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

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There was a goalie we brought in on a PTO I thought during camp. I never heard what happened to him but it is obvious he was not signed and was let go. . I remember he played in the NHL though. Help me remember...
 
Really? I liked his play when he was up with the big club! 🥅
He played admirably for the situation he was put into, and he was never the worst goaltender on the team in regards to the other goalies that were on the roster/team at the same team.

I just don't think there's enough there to hand him an NHL spot next year with what we know about him right now.

I also wonder if his development was stunted by being forced to play all those games 3 years ago. That's been known to halt goalies/players before. Like when Marc-Andre Fleury was forced onto the NHL Penguins at 18-19 years old. Daws wasn't as young as him, but Daws was never on the level of Fleury at that age. It took Fleury a few years to really show much. And honestly, Fleury was a better goalie in his 30s (Well, up until his mid to late 30s) than he was in his 20s. He had better seasons and a better stretch of seasons in his early 30s than he did in his 20s. And his 2018 playoff run where he was on the losing end in the cup finals was much more impressive than his 2009 cup winning playoff run. Though his 2008 run in also losing in the finals was pretty good too.
 
There was a goalie we brought in on a PTO I thought during camp. I never heard what happened to him but it is obvious he was not signed and was let go. . I remember he played in the NHL though. Help me remember...
That was Michael Hutchinson.

He was an NHL regular for I think one season, maybe two in his career? And that was a decade ago. He spent the remainder of his career as a third string NHL goalie/AHL regular after that.

And I think he's about 34 years old and sat out most of last year. I don't think he's gonna give us more at this point than Isaac Poulter, to be honest.
 
There was a goalie we brought in on a PTO I thought during camp. I never heard what happened to him but it is obvious he was not signed and was let go. . I remember he played in the NHL though. Help me remember...
Michael Hutchinson and once he was released from the PTO he signed to play in Finland or Sweden.
 
He’s on par with the top guys on the team at 5v5, and he’s getting basically no PP time, not sure PP2 can even be considered as a unit lol.
 
I'm hoping Markstrom won't miss too much time, but even if he does, I still don't think a panic move for a goalie (who would likely be of dubious quality) is a good idea.

Call up Daws or Poulter, ride Allen a little more than usual. Bridge the gap until Markstrom is back.

Anything to avoid having total scrubs like Hammond, Gillies, et al strap pads on for us again.
 
It's entirely possible Marky is back by the Dallas game after the break. That's almost a month from now, but as far as games played it's not that many.

Be zero reason not to just ride Allen for 7 games
Somebody has to back him up and play a game or two. Given the recent skid you’d like to have some confidence that Dawson or Poulter can win a game. I’m sure Allen will be fine for a month or so but he can’t play all of them most likely.
 
Somebody has to back him up and play a game or two. Given the recent skid you’d like to have some confidence that Dawson or Poulter can win a game. I’m sure Allen will be fine for a month or so but he can’t play all of them most likely.

Let one of the AHL guys start. Not a reason to go get another goalie when cap space and resources are limited
 
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He's going to be out more than a month. From what I saw live and the replay, I think he's going to be out for a while. I hope I'm wrong.
 
Timo's point totals are limited by his lack of PP1 time. That much is obvious.

But that's because his spot on PP1 (Net front shit head [compliment]) was taken by Stefan Noesen, who is not an $8M player but plays that spot a lot better.

Timo is a big dude who hits a lot. He shoots a lot but his shot sucks. It's nice to have, for sure, and I'm glad we have someone who just f***ing shoots the puck whenever from wherever. I want to strangle Jack or Bratt every time they decide not to put the puck on net and just circle back to outside for what always feels like an inevitable turnover. Timo, for all his other faults, throws it towards the fat guy in pads. Good.

His problems, to me, are 1) The aforementioned shitty shooting and

2) He's kinda dumb. What I mean by that is: He has to "drive his own line" to look effective. Bratt, Jack, and Nico can drive their own lines, sure. But they can also play in pairs, or even have all three on the same line and still remain effective producers. Look at last night! Give Timo a line where he's The Guy and he's great. Put him with actual good players and he becomes a passive third wheel. That's moronic. He has the tools and skills to be the perfect clean-up guy for a dipsy-doodling little highlight reel like Jack or Bratt but he straight up disappears. People keep saying that we should upgrade on Palat for Jack's wing - that guy should be Timo! But he can't do it! And he makes too much money for that nonsense.

He frustrates me so much as a player.
 
If anything I think some of you are giving him too much of a curve and too many excuses

Obviously we'd all like him to finish more chances, but he's doing everything I expect out of him play wise game in and game out. He's played well with Nico for much of the season. In heavier defensive situations as well. He's been physical. He's getting shots to the net.

People say it's his own play that removed him off PP1, but the ability to have another right handed shot (who happens to be one of the best net mouth guys in all of hockey) in Noesen along with his ability to get those loose pucks is what had him removed. It was almost a perfect storm to have a righty added to that unit and it unlocked them almost instantly.

I still remain someone who puts really no stock in what a guy is making. If a guy commits to be here and wants to be here, I'm cool with him getting paid so long as he's busting his ass for the team. Timo has done that. It's the same reason I don't get bent out of shape about Palat. As a UFA, we knew what we were getting into in signing him for about a year and a million too much. Unfortunately, his game has worn down earlier than expected. But he's not a guy who isn't trying to bring it every time he's out there.
 
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Obviously we'd all like him to finish more chances, but he's doing everything I expect out of him play wise game in and game out. He's played well with Nico for much of the season. In heavier defensive situations as well. He's been physical. He's getting shots to the net.

People say it's his own play that removed him off PP1, but the ability to have another right handed shot (who happens to be one of the best net mouth guys in all of hockey) in Noesen along with his ability to get those loose pucks is what had him removed. It was almost a perfect storm to have a righty added to that unit and it unlocked them almost instantly.

I still remain someone who puts really no stock in what a guy is making. If a guy commits to be here and wants to be here, I'm cool with him getting paid so long as he's busting his ass for the team. Timo has done that. It's the same reason I don't get bent out of shape about Palat. As a UFA, we knew what we were getting into in signing him for about a year and a million too much. Unfortunately, his game has worn down earlier than expected. But he's not a guy who isn't trying to bring it every time he's out there.

Serious question. I'm not trolling. Was he ever a top 6 player, or was he a product of a very very good lightning team? I think it's the latter.

Don't get me wrong, I like him on the team and I think he brings intangibles and experience that we don't have in spades, but I don't recall him ever carrying a line and I think expectations were skewed from the beginning.
 
Serious question. I'm not trolling. Was he ever a top 6 player, or was he a product of a very very good lightning team? I think it's the latter.

Don't get me wrong, I like him on the team and I think he brings intangibles and experience that we don't have in spades, but I don't recall him ever carrying a line and I think expectations were skewed from the beginning.

I know when Palat came on the scene, he was a part of the Triplet line that featured Tyler Johnson and one Nikita Kucherov. He was never incredibly productive, especially in goal scoring. But what can’t be argued is his playoff track record, which is impressive for a guy who has never been considered a top flight player.
 

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