, and Nosek was a good faceoff guy so that was something they put value in(boq was 1-7 in the dot in those playoffs). And physicality was something they put value in as well. To you're point it's why they used Boq as little as he was, and it's why they let him go. It's why they brought in the likes of Lazar and Nosek. These things are all based on the same line of thinking, and it is all indicative of Fitz valuing other aspects of play above speed. (though I'd say Ruff not playing Boq is different then, and predates, Fitz moving on from him).

Whether Fitz had an inkling of McLeod being effectively kicked out of the league is a whole other consideration.

End of the day I really don't sweat Fitz not keeping Boq, I think if Boq played with more compete/physicality they probably would have kept him, but I do think it is an example of Fitz veering too far from the team speed dynamic of that 22-23 season.

Fast forward to today, Nosek's scored 3 goals in 2 seasons and is still being dressed over Boqvist in playoff games.

The Devils brought in Daniel Sprong at the deadline and played him 12 minutes a game, mostly with Cody Glass, Paul Cotter, and Nolan Foote. Fitzgerald does understand that the 'bottom 6' needs more scoring. That's generally a type of player you don't keep long-term, though, and ideally your young players are providing it - Alex Holtz was this sort of player for New Jersey in 2023-24, Paul Cotter in 2024-25.

 

[devilsblood]

Fast forward to today, Nosek's scored 3 goals in 2 seasons and is still being dressed over Boqvist in playoff games.

The Devils brought in Daniel Sprong at the deadline and played him 12 minutes a game, mostly with Cody Glass, Paul Cotter, and Nolan Foote. Fitzgerald does understand that the 'bottom 6' needs more scoring. That's generally a type of player you don't keep long-term, though, and ideally your young players are providing it - Alex Holtz was this sort of player for New Jersey in 2023-24, Paul Cotter in 2024-25.

I get coaches value guys like Nosek. Faceoffs being a key factor. In basically the same minutes played Nosek has taken 68 faceoffs so far in these playoffs. Boq has taken 4. (Is Boq strictly a winger right now?) Nosek's defensive mindset and physicality are also things most coaches value, especially in the playoffs. Though I would point out, NJ in 22-23 was a speed oriented team. Florida is not.

I think Cotter was an effort to bring in a speed guy who is also physical.

Sprong also brings some speed, and his compete was much better then I expected, but after playoffs Game 1, I really question his hockey smarts. Apparently so does Keefe. Unless Keefe thinks he can mold him I'd be surprised if he was brought back. Though I do appreciate the low cost effort by Fitz.

Are these signs that Fitz realized we need more speed? Hopefully.

Now you mention bottom 6 scoring, while I was talking more about team speed. Holtz, and then Toffoli, seem to be situations where Fitz valued their scoring(at the time of drafting for Holtz), despite being extremely slow players.

 

[My3Sons]

Boquist brings the same element as Glass. He’s a skilled player and so he can move into a top six role when injuries hit. He’s not well rounded enough to play there consistently and he’s not the sort of grinder or physical player teams want in a bottom six role so it’s tough to slot him on some teams. NJ has Jack and Bratt and Hischier as skill players. If they had a more rough and tumble top six then Boquist makes more sense as he does on Florida. For NJ I prefer Glass in the same flex role. A bit more of a natural center so he can cover a few games for Jack or Nico if needed. If NJ could move Haula then a Boquist might fit that spot as well. I’d bring him back but they need to more carefully evaluate the bottom six. I’m skeptical they can move Palat but that would open some things up.

 

[FinnishDevil]

Should've kept Boqvist and traded Bratt for Brady.

You mean Laine?