Devils discussion (news, notes and speculation) - offseason part II

[Moist ReadOnly]

I would still bet on Palat-Jack-Bratt or Haula-Jack-Bratt being one of the best lines in the entire NHL. Not that I wouldn’t look for an upgrade, but those guys are so good that the 3rd wheel just needs to do the little things well.

If Haula is on the second line then something went wrong this offseason

Theres no reason we cant find another winger to make sure Haula isnt strapped to Jack's jockstrap

Besides, we need a stable 3C

 

[woody footbreaker]

I love Necas. When he was on the block (rumors) before his 70+ point breakout season two seasons ago, I wanted him. But right now, I don't think we need him more than a MBN.



I'd definitely trade #10 for McGroarty and a prospect that might end up a solid 3rd line grinder. Does WPG have that?

maybe a 2nd and marino does it?

 

[RSeen]

If Haula is on the second line then something went wrong this offseason

Theres no reason we cant find another winger to make sure Haula isnt strapped to Jack's jockstrap

Besides, we need a stable 3C

I would prefer to have Haula on line 3 as well. I think we can do better than Haula next to Jack. Doesn't need to be an expensive player like Necas but I think there are better options.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

If Haula is on the second line then something went wrong this offseason

Theres no reason we cant find another winger to make sure Haula isnt strapped to Jack's jockstrap

Besides, we need a stable 3C

Yeah I said to look for an upgrade and there have been tons of names thrown around all offseason. Not trading the 10th pick for Necas though. Still not the end of the world if Haula or Palat plays some with Jack. Bratt is one of the best players in the league — more than enough juice on that line already.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

I would prefer to have Haula on line 3 as well. I think we can do better than Haula next to Jack. Doesn't need to be an expensive player like Necas but I think there are better options.

There has to be better options - and if there arent Fitzgerald better make them pop up out of thin air

Haula off Jack's line was #2 behind getting a goaltender

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

Yeah I said to look for an upgrade and there have been tons of names thrown around all offseason. Not trading the 10th pick for Necas though. Still not the end of the world if Haula or Palat plays some with Jack. Bratt is one of the best players in the league — more than enough juice on that line already.

Thats fair and Palat I dont mind at all - Haula is just not sufficient for a top-6 line, let alone one with Jack powering it

At worst, if we dont acquire anyone, id run:

Bratt-Hischier-Meier
Palat-Hughes-Mercer

Swap Bratt and Palat as necessary and try Holtz if he stays

Obviously though wed prefer a solid addition to the middle-six second line

 

[TrufleShufle]

"Trade the pick!"

"ok we'll get Necas"

"No, not like that!"

With that said, I'm ok with trading the pick and really don't want Necas, just really hoping this kills that meme finally.

 

[woody footbreaker]

Thats fair and Palat I dont mind at all - Haula is just not sufficient for a top-6 line, let alone one with Jack powering it

At worst, if we dont acquire anyone, id run:

Bratt-Hischier-Meier
Palat-Hughes-Mercer

Swap Bratt and Palat as necessary and try Holtz if he stays

Obviously though wed prefer a solid addition to the middle-six second line

to me Bratt and Hischier is a perfect fit and you swap and mercer if you want to shake things up.
bratt-hischier-mercer worked before and whoever brought this up that hughes-meier would not work has to consider that i appeared they both never were healthy at the same time last season and hughes seemingly never passed the puck to timo and tried the scored on his own, while playing with bratt to pass a bit to often for my taste, mostly getting the puck right back from bratt.
i am aware that i wont get much likes for this lol, but thats just my personal cents ...
and palat shouldnt be in our top6, just drags the lines down as the footspeed isnt there, perfectly suited for 3rd line role

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

to me Bratt and Hischier is a perfect fit and you swap and mercer if you want to shake things up.
bratt-hischier-mercer worked before and whoever brought this up that hughes-meier would not work has to consider that i appeared they both never were healthy at the same time last season and hughes seemingly never passed the puck to timo and tried the scored on his own, while playing with bratt to pass a bit to often for my taste, mostly getting the puck right back from bratt.
i am aware that i wont get much likes for this lol, but thats just my personal cents ...
and palat shouldnt be in our top6, just drags the lines down as the footspeed isnt there, perfectly suited for 3rd line role

Im certainly willing to try Meier with Hughes again as it would literally answer the issue of 'physical and skilled winger for Jack'

But Meier and Jack both shoot quite a lot more than average and Hischier has chemistry from way back with Timo; odds are it ends up Meier and Nico together for a long time

 

[Ripshot 43]

Necas is a fine player, but we need to fill out our roster with quality depth and not become top heavy.

I’d prefer to keep and make the pick and use the cap space on building a roster that is hard to play against.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Necas is a fine player, but we need to fill out our roster with quality depth and not become top heavy.

I’d prefer to keep and make the pick and use the cap space on building a roster that is hard to play against.

ya don’t want too many chiefs and too few Indians and he’ll cost like 7 million a year or more and with term. If we are really cup competitive we can rent such talent at the deadline.

(Now if it’s a question of truly reshuffling the top talent then that’s something else. But I don’t see us making a blockbuster deal to move major salaries out at the same time as bringing them in. No Calgary-Florida deal is on our horizon as I see it.)

 

[JK3]

Keep the damn pick, this will be our last high one for a while. Hopefully we’ll have a solid player in a few years contributing to deep runs on an ELC.

 

[MartyOwns]

i'm more than ok with fitz trading the pick, but not for necas. trade for a known entity, don't keep a lottery ticket we have to wait 3 years to scratch off.

 

[Zippy316]

The Necas rumors scare me because I feel like the only viable way we acquire him is sending out Bratt or Meier.

I don’t think I would hate flipping Meier for Necas (picking up a RHS would be nice).

I just have this eerie feeling that the Devils would move Bratt before they move Meier which would be a massive mistake, in my opinion.

Interesting caveat to this is both players have no trade protection right now, but NMCs that kick in on July 1st.

 

[HoliksGhost]

If Haula is on the second line then something went wrong this offseason

Theres no reason we cant find another winger to make sure Haula isnt strapped to Jack's jockstrap

1,000%

 

[Zippy316]

Thats fair and Palat I dont mind at all - Haula is just not sufficient for a top-6 line, let alone one with Jack powering it

At worst, if we dont acquire anyone, id run:

Bratt-Hischier-Meier
Palat-Hughes-Mercer

Swap Bratt and Palat as necessary and try Holtz if he stays

Obviously though wed prefer a solid addition to the middle-six second line

The reality of all this is whoever else the Devils sign up front is likely to be in the same caliber as Palat/Haula. Whether it’s a Henrique or Arvidsson or Tarasenko, the Devils cap structure just doesn’t have room to sign a legit top six forward and a strong bottom six forward.

We are going to have this same conversation on either Palat, Haula, or new guy isn’t an ideal top six forward next season.

I’m still of the belief that those guys are more than good enough as the sixth option in a top-six for a season. Rotate them as they are playing well or situationally.

If you really feel that you need a top-six upgrade, those are the areas you address come trade deadline.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

Keep the damn pick, this will be our last high one for a while. Hopefully we’ll have a solid player in a few years contributing to deep runs on an ELC.

I agree

Issue is, like you said, we wont have a pick this high again for a long time and so that value could net us something we couldn't in the future

So Im okay using the pick (preferably) or acquiring a 27 and under proven talent, cap-hit depending

The reality of all this is whoever else the Devils sign up front is likely to be in the same caliber as Palat/Haula. Whether it’s a Henrique or Arvidsson or Tarasenko, the Devils cap structure just doesn’t have room to sign a legit top six forward and a strong bottom six forward.

We are going to have this same conversation on either Palat, Haula, or new guy isn’t an ideal top six forward next season.

I’m still of the belief that those guys are more than good enough as the sixth option in a top-six for a season. Rotate them as they are playing well or situationally.

If you really feel that you need a top-six upgrade, those are the areas you address come trade deadline.

i dont need a second line talent as much as I need a second line filler; Haula aint it and is our 3C, Palat is fine in that role as well as any equivalent UFA

Mercer could have a big year and fill one of those holes as well as Holtz or a mystery prospect; so Im not in a rush to acquire and/or sign an expensive top-6 winger unless its a perfect fit

 

[Better Call Sal]

Keep the damn pick, this will be our last high one for a while. Hopefully we’ll have a solid player in a few years contributing to deep runs on an ELC.

This is where I'm at as well. If there is something that is truly too good to pass up in a deal, then I'd be OK with moving it but I really don't think we should feel pressed to do so.

I think we can fill a lot of gaps via trade with other assets or through free agency. My concern is the roster depth more than anything.

 

[TrufleShufle]

If Haula is on the second line then something went wrong this offseason

Theres no reason we cant find another winger to make sure Haula isnt strapped to Jack's jockstrap

Besides, we need a stable 3C

I fully believe this is the year Nico takes a step forward out of the 3c role. Haula to where he should be and everything is good. There are a number or wingers this year in UFA or on the block that can just keep up with Jack and not be a hinderance. That's really all he needs and that player can turn into a star.

It's happened time and time again with Crosby, Matthews, Mcdavid Etc. Doesn't need to be a star. Just someone who can keep up, willing to do the extra work, has enough IQ to be in the right spot at the right times and for the love of everything keep their gotdang stick on the ice so they are ready for a pass at literally any moment.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

The Necas rumors scare me because I feel like the only viable way we acquire him is sending out Bratt or Meier.

I don’t think I would hate flipping Meier for Necas (picking up a RHS would be nice).

I just have this eerie feeling that the Devils would move Bratt before they move Meier which would be a massive mistake, in my opinion.

Interesting caveat to this is both players have no trade protection right now, but NMCs that kick in on July 1st.

If they traded Bratt I would lose all faith in the entire organization. How could you move such a value deal? I don’t believe it’s even being considered.

 

[TrufleShufle]

The Necas rumors scare me because I feel like the only viable way we acquire him is sending out Bratt or Meier.

I don’t think I would hate flipping Meier for Necas (picking up a RHS would be nice).

I just have this eerie feeling that the Devils would move Bratt before they move Meier which would be a massive mistake, in my opinion.

Interesting caveat to this is both players have no trade protection right now, but NMCs that kick in on July 1st.

I would be furious if they flipped Meier for Necas.

1. because it's absolutely moving in the wrong direction

2. because after all these years of wanting him on the team, getting him on the team broken, playing broken, we might finally see the actual Timo this year on the Devils and I couldn't be more excited.

 

[Rhodes 81]

Yeah there's just no way I can look at everything Fitz has said in the media and then reconcile that with trading one of our best trade assets and a massive chunk of cap space for a player like Necas when there are so many decent enough forwards heading to FA. Maybe he thinks UFA contracts are just going to be wildly inflated and he's willing to give up assets for a sure thing, but even in that scenario you'd think his target wouldn't be Necas who is so similar to what we already have.

I know you can't always help who is available, but this sounds like Seravelli getting it wrong more than anything.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

If they traded Bratt I would lose all faith in the entire organization. How could you move such a value deal? I don’t believe it’s even being considered.

Trade high and buy low for a similar player would be my thought process. If someone is willing to pay a premium for Bratt and you get Necas at a discount, it makes sense from a value building perspective. That is excluding the other variables that affect the team.

 

[Triumph]

Beyond everything else, Jesper Bratt has proven to be quite durable. He's bad at not getting hit with pucks in the face, like Nico, but other than that he's missed ~15 games to injury in his career.

Trade high and buy low for a similar player would be my thought process.

It's a terrible gamble. The Devils already bought low on the one guy, what are the chances that they are A: going to evaluate someone else in another organization similarly and B: that that player will agree with that undervaluation?

I thought we could finally stop talk of trading Bratt on this forum but it will never die.

 

[Devs3cups]

Yeah, Bratt and Meier aren’t moving. You’d still be in need of a top 6 guy if you move one of them, and they just re-signed. They’re part of the core and they’re sticking around.

Also pretty sure they both have NMC’s that kick in July 1st. We most likely would’ve heard rumblings.