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

[Better Call Sal]

Here's a fun exercise to get off the eternal Dougie debate. I'm listening to a Canucks podcast where they did an anti-Quarter Century Team. Not necessarily the worst players of the last quarter century, but the most hated ones. Remember, two teams with one of each position.

My 1C is obviously Mikey McLeod.

I'm not one to hate on players, so it probably makes up the worst of the bunch. But here's mine:

Team 1:
Andrew Peters-Tim Sestito-Stefan Matteau
Niclas Havelid-Martin Skoula
Jon Gillies

Tuomo Ruutu-Jiri Tlusty-Eric Boulton
Andrei Zyuzin-David Hale
Louis Domingue

My type was basically if you were a really bad goon, or a bandaid Lou acquisition that provided nothing, I wasn't a fan. And god, take your pick of the slew of goalies we've trotted out in the past few years. Both Gillies and Domingue were equivalent to Hector the Rejector back there.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

Some of these guys I totally get, but why Stephen Gionta?

And the Church of Salmela will have strong objections to his inclusion.

Gionta stayed as long as he did in spite of being terrible solely because of his 2012 Cup run.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Dougie is averaging 20 minutes a game this season. Right around where he has been all career. 19:56. He is on pace for 51 points.

View attachment 966397

Some, not everyone have suggested trading away some salary during the season. That does not happen when a team is making a playoff push. They upgrade the existing roster.

he is playing the 5th most ATOI at even strength. Almost a full minute behind Kovacevic. He plays 75% of the PP which is why his overall ice time is inflated.

on pace for 51 points is not really impressive to me given his overall usage.

He needs to be gone this summer. How else do you propose improving the team, considering Luke is about to make $8+ million?

and we'd basically HAVE to trade away some salary in any trade at the deadline.

 

[Satans Hockey]

Some of these guys I totally get, but why Stephen Gionta?

And the Church of Salmela will have strong objections to his inclusion.

Spent way too many years watching him play way too much and shooting pucks right into the goalies logo.

 

[Nocashstyle]

I’d rather keep Dougie and let Kovacevic chase a bag. He’s going to get overpaid and I hope he does, he’s earned it based on his play this year. That said, he’s already 27 and hasn’t even played 200 NHL games yet. Maybe he’s established himself as a legitimately good NHL defenseman, but there’s also a good chance this year is an outlier. At least with Dougie you know what you’re getting, even if he’s paid an extra 3.5mil relative to what Kovacevic gets. Yeah he has warts, but even with his slowness, he finds ways to produce, and I think he can continue to do that as he ages.

I don't think the team necessarily needs Nemec to come up and produce a ton of offense, so that doesn’t make Dougie’s game redundant.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

 

[Better Call Sal]

View attachment 966406

Probably the best case scenario given how it looked. And as others mentioned, if it had to happen, thankfully it happened with the 4 Nations Tournament break on the horizon.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

He will begin a rehab program under the guidance of the Devils’ athlete care staff.

oh no. We're cooked.

 

[MasterofGrond]

my hot take is that Kovacevic is a product of Siegs. I’m not saying he’s not an NHL defenseman, I just think he’s not as good as he looks.

Let him get paid, unless he’s coming in at a deal you can’t refuse.

 

[Nocashstyle]

He will begin a rehab program under the guidance of the Devils’ athlete care staff.

oh no. We're cooked.

It’s all relatively “good” news until you get to that part

 

[Lou Bloom]

I think it’s going to come down to how much a Kovacevic extension would be. If he’s looking at $5M+ with 5 or more years of term than it probably makes sense to let him walk and keep Dougie.

But if you can get him for under $5M with a 5 or less years of term then it would make more sense to try and move Dougie and get Kovacevic signed.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

Probably the best case scenario given how it looked. And as others mentioned, if it had to happen, thankfully it happened with the 4 Nations Tournament break on the horizon.

I thought for certain he was going to be out much longer.

 

[Zippy316]

Assuming Poulter is going to get the call up over Daws?

He’s definitely outperforming Daws of late in Utica. Feels like he may be deserving of getting at least a game at the NHL level.

Schedule is really light so there may be a chance Allen plays in almost all of the games.

 

[None Shall Pass]

my hot take is that Kovacevic is a product of Siegs. I’m not saying he’s not an NHL defenseman, I just think he’s not as good as he looks.

Let him get paid, unless he’s coming in at a deal you can’t refuse.

This is where I'm at, too. We know Siegs can make his partner look great. I'd LOVE to see Kovacevic get some time partnered with, frankly, anyone else before I even think about extending him.

 

[Devs3cups]

Man, the two week break is a huge gift. He’ll probably miss 2-3 weeks of games. That’s not that bad.

 

[Saugus]

This is where I'm at, too. We know Siegs can make his partner look great. I'd LOVE to see Kovacevic get some time partnered with, frankly, anyone else before I even think about extending him.

Agreed, but any shuffling of our defensive pairings almost certainly makes us worse, so Keefe will probably keep them the same.

If we do change it, I'd like to see Siegs back with Dougie, and Kova go with Dillon.

Leave the Luke-Pesce pairing alone at all costs, they're doing great.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Man, the two week break is a huge gift. He’ll probably miss 2-3 weeks of games. That’s not that bad.

Really a best case scenario for this type of injury

Might have to rescind my “Devils are neverlucky” belief

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Obviously it’s not an in season deal…but how long do you guys expect to keep Nemec and Casey in the minors? They have four guys for two available spots at RD and that’s not even getting into potential cap issues of having two highly paid RD in the near term. You would have to let Kovacevic go and keep Casey in the minors just to keep Dougie on the roster through next year and not spend on forward adds.

Yeah. This is basic roster construction stuff. Not only the guys itching to make the team, but you have Luke who we already know can assume PP1 duty - not playing him there is effectively handcuffing his progression.

We’re in the pitch perfect position to be able to move on from Dougie while he still has value around the league for little to no negative competitive impact and cap flexibility on top of that.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Man, that blows for Sweden in the 4 Nations but for the Devils that's AMAZING news.

 

[Omar Little]

So do we LTIR him through the trade deadline? That would be just about 6 weeks?

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

 

[JK3]

4 weeks takes us to the end of the 4 Nations thing which is 7 games, 6 weeks would be 14 games.

 

[Saugus]

Good. No panic trade.

I'd like to see Poulter get a couple starts over the next couple weeks, but otherwise just ride Allen.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Good for Poulter. Looking at the game-by-game lines, he's been strong the past few games so he deserves the call-up based on that. Would like to see Daws get the games in Utica to keep working through his general struggles.

 

[MasterofGrond]

If Allen is what he’s been for us since joining, broadly league average, we should be fine.