GDT: Devils @ Hurricanes - 2025 Playoffs! RD1 GM1 - 3:00 PM - MSG, ESPN

[Saint Beaurivage]

There is nothing wrong with the coach, the core of the problem is with GM Tom Fitzgerald. Keefe can only coach what he has been given, and in this case he has to work with half a team of AHLers.

From drafting to trades to lengthy over-signed contracts to keeping Ruff 2 years longer than we should have to missed opportunities, we have seen this downfall coming every step of the way.

 

[BomaLightDevils]

What happened with L. Hughes

 

[Unknown Caller]

There is nothing wrong with the coach, the core of the problem is with GM Tom Fitzgerald. Keefe can only coach what he has been given, and in this case he has to work with half a team of AHLers.

From drafting to trades to lengthy over-signed contracts to keeping Ruff 2 years longer than we should have to missed opportunities, we have seen this downfall coming every step of the way.

I admittedly loved Fitzgerald for the first couple seasons, but I have zero faith in him at this point. He's slowly dismantled the entire support system he inherited and has done nothing but leave empty scaffolding around Bratt/Jack/Nico.

On top of his horrendous personnel decisions at the NHL level, he stepped in shit with an abundance of top 10 picks with a roster that was already set up better than pretty much every team in the league, and it's very possible Luke will be the only high end NHL player from all of those picks.

His entire philosophy of roster building is just to acquire a bunch of "responsible" big players who are "hard to play against" and "know what it takes to win". He turned the most exciting team in the league into the slowest paced team in the league with zero offensive firepower in just two seasons.

 

[Whaddagoal]

What happened with L. Hughes

Not quite sure, he ended up behind Marky in the net, down, holding his shoulder, then skated off. This was during the Marky / Glass incident

Went off as if it was a dislocation or something. Came back on like 10 mins later.

 

[My3Sons]

What a disappointing game. Hopefully they can take something away from it and realize they can absolutely play with the Canes if they get their heads out of their asses. On some level they lost 3-1. Not great but not insurmountable. If Glass is out I’d have Casey play forward.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Finally getting a chance to comment, was at my family’s for Easter.

Unfortunately, that script played out as poorly as we could have asked for. The early goal against was the absolute last thing we needed. Full credit to Markstrom yesterday, he did absolutely everything he could have to keep us in the game when we could not sustain a shift offensively.

I’m not going to bother re-reading the whole GDT, but the holes that exist with the team presently are what brought us down yesterday. Our top players had moments, but our depth at forward was exposed. I expect there will be changes on that front, especially if Glass is out.

I know many on here are already chalking this up for what they expected. Have no interest in that mindset personally. We’ll see what changes come lineup wise and how we respond.

 

[Nocashstyle]

what do we think about Luke's injury? I know he came back. Just a stinger? Maybe related to that other injury he had not too long ago (pure speculation from me)

Dillon looks done

Back in my playing days, I had a slight labrum tear and if I got hit a certain way, my shoulder would “sublex” and partially pop out, but not all the way. It would be super painful, but then I would move in a way and it would pop back into place again and feel much better, but still sore. I played a full season with that but did eventually need surgery.

Obviously I’m completely just guessing, but the way he goes off drooping his shoulder down in extreme pain, but then is able to come back with a “working” shoulder reminds me of my injury. And also the fact that this has happened at least twice to him now.

 

[njdevil26]

It's disappointing because it went exactly how I thought it would go. They were blitzed from puck drop and hardly recovered... then the Markstrom-Glass thing was embarrassing... Even if Luke plays now we know he's probably 50%. Dillon same thing. Idk wtf is hurt with Glass...

I think Fitz and a few players are to blame for this. Fitz almost signed Marchessault until Stamkos stole him. So Fitz showed he knew the team needed another top 6 goal scorer. After missing out, he signed Tatar and that's it.

What made the situation worse was Mercer and Haula being absolutely awful for a majority of the season. Palat being forced into a bigger role than he should have been. Cotter and Noesen scoring a ton of goals before turning into ghosts.

Defense and goaltending were fine. No complaints there.



I think Fitz finds a way to get Haula off the team. I would hope he takes a big run at Boeser.

Meier-Hischier-Bratt
Gritsyuk-Hughes-Boeser
Palat-Glass-Noesen
Cotter-????-Mercer

Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Hughes-Pesce
Dillon-Kovacevic

Markstrom
Allen

That's still an elite squad if healthy... if Jack could eat some gosh darn pasta and put on a few pounds that would be nice.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Finally getting a chance to comment, was at my family’s for Easter.

Unfortunately, that script played out as poorly as we could have asked for. The early goal against was the absolute last thing we needed. Full credit to Markstrom yesterday, he did absolutely everything he could have to keep us in the game when we could not sustain a shift offensively.

I’m not going to bother re-reading the whole GDT, but the holes that exist with the team presently are what brought us down yesterday. Our top players had moments, but our depth at forward was exposed. I expect there will be changes on that front, especially if Glass is out.

I know many on here are already chalking this up for what they expected. Have no interest in that mindset personally. We’ll see what changes come lineup wise and how we respond.

I’ll give you a quick synopsis:

 

[FooteBahl]

What happened with L. Hughes

https://64.media.tumblr.com/d7bc96473fc2a8e6c68f8f9ba7df7cac/tumblr_p5ixnm0sqO1wxtgjco5_540.gifv

 

[Better Call Sal]

I’ll give you a quick synopsis:

View attachment 1018918

Been around long enough that I knew exactly what was happening here without having to even be logged on.

Look, I get it, there were not a ton of positives to take out of the game yesterday. But it’s a series for a reason. I cant find the sense in throwing the towel in after Game 1. I’d argue the 2023 games were far more dejecting in terms of morale than this one was. This was as predictable from Carolina as you expect and hopefully better prepared them for what to anticipate Tuesday.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Which is why Sal is the most obnoxious broadcast person we've had my 20 years of watching

 

[Bleedred]

I think this had to be about the fourth time this season that Luke left a game with what looked like a bad injury or at least something that was gonna keep him out. And he still came back every time. I’m not sure if he came back in the same game every time, but if it wasn’t then it was the next game.

Someone had commented a while back that this may be the reason for his drop off in the second half of the season. Because he’s really beat up and hurt and keeps playing through everything.

 

[Dylan9z9]

Tatar Hischier Mercer
Palat Haula Bratt
Meier Dowling Noesen
Cotter Lazar Bastian

Its a bunch of poop no matter what combo and people here talking Keefe lmao

Dowling and Lazar our bottom 2 Centers have to be worst in the league worst in these playoffs for sure

 

[Dylan9z9]

I admittedly loved Fitzgerald for the first couple seasons, but I have zero faith in him at this point. He's slowly dismantled the entire support system he inherited and has done nothing but leave empty scaffolding around Bratt/Jack/Nico.

On top of his horrendous personnel decisions at the NHL level, he stepped in shit with an abundance of top 10 picks with a roster that was already set up better than pretty much every team in the league, and it's very possible Luke will be the only high end NHL player from all of those picks.

His entire philosophy of roster building is just to acquire a bunch of "responsible" big players who are "hard to play against" and "know what it takes to win". He turned the most exciting team in the league into the slowest paced team in the league with zero offensive firepower in just two seasons.

It's apparent that Fitz has to go for this team to improve moving forward. I just can't see them going anywhere with him at the helm.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Been around long enough that I knew exactly what was happening here without having to even be logged on.

Look, I get it, there were not a ton of positives to take out of the game yesterday. But it’s a series for a reason. I cant find the sense in throwing the towel in after Game 1. I’d argue the 2023 games were far more dejecting in terms of morale than this one was. This was as predictable from Carolina as you expect and hopefully better prepared them for what to anticipate Tuesday.

This is nothing like 2023. Anyone who is being honest with themselves saw that the Devils looked like a f***ing AHL team out there against a Canes squad that’s not even in the top half of the best teams in the playoffs. Look at our lineup - it’s easily the worst on paper in the playoffs and it’s certainly the worst in reality based on the last 3.5 months of play plus that game 1 atrocity. The Canes are not going to a lose a series to a team that has one legitimate top six line and a third line that shouldn’t even be NHL regulars.

If this squad can pull out even just a single win in this series it will be a “success”.

 

[Better Call Sal]

This is nothing like 2023. Anyone who is being honest with themselves saw that the Devils looked like a f***ing AHL team out there against a Canes squad that’s not even in the top half of the best teams in the playoffs. Look at our lineup - it’s easily the worst on paper in the playoffs and it’s certainly the worst in reality based on the last 3.5 months of play plus that game 1 atrocity. The Canes are not going to a lose a series to a team that has one legitimate top six line and a third line that shouldn’t even be NHL regulars.

If this squad can pull out even just a single win in this series it will be a “success”.

When I compare to 2023, I'm talking about how we came into the series against the Rangers with our best regular season record in our history against our arch rivals. And in both games, home games mind you, we looked like a completely different squad. We looked outclassed, we couldn't get a save, our penalty kill was bleeding goals against and we looked like we were being coached to a completely different strategy than what we were successful with the entire season that preceded it. That is the point I'm making. Those performances in the first two games were much more frustrating to watch.

What I watched yesterday was disappointing, but not unsurprising. Carolina executed their game to perfection, and we were not up to task. We didn't do ourselves any favors for much of the game either. A too many men penalty while on a powerplay, a bad delay of game penalty by Dawson, etc. I do think we can play a better game. It's going to be a difficult series, I don't see anyone saying otherwise. Especially in that building where they are absolutely dominant. But yeah, I'm not giving up my belief after Game 1.

 

[guitarguyvic]

When I compare to 2023, I'm talking about how we came into the series against the Rangers with our best regular season record in our history against our arch rivals. And in both games, home games mind you, we looked like a completely different squad. We looked outclassed, we couldn't get a save, our penalty kill was bleeding goals against and we looked like we were being coached to a completely different strategy than what we were successful with the entire season that preceded it. That is the point I'm making. Those performances in the first two games were much more frustrating to watch.

What I watched yesterday was disappointing, but not unsurprising. Carolina executed their game to perfection, and we were not up to task. We didn't do ourselves any favors for much of the game either. A too many men penalty while on a powerplay, a bad delay of game penalty by Dawson, etc. I do think we can play a better game. It's going to be a difficult series, I don't see anyone saying otherwise. But yeah, I'm not giving up my belief after Game 1.

Honestly don’t see the comparison at all, especially the rangers series. They weren’t completely outclassed in those first two games - they didn’t play quite as well as they were expected to and Shesterkin came through. There was plenty of room for belief despite being down 2-0 because that Devils team had an objectively good roster and had proven many times over that season that they could be better than other playoff caliber teams.

This team is the exact opposite. This wasn’t just them not quite playing as well as we are accustomed, this was them continuing 3.5 months of shit play. The roster looks atrocious on paper and has been bad on the ice for a long time now. There is no magic switch they are going to flip that’s going to make them suddenly turn into something better than what we’ve seen.

Honest question, where does your belief in this team stem from? What have you seen from this roster as currently constituted that gives you hope that they can do anything but win maybe a game in this series? The blind optimism is just not a thing I understand. We should be gathering our pitchforks against management for how they’ve destroyed this team and failed to bring any kind of sustained success despite more than a decade of opportunity; waving the Pom poms in desperate hope that this team is better than they actually are seems like a good way to give this franchise a pass for their ineptitude.

 

[Triumph]

People just cannot stop talking about next year, long-term discussions, team construction and anything like that. If it goes how you committed people think, you will have approximately 5 months to talk about that before puck drop on the 2025-26 season.

 

[JrFischer54]

said it yesterday didn't really get a chance to look at other posts but it all starts at the top. the leaders on this team are playoff no shows.

bratt 1 goal in 14 playoff games nico 3 goals in 18 playoff games and yesterdays was a total softie timo 12 games for devils and 2 goals. at some point they have to play playoff hockey they have to fight for every inch they have to win board battles and take the game to the next level. i do not care that the third and fourth lines are weak. the top line guys were total no shows yesterday even if we had a better 3rd and 4th line they were out hustled out muscled and out played all over the ice. but reading the comments here people blaming keefe and fitz apparently it needs to be an allstar lineup and perfect conditions for the devils top guys to actually show up even then god forbid we give up the first goal they will pack it in

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

said it yesterday didn't really get a chance to look at other posts but it all starts at the top. the leaders on this team are playoff no shows.

bratt 1 goal in 14 playoff games nico 3 goals in 18 playoff games and yesterdays was a total softie timo 12 games for devils and 2 goals. at some point they have to play playoff hockey they have to fight for every inch they have to win board battles and take the game to the next level. i do not care that the third and fourth lines are weak. the top line guys were total no shows yesterday even if we had a better 3rd and 4th line they were out hustled out muscled and out played all over the ice. but reading the comments here people blaming keefe and fitz apparently it needs to be an allstar lineup and perfect conditions for the devils top guys to actually show up even then god forbid we give up the first goal they will pack it in

yeah man totally the top guys' fault yesterday. Astute, as always!

 

[JrFischer54]

yeah man totally the top guys' fault yesterday. Astute, as always!

keep defending them like always they were zero threat yesterday of accomplishing anything

 

[Better Call Sal]

Honestly don’t see the comparison at all, especially the rangers series. They weren’t completely outclassed in those first two games - they didn’t play quite as well as they were expected to and Shesterkin came through. There was plenty of room for belief despite being down 2-0 because that Devils team had an objectively good roster and had proven many times over that season that they could be better than other playoff caliber teams.

This team is the exact opposite. This wasn’t just them not quite playing as well as we are accustomed, this was them continuing 3.5 months of shit play. The roster looks atrocious on paper and has been bad on the ice for a long time now. There is no magic switch they are going to flip that’s going to make them suddenly turn into something better than what we’ve seen.

Honest question, where does your belief in this team stem from? What have you seen from this roster as currently constituted that gives you hope that they can do anything but win maybe a game in this series? The blind optimism is just not a thing I understand. We should be gathering our pitchforks against management for how they’ve destroyed this team and failed to bring any kind of sustained success despite more than a decade of opportunity; waving the Pom poms in desperate hope that this team is better than they actually are seems like a good way to give this franchise a pass for their ineptitude.

I think you're glossing over those first two Ranger games personally. Yeah, the shot totals weren't as lopsided as yesterday's game, but I think if you look back at how this board was reacting after getting outscored 10-2 on home ice, coupled with a horrific PK and goaltending, the room for belief was not plentiful.

I'm not comparing those teams/rosters, mind you. I'm comparing what took place. Hence me not feeling as dejected as I might have in 2023 where I couldn't believe we had come out so poorly against the Rangers and tried to play a completely different game to what got us there. Yesterday wasn't shocking to me to see what took place. I know our roster makeup, just as you and everyone else does. I know we're fighting an uphill battle. But if you want my honest answer to your question, I don't find fandom to be enjoyable if I cannot attempt to root on the team that I support to do what everyone assumes we can't. Does that make me a blind optimist? Feel free to label me what you want. But I would personally prefer to be that and concern myself with the offseason when we get there rather than repeat the same issues over and over again ad nauseam and ignore the fact that we're in the playoffs.

We might get waxed. 31 teams don't win the Cup every year. Some will say that means that my bar for success is incredibly low. But that doesn't mean I don't want the Cup. We're in the dance until we're not. I don't find any joy in venting my frustrations on what I think is wrong over and over again. Or ragging on Fitz for what I presume he could have done that he didn't do last summer or at the deadline. I'm more than content to see how this plays out and enjoy being at a playoff game on Friday for the first time since 2018 before I have to start focusing on what improvements the team needs to make in the offseason. Take that for whatever you wish.

 

[Call Me Al]

those first two rangers games were some of the worst hockey experiences i’ve ever had. yesterday doesn’t even come close.

 

[JrFischer54]

those first two rangers games were some of the worst hockey experiences i’ve ever had. yesterday doesn’t even come close.

i could chalk those two ranger games up to playoff inexperience and a fan rival in the crowd. but no more playoff inexperience excuse and can't say they didn't have time to prepare or know who they were facing this time. yesterday was way worse then the first two ranger games and honestly tomorrow might be even worse then sunday