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

[NjDevsRR]

If the team had a normal injury season they would have banked another 3-5 wins.

Still a flawed team due to lack of good complimentary forwards producing mediocre 5 v 5 play, but people would be bugging out less if they finished around 100 pts

 

[JimEIV]

Sure but let's not ignore the context of the standings of this season. Our records gets us in this year and would've gotten us in last year. Since the 05 lockout the only other year 91 pts gets you in is 2010. 3 out of 20. We were a fake playoff team.

A fake playoff team? We won the division more often than from the lockout to 2010

2006 won the division
2007 won the division
2008 2nd by 3 points to Pittsburgh
2009 won the division
2010 won the division.

If those are fake playoff teams there were no real ones in the Atlantic Division.


Edit: I'm sorry....I completely misunderstood your post. Apologies.

 

[Emperoreddy]

If the team had a normal injury season they would have banked another 3-5 wins.

Still a flawed team due to lack of good complimentary forwards producing mediocre 5 v 5 play, but people would be bugging out less if they finished around 100 pts

There also would be a game tomorrow

 

[JimEIV]

If the team had a normal injury season they would have banked another 3-5 wins.

Still a flawed team due to lack of good complimentary forwards producing mediocre 5 v 5 play, but people would be bugging out less if they finished around 100 pts

The team had the opportunity for many more wins from late December through February while basically completely healthy.

It wasn't injuries that made them disappear, they did that two months before there were any ...

Obviously the injuries effected our playoff chances but the lackluster second half was mostly just not executing or showing up.

 

[My3Sons]

Hmmm, where’s the shoulder of the franchise?

He calls himself Bratter? Does he spend his free time with Bryce?

 

[NjDevsRR]

The team had the opportunity for many more wins from late December through February while basically completely healthy.

It wasn't injuries that made them disappear, they did that two months before there were any ...

Obviously the injuries effected our playoff chances but the lackluster second half was mostly just not executing or showing up.

Where did I dismiss this?

Still a flawed team due to lack of good complimentary forwards producing mediocre 5 v 5 play

Both are true.

Team had 3-5+ wins in them if they had a normal injury season. Jack Siegs and Dougie are that good.

At the same time

When they were healthy they weren’t getting the job done because the roster isn’t where it needed to be. But obviously that full roster had the ability to rebound more than whatever we were trotting out down the stretch. Also not to mention a different TDL may have went down.


People here are way too partisan which is why I took two days off of here.

Its either:

BAH, injuries derailed them.

Or

BAH, their play and roster wasn’t good enough.



Both are accurate.

 

[None Shall Pass]

I just don't think "bolstering the bottom six" is an insurmountable challenge. We got a 3rd of that in just a few hours with Glass and Sprong. Now there will be a lot of them coming up soon and you don't even need to trade stuff for them.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

Even if true and they scrounged up a few more pts I don't see why the bar is ever just "playoff team". Just simply being a playoff team when half the league makes the playoffs means f*** all to me. So what that we got to play 5 extra games. I remember after 22-23 everyone talking about how the bar has been raised. Now you've got people applauding just limping into the playoffs as a complete afterthought.

What do you mean "Even if true"? It's a fact. They qualified for the playoffs and then took their foot off the gas. Last game of the season they scratched Nico, Bratt and other. If you are going to post they only got to 91 points, that's disingenuous. They could have had a few more if the team actually needed the points. They didn't.

 

[Bleedred]

I've almost made it through all 3 hours and 15-ish minutes of interviews today.

Now my ears are ringing like I just got home from a music event, thanks to the machinery/skate sharpener/whatever buzzing noise throughout the entire thing.

 

[Hisch13r]

I just don't think "bolstering the bottom six" is an insurmountable challenge. We got a 3rd of that in just a few hours with Glass and Sprong. Now there will be a lot of them coming up soon and you don't even need to trade stuff for them.

I am very curious their moves to free up cap space because things currently stand doing anything is an insurmountable challenge lol. Luke at 9 mil, Glass at 1.5, and Grits on his ELC leaves you with less than 600k in cap space. To me the goal of this offseason is shipping out Dougie to give you room to work with. Then bring in a top 6W and a 3C. Suter's been my guy to be the 3C but after the year he had I could see him getting PAID. For top 6 wing I like the idea of bringing Palms back. He's still a solid player and could come cheaper due to his ties to the area and team.

That gives you a top 9 of Jack, Bratt, Nico, Timo, Palms, Suter, Grits, Mercer, Noesen. Slots down Haula and Palat to the 4th line to play with Glass. Cotter as the extra F. That's a Cup contending group to me. I do unfortunately think getting off of Dougie may take some retention which sucks because of the term but like 2.5-3 mil retained or something at least in the short term would be offset by also dumping Haula and having Cotter as the 4LW instead.

 

[Hisch13r]

What do you mean "Even if true"? It's a fact. They qualified for the playoffs and then took their foot off the gas. Last game of the season they scratched Nico, Bratt and other. If you are going to post they only got to 91 points, that's disingenuous. They could have had a few more if the team actually needed the points. They didn't.

It's not disinegnous because we don't actually know how those games would have gone.

 

[MadDevil]

I've almost made it through all 3 hours and 15-ish minutes of interviews today.

Now my ears are ringing like I just got home from a music event, thanks to the machinery/skate sharpener/whatever buzzing noise throughout the entire thing.

I've only seen some of the quotes. I can't listen to hours of hockey clichés. At least not right now. I'm already close to checking out for a bit after this season.

 

[Ekiru]

I just don't think "bolstering the bottom six" is an insurmountable challenge. We got a 3rd of that in just a few hours with Glass and Sprong. Now there will be a lot of them coming up soon and you don't even need to trade stuff for them.

Sprong stinks lol

 

[Bleedred]

I've only seen some of the quotes. I can't listen to hours of hockey clichés. At least not right now. I'm already close to checking out for a bit after this season.

I only even have the time to listen to all of them because I go on lots of walks. So it's perfect to listen to on my phone when I'm walking or at work,

When I'm just sitting around the house I don't really have the attention span to listen to or watch videos this long.

 

[My3Sons]

I've almost made it through all 3 hours and 15-ish minutes of interviews today.

Now my ears are ringing like I just got home from a music event, thanks to the machinery/skate sharpener/whatever buzzing noise throughout the entire thing.

Sorry, that was me. I was feeding all of the leftover sticks through a wood chipper since we planted some new shrubs and flowers and need some mulch

 

[Triumph]

I'm not looking to get into a pissing match with you but a couple of major points...

I know you have mentioned that you were a fan then so I know you know....not a single fan ever considered Elias or Gomez a #1C....there was that short moment where the EGG line was pretty dominant and it looked like Gomez was a legit top line center, he was gone before we even knew the reality of it....for a couple of brief moments Zajac also felt like a #1 C.

Those fans were dumb. Gomez led the league in assists one year and was absolutely one of the best centers in the league. Was he on the level of the top top guys, absolutely not, was he a 1st line center, yes.

The Rangers paid him $7.3M per, this would be equivalent to a player making $14M if he were signed this summer.

As incredible as he was, Elias in the C slot was always an improvisation.

He was one of the best centers in the league.

The D after the lockout was never really good. I value Rafalski a lot lower than most but regardless after he left ,the personnel on the blue line was very pedestrian. Paul Martin was our #1 up to 2010 and he would've 3/4 on a lot of teams in the league during that time.

Paul Martin would not have been a 3/4 on a lot of other teams in the league. He was an excellent top pairing defenseman. Again, when he went UFA, he was paid $5M per which is equivalent to $8M this summer.

Those post-lockout teams relied on Brodeur. They were not very good and in general, had incredible injury luck.

 

[Billdo]

I feel like we're pretty empty as far as LW. Bratt, Meier, Gritsyuk, Mercer, Noesen, Sprong (if he's back) are all RW. This makes us have Palat and Haula as top 6 LWs unless we're penciling Cotter in one of them. Perhaps we do

XXX-Hughes-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Gritsyuk
Haula-Glass-Mercer
Palat-Cotter-XXX

 

[devilsfan950003]

Sprong stinks lol

Sprong, at league minimum, wouldnt be a good fit on the fourth line right wing on a two-way contract?

 

[Triumph]

Sure but let's not ignore the context of the standings of this season. Our records gets us in this year and would've gotten us in last year. Since the 05 lockout the only other year 91 pts gets you in is 2010. 3 out of 20. We were a fake playoff team.

You know enough to know that the Devils ran quite poorly in late and close situations this season, and they didn't get their expected points in OT either. Their goal differential is better than their record for sure.

 

[Hisch13r]

I feel like we're pretty empty as far as LW. Bratt, Meier, Gritsyuk, Mercer, Noesen, Sprong (if he's back) are all RW. This makes us have Palat and Haula as top 6 LWs unless we're penciling Cotter in one of them. Perhaps we do

XXX-Hughes-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Gritsyuk
Palat-Glass-Mercer
Cotter-Haula-XXX

3 of those RWs are lefties that can play LW. We’re really thin on righty forwards so if anything I’d rather add a RH wing and shift one of the lefties to the LW.

Going into next year with Glass as the 3C is UGLY. He’s not a 3C. Noesen’s missing from that layout too. I don’t want to go into next season with any of Palat/Glass/Cotter/Haula penciled in as a top 9 guy. I’d rather a 4th line of Haula-Glass-Palat and Cotter as an extra. Or if you want Cotter in the lineup move Haula for the space and Cotter as the 4LW. Hell ideally to me we’d be able to work out Haula out and his 3.15 for a better 3rd liner and you slide Noesen down to the 4th line and Cotter still as the extra.

 

[JimEIV]

Those fans were dumb. Gomez led the league in assists one year and was absolutely one of the best centers in the league. Was he on the level of the top top guys, absolutely not, was he a 1st line center, yes.

The Rangers paid him $7.3M per, this would be equivalent to a player making $14M if he were signed this summer.



He was one of the best centers in the league.



Paul Martin would not have been a 3/4 on a lot of other teams in the league. He was an excellent top pairing defenseman. Again, when he went UFA, he was paid $5M per which is equivalent to $8M this summer.

Those post-lockout teams relied on Brodeur. They were not very good and in general, had incredible injury luck.

Elias was never used at center unless we absolutely had to. He was never a center during any of the cup years either.


In 2009-10 Paul would've been a 3/4 with the Flyers that year had Pronger and Timonen

Ottawa had Karlsson and Phillips

Even the Rangers with Staal and Girardi

Calgary Giordano, Bouwmeester, Phaneuf

Vancouver Erhoff, Elder, Bieksa and he was probably on the level of Salo

Detroit Lidstrom and Rafalski

Nashville Weber and Suter

Chicago. Keith, Seabrook and Byfuglien


Martin would have been a 3/4 on a lot teams.

 

[devilsfan950003]

I just don't think "bolstering the bottom six" is an insurmountable challenge. We got a 3rd of that in just a few hours with Glass and Sprong. Now there will be a lot of them coming up soon and you don't even need to trade stuff for them.

Depending on the contract, I'd re-sign both.

1. Glass gets a lower salary than his Qualifying Offer is. He's their 4C.
2. Sprong on a league minimum two-way contract.

As an UFA, Allen is the only one I'd consider re-signing. He's probably going to cost too much, but can't hurt to bring in his agent.

 

[Ekiru]

Sprong, at league minimum, wouldnt be a good fit on the fourth line right wing on a two-way contract?

Not for me. Theres probably good reason hes never stuck somewhere and I dont want to find out when I have other options

If he ends up back then so be it, its just the fourth line as you say

 

[Triumph]

Elias was never used at center unless we absolutely had to. He was never a center during any of the cup years either.




In 2009-10 Paul would've been a 3/4 in

Elias was used at center for the majority of his time on the team past 2007.

Your point about defensemen is asinine because of how the salary cap works. Paul Martin was a really good and really underrated defenseman who was playing on a top pair because he was a top pairing defenseman.

Also lol at including Byfuglien on that list, he was forced into playing D as an emergency that year and was not moved to defense full-time until the next season.

 

[devilsfan950003]

Not for me. Theres probably good reason hes never stuck somewhere and I dont want to find out when I have other options

If he ends up back then so be it, its just the fourth line as you say

Yes, 4th line only. At a league minimum and 2-way contract.