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

[Nocashstyle]

I’m pretty sure I remember that dude was one of the “Josh Anderson for a 1st+” guys

Okay, so he’s legit

 

[Forge]

View attachment 961944
He looks like a guy who just hopes to generate clicks any way possible.

Oh yeah.

Okay, he probably said something idiotic in the past and I put him on blast for it so he blocked me

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Okay, so he’s legit

I’m hearing Nemec plus a 1st for Anderson and Newhook

 

[Forge]

I’m hearing Nemec plus a 1st for Anderson and Newhook

You joke but.... Lol

 

[Devils731]

You joke but.... Lol

Don’t worry, he is flexible.

Ok, I’ll stop dunking on random twitter posts but I can’t help myself when it comes to Anderson trade proposals.

 

[Triumph]

Sorry, I thought we were referencing organizational prospect depth at that point.

You may need to give guys more time to marinate then.

For example, maybe Squires is the next Zetterlund. 2 years after being drafted neither looked like a surefire NHL player. For later draft picks, it may take longer to see their development.

While I like Squires, the returns from 2020 and 2021 are already in and they're quite bad. Pytlik seems like bad injury luck, but Shlaine's having an ok D+5 and Baumgartner is whatever. Salminen might be a pro, maybe not, but is very unlikely to make the NHL. Hauser's already a no-account and unfortunately Filmon might not even be a decent pro, I still hold out hope for him to be a solid AHL player someday but that's a rough start. Obviously most of the guys you pick as late as this don't work out, but it's how they're not working out that's disappointing - many of them are not even decent pros.

 

[Forge]

View attachment 961961
Don’t worry, he is flexible.

Ok, I’ll stop dunking on random twitter posts but I can’t help myself when it comes to Anderson trade proposals.

In fairness, I think his account is satire / humor, but it's hard to say what is real and not because those kind of trade proposals 100% get thrown around

 

[Oneiro]

Sorry, I thought we were referencing organizational prospect depth at that point.

You may need to give guys more time to marinate then.

For example, maybe Squires is the next Zetterlund. 2 years after being drafted neither looked like a surefire NHL player. For later draft picks, it may take longer to see their development.

Zetterlund was injured but otherwise had a constantly improving post draft trajectory. Triumph laid out the rest of the picture on the other guys.

I think this is a major weakness of Fitz's tenure and I'd argue the consequences of it are already here looking at who's being called up.

 

[Forge]

If there were a real discussion with Montreal about a trade on Nemec, I think I have to get Hage back in that deal. I'm not sure how it works out, and I know some people wouldn't want a prospect and would probably want to add to the team, but Hage is the piece that would interest me .

 

[TrufleShufle]

I’m not super worried here because I think the natural progression is Kovacevic eventually ends up as 3D when Nemec/Casey move up.

Year by year without Dougie:

2025-2026:
Luke - Pesce
Siegenthaler - Kovacevic
Dillon - Nemec

2026-2027
Luke - Pesce
Siegenthaler - Nemec
Dillon - Kovacevic

2027-2028
Luke - Nemec
Siegenthaler - Pesce
Silyaev/Casey - Kovacevic

I don't know what would happen and what would be the best move. But I can't imagine Silyaev and/or Casey sitting by for the next two seasons after this one and then being on this team the year after that.

 

[Devils731]

Zetterlund was injured but otherwise had a constantly improving post draft trajectory. Triumph laid out the rest of the picture on the other guys.

I think this is a major weakness of Fitz's tenure and I'd argue the consequences of it are already here looking at who's being called up.

I’m going to push back that Zetterlund was some surefire guy that we always knew would be an NHL player. 3 years after he was drafted he had a good half season in the AHL, so I’m pretty comfortable saying the difference between him and Squires 2 years after being drafted is very small.

Then if we move beyond there, the Devils have had less draft picks and drafted very few forwards.

It doesn’t look like they have any hits from 20-21 but there are only 5 forwards to look at and only 1 drafted before the 4th round.

If we add 22 then we only add 2 more forwards and 0 more before the 4th round.

If you had asked Devils fans last year, they would have thought Filmon was a great forward pick in 22.

——————

So to wrap up, I still think this is more due to randomness and picking less often than philosophy holding them back.

 

[Comparison Ford]

They may not have to find money to pay Luke Hughes if they trade him for Petterson. Hughes brothers still play together, but the wrong ones for the wrong team.

genuinely would consider switching favorite teams if this happened

 

[Brodeur]

If there were a real discussion with Montreal about a trade on Nemec, I think I have to get Hage back in that deal. I'm not sure how it works out, and I know some people wouldn't want a prospect and would probably want to add to the team, but Hage is the piece that would interest me .

It's funny how we see those sort of trades in baseball all the time but rarely with hockey. Pens/Jets swapping Yager/McGroarty was a bit of a refreshing surprise.

One worry would be if Nemec would be disgruntled enough to sign an offer sheet like Broberg/Holloway. One article indicates that a player needs 80 NHL GP (Nemec has 69) to be eligible but I can't seem to find that in the CBA language. Maybe that article mixed it up with Group VI UFA?

Before Carolina offer sheeted Kotkaniemi, the two teams did try to negotiate a trade. Montreal apparently asked for Seth Jarvis but Carolina declined.

Edit: Forgot that Nemec's deal slid, so he's still under contract for 2025-26.

 

[vtdevils2k]

Posted this on the main board as the MTL fans smell blood with this Nemec news and want to pair him up clearly with Slaf etc

Not giving him away. Would need an equivalent high end piece at forward to even think about it.

 

[Oneiro]

I’m going to push back that Zetterlund was some surefire guy that we always knew would be an NHL player. 3 years after he was drafted he had a good half season in the AHL, so I’m pretty comfortable saying the difference between him and Squires 2 years after being drafted is very small.

Then if we move beyond there, the Devils have had less draft picks and drafted very few forwards.

It doesn’t look like they have any hits from 20-21 but there are only 5 forwards to look at and only 1 drafted before the 4th round.

If we add 22 then we only add 2 more forwards and 0 more before the 4th round.

If you had asked Devils fans last year, they would have thought Filmon was a great forward pick in 22.

——————

So to wrap up, I still think this is more due to randomness and picking less often than philosophy holding them back.

Agree to disagree but as you said, it's early so we'll see. I agree on Filmon, he had enough of a scoring burst that we all were hoping for things to continue.

I'd even argue that Holtz and Mukhamadullin were tools driven picks, even if the former was not an off-board pick and the latter has had a good trajectory. I love Silayev's game but he again has the size narrative working for him as well.

I'd look to what Carolina and Minnesota have done as peers who have done way better with a similar opportunity set.

 

[longislanddevil]

Uh, there’s a buyout button on Puckpedia.

This is what Dougie’s buyout would be this off-season. It’s not feasible unless you’re ok with 8.8m dead cap space.

View attachment 961741

Big signing bonuses make a contract buyout proof, Hamilton’s can’t be bought out until his last season.

And even then it’s pretty meh, but we actually save some cap space at that point because he doesn’t have a signing bonus in his last year.
View attachment 961742

I stand corrected. Ouch, we are screwed unless we can unload him on someone.

Thanks for helping me understand this!

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Here’s Google Translation of the whole article. The translation is wonky at times but here ya go.

The Slovak writer, Tomas Prokop who posted the article translated a few quotes. I put those in bold, under the Google Translate versions so you can see the context.

He made this quote way more prosaic, our boy Simon has the soul of a poet lol

A few times I proved that I belong to NHL, but I try not to think about it. I take it as it is. i believe when the dream comes, I'll catch it.
VS
“I believe I've proven multiple times that I belong in the NHL. I just have to wait for another chance and grab it when it comes."

NOTE: Nemec discusses asking for a trade because the writer asks him directly about it, he didn’t bring it up by himself.

 

[JrFischer54]

Here’s Google Translation of the whole article. The translation is wonky at times but here ya go.

The Slovak writer, Tomas Prokop who posted the article translated a few quotes. I put those in bold, under the Google Translate versions so you can see the context.

He made this quote way more prosaic, our boy Simon has the soul of a poet lol

A few times I proved that I belong to NHL, but I try not to think about it. I take it as it is. i believe when the dream comes, I'll catch it.
VS
“I believe I've proven multiple times that I belong in the NHL. I just have to wait for another chance and grab it when it comes."

NOTE: Nemec discusses asking for a trade because the writer asks him directly about it, he didn’t bring it up by himself.

Nemec isn’t wrong imo he’s played in the pros he’s a former 2 pick he needs to be playing up here. I get it’s a log jam this season but they gotta make a decision for next year on him or his trade value is going to just tank. Fitz has to figure it out

The most likely scenario is Kovy signing elsewhere. He's going to get nice offers and a guy his age who hasn't yet had a big payday would be compelled to grab one. Keeping him has a lot of complex moving parts. We'd have to move one of

Douglas (big money, trade clause)
Pesce (new long contract)
Nemec (young/promising)

One year of Kovy for a mid round pick is still a great deal.

There will always be middle tier d men out there that can be had in the summer we have had a lot of luck in that department. Kovy should be out before next season

 

[CalamityX23]

Why is there Nemec rumblings?

Did something happen?

Or fake smoke?

 

[MasterofGrond]

Why is there Nemec rumblings?

Did something happen?

Or fake smoke?

Interview, fake smoke, people just thinking about it more rn.

 

[NJDevs26]

Yeah people are making leaps over Nemec’s ‘not asking for a trade yet’ comment though that does suggest there’ll be an issue if they try to slow burn him again in the fall

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

I think Hamilton is more useful to us for at least another year or two. Would definitely be good to move on from him when Nemec and LHughes are fully ready to carry big important minutes, but right now he is a very useful piece for the playoffs.

Nemec will probably be annoyed that LHughes gets preferential treatment and gets paid before him. But it is a numbers game at this point. He should get Kovacevic's spot next year.

There's just no room to sign Kovacevic. He will get a big offer somewhere and get paid like Ryan Graves. We have too many defensive prospects on ELCs to commit that kind of money to him. Just tell Nemec he is first man up and he will get that Kovacevic spot next year. Tell Casey to keep working on his all-around game and be patient.

Btw I didn't realize that Nemec has been killing it offensively lately, I know he had a bad start in the AHL.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I think Hamilton is more useful to us for at least another year or two. Would definitely be good to move on from him when Nemec and LHughes are fully ready to carry big important minutes, but right now he is a very useful piece for the playoffs.

Nemec will probably be annoyed that LHughes gets preferential treatment and gets paid before him. But it is a numbers game at this point. He should get Kovacevic's spot next year.

There's just no room to sign Kovacevic. He will get a big offer somewhere and get paid like Ryan Graves. We have too many defensive prospects on ELCs to commit that kind of money to him. Just tell Nemec he is first man up and he will get that Kovacevic spot next year. Tell Casey to keep working on his all-around game and be patient.

Btw I didn't realize that Nemec has been killing it offensively lately, I know he had a bad start in the AHL.

But Luke Hughes is already handling big important minutes. He leads the team in average 5 on 5 ice time per game. Nemec is a RD and Hughes is a LD, so the two don't really have much to do with one another.

the point in trading Hamilton this summer is that he may still hold some positive value to a team out there. If we wait 1-2 years, that just continues to go down.

This summer, we basically have to move on from one of Hamilton or Palat if we want to keep the rest of the guys together.

 

[Zippy316]

I think Hamilton is more useful to us for at least another year or two. Would definitely be good to move on from him when Nemec and LHughes are fully ready to carry big important minutes, but right now he is a very useful piece for the playoffs.

Nemec will probably be annoyed that LHughes gets preferential treatment and gets paid before him. But it is a numbers game at this point. He should get Kovacevic's spot next year.

There's just no room to sign Kovacevic. He will get a big offer somewhere and get paid like Ryan Graves. We have too many defensive prospects on ELCs to commit that kind of money to him. Just tell Nemec he is first man up and he will get that Kovacevic spot next year. Tell Casey to keep working on his all-around game and be patient.

Btw I didn't realize that Nemec has been killing it offensively lately, I know he had a bad start in the AHL.

Killing it might be a bit of an exaggeration. He had a 2G 3A game last night and a 2G 1A game a couple weeks back.

While points don’t mean everything for young defensemen, you would definitely like to see a bit more consistent production especially while Casey is out and he’s getting top offensive minutes.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Killing it might be a bit of an exaggeration. He had a 2G 3A game last night and a 2G 1A game a couple weeks back.

While points don’t mean everything for young defensemen, you would definitely like to see a bit more consistent production especially while Casey is out and he’s getting top offensive minutes.

I saw something like he has 15 pts in his last 16 games or something. Even removing the 5 point game, that is still impressive for a 20 year old DMan. It is pretty clear that his shoulder injury that he suffered this summer was hampering him the first few months of the season.