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

[Zippy316]

Say if Gritsyuk has a good camp, where do we believe he will start? I think middle 6 is obvious and a lot will depend who the 3rd line center is. As I said, I would love to get Schenn.

All indications are that Schenn has fallen off big time and that contract is going to age terribly.

I suppose I could get behind it if Dougie went the other way as a re-allocation of his 9 million to Schenn’s 6.5 million at center which is a bigger need for this team. But that would only be if you can’t get better value for Dougie.

Maybe Hamilton for Schenn + Leddy or something similar, if Leddy is still serviceable as 3LD.

 

[Bcap88]

Those are just facts.

Yea same facts as you saying Mercer spent most his time at even strength with Haula and Palat

When in fact he spent most of his 5 on 5
time with hischier and Meier

But go off

 

[devilsblood]

Jesper Bratt had 4 more 5v5 goals than Erik Haula this season....one more than Mercer for a whopping 12. Timo was right there with Bratt until the middle of March...but he was M.I.A for the 5 months before...our top 6 is not that good.

Goal scoring from our top 6 was mediocre to below average this season. It was with Jack too.

I'd like to see Bratt take more of a goal scorers approach, but you can't ignore his assist numbers, which are amongst the best in the league. He is a fantastic player. And added to his resume by being a top notch PK'r this year.

Timo might be best used as an expensive all world 3rd liner. PP wise, on this team, it is a similar story to 5v5 in that he is just outside the top group. A great fill in though for when Jack gets hurt.

The biggest problem with this team looking ahead to upcoming seasons is the unreliability of the Hughes' Brothers. Goal tending would be the 2nd biggest concern.

 

[Edmonton East]

Timo Meier, for all his faults, is not a 3rd liner. Come on.

 

[Bleedred]

Is it July 1st yet? I’m the weird type of fan who only watches the devils and couldn’t care less who wins now as long as isn’t the Rangers or Flyers. I love hockey but I have a hard time watching anyone other than the devils. Anyone else like that?

I was definitely not like that in this regular season for some reason. I didn’t start watching non-Devils hockey games until late in the season.

I’ll be watching as much as I can for the rest of the year. I do enjoy the playoffs and it’s stress free without having to worry about us or the Rags, Flyers, etc.

 

[JimEIV]

Yea same facts as you saying Mercer spent most his time at even strength with Haula and Palat

When in fact he spent most of his 5 on 5
time with hischier and Meier

But go off

I'm not sure what you are saying...but
Mercer's most common centerman for the last two years has been Haula.

684:03 with Haula
534:16 with Nico
211:22 with Jack

Mercer gets quite a bit of 5v5 time with Nico off of the penalty kill too

 

[theoptimist]

Should be all in on Quinn this summer btw

Only circumstance where I forgive Fitz.
Nemec, Mercer, Bleedred+

 

[JrFischer54]

fitz needs to find a legit sniper this summer someone that just scores goals and shoots shoots shoots. i dunno if anyone is like that available but i dont want to hear people complain about his defense or any other complaint

 

[JimEIV]

I'd like to see Bratt take more of a goal scorers approach, but you can't ignore his assist numbers, which are amongst the best in the league. He is a fantastic player. And added to his resume by being a top notch PK'r this year.

Timo might be best used as an expensive all world 3rd liner. PP wise, on this team, it is a similar story to 5v5 in that he is just outside the top group. A great fill in though for when Jack gets hurt.

The biggest problem with this team looking ahead to upcoming seasons is the unreliability of the Hughes' Brothers. Goal tending would be the 2nd biggest concern.

There is not enough quality goal scorers on this team.

 

[JrFischer54]

I can def see fitz getting quinn this summer as his big splash then add another complimentary top 6 forward with some bottom 6'ers to round out the lineup. i think nemec playoff woke the canucks up that the longer they wait they aren't going to get him in a trade for quinn.

if i'm fitz tell the canucks we do a deal this summer or we just wait til ufa and get him for free. devils have all the leverage and power in this

 

[JrFischer54]

There is not enough quality goal scorers on this team.

problem is the goal scorers usually have other issues that majority of the posters on here only care about and not the fact that they will score a lot

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

fitz needs to find a legit sniper this summer someone that just scores goals and shoots shoots shoots. i dunno if anyone is like that available but i dont want to hear people complain about his defense or any other complaint

There aren’t many, and especially not many without other warts. We had a very efficient scorer a couple seasons ago and all many did was complain. I hope we don’t give big money to a worse version of Toffoli (Boeser).

 

[devilsblood]

Eh, I'm not sure if he is. The breakouts were still a moderate issue v Carolina again. The PP1 wouldn't go 0 for like they didn't in this series with Quinn manning it.

Moderate issue?

 

[devilsblood]

I don’t know how you could watch the team lose 16 defensemen to injury and then complain about signing a PK anchor to a perfectly reasonable market value deal.

Are we talking Kova here?

 

[Bcap88]

I'm not sure what you are saying...but
Mercer's most common centerman for the last two years has been Haula.

684:03 with Haula
534:16 with Nico
211:22 with Jack

Mercer gets quite a bit of 5v5 time with Nico off of the penalty kill too

The fact is that Mercer has not gotten better despite getting more ice time the last two years and more power play time. Doesn’t cause concern ? You used to rant about Jack and Nico not producing but Mercer gets a free pass ? Seems hypocritical

 

[JrFischer54]

There aren’t many, and especially not many with other warts. We had a very efficient scorer a couple seasons ago and all many did was complain. I hope we don’t give big money to a worse version of Toffoli (Boeser).

yeah i remember toff its a shame he scores a ton i dont have a problem with a player if thats what they and do it enough to make up for defects in other areas. wonder what the dynamic between quinn and brock are anyway

 

[JrFischer54]

The fact is that Mercer has not gotten better despite getting more ice time the last two years and more power play time. Doesn’t cause concern ? You used to rant about Jack and Nico not producing but Mercer gets a free pass ? Seems hypocritical

mercer such a let down. just stick him on the third line wait for his contract year and his production to explode and ship him off at the deadline that year lol

 

[Edmonton East]

Bratt-Hischier-Meier is a legit balanced 1st line and this roster needs to be in a situation to give it a chance next season. I am tired of every line having at least one anchor on it even when healthy. Also, Bratt and Jack blatantly cannibalize each other's strengths. They should not be on the same line unless a prime O'Reilly type C is centering it by some miracle and Jack shifts to wing.

 

[JimEIV]

The fact is that Mercer has not gotten better despite getting more ice time the last two years and more power play time. Doesn’t cause concern ? You used to rant about Jack and Nico not producing but Mercer gets a free pass ? Seems hypocritical

Mercer's 5v5 ice time has been virtually identical for the last 4 years....he hasn't gotten more time at all... he's gotten a much bigger role as a pKer the last two years though.

Here is his 5v5 time for his entire career:
1124:54
1089:22
1108:22
1113:13

It's virtually the same his entire career.

Edit:
Here are his other minutes

Dawson's career PK time
25:15
106:46
144:06
161:37

Dawson's career PP time
152:34
107:15
118:36
127:42*. 6th forward TOI - tied with Jack for 4th in PP goals with about 73 less minutes.

 

[devilsblood]

I'm just going to say, Nico is not a big time PK'r.

Good defensively player, good faceoff guy, but it doesn't translate as well as one would think.

Getting a 3rd line C who is a high end PK'r should be a target. Improve the PK and ease the work load of Nico.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Mercer stinks

Truth hurts

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Jack got 9.65 shots per 60, Bratt 6.62. They aren’t really similar players beyond the fact that they’re both great skaters and like to have the puck. They are excellent together and their skill sets mesh quite well.

 

[Ekiru]

Mercer's value to other teams is greater than to ours. He's had two down years in a row, he can't play center, he's a better player than what he is showing here. It's time to move on.

An interesting thought. What would he be returning that doesnt hamper the team going into next season? Moving him for picks would add an extra step for Fitzgerald

 

[BostonDevil]

Only circumstance where I forgive Fitz.
Nemec, Mercer, Bleedred+

fitz needs to find a legit sniper this summer someone that just scores goals and shoots shoots shoots. i dunno if anyone is like that available but i dont want to hear people complain about his defense or any other complaint

Quinn and a sniper this summer, with the subtraction of Haula, and I will allow Fitz another season.

I'm not giving up @Bleedred in the deal though.

 

[Ekiru]

Jack got 9.65 shots per 60, Bratt 6.62. They aren’t really similar players beyond the fact that they’re both great skaters and like to have the puck. They are excellent together and their skill sets mesh quite well.

My only quarrel with Jack and Bratt staying together is our two best playmakers sharing the puck. Wouldnt they get more possession time and affect the play more separately?

Then again Timo likes the puck on his stick, as well

Edit: Ill add that Jack is a better playmaker of scoring opportunities, whereas Jesper finds open space to extend plays more. Perhaps these are suitable for that reason, as Jesper struggles to create for others as well