Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2022-23 season thread part III

[Stephen Gionta]

If we're being honest, David Pastrnak is EXACTLY what this team needs.

If he doesn't re-sign in Boston, we should be moving heaven and earth to sign him this summer.

And he comes from the Boston Bruins culture, so it's unlikely he'd be demanding top dollar. I think if he decides to move on from Boston, the team that signs him will be able to get him signed at about 10-11 million AAV. It's just a matter of whether he wants to sign with that team.

I pray to the lord it's us.

 

[Satans Hockey]

Sometimes I complete surveys only out of professional courtesy for the market researcher on the other end who has to work with the responses.

This would not be one of those times. Why even ask that question? There's no way they are going to get meaningful responses.

Anybody who says that sponsors add to the experience is straight trolling.

All the questions were related to all their sponsorships, do you notice the helmet ad sponsors, have you noticed these digital ad sponsors, in game arena sponsors, etc etc.

I only fill them out to let them know how much I hate ads and won't support any sponsorship that annoys me, like the helmet ads and the digital board ads.

 

[OmNomNom]

"I'm tellin' ya, a custom Fire Pit for Lindy's back patio guys."

"then we can do outdoor fondue"

 

[Guttersniped]

If we're being honest, David Pastrnak is EXACTLY what this team needs.

If he doesn't re-sign in Boston, we should be moving heaven and earth to sign him this summer.

And he comes from the Boston Bruins culture, so it's unlikely he'd be demanding top dollar. I think if he decides to move on from Boston, the team that signs him will be able to get him signed at about 10-11 million AAV. It's just a matter of whether he wants to sign with that team.

I pray to the lord it's us.

Why wouldn’t Pastrnak resign in Boston, particularly if he isn’t asking for a ton of money? Because his teammates are old?

I would be pretty shocked if they managed to lose him.

 

[Rhodes 81]

I’d rather stay the course and try to develop Holtz into that guy. Time is on our side. We aren’t exactly wanting for goals right now.

There's some amount of pressure to go for it this year if they're still playing like a top team at the deadline, given that you're losing at least one of Severson and Graves this year, possibly Wood and/or Tatar if he wants too much term or AAV, and you can never predict goaltending from year to year. It's fairly likely that we will take a step back next season as we integrate more prospects and lose some of the experience that is working for us right now.

Outside of that, we're set up to be successful for a long time given our cap flexibility and remaining prospects. It would be great to have Holtz on the cheap for another 2-5 years or so as a top 6 scorer, if he does end up there.

Yeah you can do that but if you wait and holtz struggles you lose trade value on your most important piece to dangle.

As of today, Holtz has shown success at the AHL level and enough at the NHL level to where even if he just kept playing like he has been, there are enough NHL teams that will convince themselves they could make him work to still value him around the same as a late first this time next year. We also have Mukhamadullin as a 4 star kind of prospect with no clear path to the NHL roster to dangle, Casey in a similar position, all of our firsts moving forward, and plenty of other fringe prospects like Thompson, Foote, and Gritsyuk that we can package. I'm not too worried about having valuable pieces to trade if we need to.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Why wouldn’t Pastrnak resign in Boston, particularly if he isn’t asking for a ton of money? Because his teammates are old?

I would be pretty shocked if they managed to lose him.

Uhhh, yeah........

It's no secret that once Bergeron and Marchand are gone the Bruins are destined for a pretty big rebuild......

With that said, I too expect he will re-sign there.

 

[Rhodes 81]

Why wouldn’t Pastrnak resign in Boston, particularly if he isn’t asking for a ton of money? Because his teammates are old?

I would be pretty shocked if they managed to lose him.

I think the only chance he left Boston was if they sucked this year, which obviously hasn't happened.

 

[FooteBahl]

I think the only chance he left Boston was if they sucked this year, which obviously hasn't happened.

There’s still plenty of time for them to suck; however, that only applies to them and not us lol.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Yeah you can do that but if you wait and holtz struggles you lose trade value on your most important piece to dangle.

I too worry about this.

I'd say at this point, it seems like it's more likely than not that Holtz does not develop into the star 35+ goal winger we all hoped he could be when we drafted him.

It wouldn't at all be a bad idea to capitalize on his value now to land a proven player, before his value diminishes all together.

 

[NjdPass]

I am not sure what to think about possibly trading Holtz for a finisher. Having Holtz on a ELC and under team control will be huge moving forward. But… I’m not sure if he can be the player we need him to be . Tradig him (plus + ?) for Meier “could “ be an awesome addition but we lose any roster flexibility we would have if we just kept Hotlz .
Its a question of if Holtz can keep up with the style of play we need him to play, and finish at a rate we would like him to.

Well we can be very creative if we want. I think A LOT depends on the whole Bratt decision. If they are way off, you can make a Matty T type of trade. We all love having Bratt, but he is just another Hughes. Of course you want as many as you get get....But, there is potential to have a different type of player.

For example, you can trade Bratt to Arizona for Crouse and Chychrun. Crouse has term and has 10 goals on the season already.

Could even get Bo Horvat and Brock B . I am only going off those two because it sounds like these guys want out. You prob coould get Bo and Brock for a 1st, holtz, sevo, Bahl at the deadline. Seems like overpayment for a rental but lets be real. Holtz may or may not be sick, Sevo is a goner....and I love Bahl but someone with value needs to go the other way with Bratt. I just think we have such a log jam at D and its not right to the player too. I honestly think Luke Hughes will be on this team by the end of the year. So we need to make room for him.

Hischer and Horvat as a one two punch is unreal. Lets be real Hughes cannot win us a faceoff, and Haula should not be on his line. I love the way that he plays but Hughes needs a finisher...Bo.

We just cant trade Luke Hughes.......He is Jack just on the backend.

Lets see what we do....I also wouldnt mind if we do nothing and just keep winning. LOL I am legit just happy to be here.

 

[britdevil]

Uhhh, yeah........

It's no secret that once Bergeron and Marchand are gone the Bruins are destined for a pretty big rebuild......

With that said, I too expect he will re-sign there.

They are?

I feel like I've been hearing this for 15 years....

Pasta doesn't leave Boston.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Way too early to have some of these takes on Holtz. Just look at Zetterlund, what he is now, what he was doing in the AHL when he was Holtz’s age.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

They are?

I feel like I've been hearing this for 15 years....

Pasta doesn't leave Boston.

??

You've been hearing that once Bergeron and Marchand are gone the Bruins are going to be bad.

And they are both still there. Which is why the Bruins are still good.

Not sure what you're saying.

 

[njdevil26]

I don't think he's what the team needs. Meier is a below-average finisher, he makes up for that by taking lots and lots of shots. He is great at generating shots on goal. The thing is, the Devils are already great at getting shots on goal. He's not what I would call a finisher and I am always concerned about this sort of player long-term; do they just start throwing up more and more low-percentage shots as they can't find the slot as much. I'd take him on the team, but I would not trade significant assets for him.

I'm sorry if my initial response sounded douchey.

I just think he would be good for this team because he's a tough player that also can score a lot of goals. I think that combination is something we are lacking. Our toughness comes from Smith but the forward group (to me at least) is still extremely soft. There's no going in going out looking for toughness to disrupt the bottom six. But being able to add that player to the top six... while Nico and Bratt are on the ice I think that line would be unbelievable.

 

[njdevil26]

Sometimes I complete surveys only out of professional courtesy for the market researcher on the other end who has to work with the responses.

This would not be one of those times. Why even ask that question? There's no way they are going to get meaningful responses.

Anybody who says that sponsors add to the experience is straight trolling.

The thing that is driving me crazy is the gambling ads.
It's on the ice, on the glass, on the boards, every commercial break, DURING play, in between plays with the picture and picture ads. It is honestly so obnoxious. People who gamble are already going to gamble. I haven't bet on a Devils game since the pandemic started.

If anyone sees these ads that pop up mid game about updated odds and "did you know you can still bet on this game" and they grab their phone to do so... that's a gambling problem... and that's absolutely what all these ads are geared towards. Predatory advertising towards vulnerable people.



Last season there was an ad from Resorts Casino that was running every commercial break.... and I complained about it on Twitter because it was false advertising and predatory... and I immediately never saw the ad again.

It was a girl playing the slot 88 Fortunes which I know because I randomly hit big on that slot at Borgata a few years ago so if I ever feel inclined to play slot machines I usually go to that one.

The max cash bet on that is $13,20 per spin. You can play a demo version of the slot where you can bet up to $88 a spin. The commercial showed a girl betting $88 per spin and winning a few grand. So the ad was misleading and trying to get people to think they could win so much money with a scenario that's not even possible in the game.


If you don't gamble, I applaud you. These commercials probably don't affect you. Luckily for myself they have no effect on me. But the gambling ads are absolutely obnoxious, predatory, and are going to cause people have a lot of problems which is 50% their own fault but these companies and subsequently the NHL should have some responsibility for things that are being absolutely hammered into the skull of the viewer/fan.

 

[TF1970]

the more they don't have any updates to share on bastian, the more i bet it is a torn labrum in his shoulder. if that is the case, he'll be done for the year.

 

[forceten]

I am really hopeful for the next two games. We hit the 1/4 of the season mark top 2 in the league and are in position to do the same at game 27 which is about 1/3 of the way through the season. The longer this goes the more I believe. Yes I understand typing this means I won't 100% believe until game 82 but forgive me as I've been a fan since almost the beginning.

 

[HBK27]

The thing that is driving me crazy is the gambling ads.
It's on the ice, on the glass, on the boards, every commercial break, DURING play, in between plays with the picture and picture ads. It is honestly so obnoxious. People who gamble are already going to gamble. I haven't bet on a Devils game since the pandemic started.

If anyone sees these ads that pop up mid game about updated odds and "did you know you can still bet on this game" and they grab their phone to do so... that's a gambling problem... and that's absolutely what all these ads are geared towards. Predatory advertising towards vulnerable people.



Last season there was an ad from Resorts Casino that was running every commercial break.... and I complained about it on Twitter because it was false advertising and predatory... and I immediately never saw the ad again.

It was a girl playing the slot 88 Fortunes which I know because I randomly hit big on that slot at Borgata a few years ago so if I ever feel inclined to play slot machines I usually go to that one.

The max cash bet on that is $13,20 per spin. You can play a demo version of the slot where you can bet up to $88 a spin. The commercial showed a girl betting $88 per spin and winning a few grand. So the ad was misleading and trying to get people to think they could win so much money with a scenario that's not even possible in the game.


If you don't gamble, I applaud you. These commercials probably don't affect you. Luckily for myself they have no effect on me. But the gambling ads are absolutely obnoxious, predatory, and are going to cause people have a lot of problems which is 50% their own fault but these companies and subsequently the NHL should have some responsibility for things that are being absolutely hammered into the skull of the viewer/fan.

Yeah, the gambling ads are terrible. That's part of the reason I'll never use any of those products...plus I feel like it would actually take away from the game if I had other rooting interests beside just seeing the Devils win.

The digital ads still bother me, though not as much as they did at the beginning of the season. It's mostly the blurriness around players when they're in front of the boards that bothers me, though the animation is distracting at times as well.

What bothers me more than any of this for some reason is when they have the programming alert at the bottom of the screen whenever the Islanders are playing on MSG+2 or whatever it is now. At least with the ads I get it - the league is making money. Running a scroll over and over again at the bottom of the screen and listing the channels to find the Islander game cannot possibly be helping a single person, yet they've been doing this for years and years now. It would be one thing if they did it the first 5 minutes of the game, but it usually goes on for 2 periods.

 

[HBK27]

the more they don't have any updates to share on bastian, the more i bet it is a torn labrum in his shoulder. if that is the case, he'll be done for the year.

Yeah, the lack of updates on Bastian is certainly concerning. At this point, I'm just hopeful he can play again this season.

 

[njdevil26]

Yeah, the gambling ads are terrible. That's part of the reason I'll never use any of those products...plus I feel like it would actually take away from the game if I had other rooting interests beside just seeing the Devils win.

The digital ads still bother me, though not as much as they did at the beginning of the season. It's mostly the blurriness around players when they're in front of the boards that bothers me, though the animation is distracting at times as well.

What bothers me more than any of this for some reason is when they have the programming alert at the bottom of the screen whenever the Islanders are playing on MSG+2 or whatever it is now. At least with the ads I get it - the league is making money. Running a scroll over and over again at the bottom of the screen and listing the channels to find the Islander game cannot possibly be helping a single person, yet they've been doing this for years and years now. It would be one thing if they did it the first 5 minutes of the game, but it usually goes on for 2 periods.

I used to do really stupid bets like $5 on Severson to score a goal, $5 on over/under... but with the way the odds are now you can't actually win decent money unless you bet a HUGE amount.

Like the Blues/Rangers game tonight... OU is 5.5. Bet the over -118 under -104.
Blues moneyline is +140 and Rangers is -175

Those odds are so stupid you'd have to throw thousands of dollars at something to win decent money. Or just put $20 on a ridiculous parlay and hope you win.

 

[njdevils1982]

Yeah, the gambling ads are terrible. That's part of the reason I'll never use any of those products...plus I feel like it would actually take away from the game if I had other rooting interests beside just seeing the Devils win.

The digital ads still bother me, though not as much as they did at the beginning of the season. It's mostly the blurriness around players when they're in front of the boards that bothers me, though the animation is distracting at times as well.

What bothers me more than any of this for some reason is when they have the programming alert at the bottom of the screen whenever the Islanders are playing on MSG+2 or whatever it is now. At least with the ads I get it - the league is making money. Running a scroll over and over again at the bottom of the screen and listing the channels to find the Islander game cannot possibly be helping a single person, yet they've been doing this for years and years now. It would be one thing if they did it the first 5 minutes of the game, but it usually goes on for 2 periods.

the rolling ticker is very annoying .....as i've said before, tape a strip of paper along the bottom of the screen

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

All sports leagues are chasing gambling money and corporate spending accounts. It’s a huge turn off as a father. I don’t even want to get my kids into spectator sports at this point. Maybe it will show up in a generation as demand shrinks or maybe families just don’t matter anymore to these businesses and c’est la vie.

 

[None Shall Pass]

I signed up for sports gambling for the Super Bowl when my friends came over and we all realized we got a free $100 bet when we deposited $100.

So we all deposited $100 and all bet our free $100 on a safety occurring, which would've paid 8 to 1 (It didn't happen). We spent the entire Super Bowl rooting for failure and backwards plays. It was the most fun I've ever had during a Super Bowl.

Since then, I've spent $10 to $30 a game only betting on Devils players scoring per game. I'm up to $300 now without ever depositing again. It'd be higher but occasionally I got too cute for my own good and started betting on more niche ideas, like a dude getting a PP goal, Haula scoring a goal at all, etc.

Sports betting gets a lot easier once you isolate it to the one area you pay hyper attention to. Example: I know Tatar is getting first line minutes 5v5 and PP2 time as well. +120 to have at least one point that game? Easy bet for yes. Bastian +240 for a PP point? Dude was standing in front of the goalie while Nico, Bratt, Jack and Dougie are on the ice! He'll get something by accident.

That's how I keep it fun. I still root for my team, pick a few dudes to root extra hard for, and get pleasantly surprised when I make $20.

It's still a predatory and awful industry, though.

 

[TBF1972]

So your taking the Switzerland approach to your prediction.

you will get left off my prospect ballot next off-season.

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

I think up to $10M is justifiable given the comparables. I would prefer less, but Fitz had his chance last offseason.

There is 0% chance he's getting less than $8M with term. Zero. Absolutely zilch.

One I wouldn't say Fitz or Bratt blew any chance on anything as we aren't in the room...We have been told that the agent is difficult that's possible and that could be the problem....As far as getting him signed below 8 that's probably true but to put him above Kaprizov not sure about that...