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

[BostonDevil]

LTIR is not beneficial. It means luke's ELC bonuses will rollover to next year, and we won't be able to accrue space

We don't put guys on LTIR anyway (Dougie)

 

[TheUnseenHand]

he's getting an MRI today so he could be #done which would be great for us

put him on LTIR and make a trade

I don't think it's great. If he been hurt, that probably explains his play. He's more important than I think a lot of folks realize. Him being hurt might be contributing to why they have lost 4 straight.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Explains a bit on Haula being hurt if that news came out today. Wish he would've came out of the lineup sooner if it was still ailing him but hockey players love playing through shit.

We don't put guys on LTIR anyway (Dougie)

Yeah if they didn't do it last year, they're probably never doing it with a lesser player/salary like Haula's

 

[Triumph]

They've put people on LTIR already this year. Putting Dougie on LTIR last season made no sense (and I believe they eventually did it anyway, and they ended up incurring bonus overages regardless, which very much sucks)

 

[Marv4Life]

The snowball is growing.

Figure it out soon. IDC if it angers the flock. Figure it out.

Can't be taken seriously as a contender if you keep jobbing to teams like this:

 

[NJDevs26]

I’m not assuming Haula has been hurt all year just because he’s sucked but if he has, you really have to wonder about the logic of the Devils high command. Run a third center into the ground in the winter? It was one thing when you’re trying to make your franchise players play hurt but Erik Haula?

 

[billingtons ghost]

Noesen has played a bunch of minutes with Cotter to some unimpressive results. Maybe we blame that on Haula, who was the center for that line for much of that, but there wasn't much there to suggest they should be together.

Noesen with Nico puts up very good on ice numbers and top 6 level individual stats. Good shot rate, good goal rate, good pts rate.

Meier Nico Noesen is a line I'm keeping together for awhile.

I think it goes without saying that post Brindamour Noesen is a different player and can play on the top 6. I saw more out of him yesterday than Meier, tbh, I'm not necessarily advocating dropping him down the lineup, and I think we might be honestly at that point where Jack's game has matured to the point where he doesn't need Haula/Palat babysitting - I know Bratt's has .. couple of backchecks yesterday were marvelous.

Think it'll be great when we have someone better to force Palat out of the top 6, and I think Cotter could benefit by better linemates or 4th line minutes or both.

 

[Triumph]

I’m not assuming Haula has been hurt all year just because he’s sucked but if he has, you really have to wonder about the logic of the Devils high command. Run a third center into the ground in the winter? It was one thing when you’re trying to make your franchise players play hurt but Erik Haula?

I have some bad news about hockey players and how often they play hurt. I don't know how you guys do this babe in the woods routine - you've followed hockey for 20+ years.

 

[NJDevs26]

I have some bad news about hockey players and how often they play hurt. I don't know how you guys do this babe in the woods routine - you've followed hockey for 20+ years.

And it took till January for the babes in the woods to figure out it wasn’t working? We’re three months into the season and he’s been awful. Granted, Haula wasn’t even good last year so I’m still not assuming he was hurt all year.

If he didn’t tell them he’s hurt that’s one thing, but given how the Devils have mismanaged even their best players with injuries we all knew of, I sure wouldn’t put this past them either.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I don't think it's great. If he been hurt, that probably explains his play. He's more important than I think a lot of folks realize. Him being hurt might be contributing to why they have lost 4 straight.

it makes it worse if he has been hurt, not better. What if he could have sat out for awhile or gotten surgery to correct it two months ago?

 

[devilsblood]

And it took till January for the babes in the woods to figure out it wasn’t working? We’re three months into the season and he’s been awful. Granted, Haula wasn’t even good last year so I’m still not assuming he was hurt all year.

If he didn’t tell them he’s hurt that’s one thing, but given how the Devils have mismanaged even their best players with injuries I sure wouldn’t put this past them either.

He was fine early. May have tweaked his knee, tried to play through it, but it wasn't getting better.

Maybe they pull him earlier if Lazar wasn't out.

it makes it worse if he has been hurt, not better. What if he could have sat out for awhile or gotten surgery to correct it two months ago?

See above.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I'm not sure why some of you are so resistant to the idea that a big part of the teams current woes is bad luck that will sort itself out.

Not everything is some massive system or skill issue.

 

[Triumph]

And it took till January for the babes in the woods to figure out it wasn’t working? We’re three months into the season and he’s been awful. Granted, Haula wasn’t even good last year so I’m still not assuming he was hurt all year.

If he didn’t tell them he’s hurt that’s one thing, but given how the Devils have mismanaged even their best players with injuries we all knew of, I sure wouldn’t put this past them either.

Again, you are pretending to not understand how this game works. It is debilitating at the best of times - players take hard hits, hard falls, they are hit with pucks going 90 mph, etc. Players play until they cannot anymore, generally. That especially goes for marginal players who can get replaced.

I actually don't think Haula was that bad these past few weeks. Here's something you aren't considering - there are injuries you have not heard about, that you have never heard about.

 

[devilsblood]

I'm not sure why some of you are so resistant to the idea that a big part of the teams current woes is bad luck that will sort itself out.

Not everything is some massive system or skill issue.

Haula has been very ineffective for 20+ games. Fans have talked about his poor play. Now he's getting an MRI. So it looks like his poor play is an injury. An injury that effects his ability, which you may call skill.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

it makes it worse if he has been hurt, not better. What if he could have sat out for awhile or gotten surgery to correct it two months ago?

I'm not saying it's better. I'm saying it's a bad situation, not a good one. It doesn't matter if he's been hurt or just got hurt. Losing depth players on a team that is already extremely thin on depth players is not good no matter what.

 

[My3Sons]

Haula has been very ineffective for 20+ games. Fans have talked about his poor play. Now he's getting an MRI. So it looks like his poor play is an injury. An injury that affects his ability, which you may call skill.

Potato potato let’s call the whole thing off

 

[HersheyBob27]

I'm not sure why some of you are so resistant to the idea that a big part of the teams current woes is bad luck that will sort itself out.

Not everything is some massive system or skill issue.

If you are gonna make excuses bad luck is a horrible one

 

[My3Sons]

If you are gonna make excuses bad luck is a horrible one

Over the long haul of course but there are a lot of bounces defections and random events in hockey that can absolutely make a difference over a small sample size

 

[HersheyBob27]

Over the long haul of course but there are a lot of bounces defections and random events in hockey that can absolutely make a difference over a small sample size

I prefer to believe that you make your own luck

 

[JimEIV]

So right now we only have one player who is above 2 pts/60 5v5.

Jack is at 1.87

And I don't think Jack is playing badly, nor Nico at 1.89, nor Timo at 1.92, but these guys all need to figure out how to put the puck in the net at 5v5. We can talk about depth scoring, but we need more from our in their prime, big money players.

Edit: Ouch, Haula now below .99.

Double ouch, .26 in his last 20 games. Just one goal and zero assists.

So we could go with the "puck is just not going in" explanation, and talk about how we are really one of the top teams in the league, but I think too many guys are under performing, both top 6 and bottom 6 alike, for "luck" to be the big issue.

I still blame secondary scoring.

The big guns were completely carrying the load for the entire season before they fell into this lull....

But a lull was always going to happen at some point and that's precisely when other guys need to step up.

And another thing, this is how the playoffs almost always go... sometimes a few games, sometimes an entire series. You absolutely have to have players that step up when the big guns get shutdown and they always do for some amount of time in the playoffs.

 

[billingtons ghost]

I still blame secondary scoring.

The big guns were completely carrying the load for the entire season before they fell into this lull....

But a lull was always going to happen at some point and that's precisely when other guys need to step up.

And another thing, this is how the playoffs almost always go... sometimes a few games, sometimes an entire series. You absolutely have to have players that step up when the big guns get shutdown and they always do for some amount of time in the playoffs.

I agree, but for whom we trading?

 

[New Jerseys Devil]

I dont know much about them but Ive seen Nemec play a bunch last year and I liked him; Casey did well for a little bit too and Silayev I havent seen before but hes huge! How do you choose which one to get rid of in a trade?? Can we not keep them all?

 

[JimEIV]

I agree, but for whom we trading?

picks and prospects primarily I would think

 

[devilsblood]

I still blame secondary scoring.

The big guns were completely carrying the load for the entire season before they fell into this lull....

But a lull was always going to happen at some point and that's precisely when other guys need to step up.

And another thing, this is how the playoffs almost always go... sometimes a few games, sometimes an entire series. You absolutely have to have players that step up when the big guns get shutdown and they always do for some amount of time in the playoffs.

Bratt is 21st in 5v5 scoring rate. That's pretty good.

Timo is 112th. Nico is 120th. Jack is 125th. That is not good.

Secondary scoring is an issue, but our top guys are not getting it done 5v5 and that is a bigger issue.

18th in the league 5v5 in scoring rate(it's higher on raw numbers but we've played more games).

If not for a red hot PP early our top guys have not been producing well. And even that was in large part due to Noesen.

 

[devilsblood]

I dont know much about them but Ive seen Nemec play a bunch last year and I liked him; Casey did well for a little bit too and Silayev I havent seen before but hes huge! How do you choose which one to get rid of in a trade?? Can we not keep them all?

Because of our current NHLr's, I think it would be one of the righties that would be available. Which one? The return has to be considered of course, but if we really think Nemec has top pair level potential it would have to be a very good return coming back in order to move him.

Casey to me is the pretty obvious trade bait.