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

[guitarguyvic]

Lines 1 2 and 4 make sense to me

Line 3, who knows


I like Cotter, but hes been bad bad lately. Defensively atrocious too

Even inserting Jack that’s a shit lineup. Jesus H Christ.

At least Keefe figured out that he shouldn’t have all three of the best play drivers on the same line.

 

[JimEIV]

Bratt has been a point per game player the last two years. Certainly underwhelming the last two months, as has the entire team, but he's not the problem. I'll give you Meier.

He's a ballerina.

 

[NjDevsRR]

I love Bratt, obviously an amazing player that we are lucky to have. But his goals rates always decreased late in seasons

Goal Per Game Rates and +/- by Month:

Oct .35 +11
Nov .28 +1
Dec .25 -2
Jan .29 +4
Feb .29 0
Mar .20 -26 (!!!)
Apr .25 0

 

[JimEIV]

Twinkletoes McAvoidcontact

 

[Normal Devil]

I love Bratt, obviously an amazing player that we are lucky to have. But his goals rates always decreased late in seasons

Goal Per Game Rates by Month:

Oct .35
Nov .28
Dec .25
Jan .29
Feb .29
Mar .20
Apr .25

I'm hoping that once he finds a rhythm with Nico he'll fire up some goal scoring. You gotta shoot to score, and I think he needs to ramp up the shots.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Twinkletoes McAvoidcontact

You are going too far now, Bratt engages on the boards

 

[VoidCreature]

Bratt is a playmaker, and an elite one at that. The problem is we don’t have any pure snipers.

 

[Mgd31]

I am not going to hate too much on the forward who has played 228 straight games and recorded 226 points in them, but yea we need you more than ever here, Bratter

 

[JimEIV]

You are going too far now, Bratt engages on the boards

All players will dig a puck loose. Requires no fortitude to do that.

 

[Mgd31]

Bratt is a playmaker, and an elite one at that. The problem is we don’t have any pure snipers.

Well now we do. Daniel Sprong

 

[NjDevsRR]

Bratt has 74 registered hits

Mercer has 30 for comparison

 

[guitarguyvic]

There’s nothing wrong with having a guy like Bratt on your roster. A really good player, produces at a point per game, great play driver.

The problem is that he’s not a natural goal scorer and he’s a perimeter pass first player. He’s not the kind of player that’s gonna carry a team on his back.

Nico isn’t that guy either on offense, because when the going gets tough he’s also saddled with shutting down the opposition. I think he’s stepped up more consistently when needed than Bratt has nonetheless.

Meier is definitely not a guy that can carry a team when it matters either.

We know Jack can be that guy but if his fragility and injury issues continue then that makes him unreliable as well.

Mercer can no longer be considered a core piece. If they hang onto him he could serve as a quality third line role player. But we have so many other needs and he’s one of the few pieces we have that can be leveraged.

We have no one reliable who can carry this team and no natural goal scorers at all.

The bottom six is an absolute black hole.

This is the reality of what we are facing going forward. It’s f***ing ugly.

 

[Hisch13r]

The shooting did fall off. But yeah, Luke turned from the best D in the league to one of the worst, and Haula turned into complete garbage when he returned from injury. Some other stuff happened but those are the two biggest things, imo.



L-L is at least something that happens regularly.

The shooting was already really bad though. The shooting going from bad to worse isn’t why they went from one of best xG teams to one of the worst. The other stuff yeah. Especially Luke. I don’t give a shit about this team anymore to be down in the weeds on the numbers and know what it’s looked like for him recently but I remember looking like 6 weeks ago and we went as Luke went. He was mid to start when he came back and so was the team. Then he ascended to god mode and so did the team. Then he was shit after Christmas and so was the team.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Jesper Bratt doesn’t even make 8 million dollars per year. Can’t really get better production for that kind of money.

 

[HersheyBob27]

Good

f*** Cotter

I’m glad Keefe (appears to be) scratching him. I’m sick of him. At least he’s still here for dirt cheap next year. I’d probably not qualify him if he was actually due a raise.

But honestly, I’d rather see Haula scratched over Cotter. Maybe that’ll be the next move.

Scoring some goals early left cotter thinking he was ovechkin. He will be lucky to crack 15 goals. And he is horrible at filling a 4th line role that keefe demands

 

[Hisch13r]

Bratt has 74 registered hits

Mercer has 30 for comparison

Never forget

 

[NjDevsRR]

Never forget

The vibes difference between now and December is depressing

 

[HersheyBob27]

Bratt has 74 registered hits

Mercer has 30 for comparison

Mercer 30 accidental collision

 

[JimEIV]

Timo Meier has 36 Even Strength goals since he arrived March 5th 2023

Dawson Mercer has 33 Even Strength goals since March 5th 2023 playing mostly in that black hole of the bottom 6.

The narratives are mostly bullshit to protect the shitty core

 

[Hisch13r]

The vibes difference between now and December is depressing

View attachment 989876

The lack of finish, 5v5 scoring, and depth still annoyed the every living shit out of me then but shit at least they were still really good

 

[JimEIV]

Lot easier to say that the 23 year old kid in the bottom 6 sucks vs admit that the Timo trade and subsequent contract has been a total unmitigated disaster.

 

[NjDevsRR]

I think Mercer is FINE. He does produce a bit. If we had two better centers in the bottom 6 and one added top 6 winger I think the complaints on everyone from Bratt to Timo to Mercer goes away

Relying on this seasons version of Haula and Lazar to center the bottom 6 while having the Palats of the world on the top 6 is hurting them all

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Go off king

View attachment 989852

Call me weird, but I am actually excited to see Glass in. Hes a solid bottom 6 C and should be ahead of this seasons version of Haula and Lazar.

Also, looking forward to see if Sprong has anything left in the tank. He will be playing for his NHL career.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Lot easier to say that the 23 year old kid in the bottom 6 sucks vs admit that the Timo trade and subsequent contract has been a total unmitigated disaster.

He’a just been unlucky to have a crappy shooting percentage for two years while blindly flinging shots from the perimeter 20 feet away. Lol

 

[HughesCorporation]

OK - Fitz sucks and that ship has sailed so what are the guys going to do the rest of the year? Not the terrible guys like Haula, the guys who we think are the core of the team, Nico, Bratt and Timo.

Love 'em all but they need to just take over now. Nico was riding shotgun when Hall lead us to the playoffs, single handedly in 17-18. He should know what it takes from here on out.

It's on you guys now. Let's see what you're made of.

season starts this week