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

[Emperoreddy]

Idk if it's worth upgrading on Smith. Outside of the penalties he has been fine and you got Bahl and eventually Luke to plug into that spot too

 

[Whaddagoal]

View attachment 618248

This must be saved on the Memes page.....!

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

Notably absent:
F - Chase Stillman

We should just call him that, instead of his name.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Actually, I didn't think it was that great of a game. We gave up way too many odd man rushes for my liking.

Tend to agree. While it is nice to be in a place where winning is a given (as opposed to the last few seasons) there were a lot of bad habits that bear watching.

The Blackhawks basically had a 4A lineup (plus Kane) - and many of the things the Devils did last night they won't get away with against better teams; particularly the cute backhand passes and roving all over the place (on the wrong side of the puck).

On the Hamilton goal as an example, the announcers were raving about the Hamilton shot and Hughes' stickhandling.

No way against a better team either player has that much time nor space.

More than likely, both end up out of the play (Hughes likely knocked to the ice), with the play heading the other way.

The winning is fun. But the process is far more important.

 

[Devilsfan992]

Idk if it's worth upgrading on Smith. Outside of the penalties he has been fine and you got Bahl and eventually Luke to plug into that spot too

Cale Makar followed a potentially similar trajectory. That would be something interesting..

Cale Makar's Historic Journey From NCAA Star To NHL Playoffs

Cale Makar became the first defensemen in league history to score a playoff goal in his NHL debut. Makar has had a hectic last few days. So how did he go from NCAA standout to making history in the NHL in 48 hours?

www.forbes.com

 

[MasterofGrond]

We kicked the shit out of them by all the advanced stats. Not the be all end all of course, but I think it's easy to be like "we should have given up fewer chances!" when chances like that are part and parcel of being an NHL team in 2022.

By pretty much every measure we give up fewer dangerous chances than any team in the league, and we did last night, too. I'd love for them to play even better, of course, but the idea that we were particularly loose defensively last night isn't really true.

 

[billingtons ghost]

I think you guys are right about going for a Cup. I've always thought we were still pretty far off from that but you need to start succeeding sometime. Even a deep playoff run helps us. And I think the next couple of weeks determine whether we are 'real' or not and more importantly, what our areas of need truly are.

We could upgrade Smith, but he's a good match for Sevs and he'll be even better as a #7.

But amongst the forwards it is difficult.

The tough part is that we're going to have to make a real honest assessment of each player. I don't think we're a team without Jack, Nico or Bratter so that's obvious, although Bratt's contract situation might be the only question.

Holtz is the obvious out. Boqvist next.
Tatar, McLeod, Haula, Zetterlund, and even Rango could be upgraded although they are all playing crucial roles on this team. Bastian and Wood could be but we're going to need them for the playoffs.

Perhaps no move is the best move and would be a powerful vote of confidence that this team has enough in Fitz's eyes.

 

[Nubmer6]

Tend to agree. While it is nice to be in a place where winning is a given (as opposed to the last few seasons) there were a lot of bad habits that bear watching.

The Blackhawks basically had a 4A lineup (plus Kane) - and many of the things the Devils did last night they won't get away with against better teams; particularly the cute backhand passes and roving all over the place (on the wrong side of the puck).

On the Hamilton goal as an example, the announcers were raving about the Hamilton shot and Hughes' stickhandling.

No way against a better team either player has that much time nor space.

More than likely, both end up out of the play (Hughes likely knocked to the ice), with the play heading the other way.

The winning is fun. But the process is far more important.

Actually, what's been concerning to me the most are the times we haven't been able to clear the puck out of our zone after we've gained possession. There were a number of times in the first and third periods that we ended up not chipping the puck off the glass while under pressure and instead looked to make a play.

It's probably what lost ya the Nashville game in the third too. A lot of flubbing and questionable decisions.

 

[OmNomNom]

no need to worry now - as much as i hate to say it, we're probably going to have some injuries (perhaps "mystery" injuries ahead of the deadline), so we'll need to acquire assets. once playoffs begins, then we'll in theory have a dearth of depth to switch out as necessary.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Tend to agree. While it is nice to be in a place where winning is a given (as opposed to the last few seasons) there were a lot of bad habits that bear watching.

The Blackhawks basically had a 4A lineup (plus Kane) - and many of the things the Devils did last night they won't get away with against better teams; particularly the cute backhand passes and roving all over the place (on the wrong side of the puck).

On the Hamilton goal as an example, the announcers were raving about the Hamilton shot and Hughes' stickhandling.

No way against a better team either player has that much time nor space.

More than likely, both end up out of the play (Hughes likely knocked to the ice), with the play heading the other way.

The winning is fun. But the process is far more important.

lol never change man

I know we aren't used to seeing a player with Hughes' caliber of skills on our team, but yikes.

 

[Nubmer6]

I think you guys are right about going for a Cup. I've always thought we were still pretty far off from that but you need to start succeeding sometime. Even a deep playoff run helps us. And I think the next couple of weeks determine whether we are 'real' or not and more importantly, what our areas of need truly are.

We could upgrade Smith, but he's a good match for Sevs and he'll be even better as a #7.

But amongst the forwards it is difficult.

The tough part is that we're going to have to make a real honest assessment of each player. I don't think we're a team without Jack, Nico or Bratter so that's obvious, although Bratt's contract situation might be the only question.

Holtz is the obvious out. Boqvist next.
Tatar, McLeod, Haula, Zetterlund, and even Rango could be upgraded although they are all playing crucial roles on this team. Bastian and Wood could be but we're going to need them for the playoffs.

Perhaps no move is the best move and would be a powerful vote of confidence that this team has enough in Fitz's eyes.

Shara feels kind of wasted to me. He's a scoring winger who's not put in a position to score on the top 2 lines, and has consistency issues. I love the guy, and I think he's good, perhaps this is a situation of "good" being the enemy of "great".

As for a deep playoff run, I can see it playing out two ways. We've seen first year playoff teams rip through the season and get eliminated in the first round due to inexperience. I think of the last year of the Quebec Nordiques as an example, but I'm sure there's many more examples, perhaps Florida being the most recent.

The other possibility I can envision is another run like we had in 87 - 88, where we almost made the finals, mainly because we didn't get intimidated because we didn't know better.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I'm not sure I want to trade good assets for a forward unless it's a major upgrade like Timo

 

[Devilsfan2326]

Palat is back in 3 months or so yes? Kind of like an acquisition. The team has achieved its record almost entirely without him.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Palat is back in 3 months or so yes? Kind of like an acquisition. The team has achieved its record almost entirely without him.

Under the impression it will be sooner. Maybe sometime in January. February the latest I think.

Bastian we don't know yet, but it's going to be a while.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Palat is back in 3 months or so yes? Kind of like an acquisition. The team has achieved its record almost entirely without him.

he should be back way before 3 more months. I would say probably another month or so given the initial timeline.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Yeah I would expect to see Palat middle of January or so.

Worried we're not seeing Bastian until like March (or later).

 

[Whaddagoal]

Under the impression it will be sooner. Maybe sometime in January. February the latest I think.

Bastian we don't know yet, but it's going to be a while.

he should be back way before 3 more months. I would say probably another month or so given the initial timeline.

Yup, Palat is already skating on the side at least (him and Blackwood were skating), or at least that is what the media was saying a week or so ago.

With Bastian, the team went code silent. He must have really f***ed up that shoulder bad, because they give up very little on him.

 

[Devilsfan2326]

Under the impression it will be sooner. Maybe sometime in January. February the latest I think.

Bastian we don't know yet, but it's going to be a while.

he should be back way before 3 more months. I would say probably another month or so given the initial timeline.

Ohhh that's much better news He strikes me as such a reliable player. A coach can place a lot of responsibility on him. Kind of like Zubrus? I'm not worried about him shaking up the chemistry at all when he comes back.

 

[Camille the Eel]

I think you guys are right about going for a Cup. I've always thought we were still pretty far off from that but you need to start succeeding sometime. Even a deep playoff run helps us. And I think the next couple of weeks determine whether we are 'real' or not and more importantly, what our areas of need truly are.

We could upgrade Smith, but he's a good match for Sevs and he'll be even better as a #7.

But amongst the forwards it is difficult.

The tough part is that we're going to have to make a real honest assessment of each player. I don't think we're a team without Jack, Nico or Bratter so that's obvious, although Bratt's contract situation might be the only question.

Holtz is the obvious out. Boqvist next.
Tatar, McLeod, Haula, Zetterlund, and even Rango could be upgraded although they are all playing crucial roles on this team. Bastian and Wood could be but we're going to need them for the playoffs.

Perhaps no move is the best move and would be a powerful vote of confidence that this team has enough in Fitz's eyes.

I think you guys are right about going for a Cup. I've always thought we were still pretty far off from that but you need to start succeeding sometime. Even a deep playoff run helps us. And I think the next couple of weeks determine whether we are 'real' or not and more importantly, what our areas of need truly are.

We could upgrade Smith, but he's a good match for Sevs and he'll be even better as a #7.

But amongst the forwards it is difficult.

The tough part is that we're going to have to make a real honest assessment of each player. I don't think we're a team without Jack, Nico or Bratter so that's obvious, although Bratt's contract situation might be the only question.

Holtz is the obvious out. Boqvist next.
Tatar, McLeod, Haula, Zetterlund, and even Rango could be upgraded although they are all playing crucial roles on this team. Bastian and Wood could be but we're going to need them for the playoffs.

Perhaps no move is the best move and would be a powerful vote of confidence that this team has enough in Fitz's eyes.

Getting Palat back totally healthy and ready to go will be very helpful for the playoffs.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Z fits on the 4th line, so it takes away a bit of the sting of losing Bastian. Palat coming back forces Holtz out, which isn't the worst thing. He is learning, but still has things to work on. It sucks to lose Bastian, but we have enough depth right now to be ok without him.

 

[Clam Jensen]

View attachment 618248

This is so good I had to make it my avatar.

 

[glenwo2]

This is so good I had to make it my avatar.

Greatest Avatar Ever.

 

[MartyOwns]

i hope bastian is back soon, but shoulder cramps are a bitch

 

[Bleedred]

Wouldn't be surprised if we saw Palat just before the new year.

 

[Bcap88]

Wouldn't be surprised if we saw Palat just before the new year.

With the way we are playing I don’t see them rushing him especially with how groin injuries tend to be notoriously bad for healing with a high re injury rate if not rehab’d properly.