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

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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.
 
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Emperoreddy said:
I would be fine taking some of the West coast games off the schedule in exchange for more in conference and in division games.

Every team doesn't need to play every team in the regular season

Would lighten the travel load for teams as well not having to do cross country trips as much.
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Boooo

Only way I get to see jersey is when they come to Chicago
 
The whole moving Dougie thing has to take into consideration his signing bonus this summer. After that I think a limited 10 team NTC kicks in. I don't think its the right move because Luke isn't ready for PP1.
 
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Smitty426 said:
Teh whole moving Dougie thing has to take into consideration his signing bonus this summer. After that I think a limited 10 team NTC kicks in. I don't think its the right move because Luke isn't ready for PP1.
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meh, I don't agree. Plus we have Casey who will be ready soon. When you have Jack and Bratt, the PP1 DMan isn't as important IMO. Those 2 guys are the ones who facilitate on the PP anyways.

Dougie hasn't done much of anything on the PP in weeks. His slapper seems to not be as effective. Maybe that is due to his injury last year? Who knows.
 
Zajacs Bowl Cut said:
meh, I don't agree. Plus we have Casey who will be ready soon. When you have Jack and Bratt, the PP1 DMan isn't as important IMO. Those 2 guys are the ones who facilitate on the PP anyways.

Dougie hasn't done much of anything on the PP in weeks. His slapper seems to not be as effective. Maybe that is due to his injury last year? Who knows.
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The motion part of it helps the Luke discussion and probably why Dougie has not been a threat. Its more that cycle from the right to center facing the G. Luke was terrible in that spot last year.

Another note Nice to see him rush the puck as another option but be more forceful. Sometimes he is and gets behind the net which helps F's come down the gut. I think it was last year when Matheson from MTL did the fake pass back and our guys let up, only to let him skate threw and score. Fla did a nice job of clogging up the Center which we didn't adjust for in-game, Luke will change that as he grows. He may become what we all know he will be this year, I'm just not so sure of that...yet
 
I understand that moving Hamilton could be tough but if Kovacevic stays, what other option is there? You just have to pay what it takes to get it done, I suppose.

Other teams have found ways to move bigger, worse contracts!
 
Smitty426 said:
The whole moving Dougie thing has to take into consideration his signing bonus this summer. After that I think a limited 10 team NTC kicks in. I don't think its the right move because Luke isn't ready for PP1.
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Technically Luke was PP1 early last season when it was sizzling though the PP going to crap did coincide with the Dougie injury
 
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The Wumpus said:
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.
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Agree it’s the most likely scenario but losing one of your best pure defensive players that also is valuable on PK is a big risk when both of your internal replacements (Nemec and Casey) are more offense oriented.

I think they at least have to explore a Dougie trade but in the event that there’s no takers or they’re asking for significant retention or attached assets then they may have to bite the bullet and let Kovacevic walk and hope the defense doesn’t take too big of a hit.
 
Luke will be fine on PP1. And there's nothing stopping him from working on his shot. I don't know why we are talking about him like he's some normal prospect. He's a star player in the making.

There are limits on how much we should pay Kovacevic, but even if he didn't exist, it would still be sensible to move on from Dougie. Our current cap squeeze is a brief thing in the context of a much much higher cap to come, but it's still a thing. Ideally, if they can either move or buyout Palat too, you have a good chance to rebuild the bottom six and find a good wing for Jack.

I'd also view these moves in terms of having to replace Markstrom as well. Say, we sign Thompson at 5+ to bridge the period before say, Daws or Yegorov or whoever makes a jump.
 
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Zajacs Bowl Cut said:
meh, I don't agree. Plus we have Casey who will be ready soon. When you have Jack and Bratt, the PP1 DMan isn't as important IMO. Those 2 guys are the ones who facilitate on the PP anyways.

Dougie hasn't done much of anything on the PP in weeks. His slapper seems to not be as effective. Maybe that is due to his injury last year? Who knows.
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On the PP front without Hamilton, it would be interesting if the Devils can acquire a RHS forward who could be the trigger-man on PP1. Basically a player like Stamkos who could win faceoffs (or have Noesen take them).

If you could do that and move Hischier to PP2, you might be able to run two strong PPs with Hughes double shifting:

Noesen
RHS - Bratt - Hughes
Luke

Mercer
Hughes - Hischier - Meier
Nemec

I could see that making a ton of sense for a PP without Dougie.
 
Triumph said:
Who is this person and why are you reposting what they are saying? I wouldn't ask but for the associating with MurphysLaw74 who is a confirmed Eklund-level source.
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IMG_7568.jpeg

He looks like a guy who just hopes to generate clicks any way possible.
 
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The only option is moving Dougie. The stuff about Luke on PP1 makes even less sense when you take into consideration they aren’t even featuring Dougie’s shot. That’s like his primary plus value as a power play QB. Luke can do that job and freeing up that money is critical.

If they can do it and follow it up by moving Palat, even better.
 
Zippy316 said:
On the PP front without Hamilton, it would be interesting if the Devils can acquire a RHS forward who could be the trigger-man on PP1. Basically a player like Stamkos who could win faceoffs (or have Noesen take them).

If you could do that and move Hischier to PP2, you might be able to run two strong PPs with Hughes double shifting:

Noesen
RHS - Bratt - Hughes
Luke

Mercer
Hughes - Hischier - Meier
Nemec

I could see that making a ton of sense for a PP without Dougie.
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Unless that RHS is +faceoff player the devils would be giving up possession at a higher rate which doesn’t make much sense.
 
AfroThunder396 said:
I'd like to see Kovacevic away from Siegenthaler before making a commitment to him. But based on what I've seen so far I'd be happy to bring him back.

I have no interest in moving him for picks. Defensive depth is what wins you playoff series.
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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
 
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Jersey Fresh said:
The only option is moving Dougie. The stuff about Luke on PP1 makes even less sense when you take into consideration they aren’t even featuring Dougie’s shot. That’s like his primary plus value as a power play QB. Luke can do that job and freeing up that money is critical.

If they can do it and follow it up by moving Palat, even better.
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To play a little Devils Advocate, the PP1 features Dougie’s shot even when he isn’t using it.

Before the recent hyper aggressive PKs, teams would keep a defender stuck in Hamilton’s shooting lane because they didn’t want the shot happening.

This opened up passing lanes, gave Hughes and Bratt more space, and allowed Hamilton to manipulate the defenders location.
 
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It's important that the forward drafting gets back on track. Fitz's MO at the draft, whatever it is, has been bad and needs a major course correction. There are absolutely no Anderson, Zetterlund, Sharangovich, Boqvist, etc. deals to be made in the next 3-4 years because we haven't hit on anyone worth someone else's curiosity, aside from Lenni. Most winners have experienced depth forwards with very few kid contributors. I don't know why we are half assing it the other way around.

He's making way too many tools and character picks and we need to get back to betting on skilled upside and IQ.
 
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