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

[KovalchukFistPump]

I couldn't imagine a scenario where Nemec wasn't moved in that deal.

I think you'd be looking at Nemec, Mercer and a 1st. That might even be a little too light.

Nemec, Hamilton, Mercer, and a 1st for Quinn. Dougie can have further value to Vancouver if they trade him with retention, something which we can't do.

 

[JimEIV]

Looks like it. All 3 are close and Quinn stays at their place when he's in the area.

FYI, pictures of Jack today are on twitter today signing autographs for people and driving without a sling or anything, which is good news(not sure if this is normal with the type of surgery he had?)

It's been almost 3 months since he's had surgery. I read that it was a separated shoulder injury.

" Complete ligament tear and dislocation, may take 6-12 weeks to heal. ".

Then there's rehabilitation...total 4 to 6 months. He's probably healed but still has a lot of strength and conditioning ahead of him.

 

[JimEIV]

Nemec, Hamilton, Mercer, and a 1st for Quinn. Dougie can have further value to Vancouver if they trade him with retention, something which we can't do.

I'm not sure Dougie's contract works for them? I'm not saying it doesn't, I'm saying that I don't know... seems like a big pill to swallow?

 

[thebeernerd]

I'm not sure Dougie's contract works for them? I'm not saying it doesn't, I'm saying that I don't know... seems like a big pill to swallow?

I don't think retention would be something we would want. We still have holes to fill on the forward crew. But I'm not a capologist.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I’ll hate to see Lazar go, even if he’s just not a great player. He’s an awesome guy.

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

I'm not sure Dougie's contract works for them? I'm not saying it doesn't, I'm saying that I don't know... seems like a big pill to swallow?

The goal would be that they take Dougie and almost immediately flip him with 2M retained somewhere else that he'd waive for and I think Dougie at 7M has value in this higher cap. They would be rebuilding so that hit for them should hopefully not mean anything if the owner isn't cheap. I mean, they could even retain up to 4.5M in which case I bet they get a lot of pick/prospects for him. Which is something we can't do.

 

[None Shall Pass]

I'm still unbelievably pissed about the the Twitterati spreading rumors that Dillon's career was over.

Just stupidity, for no reason.

 

[thebeernerd]

The goal would be that they take Dougie and almost immediately flip him with 2M retained somewhere else that he'd waive for. They would be rebuilding so that hit for them should hopefully not mean anything if the owner isn't cheap. I mean, they could even retain up to 4.5M in which case I bet they get a lot of pick/prospects for him. Which is something we can't do.

Well, about that.... One thing you can say about Aquillini is that he spends money on players.

Another thing you can say about him is that the only time the Canucks have been in a rebuild under his watch is when they were forced to do so because they sucked.

A third thing you can say about him is that he's a cheap bastard in many other aspects of running the team. They're going to be the only team without a dedicated practice facility once the Flames build their new arena.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Sieg's and Kova were both guys who put up numbers which suggested they could be strong defensive minded d-men. Neither guy was a high pick like Mirco was either.

I also think both guys benefited from the team playing such a conservative style. We've been bagging on everyone this side of 3 guys for their lack of offense. Well some of that is by design. We went all in on being a defense first team.

Not trying to be argumentative(I know how sensitive you can be). Just an interesting topic for discussion. Maybe moreso the latter point.

Haha. I resemble that remark. I think 2nd/3rd rounder is still a good value 'high' pick gamble, and for sure: this was the first year anyone from the forward corps decided to play defense first instead of Lindy's whacky system.

If Nemec coming thru in the playoffs or Luke coming into his own aren't your favorite stories, then Jack Hughes penalty killing and adding positioning in all three zones to his already great ability to swipe pucks should be... Plus I think there's an undercard to Bratt's growth and that is guys like Mercer and Cotter and Bastian filling lanes and cutting passes on the back check.

We became a much more well rounded team and we were very tough to beat when we played our system well work patience.

Then Somebody told the team that the season ended after the Christmas ranger game

 

[The Grinder]

I can already envision Weekes posting a photo of “Three Brothers Pizza” with winky eyes or some shit and then nothing happening.

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

Well, about that.... One thing you can say about Aquillini is that he spends money on players.

Another thing you can say about him is that the only time the Canucks have been in a rebuild under his watch is when they were forced to do so because they sucked.

A third thing you can say about him is that he's a cheap bastard in many other aspects of running the team. They're going to be the only team without a dedicated practice facility once the Flames build their new arena.

Yeah this is all pipe-dream scenario because of the following things:

1. Quinn needs to start acting super toxic and make it clear that he will never play for Vancouver again AND that he would tell any prospective team that he would sign with NJD in 2 years which would lower the trade value
2. Vancouver can call his bluff and trade him anywhere anyway since he doesn't have a NTC
3. Dougie has a little bit of control over his destination and can put VAN on his NTC anyway. So you'd need to negotiate the third team ahead of time and it needs to be a place where he likes.
4. Assuming points 1-3 magically happen, it is unlikely they happen before July 1st because at least one party can choose to delay. The longer it goes, the more teams will fill up their cap space which means fewer suitors for Dougie.

All in all, it's probably not happening and I'm not sure Quinn wants to leave Vancouver anyway. I mean you never know, but there's something about NHL players that makes them unwilling to the diva things that NBA and NFL players do to go to their preferred destinations.

Overall, I am glad that our negotiating team (I forget if it was Shero or Fitz) gave Hamilton, Palat, and Haula NTCs for their first few seasons to convince them to sign but then made sure to turn that into a 10-team NTC for the last few years.....when we'd have to pay our young players and should theoretically be competing for Cups.

 

[thebeernerd]

All in all, it's probably not happening and I'm not sure Quinn wants to leave Vancouver anyway. I mean you never know, but there's something about NHL players that makes them unwilling to the diva things that NBA and NFL players do to go to their preferred destinations.

I think there's fire to this smoke, but Quinn also doesn't seem like the kind of man who would throw an Adam Fox-style tantrum because he only wants to play in New Jersey with his brothers. I don't think a deal is happening this offseason, nor do I really want there to be one, because that would mean more assets to give up to get him sooner.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

It's so hard to speculate given the unknowns in Hamilton trade options it's almost pointless to. He's got a 10 team trade list, 3 more years at a 9 million cap hit (with less money), and it's unclear how willing NJ would be to retain to move him. With that said I'll do it anyway.

Hamilton at 7m x 3 would be appealing to Florida who I think will move on from Ekblad. Hamilton I'm guessing would be fine moving to Florida. A Panthers fan came to this board recently speculating exactly that move. Devils retain 2m x 3 years (a tough pill to swallow) and move him to Florida, for Evan Rodrigues ($3m x 2). That seems like a win / win to me frankly, given how there's simply no place for Hamilton on the team moving forward and the NTC limits NJ's options.

 

[theoptimist]

At time of trade deadline, how do you figure a team that had played at a 75pt pace since Christmas with Jack Hughes was gonna win a playoff series without him? This "for the morale" argument is even funnier considering this very team had an incredible playoff run to "build off of" in 2017....and promptly followed it up with essentially 4 lotto seasons. That team at least earned the right to be a buyer by overachieving and playing their balls off.

Again, keeping Kovacevic on a sweetheart deal was fine. Instead they overpaid him and gave out another NMC instead of getting a 1st+ or a decent forward prospect. In a lost season. With obvious more glaring needs. With relatively few trade chips for the offseason. Multiple holes at forward and a bottom 5 forward prospect pool.

And yet the same people remain mystified and disappointed when this team isn't a contender year after year. If that was the cost to extend Kovacevic, a competent GM would have made the difficult decision to move him considering other roster needs and the sellers market. End of story.

I’m not roasting Fitz in hindsight about the Kovacevic deal. I like Kovacevic.

However, he trades away Marino last summer and then resigns Kovacevic this spring. What? I want him to show his work on this one - only then will I give him the credit. Maybe behind the scenes stuff I’ll never know like Kovacevic is a better teammate etc., but I need him to elaborate on how trading RHD Marino to resign another RHD months later is reasonable and necessary. I desperately want the math on this.

But Fitz has an intellectual ceiling, a learning disability. He is a dumb GM who lucked out on the Dumuloin trade. He struggles to identify and address roster issues.

With the right moves this offseason and at the TDL, this team can win a round next season. The following season, we should make it to the ECF. The Metro and Eastern Conference will be a cake walk the next few seasons with a healthy roster and shrewd GM

 

[NJDevs26]

Respect the accountability, hope he’s right

 

[JK3]

We just need to find a scoring winger, a 3c, a backup goalie, find a way to free up cap space and stay healthy. An easy fix holy shit.

 

[NJDevs26]

I’m not roasting Fitz in hindsight about the Kovacevic deal. I like Kovacevic.

However, he trades away Marino last summer and then resigns Kovacevic this spring. What? I want him to show his work on this one - only then will I give him the credit. Maybe behind the scenes stuff I’ll never know like Kovacevic is a better teammate etc., but I need him to elaborate on how trading RHD Marino to resign another RHD months later is reasonable and necessary. I desperately want the math on this.

But Fitz has an intellectual ceiling, a learning disability. He is a dumb GM who lucked out on the Dumuloin trade. He struggles to identify and address roster issues.

With the right moves this offseason and at the TDL, this team can win a round next season. The following season, we should make it to the ECF. The Metro and Eastern Conference will be a cake walk the next few seasons with a healthy roster and shrewd GM

Well it could be one or both of two possibilities

A) Marino was traded for more (off ice) reasons than merely alleviating a future logjam at RD

B) Fitz panicked after Nemec’s bad first half and it became obvious Casey was at least another full season away from being a regular contributor

 

[My3Sons]

Didn’t Dillon say he should be ok over the summer? If so that’s the end of that story. Scary sounding injury but if he rebounds by next month he can rehabilitate and train over the summer

 

[FooteBahl]

Didn’t Dillon say he should be ok over the summer? If so that’s the end of that story. Scary sounding injury but if he rebounds by next month he can rehabilitate and train over the summer

Yeah I think he said that if we made it to round three this year he could probably play.

 

[theoptimist]

Well it could be one or both of two possibilities

A) Marino was traded for more (off ice) reasons than merely alleviating a future logjam at RD

B) Fitz panicked after Nemec’s bad first half and it became obvious Casey was at least another full season away from being a regular contributor

Panicked about Nemec’s bad first half but was patient about replacing MM? Clown GM

 

[NJDevs26]

Panicked about Nemec’s bad first half but was patient about replacing MM? Clown GM

I think he tried with Lazar, guy got seriously hurt this year

 

[theoptimist]

I think he tried with Lazar, guy got seriously hurt this year

The Meier-Lazar-Mercer sample size was there. Also, consider that Lazar was a waiver wire celebrity for most of his recent career. There is no excuse here. Continuing the Lazar experiment after trading away your 2025 1st is fraud, waste, and abuse.

 

[Mirka the Turka]

With the way the court case is going we have to factor in Michael Mcleod coming back which is big.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

With the way the court case is going we have to factor in Michael Mcleod coming back which is big.

Get this nonsense outta here

 

[NJDevs26]

No we don’t…even if all these jockasses walk they’re all free agents and pretty toxic, potential mistrial or not. Mistrial would be far worse than an actual not guilty verdict if you’re going to stan for these clowns based on the public evidence already available. And none have played in at least a year and a half aside from all that.