Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2023-24 season part III

[EXTRAS]

Will brendan smith get another nhl contract?

 

[guitarguyvic]

*sigh*

Another Ruff masterclass. Yes, this will certainly maximize Timo Meier. And Using Smith in a shutdown role will go wonderfully.

That said, I am intrigued in a Hughes-Nemec pairing. It's something I want to see (as general interest for the future of the club).


I'd argue a lot of teams, contenders included, are also pretty dependent on a single player for success.

Where is TB this year without Kucherov? What is COL without Mackinnon? What is EDM without McDavid? VAN is a mediocre team without Quinn on the ice. What is TOR this season without Matthews?

A lot of those guys have missed a lot of time over the last few years.
Not one of them save Vancouver have missed the playoffs anytime recently. Tampa went an entire regular season without Kucherov and still easily made the playoffs. People keep referencing Dougie…Carolina lost him permanently and replaced him with Tony f***ing DeAngelo and still won their division.

Nico, Bratt, Timo, Mercer, Toffoli, Palat, Haula…there’s more than enough there to at least be a wild card team even without jack.

It’s just way to easy to point at injuries and not hold anyone accountable.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Will brendan smith get another nhl contract?

god I f***ing hope not, at least not from us

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I don't care if they were injured and losing games but they were playing the same system they were with Nico/Jack with he should not be named + guys like Tierney/Dowling etc in the top 6. If they were at least trying to play a little more defensive and still losing then yeah I'd understand it way more lol

 

[MadDevil]

Will brendan smith get another nhl contract?

Yes. NHL GMs love having a "veteran who can play physical" on their roster, even if they suck at everything else.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

My fear with Saros, being a smaller goalie, I feel like he is really not going to age well. As soon as the extreme athleticism is gone, he seems like a prime candidate to drop off a cliff.

 

[NJDevs26]

Will brendan smith get another nhl contract?

Will Lindy still be here next year?

 

[AfroThunder396]

bUt ThE pEnAlTy KiLl

https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1760460085128491332?s=46&t=A-4vLEmkbN7kzcKNPEydKQ

 

[My3Sons]

A lot of those guys have missed a lot of time over the last few years.
Not one of them save Vancouver have missed the playoffs anytime recently. Tampa went an entire regular season without Kucherov and still easily made the playoffs. People keep referencing Dougie…Carolina lost him permanently and replaced him with Tony f***ing DeAngelo and still won their division.

Nico, Bratt, Timo, Mercer, Toffoli, Palat, Haula…there’s more than enough there to at least be a wild card team even without jack.

It’s just way to easy to point at injuries and not hold anyone accountable.

You aren’t wrong. With better coaching and team discipline they probably win at least three or four more games to date and are close to both the wildcard and third in the division.

 

[Bleedred]

Will brendan smith get another nhl contract?

50/50. I think maybe he'll get a PTO or some one year deal for league minimum-ish. But it's very hard for a 35 year old player to get a contract anymore. Especially a 35 year old defensive defenseman, who isn't even good anymore and hasn't been for several years now. But he would also be pretty cheap and teams like that. He could be cheap depth, not that I really consider him depth at all. It's just the reason he would get signed.

god I f***ing hope not, at least not from us

I doubt he'll play here again after this year.

 

[Andre Palot]

Palat - Hischier - Meier
Bratt - Hughes - Toffoli
Haula - Mercer - Holtz
Nosek - Lazar - Bastian

LET THEM COOK

Nosek is long past cooked. Past being 'well done'. His sorry ass is 'congratulations' at this point.

 

[Beastdog75]

Will brendan smith get another nhl contract?

I can totally see Lou signing him, unless the Lou and Isles part ways in the summer

 

[Bleedred]

Nosek is long past cooked. Past being 'well done'. His sorry ass is 'congratulations' at this point.

The injuries he had this year probably ruined any chance of him being useful here, but he's been absolute dead weight.

It wouldn't be a hard sell to convince me Tierney would be better.

He's another guy that won't ever play here again after this season.

 

[mdj12784]

Any stud goalies in this upcoming draft?

 

[Brodeur]

Any stud goalies in this upcoming draft?

The opposite unfortunately. None in Bob McKenzie's top 60. Highest ranked guys were in the 70s.

There is a potential 1st round goalie for 2025 named Gabriel D'Aigle.

 

[theoptimist]

Last night Friedman had him as still signing but he said Trotz and him met and prior to meeting was 90 percent sign him since then Friedman said it's been dropping to him 70 30 on signing but other sources he said it's down to 50/50 that they will move him....Nothing solid but I think Nashville if they sing him and bring up Askarov they lock up the goalie position and I think they should sign him...be like when they had Rinne but I think Trotz is looking to deal him....They have a lot of prospects trending well and I think he wants picks to move up or young roster players to use to address their center position through trades...

Wish Dubas would take Ruff for Sullivan

Thanks

 

[Emperoreddy]

 

[NJDevs26]

The funny thing is both Graves and Severson have cratered this year, imagine the ripping they’d be getting if they regressed after signing a new deal here. It’d be Timo without the injury and position excuse.

 

[Goptor]

Erik Johnson got a $3mil+ contract this year and he brings the same thing Brendan Smith brings.

Some bad team will sign Smith.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

The funny thing is both Graves and Severson have cratered this year, imagine the ripping they’d be getting if they regressed after signing a new deal here. It’d be Timo without the injury and position excuse.

The reason why I have hope for Timo is last year's playoffs. If he sucked then, I'd be Timo hate trade too

 

[Bleedred]

Erik Johnson got a $3mil+ contract this year and he brings the same thing Brendan Smith brings.

Some bad team will sign Smith.

Erik Johnson gets extra points for winning the cup with Colorado the year before, not to mention he's a former 1st overall pick. That's no doubt gotten him a decent amount in his career.

The better Johnson example would be Jack Johnson. He still gets one year contracts annually, for close to league minimum and he's 2 years older than Smith.

But he is (for some reason) thought very highly of around the league. Why? I don't know. He got a 5 year deal from Rutherfool when he was already in his 30s in Pittsburgh because he was BFF's with Sid. They had to buy that one out. Even Colorado keeps bringing him back.

And like the other Johnson, he was a former 3rd overall pick. And that's still going a long way for him,

Some bad team may sign Smith, but it won't be nearly as much as what Erik Johnson got. The best he could (probably) get the last time he was UFA when he was 2 years younger was a 2 year deal for like a million or slightly over a million per.

 

[Camille the Eel]

A lot of those guys have missed a lot of time over the last few years.
Not one of them save Vancouver have missed the playoffs anytime recently. Tampa went an entire regular season without Kucherov and still easily made the playoffs. People keep referencing Dougie…Carolina lost him permanently and replaced him with Tony f***ing DeAngelo and still won their division.

Nico, Bratt, Timo, Mercer, Toffoli, Palat, Haula…there’s more than enough there to at least be a wild card team even without jack.

It’s just way too easy to point at injuries and not hold anyone accountable.

You can’t really account for what’s happening without talking about the injuries though. It’s mad not to see that as a critical element. They have been such a huge factor. Add the turnover of players from what was a more coherent squad last year. The working in of extreme youth on D and crappy play in goal. Then factor in much improved balanced competition league and division wide. And finally a certain let down after last years charmed and rather miraculous season. Yeah the coaching too. And here we are, 2 or 3 games back and not bottom feeding or anything. But just not fulfilling expectations.

 

[Camille the Eel]

My fear with Saros, being a smaller goalie, I feel like he is really not going to age well. As soon as the extreme athleticism is gone, he seems like a prime candidate to drop off a cliff.

This. I am really frightened of signing him long term and big dollars for that reason. This season has already seen a fall off.

 

[Goptor]

Erik Johnson gets extra points for winning the cup with Colorado the year before, not to mention he's a former 1st overall pick. That's no doubt gotten him a decent amount in his career.

The better Johnson example would be Jack Johnson. He still gets one year contracts annually, for close to league minimum and he's 2 years older than Smith.

But he is (for some reason) thought very highly of around the league. Why? I don't know. He got a 5 year deal from Rutherfool when he was already in his 30s in Pittsburgh because he was BFF's with Sid. They had to buy that one out. Even Colorado keeps bringing him back.

And like the other Johnson, he was a former 3rd overall pick. And that's still going a long way for him,

Some bad team may sign Smith, but it won't be nearly as much as what Erik Johnson got. The best he could (probably) get the last time he was UFA when he was 2 years younger was a 2 year deal for like a million or slightly over a million per.

Stylistically, EJ and Smith are interchangable. Both are 7th D that hits people and plays physical. Jack is nothing like those guys. No idea why someone would want a washed up offensive D that brings nothing else on the ice.

 

[Bleedred]

Stylistically, EJ and Smith are interchangable. Both are 7th D that hits people and plays physical. Jack is nothing like those guys. No idea why someone would want a washed up offensive D that brings nothing else on the ice.

I find it hard to believe Erik Johnson is worse than Smith at this point though.