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

[JrFischer54]

He looked like late career Scott Clemmensen in that Florida series late, it was 100% something to do with his hips. Guy couldn't move at all.



I think I'm ok with the goalie move depending on the other stuff on the roster too. Say we go to St Louis and do a Buchnevich + Binnington (ew) trade? I'd be all for that for the 10th to be dangled in but there's things like the Calgary rumors that are completely god awful.

Yeah I would be fine with bing and someone else just haven’t heard the devils rumored to him. Basically comes down for me use the pick to help the team now.

 

[britdevil]

Nico will be a lifer. He reminds me so much of Elias personality wise.

In an alternate universe, Elias never got a call back from Lou lol.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I highly doubt they sign Markstrom past his current contract.

Also, you have no idea about Hischier staying beyond this current contract. Nico might want to play hockey in Utah for all we know.

I’m not 100% sure but I have some idea. How often do team captain 1st overall picks leave? And on a team with Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier locked up? I highly doubt it. And we’re talking 3 years from now? Not remotely worth worrying about at this time.

None of this changes the fact that there are a very small number of players even worth considering moving that pick for. If we can nab one of them, go for it. But it’s a small list.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Yeah I would be fine with bing and someone else just haven’t heard the devils rumored to him. Basically comes down for me use the pick to help the team now.

Marty's time in STL made them land on Jake Allen this year. Depending how much he still has the say with regards to the goalies, Binnington would make sense in that regard. The Buchnevich thing would also fill a massive gap in the top 6 and he'd be the perfect wing to Jack/Bratt.

 

[JrFischer54]

He does give Elias vibes (ignore the fact Patty was like .5 seconds away from being a Rag lol) but you're right 100%. After the past decade of the stars of this franchise leaving, we can't automatically assume all these core guys want to stay. Gotta give them a reason to career wise.

If the devils keep drafting and using picks to improve the team Nico will have kids by the time they compete

 

[Bleedred]

Ullmark as a one year rental would be pretty sweet if we were a cup contender. The way Colorado did with Kuemper for one year. It would probably suck to extend him though.

Not saying that we're not a cup contender, we could potentially be if we could get back to what we were with the 22-23 team.

But I don't think we're necessarily at a goalie away from cup winner. We could be, but unlike 2021-2022 Colorado, who just couldn't get past the 2nd round after 3 years in a row, I don't think we're really a gamble on a one year rental goalie away from cup winner like they were.

Not to mention that they also did that to avoid the long Grubauer contract (they really dodged that one, while Seattle is really feeling the pain of that) and we've only just made the playoffs once with this core, which was kind of in between two very disappointing seasons. We should have been better in 21-22 and we definitely should have been better last year.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

In essence, the Devils have the perfect road map to contention. It'd be truly very hard to f*** it up, they can f*** it up without a question, but I really can't see how they mess it up. They virtually have every piece besides the goaltending and the top 6 wing next to two of the best 5v5 players in the league. Anyone who wants a pay raise and play on a future contender will look at that wing spot next to Jack and Bratt and salivate.

 

[JrFischer54]

I highly doubt they sign Markstrom past his current contract.

Also, you have no idea about Hischier staying beyond this current contract. Nico might want to play hockey in Utah for all we know.

People thought parise was a lifer. Show him you’re serious about putting a winning team together. Keep kicking the can down the road drafting and worrying about the cap 6 years from now ain’t it

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I’m not 100% sure but I have some idea. How often do team captain 1st overall picks leave? And on a team with Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier locked up? I highly doubt it. And we’re talking 3 years from now? Not remotely worth worrying about at this time.

I'm usually not too concerned about players leaving. It's more about the money. Unless there was some specific reason, most players will stay if they get paid a lot. Which brings me to my point..what if he asks for like 11 m / year? yikes. I wouldn't give that much of a raise personally.

 

[Bleedred]

Marty's time in STL made them land on Jake Allen this year. Depending how much he still has the say with regards to the goalies, Binnington would make sense in that regard. The Buchnevich thing would also fill a massive gap in the top 6 and he'd be the perfect wing to Jack/Bratt.

I don't think Marty and Binnington crossed paths much in St. Louis. They were both in the organization at the same time, but Binnington was in the AHL for the entirety of Marty's playing/employment in St. Louis.

Then again, when Marty was the Blues assistant GM, was he technically the AHL Blues GM like a lot of the assistant GM's are for their organizations? Maybe they are more familiar with one another than I thought.

Regardless, Good ole' Dave Rogalski is probably very familiar with Binnington.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Nico does give that vibe like I said above but yeah you gotta win with him much more than the 22-23 season showed for him to talk about the lifer stuff.

I don't think Marty and Binnington crossed paths much in St. Louis. They were both in the organization at the same time, but Binnington was in the AHL for the entirety of Marty's playing/employment in St. Louis.

Then again, when Marty was the Blues assistant GM, was he technically the AHL Blues GM like a lot of the assistant GM's are for their organizations? Maybe they are more familiar with one another than I thought.

Regardless, Good ole' Dave Rogalski is probably very familiar with Binnington.

I thought Marty was on the 2019 Blues run, so my apologies for that. Maybe not then

 

[britdevil]

I’m not 100% sure but I have some idea. How often do team captain 1st overall picks leave? And on a team with Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier locked up? I highly doubt it. And we’re talking 3 years from now? Not remotely worth worrying about at this time.

None of this changes the fact that there are a very small number of players even worth considering moving that pick for. If we can nab one of them, go for it. But it’s a small list.

Not 1st overalls, but Niedermayer and Parise were both C's when they hit the bricks...

I'm not worried about Nico leaving. I'm worried that they waste the current constructed core by not being aggressive in the trade market.

 

[devilsblood]

In essence, the Devils have the perfect road map to contention. It'd be truly very hard to f*** it up, they can f*** it up without a question, but I really can't see how they mess it up. They virtually have every piece besides the goaltending and the top 6 wing next to two of the best 5v5 players in the league. Anyone who wants a pay raise and play on a future contender will look at that wing spot next to Jack and Bratt and salivate.

Ya and in relation to the discussion of Nico potentially leaving, I just can't see how it's possible we aren't in the playoffs in the next few years.

Really I'd find it pretty disappointing if we don't make the playoffs in any of the next 3 years.

 

[StevenToddIves]

When you say regular nhlers what do you mean? Like Zacha and Mikey were every day nhlers and they suck for where they were picked. For 10 I don’t want a regular nhl player I want a top 6 borderline top 4

Well, if you want my opinion for where the possible players taken by the Devils will be in 3 years it's a long post, because there are a ton of possibilities at #10 this year in particular.

I think if NJ takes a LD? Buium is very similar in many ways to Nemec, and could be a regular on the blueline in 2 years. I think defensively Dickinson and Silayev would be NHL ready in 2 years, though their offensive games might take awhile to develop. With Silayev there is also the Russian question of when he would come over.

At forward I'd say the greatest possibility of picks could be narrowed down to Helenius, Catton, Nygard and Iginla. Helenius in three years will likely be a very high-end 3C who could slot up to the top 6 in a pinch. Nygard will likely be a 2nd line power wing or maybe even a 3C himself, since he played a lot of center towards the end of this past season. Catton has the biggest offensive upside of these players but plays the least pro-style, so it's tough to tell how quickly he will develop. Iginla is the least polished of the 4 but plays a hybrid-enough style of play that he could enter the pros as a 3rd liner.

You never want to rush prospects, but Fitzgerald is lucky enough to likely have the option of some pretty polished players at #10 overall.

 

[jkrdevil]

If we trade 10 for any goalie available not named Swayman we lost the trade badly.

There isnt one worth it

The cost for a good starting goalie is usually a low first round pick pick and a b-level prospect. Problem is we don’t have a low 1st round pick. Nor do we have a high second round pick. So we pretty much have to bite the bullet and deal 10 because it is the only thing we have to deal. Maybe we get back a 2nd in a trade to offset the cost a bit.

Draft picks aren’t like money. You can’t necessarily break a big value into smaller pieces that equate the same value for the most part. Not acquiring a goalie isn’t an option.

 

[Bleedred]

Way too early still to tell if Nico will be a career Devil, who knows what happens in 10-12 years from now? But I'm very confident he'll still be a Devil on his next contract.

He does seem to be the most pissed off out of anybody about the losing (that's a good thing) but I'm supremely confident he stays and I think we'll definitely be on the right track by the time we extend him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's extended by July 2nd of 2026.

People complained about that contract at the time it was signed, but the only thing I wish is that it was a year longer, because it's proven to be a pretty good deal.

Nico does give that vibe like I said above but yeah you gotta win with him much more than the 22-23 season showed for him to talk about the lifer stuff.



I thought Marty was on the 2019 Blues run, so my apologies for that. Maybe not then

He was back here by 2018-2019 I'm pretty sure.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I agree with what I think most people here are saying. This team is not in a rebuilding stage anymore. They have the core, and it's time to live or die by it. You can't just keep waiting around. That being said, giving up that #10 pick for a Markstrom will make me puke. I'd rather use it to get a solid veteran d-man or winger, but I do think they should trade it for veteran help.

Really I'd find it pretty disappointing if we don't make the playoffs in any of the next 3 years.

That's definitely not happening. They will make the playoffs

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Not 1st overalls, but Niedermayer and Parise were both C's when they hit the bricks...

I'm not worried about Nico leaving. I'm worried that they waste the current constructed core by not being aggressive in the trade market.

We’re in pretty unique circumstances. Our two best Cs and wings are probably at or nearing their peaks but our two future cornerstone d are likely a couple years away from being stars.

I’m all for loading up to go for it now, but that can be done smartly without selling off the future. We want to maintain some flexibility because the young d need to be paid fairly soon.

 

[dgibb10]

Nico Hischier is more likely to leave if we trade the entire farm away for a 4 year run (because yes, if we trade away Holtz, 10th overall, etc, the prospect pool gets BARREN).

Nico's contract will expire going into 27-28. So you'd actually be looking to have the best possible outlook going into those seasons.

We went fully in with Parise (we went to the cup). But the future was not promising. And he left.

 

[JrFischer54]

I'm usually not too concerned about players leaving. It's more about the money. Unless there was some specific reason, most players will stay if they get paid a lot. Which brings me to my point..what if he asks for like 11 m / year? yikes. I wouldn't give that much of a raise personally.

Assume a similar maybe slightly better season average? He will absolutely be asking and looking for 11 minimum. Cap will he high enough by then where more players will making 10+

 

[Homedresser]

I agree with what I think most people here are saying. This team is not in a rebuilding stage anymore. They have the core, and it's time to live or die by it. You can't just keep waiting around. That being said, giving up that #10 pick for a Markstrom will make me puke. I'd rather use it to get a solid veteran d-man or winger, but I do think they should trade it for veteran help.



That's definitely not happening. They will make the playoffs

they will? What's done this offseason will go a long way toward determining that. People here make the 10th pick sound like it's top 5 or even top 3. Any player they draft at 10 is years away at best. That's if they even make it. Meanwhile, how do you solve the holes on the roster? The roster is too thin to trade current nhl ready players to fill the holes they have. And make no mistake, they NEED to win now. They cannot have another season like last year. If they had more recent success then maybe but not making the playoffs for the 11th time in 13 years would be a disaster. I'm not saying 10 should be used straight up in a trade but you can't keep it and hope to fill the holes. They have serious needs.

 

[Nubmer6]

I’m not 100% sure but I have some idea. How often do team captain 1st overall picks leave?

Tavares? Just say'n.

 

[Bcap88]

Marty just seems to be the “we did it this way in my era so it has to be done this way” type of evaluator/gm and he’s very high on markstrom it appears

 

[dgibb10]

The cost for a good starting goalie is usually a low first round pick pick and a b-level prospect. Problem is we don’t have a low 1st round pick. Nor do we have a high second round pick. So we pretty much have to bite the bullet and deal 10 because it is the only thing we have to deal. Maybe we get back a 2nd in a trade to offset the cost a bit.

Draft picks aren’t like money. You can’t necessarily break a big value into smaller pieces that equate the same value for the most part. Not acquiring a goalie isn’t an option.

Draft picks are literally very much like money.

It is in fact very easy to break them up, it's called trading down.

NJD doesn't have a late 2024 1st, yes. That doesn't mean we need to go all the way up to 10th overall.

You can literally use a protected 2025 1st if you want in place of a late 1st.

 

[Emperoreddy]

You can do a 1st swap along with the goalie and other pieces or use the 2025 pick.

There are deals that can be done that doesn't cost the 2024 pick straight up