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

[longislanddevil]

In regards to this Cozens talk:

My brother has been an avid Sabres fan for nearly 25 years. Cozens has been a maddening player for them. He has regressed significantly this year. This is not a player I would feel comfortable with being locked in long term at 7m. There is sense of regret the organization has in handing out that contract based on projection of what they thought he’d become (who knows, maybe he can still be that player). He’s basically the Sabres equivalent to Mercer, or slightly better, that makes 3m more than Dawson and has a much longer term. I trust my brother immensely as he’s an incredibly smart fan. It’s a hard no for me.

 

[Winnie the Pooh]

Me: Here's guys that Fitz drafted.
You guys: That one doesn't count for arbitrary reasons.

Got it.

The Nemec hate is actually hilarious

In regards to this Cozens talk:

My brother has been an avid Sabres fan for nearly 25 years. Cozens has been a maddening player for them. He has regressed significantly this year. This is not a player I would feel comfortable with being locked in long term at 7m. There is sense of regret the organization has in handing out that contract based on projection of what they thought he’d become (who knows, maybe he can still be that player). He’s basically the Sabres equivalent to Mercer, or slightly better, that makes 3m more than Dawson and has a much longer term. I trust my brother immensely as he’s an incredibly smart fan. It’s a hard no for me.

Everyone whos left Buffalo has flourished

 

[None Shall Pass]

It’s hardly arbitrary to grade a #2 overall on a little bit more of a curve than a random third rounder. Generally you only get blamed if those picks bust and not much credit unless they turn into actual franchise players.

My only "grades" were: "Is this guy in the NHL?" - literally nothing else in my post says otherwise. You guys are really, really, really inventing words in my post that weren't there and I simply cannot understand why. I am baffled.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Then by that logic, Pavel Zacha was a good pick since he broke the NHL before most of those 2015 picks did despite being far worse than every single one in the top 10 lmao. That's not how draft critiquing works.

 

[Winnie the Pooh]

My only "grades" were: "Is this guy in the NHL?" - literally nothing else in my post says otherwise. You guys are really, really, really inventing words in my post that weren't there and I simply cannot understand why. I am baffled.

Because this fanbase is overly emotional right now and Nemec is our biggest asset to move for help; therefore he sucks but other teams still think hes incredible and will pay a lot for him

Reality is Nemec is perfectly on track to be a top pair dman for us and he wont be moved just to satisfy the childish impatience being seen all around Jersey the last two months

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I wouldn't hate Pageau, he's older but still effective defensively. Would probably be cheaper than Nelson and has one year left. Takes the defensive/faceoff pressure off Hischier and lets us use him more offensively. Let him play the Zajac role.

Something like Haula + our other 2nd for Pageau would only ad 1.85M in salary for next year, not a problem for an upgrade, and still keeps room this year to add a scoring winger if they want.

Palmieri and Pageau as a package would be highly ironic considering we traded them Palms + Zajac 4-5 years ago. Similar circumstances surrounding both teams from then and now

 

[Winnie the Pooh]

Then by that logic, Pavel Zacha was a good pick since he broke the NHL before most of those 2015 picks did despite being far worse than every single one in the top 10 lmao. That's not how draft critiquing works.

Youre critiquing someone who didnt ask for it nor care; this is what you lot are not understanding.

Youre simply being negative about a player because their name was brought up; like as if nobody can discuss Nemec anymore without having to explain that he was a bad pick

That poster made a simple comment about who was drafted and everyone felt the need to remind them Nemec sucks (according to them). Something something 'if you dont have anything nice to say...'

 

[Edmonton East]

I love all this talk about needing to make the playoffs for the locker room. Asset management/value doesn't matter. Them having no shot to actually contend doesn't matter. We need the players to get the playoff experience!!! They deserve it!!

It's like some folks weren't around for the 2017-2018 season. How'd the team do after gutting it out and impressively making the playoffs (they actually deserved adds, to be clear)? Oh, they proceeded to finish bottom 3 the next season. And 6th from the bottom the season after that. WOOHOOO!!! That playoff trip really turned this team around!

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Because this fanbase is overly emotional right now and Nemec is our biggest asset to move for help; therefore he sucks but other teams still think hes incredible and will pay a lot for him

Reality is Nemec is perfectly on track to be a top pair dman for us and he wont be moved just to satisfy the childish impatience being seen all around Jersey the last two months

No, it's just that the poster's logic is flawed. Fitz doesn't deserve credit for a top 2 pick in terms of his drafting acumen and what he's brought in. That pick should be a hit if you're a GM worth anything. You could also argue that Cooley should've been the pick but I digress.

I, for the record, said I want to keep Nemec but Fitz is clearly a GM feeling the pressure with this team being top 3 at the Christmas break to possibly missing and some of it can be traced to his inactiveness during the year to get guys in when problems were evident v waiting last second.

I love all this talk about needing to make the playoffs for the locker room. Asset management/value doesn't matter. Them having no shot to actually contend doesn't matter. We need the players to get the playoff experience!!! They deserve it!!

It's like some folks weren't around for the 2017-2018 season. How'd the team do after gutting it out and impressively making the playoffs (they actually deserved adds, to be clear)? Oh, they proceeded to finish bottom 3 the next season. And 6th from the bottom the season after that. WOOHOOO!!! That playoff trip really turned this team around!

It was still the right move to add that 17-18 roster because of what Taylor Hall was doing. At the time, we still wanted to re-sign him long term and it's just revisionist history to say they shouldn't have done anything.

 

[NJDevs26]

I personally don’t give a damn about what the room thinks because they’ve been sputtering around for two months and had plenty of chances to put the playoff talk to bed…but let’s be honest if anyone SHOULD know about how the dynamics of deadline deals work with a locker room, it’s a GM with over 1000 games played in the NHL

 

[Devils Trap]

I love all this talk about needing to make the playoffs for the locker room. Asset management/value doesn't matter. Them having no shot to actually contend doesn't matter. We need the players to get the playoff experience!!! They deserve it!!

It's like some folks weren't around for the 2017-2018 season. How'd the team do after gutting it out and impressively making the playoffs (they actually deserved adds, to be clear)? Oh, they proceeded to finish bottom 3 the next season. And 6th from the bottom the season after that. WOOHOOO!!! That playoff trip really turned this team around!

I mean if you think this team is anywhere close to the same spot as the 2018 team, there just is no argument to have here

 

[Zacha37]

For whatever reason I have a hunch that we’re seriously looking into Pettersson. All this LTIR space, is a center who can play a strong two way game, and we can definitely fit him in with the right offseason moves (buyout Palat, etc.).

 

[Edmonton East]

In regards to this Cozens talk:

My brother has been an avid Sabres fan for nearly 25 years. Cozens has been a maddening player for them. He has regressed significantly this year. This is not a player I would feel comfortable with being locked in long term at 7m. There is sense of regret the organization has in handing out that contract based on projection of what they thought he’d become (who knows, maybe he can still be that player). He’s basically the Sabres equivalent to Mercer, or slightly better, that makes 3m more than Dawson and has a much longer term. I trust my brother immensely as he’s an incredibly smart fan. It’s a hard no for me.

Yea well everyone said the same thing about Dubois to the Caps. How's that working out? Devs don't have a ton of moveable pieces. They can't afford a picture perfect 2C. They can afford to take a swing on a player with risk and hope he can rebound. I'm not sure I want Cozens myself; just pointing out his type of situation is realistically the only move they will be able to make for a POTENTIAL impact player.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I personally don’t give a damn about what the room thinks because they’ve been sputtering around for two months and had plenty of chances to put the playoff talk to bed…but let’s be honest if anyone SHOULD know about how the dynamics of deadline deals work with a locker room, it’s a GM with over 1000 games played in the NHL

The core, for the most part, has played fine. It's the bottom 6 and other areas that have costed us games consistently this year.

 

[Edmonton East]

I mean if you think this team is anywhere close to the same spot as the 2018 team, there just is no argument to have here

Yup, that's totally what I said. For sure, that was def the point. A+ comprehension.

 

[None Shall Pass]

Then by that logic, Pavel Zacha was a good pick since he broke the NHL before most of those 2015 picks did despite being far worse than every single one in the top 10 lmao. That's not how draft critiquing works.

I never even said "good". It literally says, in my post:

=Playing or will play in the NHL for some indeterminate amount of games

 

[Winnie the Pooh]

No, it's just that the poster's logic is flawed. Fitz doesn't deserve credit for a top 2 pick in terms of his drafting acumen and what he's brought in. That pick should be a hit if you're a GM worth anything. You could also argue that Cooley should've been the pick but I digress.

I, for the record, said I want to keep Nemec but Fitz is clearly a GM feeling the pressure with this team being top 3 at the Christmas break to possibly missing and some of it can be traced to his inactiveness during the year to get guys in when problems were evident v waiting last second.

Once again, you (and others) are suggesting Nemec wasnt a good pick... do yall have a crystal ball? The kid is freshly f***ing 21 years old and some are acting like they know his entire career's future already

 

[AfroThunder396]

I love all this talk about needing to make the playoffs for the locker room. Asset management/value doesn't matter. Them having no shot to actually contend doesn't matter. We need the players to get the playoff experience!!! They deserve it!!

It's like some folks weren't around for the 2017-2018 season. How'd the team do after gutting it out and impressively making the playoffs (they actually deserved adds, to be clear)? Oh, they proceeded to finish bottom 3 the next season. And 6th from the bottom the season after that. WOOHOOO!!! That playoff trip really turned this team around!

If you want good asset management and to win trades then go ahead and hire Ray Shero back.

 

[Devils Trap]

Yup, that's totally what I said. For sure, that was def the point. A+ comprehension.

Your entire argument was that they added at the deadline and thats why they finished bottom 5 the next year....

 

[Edmonton East]

Your entire argument was that they added at the deadline and thats why they finished bottom 5 the next year....

Yikes.

 

[NJDevs26]

Your entire argument was that they added at the deadline and thats why they finished bottom 5 the next year....

No the argument as it were is that making the playoffs had no carryover or relevance to the next season…which with hindsight it didn’t, mainly cause Hall got hurt early and Shero did squadoosh about the goaltending which predictably turned back into a pumpkin the next year.

 

[Winnie the Pooh]

No the argument as it were is that it had no relevance to the next season…which with hindsight it didn’t cause Hall got hurt early and Shero did squadoosh about the goaltending which predictably turned back into a pumpkin the next year.

That would be an astute observation... if the teams were remotely comparable, which was @Devils Trap point

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Adding Maroon and Grabner were fine that year, you couldn't just stand pat when Hall was doing what he was doing that year + impending extension. Hall would've been gone ASAP if they wasted his best year and management thought they'd be far away as is. It was a catch 22.

If you want to put the relevance towards this year, Nico isn't that far away from UFA. If he gets the idea that management doesn't believe in this core without Jack, he'll walk too. That's why they still have to show this core in some fashion that they believe in them by 3 PM tomorrow as dumb as it sounds realistically.

 

[Devils Trap]

No the argument as it were is that making the playoffs had no carryover or relevance to the next season…which with hindsight it didn’t, mainly cause Hall got hurt early and Shero did squadoosh about the goaltending which predictably turned back into a pumpkin the next year.

Yea but again the team isnt anywhere in the same place. That team was fun but had zero right to be in the playoffs bar an MVP run by Taylor Hall.

So of course it didnt have no carry over because we were to early in our rebuild anyway. Playoff experience for this group is far more valuable, especially in turning the culture of the organization around.

We can agree that the "core" of this team is about what it will be going forward, so of course we want them to experience playoff games

 

[Winnie the Pooh]

Also, funnily enough, spending assets to go in a bit in 17-18 had no effect on the future of the team; something im seeing parroted online last week