Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2023-24 season begins!

[RememberTheName]

I don't really think there is anything you can do right now other than firing Lindy. He's not a good enough coach that we will regret not holding onto and even if the new coach we get for the rest of the season is Travis Green I don't think it can get much worse than what we are seeing right now. You have to do something. There are no difference making goalies on the market and if you just continue sticking with the same defensive striucture that is getting us destroyed right now nothing is going to fix itself. The players (sans our fourth line) are clearly checked out from Lindy's bs.

 

[Call Me Al]

It reeks of a kid whose head isn't in the right place.

Part of a coaches job is to keep guys aligned, but I think this is more of a Jack thing really.

yeah. first month of the season jack was the best player in the nhl. he got injured but it doesn’t seem like that’s an issue anymore, but he’s absolutely not the same player that he was and it looks mental

 

[theoptimist]

1 no confidence vote for VV

 

[Call Me Al]

I don't really think there is anything you can do right now other than firing Lindy. He's not a good enough coach that we will regret holding onto and even if the new coach we get for the rest of the season is Travis Green I don't think it can get much worse than what we are seeing right now. You have to do something. There are no difference making goalies on the market and if you just continue sticking with the same defensive striucture that is getting us destroyed right now nothing is going to fix itself. The players (sans our fourth line) are clearly checked out from Lindy's bs.

i honestly just want them to play a contained,
collapsing d zone structure that blocks shots and keeps chances outside. make teams earn their scoring chances instead of gift wrapping wide open net front chances where our d men are less threatening than a soft breeze

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

We’ve pulled into a tie with Carolina for the worst SV% in the league. Both sitting at .877. Amazing these teams are even in the playoffs or just out.

Ya as much as I like Marek, he didn't come off as knowledgable of the situation here and just looking at it as an outsider POV

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Sparknotes:

Marek thinks Lindy's getting goalied out of his job, Friedman doesn't know if it's fair to pin it all on him
Marek brings up the loss of Hamilton being an underrated story line (duh), Friedman counters with Meier being hurt and not being of help yet on his new deal
Friedman mentions that the Devils can't totally go backwards from last year
Marek rebuttals saying that development isn't totally linear which many of here have said
Friedman thinks they're a flawed team and not sure if a coaching change even matters
Draws parallel to Edmonton but the above point where Edmonton has very good metrics but NJ is faltering a bit due to everything involved.
Thinks Dougie's cap will be rolled to LTIR then a trade but thinks the Devils have to do it asap
Doesn't think Ruff firing will spark them like Edmonton
Thinks a trade > firing will change NJ's fortunes

Who is even out there with ~8-9m cap hit for one year that would help? And who is giving away rental players today? Only two teams are clearly selling: SJ and Chicago and they have absolutely nothing that fits the bill.

Big hole is goaltending, all attainable goalies have term.

The Hamilton cap relief is something to consider weaponizing closer to the deadline.

 

[guitarguyvic]

I'm not really disagreeing, but they've lucked their way into 16 wins?

They're inconsistent, that is for sure. And they fall into serious mental lapses during games when things aren't going well that carryover into prolonged stretches. Some of that could stem from them still being young and inexperienced, especially on the backend. And much of that can fall into coaching not getting them prepared the right way, or having an overcomplicated scheme.

I'm not a Ruff apologist, but there's a lot at play here that is blowing up in our face. Goaltending hasn't been good enough. The defense is struggling with consistency. And the offense is coming back down to earth. I do believe a coaching change will be the first move Fitz ultimately makes if this turns into a deeper stretch of losses. But I don't expect it to happen if they piece together wins and stay in the race. I think we'd then see it at the end of the season ultimately.

Sparknotes:

Marek thinks Lindy's getting goalied out of his job, Friedman doesn't know if it's fair to pin it all on him
Marek brings up the loss of Hamilton being an underrated story line (duh), Friedman counters with Meier being hurt and not being of help yet on his new deal
Friedman mentions that the Devils can't totally go backwards from last year
Marek rebuttals saying that development isn't totally linear which many of here have said
Friedman thinks they're a flawed team and not sure if a coaching change even matters
Draws parallel to Edmonton but the above point where Edmonton has very good metrics but NJ is faltering a bit due to everything involved.
Thinks Dougie's cap will be rolled to LTIR then a trade but thinks the Devils have to do it asap
Doesn't think Ruff firing will spark them like Edmonton
Thinks a trade > firing will change NJ's fortunes

To me, these are all just convenient excuses that ignore the overall pattern. And I'm not surprised that pundits who don't follow the team closely would cite them.

Putting aside the end W/L results...this team played exactly the same shit hockey when fully healthy at the start of the season. Do the injuries exacerbate the problem? Of course. But it's not the root problem, like at all.

Likewise I don't put huge stock into blaming the goalies...this is again part of a pattern. The skaters play at the maturity level of a junior team in front of mid goalies and then said goalies become completely shattered. Why do we act like we've never seen this play out exactly the same way before under this coach?

So yeah of course if you're an outsider who doesn't watch every game, or an overly optimistic fan, these are all great excuses you can use to ignore that these issues were in fact present even when the excuses weren't.

I wish I knew what Fitz was thinking, because if he's buying into this same BS...that's trouble.

I don't really think there is anything you can do right now other than firing Lindy. He's not a good enough coach that we will regret holding onto and even if the new coach we get for the rest of the season is Travis Green I don't think it can get much worse than what we are seeing right now. You have to do something. There are no difference making goalies on the market and if you just continue sticking with the same defensive striucture that is getting us destroyed right now nothing is going to fix itself. The players (sans our fourth line) are clearly checked out from Lindy's bs.

I'll take it one step further. I think continuing to move forward with this tire fire of a system is actively detrimental to the development of our young players.

 

[ninetyeight]

I honestly can’t get behind most of the things said here, I have a very long-term view for this group and I tried to temper my expectations. I’m very confident in our future, but I do agree that some changes need to be made, for sure.

I just think all fan bases overrate their players and we too should judge them more on what they've done instead of what we hope they'd do. I think I was pretty objective with my assessment and how an outsider, only looking at the facts, would see it. All players can get hot for 10-20 games, but it takes a very special player to stay hot the entire season and produce well above 100pts.

Goaltending has been an obvious fault that makes everything look worse than it is. But the others are still to blame as well. I think most expected that Hughes and Bahl could cover the loss of Graves and Sevs better. Then the degression of Siegs and Marino. Is this season the outlier or was last season. We hope it's this, but the evidence might say otherwise.

 

[guitarguyvic]

The other thing I find funny about the injury excuse is...that it's not a good excuse. LOL. Like, a good coach instills a MORE disciplined and SIMPLER strategy with the team when injuries start piling up and the goaltenders look rattled. I see nothing that indicates Lindy is even attempting to do this. If anything, the injuries only highlight his shortcomings even more.

 

[NjDevsRR]

lol. People don’t want to renew their seats NOW? When we have an actual talented young core to build on going forward? But they didn’t feel that way during the 14-21 years?

These randos are wild. Weak energy

 

[devilsblood]

Hughes has 1 5v5 assists in his last 10. Just not working well with his team mates.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Look, as a card carrying member of the “positivity group”, this team, despite all the bullshit and bad coaching, goaltending, and breakdowns, is still above ACTUAL NHL .500. There is so much season left. The forward depth is too good. Timo needs to get healthy, the young D just need to continue to grow, and the goaltending needs a permanent solution, but it’s not like we’re 8-17 with no punch. But fire Lindy, respectfully.

 

[devilsblood]

i honestly just want them to play a contained,
collapsing d zone structure that blocks shots and keeps chances outside. make teams earn their scoring chances instead of gift wrapping wide open net front chances where our d men are less threatening than a soft breeze

More shots against, but less true high quality scoring chances.

But I think people link our issues to how we set up defensively. I feel the bigger issues are the plays outside the zone which leads to chances against a not set defense.

Look, as a card carrying member of the “positivity group”, this team, despite all the bullshit and bad coaching, goaltending, and breakdowns, is still above ACTUAL NHL .500. There is so much season left. The forward depth is too good. Timo needs to get healthy, the young D just need to continue to grow, and the goaltending needs a permanent solution, but it’s not like we’re 8-17 with no punch. But fire Lindy, respectfully.

I'm not a fire Lindy guy, but I can see the positives of it. If nothing else just to reset the mindset.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Look, as a card carrying member of the “positivity group”, this team, despite all the bullshit and bad coaching, goaltending, and breakdowns, is still above ACTUAL NHL .500. There is so much season left. The forward depth is too good. Timo needs to get healthy, the young D just need to continue to grow, and the goaltending needs a permanent solution, but it’s not like we’re 8-17 with no punch. But fire Lindy, respectfully.

As annoying as this season has been, we’re still in such a good spot for the medium and long term. We used to pray for a crumb of talent and now we’re just pumping guys like this out left and right:


One of the most impressive rookie dmen I’ve ever seen in a Devil uni…and it’s possible he isn’t even the best young d on the team.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

As annoying as this season has been, we’re still in such a good spot for the medium and long term. We used to pray for a crumb of talent and now we’re just pumping guys like this out left and right:


One of the most impressive rookie dmen I’ve ever seen in a Devil uni…and it’s possible he isn’t even the best young d on the team.

Another reason why anyone who blames this being a transition year with 2 rookie dmen is clueless because they're actively outplaying the veterans. They get anything from Siegs/Marino from last year and the defensive core is passable

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Another reason why anyone who blames this being a transition year with 2 rookie dmen is clueless because they're actively outplaying the veterans. They get anything from Siegs/Marino from last year and the defensive core is passable

He’s been so good

He’s gonna make Dougie’s job much easier as the years go on.

 

[NJDevs26]

Another reason why anyone who blames this being a transition year with 2 rookie dmen is clueless because they're actively outplaying the veterans. They get anything from Siegs/Marino from last year and the defensive core is passable

I’m not on the ‘our roster changes are the reason for our downfall’ train BUT there are more than just on ice considerations when you look like a rudderless ship after losing a lot of veteran presences, love or hate their on ice contributions.

 

[njdevil26]

I think Lindy has to be fired. I feel bad about it... but the team either just isn't listening to him... or all the wrong things are being preached.

After what happened against Anaheim and Philly... for the team to come out AGAIN unprepared last night.. then to recover only to get absolutely shit on in the third period, that's it for me. This team is consistently not prepared to play games.... and seems to play games like they are at practice and the other team isn't on the ice. I'm tired of it.

 

[Blender]

As annoying as this season has been, we’re still in such a good spot for the medium and long term. We used to pray for a crumb of talent and now we’re just pumping guys like this out left and right:


One of the most impressive rookie dmen I’ve ever seen in a Devil uni…and it’s possible he isn’t even the best young d on the team.

I think he's been a better defenseman than Luke, though Luke is the more dynamic offensive talent.

Super impressed with how smoothly Nemec has just stepped into the top-4.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I’m not on the ‘our roster changes are the reason for our downfall’ BUT there are more than just on ice considerations when you look like a rudderless ship after losing a lot of veteran presences.

Graves has been mediocre in Pittsburgh with better partners than John Marino, Marino also shouldn't be this bad without Graves in general. Siegs has a body of work pre Dougie to tell us he's not all Dougie while his best work has been with him. They got better offensively, while getting worse defensively in the short term. They shouldn't be this bad in general.

He’s been so good
View attachment 788625

He’s gonna make Dougie’s job much easier as the years go on.

View attachment 788624

Ah, love that meme/pic. Not sure if we'll keep Dougie for that happy ending with his cap hit being that much for a guy who'll probably be third pair towards the end but I certainly hope so. Don't forget Casey coming in on that side too, wouldn't be surprised if he makes us jettison Marino to a different team too.

 

[JK3]

I don’t know why people keep calling Seigenthaller a veteran. He’s played a few more games than Jack. Certainly not a rookie of course but he’s really only played a lot of games the last two seasons.

 

[jkrdevil]

If league-wide media is talking about whether a coach is on the hot seat then his buns are already burnt and it is a matter of when and not if.

 

[devilsblood]

Another reason why anyone who blames this being a transition year with 2 rookie dmen is clueless because they're actively outplaying the veterans. They get anything from Siegs/Marino from last year and the defensive core is passable

I think Bahl could be the one young guy who you can point to and say he is struggling with the heavier burden.

Consider last year he played 13 mpg 5v5. This year he is at 14:47.

Last year he had a 58% offensive zone start rate. This year 37%.

Last year he played 22% of his minutes vs what puckiq describes as elite comp. 47% vs grit level.
They don't have the numbers up for this year(yet? hopefully they are still doing their thing), but I'm pretty confident he is facing much stiffer comp.

Last year he played 50 seconds of PK time per game. This year he is at 2 minutes.

Just significantly tougher minutes across the board. Not surprisingly his numbers have suffered.

And this has been a drag on Marino's, who is our #1 defensive defensemen, numbers as well.

Luke by comparison get's cake assignments.

Nemec has not been given cake assignments, so kudo's to him for walking in as a teenager and playing well in not so easy minutes.

 

[Bleedred]

Sparknotes:

Marek thinks Lindy's getting goalied out of his job, Friedman doesn't know if it's fair to pin it all on him
Marek brings up the loss of Hamilton being an underrated story line (duh), Friedman counters with Meier being hurt and not being of help yet on his new deal
Friedman mentions that the Devils can't totally go backwards from last year
Marek rebuttals saying that development isn't totally linear which many of here have said
Friedman thinks they're a flawed team and not sure if a coaching change even matters
Draws parallel to Edmonton but the above point where Edmonton has very good metrics but NJ is faltering a bit due to everything involved.
Thinks Dougie's cap will be rolled to LTIR then a trade but thinks the Devils have to do it asap
Doesn't think Ruff firing will spark them like Edmonton
Thinks a trade > firing will change NJ's fortunes

Thanks

Saw the title of today’s episode of 32 thoughts and immediately thought it might be a juicy one.

Don’t have time to listen to it right this second, so I hopped on here to see if people were talking about it.

 

[devilsblood]

I don’t know why people keep calling Seigenthaller a veteran. He’s played a few more games than Jack. Certainly not a rookie of course but he’s really only played a lot of games the last two seasons.

He's 26 and played 280 games.

He's not a grizzled vet, but he is a veteran.