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

[New Jerseys Devil]

Buchnevich already signed a 6 x $8M extension this past offseason.

Whoops! Thanks for the heads up

They need a center. Not a winger. Adding a winger doesn’t really have as big of an impact that people think it will have. Sure it mo Palat down the lineup, but it still leaves a whole in the 3rd and 4th lines which will hurt production. Meanwhile Palat’s production has picked up since mid-November and given there is only one puck I’m not sure how much juice there is to squeeze on that line given the production of Jack and Bratt.

A good 3rd line center probably gets Mercer and Cotter going. It also free’s Nico from has heavy of a defensive responsibilities and matchup which would help that line a bit.

If you are taking about bringing in a high priced winger you are missing the plot.

I didnt think too hard about it I just was talking about Buchnevich to a buddy and googled his contract; guess I read the information wrong though anyway!

 

[jkrdevil]

I guess my opinion is based on that Haula is out (for who knows how long), looked cooked offensively before leaving the lineup, and I don’t have confidence he would be 100% coming back. I just think pushing him down to the 4th line with a center addition is more bang for you buck than a winger. That also move Lazar (who is coming off an injury) to the wing.

I think the bottom 6 production problem is a center issue and bumping Palat down to the bottom 6 doesn’t solve that.

 

[Better Call Sal]

A fantastic interview when you have a chance to listen. Langs was a great solider for this franchise for a long time. I know his exit sucked, but he remains one of my all-time favorite players for this team.

 

[Lou Bloom]

I guess my opinion is based on that Haula is out (for who knows how long), looked cooked offensively before leaving the lineup, and I don’t have confidence he would be 100% coming back. I just think pushing him down to the 4th line with a center addition is more bang for you buck than a winger. That also move Lazar (who is coming off an injury) to the wing.

I think the bottom 6 production problem is a center issue and bumping Palat down to the bottom 6 doesn’t solve that.

I don't disagree that finding a quality 3C would be ideal. The point I'm making is that what matters most is making smart moves and acquiring good players whether they play center or wing.

The lack of bottom 6 production is not solely a center issue. The lack of production is due to having no one in the bottom 6 that is capable of driving play and creating chances.

 

[Emperoreddy]

If you can get a middle 6 center then they should, but I wouldn't be so hung up on a center that I would pass up a middle 6 winger to add a slight Dowling upgrade

 

[devilsblood]

We also have to consider that our recent impression of Haula is tainted. We don't know exactly how long the injury was slowing him down, but we can make a solid assumption that much of his poor play was due to an injury.

So if Devils mgmt thinks he can get back healthy they may not think it necessary to acquire a 3rd line center.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Do you think Fitz could move Dawson Mercer for a Ryan O’Reilly trade?
Maybe they can expand the deal to include Nyqvist and Tatar (for cap reasons) as part of the deal. It would allow Devils to get an elite 3C who is locked in for another 2 seasons and a rental winger to replace Mercer on 3rd line or swap with Palat.

 

[Emperoreddy]

We also have to consider that our recent impression of Haula is tainted. We don't know exactly how long the injury was slowing him down, but we can make a solid assumption that much of his poor play was due to an injury.

So if Devils mgmt thinks he can get back healthy they may not think it necessary to acquire a 3rd line center.

Well even so, you can aquire a center that moves him to 4C or you could move him to wing

 

[Killing Joke]

I guess my opinion is based on that Haula is out (for who knows how long), looked cooked offensively before leaving the lineup, and I don’t have confidence he would be 100% coming back. I just think pushing him down to the 4th line with a center addition is more bang for you buck than a winger. That also move Lazar (who is coming off an injury) to the wing.

I think the bottom 6 production problem is a center issue and bumping Palat down to the bottom 6 doesn’t solve that.

Haula is absolutely cooked offensively. Metrics show it.

Metrics also show that Dowling has been better I believe all around.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

Looks like we are squarely in the middle of Nico Hischier’s annual “quarter of the season where I look like a third liner” stretch.

I love Nico. But it’s hard to ignore this obnoxious tendency in his game to completely and totally disappear for double-digit games. He’s playing PP1, leading the team in ice time (next to 86). He can’t have a stat line of 10 GP 1 G 1 A.

It’s the thing right now that separates him from “quality, fringe all star forward” to “superstar you build around”. I’d really like him to figure it out, quickly.

The guy is out on the ice for every big faceoff and logs yeoman minutes against other teams' top lines. Team has had 2507 faceoffs this year and Nico has taken 1086 of them. That's over 43% of the teams' faceoffs! With Haula out, it's going to get worse.

 

[RSeen]

Do you think Fitz could move Dawson Mercer for a Ryan O’Reilly trade?
Maybe they can expand the deal to include Nyqvist and Tatar (for cap reasons) as part of the deal. It would allow Devils to get an elite 3C who is locked in for another 2 seasons and a rental winger to replace Mercer on 3rd line or swap with Palat.

O'Reilly would be perfect. Would probably prefer to keep Mercer so not sure that is the right trade for us value wise, but O'Reilly would give us elite C depth and perhaps let Nico have less defensive responsibility.

I do want us to go for players that can add value for us in the playoffs, think this would be a good addition, though it would be expensive and he may not be willing to come to our team.

Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Bratt-Hughes-Noesen
Palat-Dowling-Tatar
Cotter-Lazar-Bastian

I think Tatar should at least get 3rd line mins.

I'd be fine with trying this. Pretty clear we need to add two top 9 pieces though.

 

[Smitty426]

They need a center. Not a winger. Adding a winger doesn’t really have as big of an impact that people think it will have. Sure it mo Palat down the lineup, but it still leaves a whole in the 3rd and 4th lines which will hurt production. Meanwhile Palat’s production has picked up since mid-November and given there is only one puck I’m not sure how much juice there is to squeeze on that line given the production of Jack and Bratt.

A good 3rd line center probably gets Mercer and Cotter going. It also free’s Nico from has heavy of a defensive responsibilities and matchup which would help that line a bit.

If you are taking about bringing in a high priced winger you are missing the plot.

Granlund?

 

[devilsblood]

The guy is out on the ice for every big faceoff and logs yeoman minutes against other teams' top lines. Team has had 2507 faceoffs this year and Nico has taken 1086 of them. That's over 43% of the teams' faceoffs! With Haula out, it's going to get worse.

And this 10 game stretch he speaks of coincides with Haula tapping out.

So Nico's workload went from super tough, to next level super tough.

Haula is absolutely cooked offensively. Metrics show it.

Metrics also show that Dowling has been better I believe all around.

His shot rate was actually pretty good leading up to him pulling himself out of the lineup. As were most of his on ice numbers.

And even if they were overall bad, we have to consider that the injury was effecting his game.

Dowling on the other hand gets super protected minutes, and has lousy numbers over the last 10 game stretch.

So, no to what you said.

 

[devilsblood]

Well even so, you can aquire a center that moves him to 4C or you could move him to wing

But if Haula can come back healthy and effective why are we trading assets for a guy who might be around for a couple months and play fairly minimal minutes?

Especially if the asset in question is a 1st rounder. I don't think I want to move that for a rental. We need to use that to draft a center. Build up the organizational depth.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I have no interest in "waiting to see if Haula can come back healthy and effective"

make a move. if Haula comes back, great...always good to have center depth.

 

[RSeen]

I have no interest in "waiting to see if Haula can come back healthy and effective"

make a move. if Haula comes back, great...always good to have center depth.

I want to see us add 2 pieces up front. If we need to push Haula to L4 C so be it. Lazar to 4RW and Bastian to 13th forward. We will have injuries. Beyond this, we don't really have NHL forwards.

 

[Triumph]

I have no interest in "waiting to see if Haula can come back healthy and effective"

make a move. if Haula comes back, great...always good to have center depth.

The salary cap doesn't allow for this, unfortunately. It doesn't make any sense to make a move now.

 

[devilsblood]

I have no interest in "waiting to see if Haula can come back healthy and effective"

make a move. if Haula comes back, great...always good to have center depth.

That's cool and all, but you might want to prepare yourself for waiting just the same.

 

[HoliksGhost]

I’d like to see 1 or 2 strategic moves to improve the 4th and 3rd.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

The salary cap doesn't allow for this, unfortunately. It doesn't make any sense to make a move now.

I'm not saying now. The move can come at the deadline. He made it seems like "oh yeah we're good with Haula, we don't need anyone else" and I totally disagree with that.

its time to start going for it. "Build the organizational depth" was the past 6-8 years. We're past that. The East is wide open this year. We should go for it.

 

[dgibb10]

I liked what the leafs did with the Jake McCabe acquisition a few years ago.

Buying retention on term to turn a guy into a valuable bargain.

 

[RSeen]

I liked what the leafs did with the Jake McCabe acquisition a few years ago.

Buying retention on term to turn a guy into a valuable bargain.

If we could get O'Reilly on that type of deal, that would be tremendous - I'd probably be willing to include Casey in that type of deal, but probably unlikely they would want to retain for multiple years.

 

[njdevils1982]

Biggest disappointment for the devils at the midway point per the athletic

Could be worse

it was worse. last week they had a list of selke candidates with mercer on the list and no nico

 

[dgibb10]

If we could get O'Reilly on that type of deal, that would be tremendous - I'd probably be willing to include Casey in that type of deal, but probably unlikely they would want to retain for multiple years.

That would be my ideal target and I agree.

RoR (50%) retained+Nyquist for a sizable package.

Make the roster look like this

 

[Zacha37]

Brandon Tanev is a player of interest to me. I feel like he would slot in well either in Palat’s spot or on the third line.