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

[Better Call Sal]

Well anyway what do you guys want to talk about

Religion and politics?

 

[Richer's Ghost]

so JT Miller is a locker room cancer huh?

Still think we could use Granlund...

 

[youryeah]

Well anyway what do you guys want to talk about

getting rid of dougie
getting rid of palat
3C problem
luke hughes extension
goalie situation next year
re-signing kovacevic
nemec trade proposals
bad chicken tendies at the rock
bad timo takes

 

[swiiscompos]

getting rid of dougie
getting rid of palat
3C problem
luke hughes extension
goalie situation next year
re-signing kovacevic
nemec trade proposals
bad chicken tendies at the rock
bad timo takes

Too many choices, I'll have whatever the other ones are having.

 

[HughesCorporation]

Brock Faber is still the best comparable for Luke's contract IMO. He got 8 x $8.5

both signed out of college (Faber played 3 years as opposed to 2 for Luke), both played 2 games at the end of 2023, both had 47 points in 82 games last year, both have 21 pts this year. It's actually insane how identical their career paths have been thus far lol

look at darren raddysh

 

[Saugus]

getting rid of dougie
getting rid of palat
3C problem
luke hughes extension
goalie situation next year
re-signing kovacevic
nemec trade proposals
bad chicken tendies at the rock
bad timo takes

I'll take any of those over the weird McLeod nostalgia that seems to recur occasionally around here. I guess it's related to the 3C problem though.

 

[Devils731]

getting rid of dougie
getting rid of palat
3C problem
luke hughes extension
goalie situation next year
re-signing kovacevic
nemec trade proposals
bad chicken tendies at the rock
bad timo takes

Any number of draft picks from years ago when the correct choice was so easy and people need to remind everyone.

complain about the goal song

Lou Lamoriello legacy discussion

Do you need a goon?

Faceoffs, how good are they?

You should never turn the puck over if you’re good.

New uniform look disdain

 

[TheBeerNerd]

I'll take any of those over the weird McLeod nostalgia that seems to recur occasionally around here. I guess it's related to the 3C problem though.

You can't deny that on the ice, he's the perfect fit for the bottom six, and he was shaping up to be that guy. But it's impossible to separate that from the reason why he isn't in the NHL anymore.

 

[Nubmer6]

Well anyway what do you guys want to talk about

We haven't argued definition of a "generational player" in a while.

 

[MadDevil]

*pulls pin on grenade*

The cap is going to be 113.5 million in 2027-28.

*leaves room*

 

[NjDevsRR]

Religion and politics?

*mirka intensifies*

 

[SJinNewJersey]

Well anyway what do you guys want to talk about

Sushi and beer, but I thought this was the Devils team news forum.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Just want to pop in here to say that Calgary did really well in that trade with Philadelphia.

Apparently the Flyers wanted to get Kuzmenko in there for Michkov's morale, so it wan't entirely a "hockey trade". The problem with this is the Flyers' underlying problem, which is that John Tortorella continues to low-event-hockey a team desperately needing to rebuild out of top 5 picks while stultifying all the young talent on that team and still being unable to make the playoffs.

If GM Danny Briere wants to help Michkov, he will fire Tortorella, who continues to "tough love" one of the most spectacular young talents in the game with occasional benchings and scratches. Instead, he brought in Kuzmenko, who also plays a game certain to frustrate Tortorella and his ultra-conservative hockey philosophies. Kuzmenko has some 20-goal-type scoring pop, but he's not exactly gritty or defensive, and he's not dynamic enough offensively to be a true difference-maker.

The cost for this was Joel Farabee, probably the 3rd most talented Flyers forward after Michkov and Konecny. Farabee is young and very skilled, but his refusal to change his game from offense-oriented to shot-blocking left-wing-locker continually put him at odds with Tortorella. This is a guy with top 6, 30+ point/70+point type upside who put up a 22-goal, 50-point season last year on an awful Philly squad despite being the whipping boy seemingly every time the Flyers lost because they were outplayed and Tortorella was out-coached.

In addition, Calgary GM did a very nice job acquiring a very reliable, two-way 3C in Morgan Frost who is also still young. The cost for two NHL players who could be fixtures for years was Kuzmenko, a one-way winger with some offensive pop, and Jake Pelletier, a young, heart-and-soul third-line-type winger with some scoring chops.

The Flames win this deal easily. Philadelphia could have made Michkov happy and productive the same way they could have made Farabee happy and productive and held onto a solid player like Frost simply by firing a clearly-lost-his-marbles and hopelessly-left-behind-by-the-modern-game head coach in John Tortorella. Instead, they continue to trade away high end young talent like Gauthier and Farabee for lesser players in order to patch up holes created by their own administration's bad decision-making.

For the Flames, it's another nice move. They both rebuilt for the future and improved on the ice right now, something very difficult to accomplish in an in-season hockey trade.

 

[dgibb10]

In terms of cap going up my only worry is goalie prices. We need to figure that out with a long term solution, ideally this offseason.

I'd go after Levi/UPL, or Knight, or Wallstedt/Gus, or Cossa/Augustine.

I think Knight would be my preferred target if in any way possible

 

[Billdo]

Any number of draft picks from years ago when the correct choice was so easy and people need to remind everyone.

complain about the goal song

Lou Lamoriello legacy discussion

Do you need a goon?

Faceoffs, how good are they?

You should never turn the puck over if you’re good.

New uniform look disdain

You forgot stickers on helmets.

 

[My3Sons]

You forgot stickers on helmets.

And those virtual ads on the boards

 

[onmygameboi]

How about this idea?

Since faceoffs are not an important part of hockey:

Instead of a faceoff, each team starts behind their respective goal line and the puck is dropped from the jumbotron. Yeah?

 

[Emperoreddy]

*pulls pin on grenade*

The cap is going to be 113.5 million in 2027-28.

*leaves room*

Time to have the fully operational Hughes Infinity Gauntlet.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

I've learned that car salesmen fall over themselves when they see Briere coming onto the lot.

 

[dgibb10]

Rough approximation of what that would look like

Mercer gets a 6 mill deal with term
Cotter gets a 3x3 as an RFA
Gritysuk earns a 4x3 after his ELC next year to walk him to UFA (I believe)
Luke signs 8.6x6
Nico+Quinn combine at 25 mill
10 mill estimate on goalies (basing this on a Lindgren+LT type duo that WSH has rn around that price)
Nemec signs a 5x3 bridge deal
1.33 mill each for extras and 2.33 mill each for 4th liners

Saved 500k in cap space for ELC rollovers and such

At some point hamilton is moved out, I haven't included casey here, potentially he's a trade chip for whatever 3C, or maybe even for a goalie