Devils discussion (news, notes and speculation) - playoff edition

[HellOnIce]

damn what the hell happened to kovy? I didn't even see how he got banged up in game 3

what a nightmare

In the first, he went out for a test during a commercial break, wasn't extreme, but def something lower body and never came back.

 

[NJDevs26]

The big swing for a President and GM would be Pat Brisson. In the past there has been speculation on whether he would jump from agent side to management side. I don’t know if this would be a job he would make that leap for. But he was Marty’s agent when he squeezed that extra year out of Lou. And he is Jack, Luke and Quinn’s agent (on top of being Crosby and MacKinnon’s agent among other high profile players).

Wow didn't realize that, so he definitely has a lot of ties to the Devils past, present (and future I suppose). While I'm not sure ownership would go that far out of the box, can't dismiss it out of hand either, there have been agents in other sports who've made the leap - Bob Myers I think is one, a couple in the NBA really - but I'm still gunshy over Brodie Van ****stick's tenure with the Mets lol

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Steve Valiquette is a such a weirdo for that comment he made yesterday on Twitter, so glad Devils fans took him to the shed in the replies. As much as we despised Hank as a player for killing the Devils, him as an analyst has always given the Devils credit especially in the 2023 series win and even on TNT at points this year nationally.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

The big swing for a President and GM would be Pat Brisson. In the past there has been speculation on whether he would jump from agent side to management side. I don’t know if this would be a job he would make that leap for. But he was Marty’s agent when he squeezed that extra year out of Lou. And he is Jack, Luke and Quinn’s agent (on top of being Crosby and MacKinnon’s agent among other high profile players).

Before the whole Drury re-signing thing, I thought NYR would try to get him in some capacity as well. They traded for his kid in the Reilly Smith trade back to Vegas + he also represents Eichel I'm pretty sure who the Rags were coveting when he wanted out of Buffalo. I can see a team doing a McDavid esque thing with the Oilers where they bring him in soon to get a leg up on Eichel going there as a UFA when time comes.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Steve Valiquette is a such a weirdo for that comment he made yesterday on Twitter, so glad Devils fans took him to the shed in the replies. As much as we despised Hank as a player for killing the Devils, him as an analyst has always given the Devils credit especially in the 2023 series win and even on TNT at points this year nationally.

I hated Lundqvist for two reasons. 1, he dominated us for years and was the classic player that you hated but respected for how good he truly was.

2. He's the handsomest son of a bitch on the planet.

Meanwhile, Steve Valiquette wears Hank's jock to bed as a sleep mask.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I hated Lundqvist for two reasons. 1, he dominated us for years and was the classic player that you hated but respected for how good he truly was.

2. He's the handsomest son of a bitch on the planet.

Meanwhile, Steve Valiquette wears Hank's jock to bed as a sleep mask.

Only thing I hated for Hank as a player was when he flopped like Andersen did yesterday but it's a probably just a common goalie thing to bait penalties, even Marty did it sometimes too, but yeah I agree.

 

[NJDevs26]

I hated Lundqvist for two reasons. 1, he dominated us for years and was the classic player that you hated but respected for how good he truly was.

2. He's the handsomest son of a bitch on the planet.

Meanwhile, Steve Valiquette wears Hank's jock to bed as a sleep mask.

You're on a roll today between this and the 'almost throwing my beer stick at the TV' comment

 

[NJDevs26]

Only thing I hated for Hank as a player was when he flopped like Andersen did yesterday but it's a probably just a common goalie thing to bait penalties, even Marty did it sometimes too, but yeah I agree.

The only thing I didn't like was him taking a lap of honor at the Rock after beating us in '08...other than that he's generally been a class act in and post-career.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

The only thing I didn't like was him taking a lap of honor at the Rock after beating us in '08...other than that he's generally been a class act in and post-career.

I was gonna mention this too but 2012 made up for it and he consistently brings it up as his worst memory playing so it cancels out for me lol

 

[Better Call Sal]

You're on a roll today between this and 'almost throwing my beer stick at the TV' comment

Fun story about the beer stick. My buddy and I got in the arena early and tried to find a stand to get one. We found one upstairs where the line wasn't so long. We get there and he orders them for us. They put the sticks in a bag and pour the beers in separate cups for us. He asks if he's supposed to do it himself They vendors admit they were having trouble with them, I didn't hear why. Wouldn't be shocked that they had no idea how to fill it without mostly foaming it up. They said we could do it ourselves if we wanted. Like where, the bathroom? Lmao

So, I did not enjoy my beer stick during Game 3 and decided to pour one in for myself yesterday after we got the house in order from my son's birthday.

 

[njdevils1982]

To the surprise of no one.

Might as well give Casey a shot tomorrow. Anyone is better than giving Cholowski 8 minutes.

yep, my cousin vinny "well theres's a f***in surprise" was first thing i thought when i read the tweet

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Fun story about the beer stick. My buddy and I got in the arena early and tried to find a stand to get one. We found one upstairs where the line wasn't so long. We get there and he orders them for us. They put the sticks in a bag and pour the beers in separate cups for us. He asks if he's supposed to do it himself They vendors admit they were having trouble with them, I didn't hear why. Wouldn't be shocked that they had no idea how to fill it without mostly foaming it up. They said we could do it ourselves if we wanted. Like where, the bathroom? Lmao

So, I did not enjoy my beer stick during Game 3 and decided to pour one in for myself yesterday after we got the house in order from my son's birthday.

That's the one thing I hope they keep for the regular season, just don't have the beer sticks available for Flyers/Rangers games. So much stupidity can happen LMAO

 

[Devils Trap]

The teams lack of transparency wi th Luke is infuriating.

He had a procedure done already but are parading it out like hes day to day and possible to play lol

 

[Omar Little]

The teams lack of transparency wi th Luke is infuriating.

He had a procedure done already but are parading it out like hes day to day and possible to play lol

Huh? He had surgery?

 

[njdevils1982]

Inject Luke and Kova with enough cortisone to kill a puma. I don't give a shit anymore.

or maybe drinking the blood of a puma will magically heal them

 

[Devils Trap]

Huh? He had surgery?

Yes, like a week ago now lol (same specialist as Jack)

 

[Mgd31]

Yes, like a week ago now lol (same specialist as Jack)

What the f*** lol

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Luke being slumped with his shoulder was evident he broke it, they gave the kid probably the highest dosage of painkillers to get through that game 1.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Yes, like a week ago now lol (same specialist as Jack)

The Hughes family alone paying that specialists yearly wage

 

[guitarguyvic]

“So what if they’re the only ones on the whole team contributing any offense, they’re still the problem!!!!!!”

Saying the "core" is the problem is f***ing insane. They are showing a ton of heart, and fire.

The entire CAR game plan is to shut down our Top 6 and give our bottom 6 the easiest matchups yet they still get caved.

Timo, Jesper and Nico have been incredible - they are NOT the problem. If we had Jack this is a 2-2 series most likely.

More “The problem” responses. This isn’t how anyone is framing their opinions about the core, yet it’s constantly in the responses.

The teams lack of transparency wi th Luke is infuriating.

He had a procedure done already but are parading it out like hes day to day and possible to play lol

It’s a stupid hockey culture thing that needs to die like yesterday. Completely antiquated old boys garbage.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Jack and Luke need to spam face pulls during the offseason, Jesus Christ.

 

[Better Call Sal]

That's the one thing I hope they keep for the regular season, just don't have the beer sticks available for Flyers/Rangers games. So much stupidity can happen LMAO

Probably a better question for the GDT but I heard they weren't able to restock them in time for Game 4, anyone know if that's true? It's classic Devils to come up with something fun that fans would like with no notice, half-ass it, not train the vendors on how to pour it and make it far too limited for everyone to enjoy.

I think we had 5-6 people ask us in intermission where we got ours since ours were in bags. If someone offered me money for it, I probably would've gladly given it to them.

 

[Omar Little]

Yes, like a week ago now lol (same specialist as Jack)

Damn. What's the inside baseball on Dillon and Kovacevic?

 

[Edmonton East]

You guys doing backflips to defend the "analytics" team is wild. Far be it for me to be a Fitz defender, but I'll be damned if people wanna give that fraudulent arm chair stats squad a pass....nevermind comically sing their praises. They should be punted into the sun alongside Fitz as far as I'm concerned.

When "analytics" had a disproportionate say in this org, they spearheaded the mighty might defense of 5'10" soft, but solid in transition defensemen. They'd (team leadership) pretty much said as much (their approach) in interviews at the time. This is also corroborated by Fitz' literal public comments and actions regarding the defense for 3 offseasons now. Of course he's now overcorrected unfortunately, getting too many players with similar limitations/weaknesses.

Yet some of you think the issue is the "analytics" team not having enough say? The defense is the only thing that's notably improved in this organization over the past few years. And I got news for ya, at time of acquisition, there is no chance the analytics team was pushing for Bahl, Kovacevic, or Siegs objectively 3 of Fitz' best (maybe only) adds value for value wise.

It's wild I've gone from being an early (say, 2013ish) advocate of "advanced" stats in hockey to one of its biggest critics since about 2018. That isn't to say they aren't useful. Of course every team should have an analytics team. But the interpretation and/or application of said stats and how players compliment one another is what differentiates between a good analytics team vs one in name only. Then you have critical stuff that's beyond difficult to quantify in a spreadsheet like team identity, how personalities fit, lockerroom culture, etc. Team building is hard. If the Devs had a value add analytics team, they would have gotten outperformance out of some acquisitions by now. A 2+2 = 10 situation like every actual good Front Office pulls off occasionally. The Devs have gotten ZERO in 6 years that could be attributed in any way to the so called analytics team.

 

[Devils Trap]

Damn. What's the inside baseball on Dillon and Kovacevic?

No one has any idea about Kovy (which leads me t o believe it isnt THAT serious and like he could return)

Dillon is def done for the year at the very least