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

[Guttersniped]

I dunno in response to my post you said “you lose”. I was just trying to figure out how i lost.

It was pretty simple to see that he was saying Johnsson had been way better in Utica than the other players some posters were asking for instead of him. (And the “you” was any of those posters.)

I agree that Thompson need lots of playing time more than anything else right now, he’s missed a ton of development time including most of last season. He should stay in Utica and get that.

People bitch about Holtz’s skating and then ask for him to be replaced by Foote because… he’s bigger? Foote also needs to keep building his game in Utica right now.

If Clarke really gets hot as a scorer maybe you give him a shot in a bit because him being healthy and feeling it might be a more of an ephemeral thing that you take advantage of in the moment.

 

[Nico13]

We need a goon or two.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

It was pretty simple to see that he was saying Johnsson had been way better in Utica than the other players some posters were asking for instead of him. (And the “you” was any of those posters.)

I agree that Thompson need lots of playing time more than anything else right now, he’s missed a ton of development time including most of last season. He should stay in Utica and get that.

People bitch about Holtz’s skating and then ask for him to be replaced by Foote because… he’s bigger? Foote also needs to keep building his game in Utica right now.

If Clarke really gets hot as a scorer maybe you give him a shot in a bit because him being healthy and feeling it might be a more of an ephemeral thing that you take advantage of in the moment.

Holtz has been disappointing and it might be time to send him back to Utica for now. Not really sure what’s best for him because he’s not good enough to play in the NHL right now but he does so well in the AHL and I’m not sure how much he’s gonna develop there or become more NHL ready.

But ya Foote isn’t the answer. Simply don’t think he’s good enough.

Clarke I actually like and he’s one guy I’d like to see called up. Think he could hold his own and he has some nice skills that could turn him into a decent player.

Disagree on Thompson. Don’t think him dealing with injuries means he’s needs to stew in Utica if he’s our best call-up option and potentially NHL ready. He would fit the mold because he has pretty good speed and he plays hard. Has decent skill too. Never gonna be a top 6 player so if he’s able to step in and contribute to our bottom 6 right now he should get that opportunity. He’s 23 years old, played 3 seasons in college (101 games), came right in and played 7 NHL games and has since struggled to stay healthy in the AHL. But if a player is able to play in the NHL at a reasonable level I think that’s usually gonna be better for their development than playing in the AHL especially if they’re already 23.5 years old with 100 college games under their belt. He looked good in camp and fits what we’re looking for skillset wise. Bring him up.

My personal preference of our depth options:
Thompson
Clarke
Johnsson
Foote
Holtz

Johnsson is meh at this point and doesn’t bring much value so I’d rather see a couple young guys get opportunities before him.

Tatar Hischier Zetterlund
Bratt Hughes Mercer
Wood McLeod Thompson
Boqvist Haula Sharangovich

Something like this I’d like. Wouldn’t even mind Boqvist coming out for a game for a guy like Clarke but that’s not gonna happen.

And for the D while I’m at it

Siegenthaler Severson
Bahl Hamilton
Okhotiuk Smith

 

[Billdo]

I see him at his kid's mites games every so often, so I have proof of life.

They cut both his legs off and he's playing mites?? Oof it's worse than I thought.

 

[Mgd31]

Where is Palat? He had like an 8 week timeline in early November?

 

[HBK27]

to me that does not sound like good news for gravy

I wouldn’t read anything into it at this point. We need call another defenseman up for tomorrow’s game regardless.

I’m curious as to what (if any) the cap implications are with putting Bastian on IR now. They held off doing it for a month, so there’s got to be some reason.

Same with the implications if Graves winds up on IR long-term.

 

[MauDevils]

Love watching players like Okhotiuk. It's a style that never bores me.

 

[MauDevils]

Where is Palat? He had like an 8 week timeline in early November?

8-10 weeks, it's been 7. They said he was training almost immediately. Don't think he's skating yet, but I wouldn't be surprised with a delay after groin surgery and the fact that we don't need to rush him.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

8-10 weeks, it's been 7. They said he was training almost immediately. Don't think he's skating yet, but I wouldn't be surprised with a delay after groin surgery and the fact that we don't need to rush him.

He got hurt 10/24. Its been 8.5 weeks since then.

That being said, I would expect him back early on in January at this point.

 

[Nico13]

Palat-Hischier-Bratt
Meier-Hugues-Mercer
Wood-Haula-Zetterlund
Deslauriers-MacEwen-Bastian

What do you think?

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Palat-Hischier-Bratt
Meier-Hugues-Mercer
Wood-Haula-Zetterlund
Deslauriers-MacEwen-Bastian

What do you think?

gross.

and where did Sharangovich go?

 

[Nico13]

gross.

and where did Sharangovich go?

I don't care. San Jose maybe.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I don't have any interest in dressing one guy who cant play hockey let alone two.

 

[NJDevs26]

I don't have any interest in dressing one guy who cant play hockey let alone two.

Normally I agree, but if we're just dressing guys who DON'T play hockey more than goon icetime anyway...

 

[SJinNewJersey]

It would be nice if this team, I don't know, every now and then, gave us actual injury updates.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

gross.

and where did Sharangovich go?

It looks like he was traded for two of the worst players on one of the worst teams in the league

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Normally I agree, but if we're just dressing guys who DON'T play hockey more than goon icetime anyway...

I mean sure but the above is adding in Meier and Palat (and for some reason doesn't have McLeod either)

the last thing we need is useless plugs like Deslauries

 

[devilsblood]

It depends by what you mean by better numbers but Graves results have been extraordinary good. Some real luck there if you look at the SV% which he can’t personally control. I’m wary of the numbers because he’s not been that great on the PK but he might have improved, it happens.

Not sure what that has to do with my point though, which is Marino and Graves do a shit ton of PKing and now other guys have to do it. That can potentially go not great for us. No one cares about PK until things go wrong but it’s a personnel driven unit and defensemen are more important on it.

Severson has carried a big load before and has actually had some excellent years on the PK, mixed in with 20-21 which went bad for everyone. But he’s a great insurance policy, not really concerned there. So if Marino comes back quickly this isn’t that bad.

If both are out for a while then the unit is very different.

The last time Brendan Smith did much on PK was his last year in Detroit and some seasons in NY, particularly 2018-20. Those years in NY were awful for him but his PK work was probably the best part.

The Rags PK was awful those years though lol but Marc Staal was their top PK guy (yikes).

Their best PK guys other than Smith were 1) Skjei, who was underused until Carolina swiped him and made him a top guy for them, and 2) Jimmy Vesey, who was underutilized but continued to have strong PK numbers on every team he was on and was our best PK guy. (That’s what we signed him for.)

So sometimes numbers don’t lie, good PK guys travel pretty well actually (Lovejoy being a PK god everywhere for example). Numbers do fluctuate, more so with defensemen, even great PK guys like Greene can have monster years and not so good ones.

The only time Dougie was really part of a PK unit was in his last two years in Carolina. His numbers were good his first season, less so the next. Ruff gave him real numbers early on the PK last season and then ended that experiment pretty quickly after his first injury. He’s not a guy I would necessarily pick for increased PK numbers but it’s him or Bahl or a new guy (when Marino & Graves are out both out.) There’s no AHL special team data publicly available.

Point regarding Graves is he is a 2nd guy. Which is why his numbers are so good and why he is more easily replaced then Marino.

Im more wary of the young lefties handling Graves 5v5 duties then his pk minutes.

 

[devilsblood]

It was pretty simple to see that he was saying Johnsson had been way better in Utica than the other players some posters were asking for instead of him. (And the “you” was any of those posters.)

I agree that Thompson need lots of playing time more than anything else right now, he’s missed a ton of development time including most of last season. He should stay in Utica and get that.

People bitch about Holtz’s skating and then ask for him to be replaced by Foote because… he’s bigger? Foote also needs to keep building his game in Utica right now.

If Clarke really gets hot as a scorer maybe you give him a shot in a bit because him being healthy and feeling it might be a more of an ephemeral thing that you take advantage of in the moment.

Are people really calling for Foote?

Aside from Thompson the skating of that group is rather uninspiring.

 

[MartyOwns]

the problem is AJ isn’t a fit in our bottom 6, and he sucks too much for the top 6. i wouldn’t mind calling up someone who can cause a little chaos in their 5 minutes of ice time each night.

 

[severian]

They cut both his legs off and he's playing mites?? Oof it's worse than I thought.

Swing and a miss

 

[devilsblood]

Love watching players like Okhotiuk. It's a style that never bores me.

Seems pretty rare to find a big hitting physical d man who is any good these days.

 

[devilsblood]

the problem is AJ isn’t a fit in our bottom 6, and he sucks too much for the top 6. i wouldn’t mind calling up someone who can cause a little chaos in their 5 minutes of ice time each night.

Create some chaos AND have a little goal scoring ability.

Geertsen can create some chaos. Don’t want to see him in the line up though.

Heck id be fine with Johnsson if he scored some goals.

 

[bigd]

Speaking of Bernier, didn't he play a preseason game or was it just the scrimmages? Then he vanished like the dad who went for a pack of smokes one night.

He's our #7 this season. Let's hope we don't get down that far!

 

[Triumph]

I wouldn’t read anything into it at this point. We need call another defenseman up for tomorrow’s game regardless.

I’m curious as to what (if any) the cap implications are with putting Bastian on IR now. They held off doing it for a month, so there’s got to be some reason.

Same with the implications if Graves winds up on IR long-term.

There aren't any cap implications besides the Devils eating more into the LTIR room they have by adding Okhotiuk and not removing anyone.