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

[JimEIV]

@JimEIV

Not sure why I am tagged?

If you mean that I am not happy with his goal production that is 100% true.

Yes I do believe Jesper Bratt only having 12 5v5 goals this year, 20 total is a major problem.

Jesper Bratt is tied for 9th in the league in scoring, he's 103rd in goal scoring according NHL.com
..Third page, 50 players per page.... that's a problem.


The problem gets compounded by Timo only having 13 this year too

That's simply is not enough goal production from our top 2 wingers

And I'm not asking for anything extraordinary... look how far off Bratt is from his previous years in 5v5 goals


2022 - 21 5v5 goals
2023 - 20
2024 - 16
2025 - 12

And Timo too.

Same for Timo
2022 - 20 5v5 goals
2023 - 22
2024 - 15
2025 - 13

This is a major reason why we 16th in the league in GoalsFor per game and have a very mediocre offense.

 

[NJDevs26]

The Bratt not scoring enough goals meme reminds me of the breathless ‘we have to trade him (and Severson) for Laine!’ posts because we needed a goal scorer lol

 

[Camille the Eel]

I think the Bratt statistic is revealing however read in context. My thought is that we have gone to a very conservative defense first system this year under Keefe and that this is responsible for the systemic lack of 5 on 5 scoring. That and a weak roster in the bottom 6.

On the other hand, our defensive orientation has enabled us to continue to play 500 hockey without both Jack any Hamilton. We’ve been able to stay in most games even when we lose. We aren’t getting pushed around any more; are likely to make the playoffs; and should stay in any playoff series because of the above.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Not this again…

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

The Bratt not scoring enough goals meme reminds me of the breathless ‘we have to trade him (and Severson) for Laine!’ posts because we needed a goal scorer lol

Would you rather have

Marc Savard (20 goals - 75 assists)
or
Simon Gagne (40 goals - 30 assists)

?

(rounded out totals from 2006-2007. I picked Savard cause Bratt's stat line made me think of him.)

 

[Bleedred]

Would you rather have

Marc Savard (20 goals - 75 assists)
or
Simon Gagne (40 goals - 30 assists)

?

(rounded out totals from 2006-2007. I picked Savard cause Bratt's stat line made me think of him.)

Gagne! Because he would score fewer goals against Marty!

Although you could probably shave off at least 5-6 goals from his total because he wouldn’t be able to score on Marty, if he can’t make those goals up elsewhere!

 

[Whaddagoal]

I think the Bratt statistic is revealing however read in context. My thought is that we have gone to a very conservative defense first system this year under Keefe and that this is responsible for the systemic lack of 5 on 5 scoring. That and a weak roster in the bottom 6.

On the other hand, our defensive orientation has enabled us to continue to play 500 hockey without both Jack any Hamilton. We’ve been able to stay in most games even when we lose. We aren’t getting pushed around any more; are likely to make the playoffs; and should stay in any playoff series because of the above.

Amazing right, that we are able to hang in there missing a ton of our good guys (Jack, Dougie, Sieges). It is a testament to Keefe's system which kinda neutered our offense this season as it went along, but maybe that was needed.

 

[JimEIV]

The Bratt not scoring enough goals meme reminds me of the breathless ‘we have to trade him (and Severson) for Laine!’ posts because we needed a goal scorer lol

Meme? I just showed you those two players are currently 18 goals off their 4 year highs....and well below their previous 3 year average and it's a meme?

Bratt's previous 3 year average is 19 5v5 goals...he has 12 today.

Timo's previous 3 year average is also 19 5v5 goals....he has 13 today.

-13 from the both of them...you add 13 goals to this team from those 2 players and offense goes 16th to 10th in the league....If they both were near or around their highs, we would be 7th in offense as opposed to 16th in league today (Goals per game).

That's a meme? This is trivial?

 

[JimEIV]

Another interesting tidbit

There are 60 players in the league with 15 or more 5v5 goals.

78 with 14 or more...

Timo is currently the 88th player in the league in 5v5 goals with 13

Jesper is currently 96th in 5v5 goals with 12.

And Paul freaking Cotter is our best winger with 14 5v5 goals ranking him 78th.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Never have I ever seen someone criticize a player who will approach 100 points because they are a few 5 on 5 goals off their past pace.

What an absolutely ridiculous and wild thing to focus on. Good grief.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Another interesting tidbit

There are 60 players in the league with 15 or more 5v5 goals.

78 with 14 or more...

Timo is currently the 88th player in the league in 5v5 goals with 13

Jesper is currently 96th in 5v5 goals with 12.

And Paul freaking Cotter is our best winger with 14 5v5 goals ranking him 78th.

So should we play Cotter in the top 6 more ?

Bratt is a stud. I dont care really what his 5v5 goal scoring rate is too much because he is more of a playmaker and a really really good one at that. He can play with just about any other forward on his line as well.

 

[Davegarri]

I would like to see Bratt shoot a bit more. His SOG is down 30% from last year.

Meier is shooting everything but can't hit the broad side of a barn this year. 211 SOG with 463 SA.

 

[NJDevils17]

Bratt has a good shot but is so pass-first that I think his lack of goal scoring is more annoying than anything.

I’m just not gonna complain about a sub-$8M player who’s posted 16pts in 11 games since Hughes has gone down and is pacing for 95.

He’s a $10.5M+ player on the open market and he’s significantly outperforming his deal.

This team needs another top six winger but that’s not really Bratt’s problem.

 

[NJDevs26]

Would you rather have

Marc Savard (20 goals - 75 assists)
or
Simon Gagne (40 goals - 30 assists)

?

(rounded out totals from 2006-2007. I picked Savard cause Bratt's stat line made me think of him.)

With the lack of scorers on this team Savard might turn into a 20-45 player

Then again we'd probably also turn Gagne into a streaky 25-30 player like Timo.

 

[JimEIV]

So should we play Cotter in the top 6 more ?

Bratt is a stud. I dont care really what his 5v5 goal scoring rate is too much because he is more of a playmaker and a really really good one at that. He can play with just about any other forward on his line as well.

Bratt is excellent player. But his goal scoring is off this season...and Timo hasnt been good in the last two years.

Goal scoring is a problem for this team. And I'm of the opinion that those two players should be doing more.

 

[JimEIV]

Timo had 17 5v5 goals in 57 games for San Jose before he got here.

He had 15 in 69 games last year for us

He has 13 in 72 games so far this year


This is crap.

 

[Cheddabombs]

I don't know why there's this discourse around goal scoring, that's what we have Holtz for!

 

[JimEIV]

I don't know why there's this discourse around goal scoring, that's what we have Holtz for!

The Holtz bust is painful right now. That pick should be a significant contributor to this team today.

Edit: but Cotter is doing well.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Never have I ever seen someone criticize a player who will approach 100 points because they are a few 5 on 5 goals off their past pace.

What an absolutely ridiculous and wild thing to focus on. Good grief.

I didn’t read it as criticism. Bratt is one or the league’s top wings and the comparison that I’d think most just would be to Mitch Marner. And Jesper is doing it without the same quality of scorers around him as Marner.

Free associating but to my subjective observation our power play has actually gotten better since Jack Hughes and Hamilton went down and we moved Luke and Meier onto it. Games that we have won in the last month have generally been ones where the power play scored. Our system keeps it close and when the special teams win, we win.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I didn’t read it as criticism. Bratt is one or the league’s top wings and the comparison that I’d think most just would be to Mitch Marner. And Jesper is doing it without the same quality of scorers around him as Marner.

Free associating but to my subjective observation our power play has actually gotten better since Jack Hughes and Hamilton went down and we moved Luke and Meier onto it. Games that we have won in the last month have generally been ones where the power play scored. Our system keeps it close and when the special teams win, we win.

It is 100% criticism. This is what Jim does.

 

[thebeernerd]

Never have I ever seen someone criticize a player who will approach 100 points because they are a few 5 on 5 goals off their past pace.

What an absolutely ridiculous and wild thing to focus on. Good grief.

We're not far removed from people saying Hischier is overrated in spite of breaking all expectations people had of him during his draft profile.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Always happy to see a Rafalski mention of any kind.

 

[Billdo]

The Holtz bust is painful right now. That pick should be a significant contributor to this team today.

Edit: but Cotter is doing well.

Imagine having Marco Rossi or Perfetti as our 3C right now...

 

[JimEIV]

Imagine having Marco Rossi or Perfetti as our 3C right now...

Lots of players from that first round I would like about now...Lundell or Jarvis...a lot of people talked about Askarov pre draft also.

That was a rough pick for us.

 

[britdevil]

Always happy to see a Rafalski mention of any kind.

Same.

Also crazy that Dougie hasn't managed this. Kinda sad now. I miss Dougie.