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

[theoptimist]

He'd trade Nemec for a third line rental and Casey for a 30+ year old depth forward.

Spot on; ROR is probably a Devil with Lou and it's likely Casey he trades. I think he holds onto Nemec.

 

[longislanddevil]

I'll say it again, Fitzgerald should have been active 2 months ago networking GMs for a fair straight up trade to spark chemistry alone. Unless you're contending for the SC what good is it to compromise the future of the organization for an overpriced UFA?

You are spot on, my friend.

Between the goalie debacle last season and sitting on his hands yet again, a pattern has been established. There is zero sense of urgency. It’s as if he has an unwavering belief that the team he assembled is going to turn it around. I’ll stop short of calling him stubborn but with the exception of trading for Meier, he’s way too passive in-season. A good GM does not sit idly by as long as he does when a glaring need becomes obvious. I know it takes a dance partner to make a trade but do SOMETHING. I say all of this as a Fitzgerald truther who was pleased with his overall body of work. However, the last season and 3/4 season has swung the pendulum and I don’t like what I see at all.

EDIT- We were playing well prior to the New Year so two months may not be too fair but certainly the last month is. Even prior to 2025, with the exception of Noesen and Cotter to a lesser degree, we still weren’t getting much secondary scoring.

 

[NJDevs26]

The Jack injury wouldn't be as crippling if A) they had more than one NHL center on the roster and B) Timo was actually scoring like the guy we traded for

 

[Clam Jensen]

Not so much at this point...there's a world where we find out Jack's out for the rest of the regular season and even with him they could have easily lost the next two games with the pack already coming close to catching us.

He said “we’re never making the playoffs again” which is crazy.

 

[fire Fitzgerald]

Tom, I know you're reading this thread.

 

[NJDevs26]

He said “we’re never making the playoffs again” which is crazy.

Well yeah that's a bit much...but they might not make it again with this GM if they crash out this year. Fitz's podcast appearances are drying up again, I wonder why?

 

[Clam Jensen]

Well yeah that's a bit much...but they might not make it again with this GM if they crash out this year.

If they don’t address the bottom 6 either at the TDL or offseason, it’ll be dicey.

 

[Devs3cups]

If they don’t address the bottom 6 either at the TDL or offseason, it’ll be dicey.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the bottom 6 will be worked on in the offseason.

 

[Cheddabombs]

There’s no doubt in my mind that the bottom 6 will be worked on in the offseason.

I don't doubt this either. But Fitz already tried to work on the bottom 6 and it's still shit

He needs to watch a few Gordon Ramsay videos before he tries cooking again

 

[MachoDiablo]

How we feelin' today, party people?

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Team is undoubtedly off today in the middle of 3 in 4, so we won't hear anything until tomorrow at the earliest lol

gonna be a fun day in here!

 

[guitarguyvic]

The Jack injury wouldn't be as crippling if A) they had more than one NHL center on the roster and B) Timo was actually scoring like the guy we traded for

Let’s not forget that another core piece in Bratt has scored all of 3 times in the last 20 games.

I’ve said it before…this core isn’t reliable.

The last time this team was making the playoffs regularly, the best forwards who were part of the core were never this unreliable for stretches this long. Guys like Elias, Parise, Kovy…shit even Langs and Zajac…in their primes they were not going 20 games at a time without being able to pot more than a scrub fourth liner.

They also didn’t miss 10-20 games every friggin year due to injury.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Let’s not forget that another core piece in Bratt has scored all of 3 times in the last 20 games.

I’ve said it before…this core isn’t reliable.

The last time this team was making the playoffs regularly, the best forwards who were part of the core were never this unreliable for stretches this long. Guys like Elias, Parise, Kovy…shit even Langs and Zajac…in their primes they were not going 20 games at a time without being able to pot more than a scrub fourth liner.

Bratt has 21 pts in the last 20 games, including a streak of 10 games in a row.

Why are you yapping like this guy is scoring like a 4th liner? Good god man.

Travis Zajac in 11-12 had a 15 game stretch where he put up 2 goals and 6 pts. Travis Zajac 2011-12 Game Log | Hockey-Reference.com

Zach Parise in 11-12 had a 15 game stretch where he had 7 points in 15 games. Zach Parise 2011-12 Game Log | Hockey-Reference.com

That is just with a quick search. These things are easily looked up. Why do you keep just saying them as if they are factual?

 

[Triumph]

Jesus man, who cares what the spreadsheet would say? This has been a .500 team with Jack for two f***ing months, you think it’s some huge stretch that they could go 9-11 without him??? I refuse to believe that you are this delusional.

I do think it's a pretty big stretch, yeah. I don't think Meier and Bratt continue to score at those rates and I think there'll be help coming.

To say scoring has never been a problem until this year is ignoring context, per usual. This core of this team, sans perhaps Nico, has never stepped up when Jack is out with injury. They aren’t THE problem but at one point do we acknowledge they have flaws? This might be fine if our forward depth was outstanding, but clearly Fitz has fumbled the ball there badly.

It's not ignoring context, it's just the reality. You deal in absolutes and vagaries. I deal in what actually happened.

The Devils scored 62 goals in the 20+ games Jack missed last season, counting the game against St. Louis where he only played 4 minutes of the game. That seems like a perfectly reasonable offense to me - extrapolating that to a full season, it would've ranked between 23rd and 24th, but of course the Devils didn't win any shootouts in that time so it's probably closer to 21st or 22nd.

In 2021-22, the Devils scored 98 goals in 33 games without Hughes, this is a middle of the pack offense.

Basically they haven't fallen apart, but the thing is that those teams could not survive at all without scoring, they had meh defense and bad goaltending.

This team isn’t gonna contend for a cup with zero natural goal scorers in the top six and just “ok” depth. And if nothing changes they will always be a Jack Hughes injury away from possibly missing the playoffs altogether. And it seems Jack is destined to miss a quarter of the season every f***ing year. So please, don’t tell me that there isn’t anything to be addressed with this core, IN ADDITION to the horrendous depth.

They do need to address something, absolutely. Mercer cannot go on the way he has - they either have to trade him or he has to figure things out. Palat has to be dealt with next season, as does Haula - neither player should be here.

The idea that they have 0 natural goal scorers is preposterous but go off. Somehow this team with no depth and no natural goal scorers is middle of the pack in offense. Must be the luckiest offense in the league.

 

[BostonDevil]

There’s no doubt in my mind that the bottom 6 will be worked on in the offseason.

More big, slow, talentless guys with no offensive ability if the same guy is in charge

 

[Better Call Sal]

Let’s not forget that another core piece in Bratt has scored all of 3 times in the last 20 games.

Bratt has 4 goals in his last 33 games, but also has 27 assists. He's nearly a point per game in that stretch.

Say what we want about his goal production, but he is far down the list of anyone I'm pointing the finger at. I would rather point the finger at Keefe for not separating him and Jack to spread the wealth when the rest of the team has struggled to produce. They're fantastic together, I know, but they both do a lot of things similarly that could kickstart some of the other guys on the team.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Bratt has 21 pts in the last 20 games, including a streak of 10 games in a row.

Why are you yapping like this guy is scoring like a 4th liner? Good god man.

Racking up assists is obviously better than doing nothing, but this team is not scoring enough. You don’t think it’s an issue that the player who’s supposed to be the second best forward who on the team has only scored 3 goals across a quarter of a season???

 

[NJDevs26]

I’m not that down on Bratt but he clearly isn’t a guy who can carry a team. A very good player, but has to be the guy riding shotgun, he doesn’t actually put it in the net enough himself to carry the team, especially without the guy on the end of most of the assists.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Racking up assists is obviously better than doing nothing, but this team is not scoring enough. You don’t think it’s an issue that the player who’s supposed to be the second best forward who on the team has only scored 3 goals across a quarter of a season???

assists lead to goals so no I dont care if he has 50 goals or 50 assists.

 

[guitarguyvic]

assists lead to goals so no I dont care if he has 50 goals or 50 assists.

That’s not the point though. I like Bratt, he’s a great player. But he’s emblematic of one of this team’s many problems. We are mediocre at scoring, and have a whole lot of play makers but no snipers.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I wouldn't be shocked if we see a deal go down today. Fitz might feel pressured to finally commit to something if the prognosis on Jack is not good.

Has Donato actually been playing center for Chicago? Or has he been a winger? He'd be the guy I'd have my sights set on.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

That’s not the point though. I like Bratt, he’s a great player. But he’s emblematic of one of this team’s many problems. We are mediocre at scoring, and have a whole lot of play makers but no snipers.

how many "snipers" do you think good teams actually have?

 

[BostonDevil]

That’s not the point though. I like Bratt, he’s a great player. But he’s emblematic of one of this team’s many problems. We are mediocre at scoring, and have a whole lot of play makers but no snipers.

YES!! They've actually been saved by Jack, dare I say, beefing up on his shot.

That wasn't part of his game and by adding it, and ability to play in all situations, masked so many roster deficiencies that Fitz has failed to address.

Remember the days when Haula had to play every defensive situation and Jack was such a liability? Now Jack plays PK rendering Haula even more useless yet Fitz loads up on Haula-type players.

We drafted Holtz so he could shoot for Jack.

Now that the kid rounded his game, there is so much less need to fill his holes but more need to pivot and fill real holes so when he goes down, you aren't as screwed.

That being said, you can't replace a point-per-game player but having forwards who can't score AT ALL, doesn't help.

how many "snipers" do you think good teams actually have?

Good teams? One

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I hope Fitz doesn't panic again. There is no replacing Jack. I hope he sticks to plugging the holes that existed before Jack went down with good, long term solutions.

 

[SansaStark]

It’s not that the season ending totals for overall goals have been the issue. It’s the timely scoring, the stepping up in big moments in a big game that has consistently been an issue with this core. Their lack of finishing has always been an issue in that sense. Always with the xGF and never the GF.

Either way this injury is better for the long term.

This core wasn’t it. Not without some insane depth that most teams rarely have. Even a relatively healthy Jack & Nico would never have been enough to overcome to better teams.

Keep Nemec & Casey. Trade Kovy. Maybe markstrom too.

we need to find another elite 1C. We never should go into another season relying on Jack to be the driver, 1C of this team.