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

[Captain3rdLine]

I think Foote can indeed be better than what Bastian and Wood. He is a more cerebral player and can score from distance.

Clarke is still an unknown at the NHL level so we will have to see there.

I doubt Foote can be better than Bastian. Slower, less skilled and less physical. His shot is also massively overrated. Not even sure he was a trigger man on the comets power play

More optimistic about Clarke tbh. There’s some real nice skill there but he isn’t really a 4th line type of player.

 

[NjDevsRR]

I doubt Foote can be better than Bastian. Slower, less skilled and less physical. His shot is also massively overrated. Not even sure he was a trigger man on the comets power play

More optimistic about Clarke tbh. There’s some real nice skill there but he isn’t really a 4th line type of player.

This is why I said “would be great”. Unlikely but you never know. Foote looked much better in his last, very short, stint. I want a longer look.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Off-season talks are in full swing already I see lol

 

[Camille the Eel]

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.


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

Probably I agree after my first impulse has subsided. I was impressed by Foote on his brief audition here in the spring, particularly as he has a better shot than I expected. But Bastian was one of our better players in this last series and that makes one think again about swapping him out. He stays if possible I think.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

So we're back to the too heavy meme eh? Even though we beat a team who tried to play heavy in the first round and our problem against the Canes wasn't size, it was their defense and quicker, better decision making. Not to mention better goaltending in three of the first four games. By the time Schmid got his second wind it was too late.

Not the dreaded "out-goalied"?

Sorry for misleading with the use of the word "heavy". Was not referring solely to size - though the two sometimes overlap.

Rather, when I say heavy I am referring to combativeness, willingness to engage, and the determination to be thorough in all three zones.

The Rangers, with the exception of Jacob Trouba, have some of the least involved bigger players in the game.

It was no coincidence that the Central Division was the only one that gave the Devils struggles during the regular season.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Would be great if Foote and Clarke can be an upgrade over Bastian and McLeod.

Edit: Bastian and Wood*, not McLeod.

I really think Clarke is going to surprise at camp, in a good way.

 

[HersheyBob27]

I think Foote can indeed be better than what Bastian and Wood. He is a more cerebral player and can score from distance.

Clarke is still an unknown at the NHL level so we will have to see there.

Methinks bastian has one of the higher hockey IQs on the team but whatever you think

 

[Camille the Eel]

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.

They won most of the one on one puck battles last night and consistently took pucks away from us when we seemed to think we had more time than we really had to make a play. Again and again all night long we seemed to gain possession very briefly only to have challenging Carolina players out battle us at the point of attack. Whole minutes of the game seemed to be consumed that way.

 

[Incharge1976]

Need Damon to see the big picture here and sign a 5 year extension at 2.5M AAV. For the team, Sevo!

With a $500k a year on-air job when he retires.

 

[Devilsgrl35]

Obviously its not quite the same importance but Timo's miss reminded me of this...

This is exactly what I thought of last night. Uhhh, it still hurts.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Not the dreaded "out-goalied"?

Sorry for misleading with the use of the word "heavy". Was not referring solely to size - though the two sometimes overlap.

Rather, when I say heavy I am referring to combativeness, willingness to engage, and the determination to be thorough in all three zones.

The Rangers, with the exception of Jacob Trouba, have some of the least involved bigger players in the game.

It was no coincidence that the Central Division was the only one that gave the Devils struggles during the regular season.

How did Luke look last game? You seemed to have some strong opinions about him before.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I don't think Timo really missed though because I don't think he was trying to put that on net. He was trying to pass it back to Jack.

I don't think he even realized how open the net was until he passed the puck away.

A lesson that we need more of a shooter's mentality next year. There isn't enough time or space in the playoffs to go east/west as we do

 

[Devilsgrl35]

Off-season talks are in full swing already I see lol

At least the offseason is a month shorter for us this year.

 

[Lou Bloom]

Wanting to make major changes to the core of a team that had one of the biggest 1 year turnarounds in NHL history and beat their biggest rival in the 1st round is ridiculous. Go look at the majority of NHL players and you'll see that all of them have had underwhelming playoff performances at some point in their career.

Re-signing Bratt and Timo should be a no-brainer decision assuming their asks are reasonable and the only thing the Devils should actually worry about is how they want to go about building out the bottom 6 and complimentary players on the roster.

 

[NJDevs26]

Wanting to make major changes to the core of a team that had one of the biggest 1 year turnarounds in NHL history and beat their biggest rival in the 1st round is ridiculous. Go look at the majority of NHL players and you'll see that all of them have had underwhelming playoff performances at some point in their career.

Re-signing Bratt and Timo should be a no-brainer decision assuming their asks are reasonable and the only thing the Devils should actually worry about is how they want to go about building out the bottom 6 and complimentary players on the roster.

We have no reason to assume Bratt’s ask will be reasonable based on the last two negotiations and the lack of them since January 1 this year. I’m not sure we should even assume Timo’s ask should be reasonable based on who HIS agent is. But we should bite the bullet for at least one of them and hope the other finally takes Fitz’s offer

 

[JimEIV]

Is anyone going to the World's from our team?

 

[Devs3cups]

Is anyone going to the World's from our team?

Nemec has been confirmed.

 

[devilsblood]

I don't think Timo really missed though because I don't think he was trying to put that on net. He was trying to pass it back to Jack.

I don't think he even realized how open the net was until he passed the puck away.

A lesson that we need more of a shooter's mentality next year. There isn't enough time or space in the playoffs to go east/west as we do

Really?

 

[Satans Hockey]

Is anyone going to the World's from our team?

Nemec has been confirmed.

I doubt many do, too many guys banged up or are pending contracts and won't risk the injury.

Siegs and Akira for the Swiss like some said in the world's thread makes sense too.

 

[Lou Bloom]

We have no reason to assume Bratt’s ask will be reasonable based on the last two negotiations and the lack of them since January 1 this year. I’m not sure we should even assume Timo’s ask should be reasonable based on who HIS agent is. But we should bite the bullet for at least one of them and hope the other finally takes Fitz’s offer

Plenty of RFA deals don't get signed until the offseason, look at Kaprizov, Marner, Nylander, Connor, Rantanen, etc... Sometimes when you're having negotiations neither side is willing to blink immediately and these situations get dragged on longer than most fans would want. Until a report comes out that states Bratt or Meier aren't willing to sign an extension with NJ or Fitz isn't willing to sign them at the price their asking for I don't see any reason to assume a deal won't get done.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

We’re trending like we bought Home Depot stock in 1981, bruh. We will be a nasty force to reckon with.

Would agree except there are no guarantees.

Teams like Buffalo, Philadelphia, Ottawa and Detroit are trending upwards as well and don't see any guarantee that the Devils close the gap with teams like Carolina, Boston, Toronto and Tampa or the top Western Conference teams.

Many teams show promise but they plateau.

Hopefully that's not the case.

 

[Bleedred]

Vanecek was horrendous this playoffs. He gave me zero confidence in any of his play. Idk where that ranks on my disappointing list but it’s probably just behind Bratt. It matters next to nothing but I have played goal since I was about 7 and he straight up didn’t seem to battle in these playoffs. He was such a warrior for us during the season that it was so disappointing. He seemed to just succumb to the pressure at hand. It’s so tough when your zone is such a mess but he simply did not make a single save when he needed to. I know he’s not going anywhere but I would rather us find a replacement for him. I know the most efficient thing to do, considering our other priorities, is to have him come back but I don’t want to see it.

I understand the sentiment. After a solid regular season, in which he admirably played 50+ games (he's really not a 50+ game goalie) mostly out of necessity (because Blackwood is the worst goalie in the NHL and they didn't wanna keep Schmid up when he was healthy) his playoffs this year were probably the worst since Fleury's 2012. At least that I can remember. If the Canes had traded their first round pick this year (I don't think they did?) the team that got their pick would have been IRATE with him, the same way we still remember Jarry for the 2021 Islanders series that got us picking Stillman instead of potentially like 8 or 10 spots ahead, was it?

I understand it will be probably kind of hard to watch him play next year without thinking about not only that, but his entire NHL playoff body of work, which is still a very small sample size, but he's basically the playoff goalie equivalent of Tatar. I've dug around to see if he maybe he was also really bad in the AHL playoffs to see if maybe he just has a history of coming up really poorly in big games, but he was a .935% in 4 games in 2019 and .910% in 4 games in 2017. So pretty good in relation to his NHL playoffs.

I don't really see how you get rid of him, unless you send him somewhere in a trade for a goalie upgrade. You can sell them on him being a pretty average goalie and being on a pretty affordable and solid cap hit for the next 2 years. But that's the only way I don't think he's back next year.

I don't think we need to get rid of him, but I hope everyone in the organization at least agrees that he can't start a playoff game here again, unless he has to because of injury.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Need Damon to see the big picture here and sign a 5 year extension at 2.5M AAV. For the team, Sevo!

Have been a frequent critic of Severson in the past but $2.5 M seems way too low for a veteran defenseman; particularly one who has been a key part of the organization through the lean years.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Really?

Yeah. He pushed it straight across the crease towards Jack. He never angled it toward the net

 

[Triumph]

Yeah. He pushed it straight across the crease towards Jack. He never angled it toward the net

He was angled all wrong and wasn't ready to receive the pass. He was not passing that puck, though.