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

[Forge]

Gonna need to go get a goalie from the looks of things....

Vejmelka maybe? Utah seems like a team that will be selling at the deadline.

 

[billingtons ghost]

In other posts with @devilsblood I actually discussed all those things.

But your primary criticism with Timo is just a lack of pointzzz. This is why you said he's a disappointment. It's not inaccurate at all to say you're the one judging him by one number.

I don't think anyone on this board believes he is "supposed" be the Devils best player. That's an unrealistic expectation and a weird standard.

Cmon man. You and @SteveCangialosi123 with putting words in my mouth. Never did I ever say pointzzzz is the thing. Never did I ever say goalies don't matter.

And let's be honest: @devilsblood just pointed all those things out, you didn't suggest it or discuss it. Your contribution was a quiz with one stat.

You two need to actually stop making stuff up.

Meier to Mercer!! how Apropos given the discussions above.

Hopefully a sign of things to come.

Actually Dowling is the whole reason, lol

 

[None Shall Pass]

NHL Unveils Devils Quarter Century Teams | FEATURE | New Jersey Devils

The National Hockey League has spent the past few weeks unveiling their Quarter Century rosters for every NHL team, and on Wednesday night, the New Jersey Devils First and Second rosters were revealed. New Jersey, which has a rich history of All-Stars, has had dominant players in all positions over

www.nhl.com

Honestly ridiculous that Kovalchuk got snubbed but it is what it is

 

[devilsblood]

Actually Dowling is the whole reason, lol

Sometimes the right mix is the one least expected.

That line has been excellent. Meier had jump right out of the gate.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Vejmelka maybe? Utah seems like a team that will be selling at the deadline.

I would honestly love this, and I would try to sign him

NHL Unveils Devils Quarter Century Teams | FEATURE | New Jersey Devils

The National Hockey League has spent the past few weeks unveiling their Quarter Century rosters for every NHL team, and on Wednesday night, the New Jersey Devils First and Second rosters were revealed. New Jersey, which has a rich history of All-Stars, has had dominant players in all positions over

www.nhl.com

Honestly ridiculous that Kovalchuk got snubbed but it is what it is

Langenbrunner?! lmao

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I think Poulter is the goalie I call up

he has been very good lately in Utica

 

[devilsblood]

It's not just about points. His level of play the past year and a half has been poor.

Just because his usage percentage is up doesn't mean his performance has been good. It's also not like the Devils have a ton of defensive minded forwards that are worthy of high defensive usage, the Devils have started using Jack and Bratt on the PK, after Hischier there's not an obvious forward to use in defensive situations.

Hischier's points had a downward trend due to injury, He also went from playing with Hall during his Hart trophy season to 3 straight seasons where the Devils leading scorers put up 50, 45 and 35 points in 3 straight seasons. His play was clearly still high end but his teammates and overall help declined around him. Mercer doesn't have that excuse, he's got to play a ton of minutes next to players like Hischier, Hughes, Bratt, Meier, etc... and has been unable to perform despite having teammates that can drive play at a high level and allow him to play a simpler role that in theory should suit his skillset.

Your opinion is likely clouded by the fact that he is not playing easy minutes any more.

I've actually liked how he has looked this year. Using his skating, good energy. Good defensive metrics despite the more difficult assignments.

His overall on ice numbers are good this year.

 

[Lou Bloom]

Your opinion is likely clouded by the fact that he is not playing easy minutes any more.

I've actually liked how he has looked this year. Using his skating, good energy. Good defensive metrics despite the more difficult assignments.

His overall on ice numbers are good this year.

Plenty of players play tough minutes and look good doing so. And it's not like Mercer is just being put on a pure defensive line with little opportunity, his entire career he's been given plenty of opportunity in the top 6 with Hughes, Bratt, Nico and Meier and has not been able to cement himself in those roles.

I'd disagree, he looked good the first 10 or so games of the season and then was extremely poor the next 30+ games and finally rebounded with a very good game today. I also don't think his skating is a strength and don't buy the defensive metrics over half a season, especially when his defensive metrics were pretty poor the first three seasons and match with what I've seen from him more accurately.

 

[devilsblood]

Plenty of players play tough minutes and look good doing so. And it's not like Mercer is just being put on a pure defensive line with little opportunity, his entire career he's been given plenty of opportunity in the top 6 with Hughes, Bratt, Nico and Meier and has not been able to cement himself in those roles.

I'd disagree, he looked good the first 10 or so games of the season and then was extremely poor the next 30+ games and finally rebounded with a very good game today. I also don't think his skating is a strength and don't buy the defensive metrics over half a season, especially when his defensive metrics were pretty poor the first three seasons and match with what I've seen from him more accurately.

You twist a lot of numbers so you can not like Mercer.

I mean if you don't want to buy the defensive metrics what more can we do?

 

[Oneiro]

We've looked at Zucker before at the deadline. Is there any reason not to pursue him?

 

[Lou Bloom]

You twist a lot of numbers so you can not like Mercer.

I mean if you don't want to buy the defensive metrics what more can we do?

Watch the games and come to a conclusion about their defensive play vs blindly believing metrics over a half season? Especially when said player had poor defensive metrics for most of his career vs the half season sample size we currently have. And I'm not even claiming that Mercer is a bad defender, I just think he's middling, which when he isn't bringing much in the way of offense or play driving is not good enough.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

LTIR Marky

Miller on pennies on the dollar or cheese LTIR with 2 different forward adds

Win cup?

 

[Devils731]

Why can’t the team stop being sick???

 

[NjDevsRR]

Why can’t the team stop being sick???

Jesus. Its a lot worse than what has been said by the staff last week

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

One thing I'll say about LTIR opinion with Markstrom is you don't want a goalie's first game in so long after injury being in the playoffs. It's different when you're a skater and why Vegas abuses LTIR with Stone because Stone can get his bearings back within a series. One or two games as a goalie being lost and it could lose you the whole series. They probably won't LTIR Markstrom if they can't get him back super late in the regular season so he can play the games at the end of the year before playoffs if he isn't out for the year. Hopefully he's back sooner rather than later so this discussion isn't even a thing lol

 

[devilsblood]

Watch the games and come to a conclusion about their defensive play vs blindly believing metrics over a half season? Especially when said player had poor defensive metrics for most of his career vs the half season sample size we currently have. And I'm not even claiming that Mercer is a bad defender, I just think he's middling, which when he isn't bringing much in the way of offense or play driving is not good enough.

Most of his career? 3 seasons (including his rookie year) when he was in the 20-22 year old range? I'm not holding that against him. Especially when his numbers were decent 2 years ago, and better then Nico last year.

But he's playing an even more difficult defensive role this year to good results. We should probably accept that as a guy maturing as a player.

 

[jkrdevil]

Your starting goalie isn’t someone you ltir until the playoffs if he doesn’t have to be out that long. If he has to miss the rest of the season making the playoffs may become dicey.

 

[Devils Trap]

IMO, today raised some eyes for me with how well everything looked / felt.

If we are all in on Timo Line 3 to dominate weaker competition, I think we need 2 pieces acquired in the deadline.

A 3C and a Middle 6 Winger.

Getting 2 forwards bumps Haula and Cotter down to where they should be, and where they are probably very well suited to play well and hopefully dominate.

Yanni Gourde seems like the obvious answer at 3 C Personally. Brock Nelson another option here.

The winger is more difficult to solve, but let’s throw in a Taylor Hall as a placeholder while we figure out what’s out there. Palmieri is one, maybe Bjorkstrand was rumored to be available.

Bratt - Nico - Noeson
Hall - Hughes - Palat
Timo - Gourde - Mercer
Cotter - Haula - Lazar

I’d feel insanely good about rolling those 4 lines through playoffs with scoring and solid defense throughout.