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

[Killing Joke]

You’re lucky you have supporting documentation here, but even so that tweet answers only one of your claims in the affirmative. And Chuck Fletcher likely becomes the next guy in line if he gets fired, which he probably will if they miss.

Nah, they need to clean house of Tom's people in the front office, scouts too.

 

[jkrdevil]

Tom really needs to go. He has handicapped this team beyond belief in numerous ways. Poor contract to older players, horrible drafting, slowing us down for grit purposes, and taking entirely too long to get trades done because he's afraid to part with prospects apart of his bad drafting.

Not sure Nemec over Cooley is a great example as we kind of also need Nemec right now because of Siegnethaler’s injury.

But overall in agreement. You can’t blow top-10 picks and first rounders need to turn into something even if it is just a trade chip.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Laughton isn't even much of an upgrade to anything we have.

I went from a 1.5-2 on the we might miss the playoffs scale to an I don't even know if I want them to make it. I am really nervous at the prospect of Tom buying at the deadline now. It has to be a hockey trade for a long term upgrade somewhere. We absolutely cannot be thinking about rentals now.

 

[Hisch13r]

Seamus Casey 1C

Not sure Nemec over Cooley is a great example as we kind of also need Nemec right now because of Siegnethaler’s injury.

But overall in agreement. You can’t blow top-10 picks and first rounders need to turn into something even if it is just a trade chip.

You cannot possibly tell me you believe the lineup is better with Nemec in and no Cooley rather than Casey in and having Cooley.

 

[guitarguyvic]

When have they been fully healthy in the past couple months?

I'm kind of anticipating .500ish results going forward (any TDL acquisitions notwithstanding), and IMO that should be decent enough to get in the playoffs.

CBJ would have to pass them in the standings in addition to both of Detroit and Ottawa. I still reeeeaalllyyyy don't think Detroit is legit and CBJ, while a nice story, have been mostly riding the hot PDO skis lately.

.500 hockey is 92 points, that is not a lock to make the playoffs.

Nah, they need to clean house of Tom's people in the front office, scouts too.

This ownership group is cleaning out anything.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

This team has one of the worst records in the league over the last two months when he’s been in the lineup. They actually have to improve their winning % without having Jack in the lineup, if they want to make the playoffs. It is absolutely no longer a given that they will make it.

If they play .500 hockey the last 20 games, they'd get 20 points which would put them at 92.

Ottawa is the first team out right now with 64 pts in 59 games. They are on pace for 88.5 points. NYR is on pace for 87 and their best player is hurt. I don't think you understand HOW BAD the East bubble actually is this year.

 

[Call Me Al]

If they play .500 hockey the last 20 games, they'd get 20 points which would put them at 92.

Ottawa is the first team out right now with 64 pts in 59 games. They are on pace for 88.5 points. NYR is on pace for 87 and their best player is hurt. I don't think you understand HOW BAD the East bubble actually is this year.

but they haven’t been playing .500 with jack for 2 months now???

i can also make up hypotheticals to try and make persuasive points. if nico picks up the slack and scores a ppg and timo scores at the same pace he did last march, and fitz makes a trade, and our bottom 6 starts scoring at a respectable rate maybe they’ll be ok!

I love the subtle goalpost shift, as if the objective coming into the season was sneaking into the playoffs and being first round fodder. Slick!

And before you start hyperventilating, this was the case before Jack’s injury as well despite all efforts to run blocking for 2+ months of this team’s play.

lol yeah.

 

[guitarguyvic]

If they play .500 hockey the last 20 games, they'd get 20 points which would put them at 92.

Ottawa is the first team out right now with 64 pts in 59 games. They are on pace for 88.5 points. NYR is on pace for 87 and their best player is hurt. I don't think you understand HOW BAD the East bubble actually is this year.

.500 hockey is best case scenario right now.

Jack has been involved in literally 80% of the last 25 goals scored. That is an atrocious reliance on a single player.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

We should have never dismantled that speed demon team we had. I actually like Tom, but he panicked when we lost to Carolina, no doubt about it.

 

[Devs3cups]

The team will still make the playoffs most likely, but there is no damage to be done without Jack in the lineup.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

We should have never dismantled that speed demon team we had. I actually like Tom, but he panicked when we lost to Carolina, no doubt about it.

No one would be saying this if the roster construction reflected the objective. Like if we were winning games with a competent bottom six and more well-balanced defense it’s a non-issue.

There was no problem re-configuring this team to play a more playoff-style game, it just had to be done right. And we’re not there.

 

[Call Me Al]

Who said that? Why do you guys keep saying this like this?

Again do you guys pay attention to the rest of the league at all when you say this kinda crap?



I am sorry that facts bother you? All I did was point out how bad the bubble is, which again, I don't think some of you guys realize. Not sure what to tell you man. You are right, the Devils won't win another game the rest of the way and every team behind them will win every game. This is more reasonable in your eyes, yes?

Who said they'll be okay? I said nothing about any of that.

"lol yeah"

hypotheticals don’t equal facts? sure, if they play .500 hockey they will get 92 points.

i’m not bothered by the facts of that statement i just think it’s disingenuous to throw that out there to paint some picture that doesn’t comport with the reality of this team after losing the engine of their offense, which was feeble to begin with.

and immediately jumping to the worst possible extreme reaction like they will lose every game to try and distort reasonable criticism of the situation this team is in is patently ridiculous. i’d be embarrassed to posit that.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

No one would be saying this if the roster construction reflected the objective. Like if we were winning games with a competent bottom six and more well-balanced defense it’s a non-issue.

There was no problem re-configuring this team to play a more playoff-style game, it just had to be done right. And we’re not there.

I don't disagree. I just prefer the devil I know than the devil I don't. We know that team could win games and we know it had flaws. But it was so good at it's one good thing it could overcome those flaws. If we had Keefe at that time and let all those guys continue to cook, I think we would have been fine. Maybe a couple small additions like a Kovy and/or Dillon.

But Fitz decided to change the entire dynamic and almost rebuild the entire team. I get trying to make the roster more balanced and I think what he has done is actually pretty damn good all things considered. But it's like starting over when I really didn't think we needed to.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

Nah, they need to clean house of Tom's people in the front office, scouts too.

I want to disagree with your consistent negativity but this isn’t the time for that.

 

[MB3]

Was trying to get myself pumped up and excited for another trade deadline as a seller but then I remembered Tom Fitzgerald had the biggest seller’s market in the last two decades and couldn’t even get a 1st round pick out of a guy who already had 30 goals at the deadline.

Wonder who we’ll ship off this year. Time to stock up on those draft picks so fitz can either trade them for 4th line plugs or completely whiff on the selection!

It’s a war crime seeing the mockery he and Shero turned this once proud franchise into. I don’t even wear my devils hats around the house at home in fear of my wife getting the ick.

I want to disagree with your consistent negativity but this isn’t the time for that.

anyone who’s been paying attention to the way the team has played since the calendar flipped should be fairly negative already. This is a bubble team that will need to get lucky down the stretch to make the playoffs over a columbus team who was projected lottery and had one of their best players die before the season started.

 

[Zippy316]

Really curious what the injury prognosis is for Jack.

I do wonder if it’ll open the door for the Devils to be more aggressive on a guy with term like McCann or Bjorkstrand knowing they no longer have to worry about fitting them in this reason.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Was trying to get myself pumped up and excited for another trade deadline as a seller but then I remembered Tom Fitzgerald had the biggest seller’s market in the last two decades and couldn’t even get a 1st round pick out of a guy who already had 30 goals at the deadline.

Wonder who we’ll ship off this year. Time to stock up on those draft picks so fitz can either trade them for 4th line plugs or completely whiff on the selection!

It’s a war crime seeing the mockery he and Shero turned this once proud franchise into. I don’t even wear my devils hats around the house at home in fear of my wife getting the ick.


anyone who’s been paying attention to the way the team has played since the calendar flipped should be fairly negative already. This is a bubble team that will need to get lucky down the stretch to make the playoffs over a columbus team who was projected lottery and had one of their best players die before the season started.

Serious question

do you know how many teams make the playoffs in the East? Do you understand what the Wild card is?

its okay if you don't, but maybe take a look at the standings.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

Was trying to get myself pumped up and excited for another trade deadline as a seller but then I remembered Tom Fitzgerald had the biggest seller’s market in the last two decades and couldn’t even get a 1st round pick out of a guy who already had 30 goals at the deadline.

Wonder who we’ll ship off this year. Time to stock up on those draft picks so fitz can either trade them for 4th line plugs or completely whiff on the selection!

It’s a war crime seeing the mockery he and Shero turned this once proud franchise into. I don’t even wear my devils hats around the house at home in fear of my wife getting the ick.


anyone who’s been paying attention to the way the team has played since the calendar flipped should be fairly negative already. This is a bubble team that will need to get lucky down the stretch to make the playoffs over a columbus team who was projected lottery and had one of their best players die before the season started.

My brain says this is a total overreaction.

My heart and recency bias says, "Now now, let's hear them out."

And at least you didn't get your body marked with the logo of this f***ing franchise. That avatar is my ink.

 

[Mgd31]

Really curious what the injury prognosis is for Jack.

I do wonder if it’ll open the door for the Devils to be more aggressive on a guy with term like McCann or Bjorkstrand knowing they no longer have to worry about fitting them in this reason.

The Devils are going to have holes for next year (top 6 forward and 3rd line center), they might as well get a move on it before Friday.

 

[MB3]

Serious question

do you know how many teams make the playoffs in the East? Do you understand what the Wild card is?

its okay if you don't, but maybe take a look at the standings.

if “bro there are wild card spots too! we might get one of those” is your answer, you’ve already lost the argument.

 

[Call Me Al]

the panicking after carolina was ridiculous too - we had a game every other day for 2 weeks, including after a game 7 in a emotional rivalry series.

i think any other circumstances and that team could have beaten them, they just dug themselves into a hole because they weren’t ready to reset after round 1 and ran out of gas. the scheduler was unfair to us because we were the only team that didn’t get more than a day off between games and series.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

FWIW I'm not a "they won't win another game" type.

But "they might never make the playoffs again" type? Yeah, I'm kinda becoming that.

 

[Clam Jensen]

FWIW I'm not a "they won't win another game" type.

But "they might never make the playoffs again" type? Yeah, I'm kinda becoming that.

Both sentiments are equally bananas.

 

[njdevil26]

If it wasn't obvious enough that moves need to be made...

Last 20 games

Tatar- 3 goals
Haula- 0 POINTS! (last point Nov 25, 27 games ago)
Bastian- 1 goal
Lazar- 1 goal
Dowling- 0 goals
MacDermid- 0 goals
Mercer- 4 goals
Palat- 5 goals
Meier- 2 goals
Bratt- 3 goals

Palat having the most goals on this list is super disturbing especially when the reason he has these goals just lost his shoulder.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

If it wasn't obvious enough that moves need to be made...

Last 20 games

Tatar- 3 goals
Haula- 0 POINTS! (last point Nov 25, 27 games ago)
Bastian- 1 goal
Lazar- 1 goal
Dowling- 0 goals
MacDermid- 0 goals
Mercer- 4 goals
Palat- 5 goals
Meier- 2 goals
Bratt- 3 goals

Palat having the most goals on this list is super disturbing especially when the reason he has these goals just lost his shoulder.

Haters will cry "bad luck" for some of these guys.

Real ones know that they just don't have finish and fire the puck wide more often than they get one on net. Especially Dougie.