Post-Game Talk: Devils run ends, lose in 5 to Carolina.

[Devils731]

I know it’s harsh but players like that , I don’t want on my team.
I’m not expecting or asking him to toss bodychecks all over the ice , but you don’t have to be a bruiser to try to block a shot …..
He lost two puck battles in the slot just prior to that , then floated toward Burns , then moved out if tue way and waived his stick ( no where near rhe shooting lane )

Bratt’s body is going toward Burns the whole time and the shot goes between the stick and Bratt.

How can you possibly look at the clip and say Bratt is moving away?

 

[Brooklyndevil]

yes and what i’m saying is i don’t want to spend $8M on territorial numbers. timo had trouble scoring, but he brought another element even when he wasn’t scoring.

If it’s a choice I’d keep Timo over Bratt. Timo plays A heavy game with an excellent shot. True he didn’t have the greatest playoffs but neither did most of the team. Bratt I just find redundant.

 

[New Jersey]

I genuinely understand the arguments both for and against Bratt.

It's going to be interesting to see how the summer shakes out.

 

[TrufleShufle]

before the playoffs, I was fine with just letting him go or trading him.

Hes very clearly a playoff player though. Lets obviously see what happens with the Hockey Canada stuff first though.

These playoffs changed you lol. Ok with the discussion of the possibility of Bratt being moved, saying good things about Mcloed, and using the term "playoff player" while not arguing against it being a ridiculous thing.

This definitely goes into the pro column of things about losing this series.

 

[Devils731]

No one said he’s not giving effort. You can give effort but then be too scared to actually block a shot. That’s what happened. He wimped out of blocking the shot and it cost us.

The Devils spent all game not blocking shots in the same fashion. The Devils don’t want the forwards diving at defenseman shooting from the point.

We should kill half the team and the entire season by this standard but we only care when goals go in and don’t notice when they don’t.

 

[None Shall Pass]

Yeah I get the territorial numbers are good for Bratt and in the regular season that's almost enough to ignore slumps and "It will come"s but when you're not producing in the playoffs (an elimination tournament without the luxury of time), you're not producing in the playoffs.

You look at the other big names on our team and even if they weren't producing, they were at least doing something else. Timo was hitting everything and retrieving pucks in deep. Nico was shutting down the Rangers top scorers. Jack put up points AND was a one-man breakout machine. What was Bratt doing?

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Second half of the season Bratt was pacing for 60 points and he was pretty bad in the playoffs. I don't see a 7-8 million dollar player there.

Didn't even finish that close to a PPG in a year with insane scoring.

Bratt got 5.45m this year. If he went to arbitration he'd probably get 6.5-7.5m I'm guessing on a one year deal. If you want Bratt to sign long term it's probably gonna be 8m+ possibly 9m+. Long term at 7-8m I just don't see happening.

It really depends on what he wants to do again, was his goal always to just get to UFA as quickly as possible, or negotiate a long term deal with maximum leverage?

 

[HersheyBob27]

I didn’t want to clog the game thread up too much but I pointed out the first instance of the Devils playing the next point shot basically exactly the same. The Devils glide at defenseman shooting at the point; that’s what the team asks.

About 5 seconds before on the shift Bratt dove at a guy to try and prevent a slot shot. A guy not giving effort wouldn’t be diving to prevent shots.

No team asks their players to glide around in their own end. Unreal

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Ditching a player because a seeing eye wrist shot finds its way through to the back of the net. Alrighty then.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Bratt’s body is going toward Burns the whole time and the shot goes between the stick and Bratt.

How can you possibly look at the clip and say Bratt is moving away?

That is literally the most classic case of pretending or acting like you to block a shot but not really wanting to. Skate towards the player, keep your stick out in front of the puck hoping maybe to deflect it but keep your body out of the way.

Like there literally isn’t a more obvious example of a player being scared to block a shot. Everyone who’s played lots of hockey at a relatively high level has seen it and knows it. It’s a mental thing. Go to where you’re supposed to be but don’t actually put your body in front. Went through it for a while myself when I was playing. Blocked a shot that really hurt one game and then was doing exactly what Bratt did there for like 5-6 games until I got past it.

 

[Devils731]

Yeah I get the territorial numbers are good for Bratt and in the regular season that's almost enough to ignore slumps and "It will come"s but when you're not producing in the playoffs (an elimination tournament without the luxury of time), you're not producing in the playoffs.

You look at the other big names on our team and even if they weren't producing, they were at least doing something else. Timo was hitting everything and retrieving pucks in deep. Nico was shutting down the Rangers top scorers. Jack put up points AND was a one-man breakout machine. What was Bratt doing?

Bratt ended up with 1 less point than Nico and was on the ice for more pluses than minuses.

He was 4th on the team in shots.

I’m not saying Bratt was killing it but the narrative that everyone else was doing things and Bratt wasn’t isn’t true.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

The Devils spent all game not blocking shots in the same fashion. The Devils don’t want the forwards diving at defenseman shooting from the point.

We should kill half the team and the entire season by this standard but we only care when goals go in and don’t notice when they don’t.

That’s bs. Just went through it my last response but that’s a textbook example of a player not actually wanting to block the shot. None of the other devils were doing that and no one is saying Bratt should have dived. He fully kept his body out of the way.

 

[Camille the Eel]

This is just not reasonable at all. No chance in hell Meier’s only getting 7.5 and there’s no chance in hell Fitz even thinks it’s that low either. And while he had some difficulty producing he was doing all the right things. Unlikely Bratt’s that low either. Doubt Haula gets a raise. Think they resign him to a team friendly deal. Tatar is also probably worth keeping for less than his current cap. Him at 3M for 2 years is way better than Sharangovich at 2M. Fine with the Bahl and McLeod ideas

But I’m thinking Bratt will be in the 8-8.5M range and Meier in the 8.5-9M range. Just don’t know what Bratt’s agent will be pushing for or if that dollar range will be worth Meier taking instead of his 10M QO.


Also might sign a stop gap RD instead of throwing Nemec right in.

Would move Bastian or let him go. I like Foote for that spot next year.

Bratt’s body is going toward Burns the whole time and the shot goes between the stick and Bratt.

How can you possibly look at the clip and say Bratt is moving away?

Free associating from Bratt, I thought the TV timeout also played a huge role in that goal. We were dominating, there’s less than a minute left and suddenly a 2 minute stoppage, Carolina collects itself and we get that sequence that changed momentum. That sequence was keyed by the long stop in play.

 

[Devils731]

No team asks their players to glide around in their own end. Unreal

How can you watch the Devils and not know the Devils defend the point man getting the puck by having the winger rapidly skate from the slot until he gets within 2 feet and then slow up and glide towards him?

The team wants the winger to take away options for the defenseman and they don’t want him skating hard at the defenseman and risk getting beat 1 on 1. The team asks the player to play soft on the point man.

I don’t agree with that philosophy but it’s almost impossible to have watched the team and not know this.

 

[Devs3cups]

Yeah I get the territorial numbers are good for Bratt and in the regular season that's almost enough to ignore slumps and "It will come"s but when you're not producing in the playoffs (an elimination tournament without the luxury of time), you're not producing in the playoffs.

You look at the other big names on our team and even if they weren't producing, they were at least doing something else. Timo was hitting everything and retrieving pucks in deep. Nico was shutting down the Rangers top scorers. Jack put up points AND was a one-man breakout machine. What was Bratt doing?

I don’t think anyone would disagree the production was subpar. The point is that you don’t get rid of a nearly PPG 24 year old player because he hasn’t produced in his first ever legitimate playoff push. Players aren’t playoff performers until they are. We see it all the time.

Getting rid of him based off of that is a knee jerk reaction. Now, if Fitz believes he can have someone who complements our team better and wants to use him as a trade chip because he has value, that’s a different story. But just getting rid of him based off of 12 playoff games would be uncharacteristic of Fitz.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

How can you watch the Devils and not know the Devils defend the point man getting the puck by having the winger rapidly skate from the slot until he gets within 2 feet and then slow up and glide towards him?

The team wants the winger to take away options for the defenseman and they don’t want him skating hard at the defenseman and risk getting beat 1 on 1. The team asks the player to play soft on the point man.

Has nothing to do with how hard he skated up either or whether he was gliding. It’s his body language and positioning. He didn’t want to block that shot.

He literally moves his feet to the left a bit too as Burns is pulling the shot in.

Would move Bastian or let him go. I like Foote for that spot next year.

No chance. Don’t think there’s much there in Foote and would take Bastian over 10 times out of 10.

 

[Eggtimer]

I have faith in Fitz that he offers Bratt a fair contract fir what he feels Bratt’s value is to the team. If Bratt refuses it , so be it .
I’m not wanting to toss Bratt to the curb for being a no show in the playoffs , but I do not want to slam us against the cap and pay 8-9 mil on a one dimensional player .
There are other ways to build a winning team where that cap is spent elsewhere instead of overpaying to keep him .

 

[Devils731]

Has nothing to do with how hard he skated up either or whether he was gliding. It’s his body language and positioning. He didn’t want to block that shot.

Bratt was coming from the side to begin with so the glide starts from the side. This happens to other players during the game too.

Bratt took a direct route towards Burns and wasn’t in the shooting lane by the time Burns shoots. He would have needed to dive into the shooting lane to black the shot and the team doesn’t want players doing that.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Bratt was coming from the side to begin with so the glide starts from the side. This happens to other players during the game too.

Bratt took a direct route towards Burns and wasn’t in the shooting lane by the time Burns shoots. He would have needed to dive into the shooting lane to black the shot and the team doesn’t want players doing that.

No he wouldn’t have had to whatsoever. He kept himself out of the lane. One step to the middle and he’s in it. He literally moves a bit in the other direction as Burns is pulling in to shoot. He fully avoided it. It’s not his skate up or something. It’s right before Burns takes the shot. He clearly tenses up avoids it.

Don’t know what else to tell you but that is the most obvious example of a player being too scared to block a shot that I’ve seen at the NHL level.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I also understand both sides of the Bratt argument as well, but let's be honest, a major reason he's getting way less slack compared to everyone else is because of the contract situation and it having dragged out the past 2 times.

Very curious how round 3 goes.

 

[Eggtimer]

I don’t think anyone would disagree the production was subpar. The point is that you don’t get rid of a nearly PPG 24 year old player because he hasn’t produced in his first ever legitimate playoff push. Players aren’t playoff performers until they are. We see it all the time.

Getting rid of him based off of that is a knee jerk reaction. Now, if Fitz believes he can have someone who complements our team better and wants to use him as a trade chip because he has value, that’s a different story. But just getting rid of him based off of 12 playoff games would be uncharacteristic of Fitz.

It’s not just about playoff production though . It’s about him not providing anything else at all when he is not scoring.
Yes he is a very good producer in the regular season . You need that to make the playoffs . But , he is not worth 8-9 mil . Those players making that kind of coin bring more to the table than what he does . 8-9 mil gets you a player that produces as much or more PLUS is not a negative to the team when not scoring .

Bratt was coming from the side to begin with so the glide starts from the side. This happens to other players during the game too.

Bratt took a direct route towards Burns and wasn’t in the shooting lane by the time Burns shoots. He would have needed to dive into the shooting lane to black the shot and the team doesn’t want players doing that.

…. So you’re telling me Bratt busted his ass to the point and did what he could to tyey to block the shot in a proficient way ?
Ya no . He was going through the motions with zero intent to try to block the shot

 

[Devs3cups]

It’s not just about playoff production though . It’s about him not providing anything else at all when he is not scoring.
Yes he is a very good producer in the regular season . You need that to make the playoffs . But , he is not worth 8-9 mil . Those players making that kind of coin bring more to the table than what he does . 8-9 mil gets you a player that produces as much or more PLUS is not a negative to the team when not scoring .

I don’t think Bratt is worth 9 mil. He absolutely is worth around 8. I’d give him max 8x8 right now. I think his true value is around 7.5-8. I’d feel a little iffy about going over 8, I’ll give you that.

I’d be very comfortable with the Fiala AAV. I also doubt he gets more than Hintz’s AAV.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

I’ll say one thing, Carolina played a heck of a series, especially with some of their top players hurt. They did give us a spanking. Kudos to them. If the Panthers take out the Leafs tonight, Carolina and Florida will be a heck of a series.

 

[MakoSlade]

I have faith in Fitz that he offers Bratt a fair contract fir what he feels Bratt’s value is to the team. If Bratt refuses it , so be it .
I’m not wanting to toss Bratt to the curb for being a no show in the playoffs , but I do not want to slam us against the cap and pay 8-9 mil on a one dimensional player .
There are other ways to build a winning team where that cap is spent elsewhere instead of overpaying to keep him .

GMTF is one of the best GMs in the league, like top 3. We may not like what happens with Bratt, but I bet the logic behind it would be rock solid. So many teams put themselves in cap hell, but I get the feeling GMTF is taking all aspects into every decision and won't put the team in a bind.

Hopefully we resign Bratt, but we can't cripple the team's cap over it.

 

[Devils731]

…. So you’re telling me Bratt busted his ass to the point and did what he could to tyey to block the shot in a proficient way ?
Ya no . He was going through the motions with zero intent to try to block the shot

I think Bratt was doing what he thought was the correct thing to do in the situation. I don’t think a guy who was just diving head first to prevent a shot was wussing out. He acted in a fashion we’ve seen devils players defend all year; it didn’t look out of character for how the devils ask players to defend.

You said Bratt was literally moving away from Burns. You said his stick was nowhere near the shooting lane. Do you think these are both true? Did you not see the puck go between the stick and body?

Those questions are a reason I’m pushing back. Not because I think Bratt made a great play but because I think Bratt made a standard play but people then blow it up bigger than reality because it fits the narrative and the puck went in.