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

[Andre Palot]

I'm now at the point where I'd be comfortable including Mercer in a trade.

 

[Bcap88]

If Mercer wants +7.5M on his RFA deal he can go kick rocks

No one said 7.5 m plus lol

If you want Mercer long term its going to cost between 6.5-7

 

[JimEIV]

If Mercer wants +7.5M on his RFA deal he can go kick rocks

I think he's definitely going to come close to 7.

No one said 7.5 m plus lol

If you want Mercer long term its going to cost between 6.5-7

Have to watch Seth Jarvis and see what happens there. I think that's a close comparable.

 

[JimEIV]

I'm now at the point where I'd be comfortable including Mercer in a trade.

For a goalie?


Where is that throw up emoji I can't find it.

 

[None Shall Pass]

I'm not paying a 50 point winger who can't play defense $7M a year. If he wants that, he can be trade bait. Jesus Christ.

It's bad enough that we paid another winger, who never hit a PPG, $8.8M last summer.

 

[JimEIV]

I'm not paying a 50 point winger who can't play defense $7M a year. If he wants that, he can be trade bait. Jesus Christ.

It's bad enough that we paid another winger, who never hit a PPG, $8.8M last summer.

I think Stutzle set the market for his age group.

8 year / $66,800,000 annual average salary of $8,350,000

6.5/7 seems very reasonable for the Jarvis's and Mercer's in the same group.

 

[CalamityX23]

Do we have an in house candidate to replace a departed Mercer?

If we have player who can, makes the theoritical trade more plausible.... though Im not looking for it peronsally however if it brings back someone of need to help us, i'll consider it easily.

if he looking for Bratt money, no. no no no.... no bleeeping way.

 

[Bcap88]

You have Cirelli from Tampa aav at 6.1 and has never touched 50 points.

7m is going to be the norm here shortly for young productive rfa’s

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Nothing crazy. But more smoke that Trotz maybe more open to dealing Saros than what’s been led on.

They have to move him if they want to get top value....He goes into next year with him he won't get as much....Trotz just bluffing imo on signing him Askarov is knocking on the door....I still think let year play out regardless and save it for offseason but we will see not up to us....No way I give up Mercer....Imo easiest solution is dump Ruff just by tweaking system they look like a different team....Wonder if they pushed him to do it .....He needs to go

Ya I would love Duclair

He would bring a lot of speed I think he can play but LW and RW

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

You have Cirelli from Tampa aav at 6.1 and has never touched 50 points.

7m is going to be the norm here shortly for young productive rfa’s

Cirelli plays great all around game

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Eh, I'm the biggest Mercer fan you'll find on this sub forum but I would be very lukewarm on giving him 7.5M. Very good chance he gets bridged and Fitz tells him to go earn his money off a mediocre season this year

 

[Bcap88]

7 years 6.5-7 for Mercer is completely reasonable

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

7 years 6.5-7 for Mercer is completely reasonable

22-23 Mercer, yes. 23-24 Mercer, absolutely not.

 

[Ripshot 43]

Personally, this team hasn’t shown me enough (on the positive side) to commit a huge haul to an almost 29 year old goalie. I’m always a have to give to get guy but the next few weeks of seeing how this updated defensive structure works for the team, will tell me what I would do with the roster. One thing I can say is that if the new structure continues to improve our defensive and goaltending numbers then I would think our need to purge some of our top young players and prospects for a goalie would be a moot point. We are already paying out some big contracts so we need to be very careful giving up young cost controlled players that will be counted on to fill in the gaps.

 

[None Shall Pass]

Eh, I'm the biggest Mercer fan you'll find on this sub forum but I would be very lukewarm on giving him 7.5M. Very good chance he gets bridged and Fitz tells him to go earn his money off a mediocre season this year

A bridge of $4M or so for a few years makes the most sense to me.

I think Stutzle set the market for his age group.

8 year / $66,800,000 annual average salary of $8,350,000

6.5/7 seems very reasonable for the Jarvis's and Mercer's in the same group.

Stutzle is an actual center, drafted 3rd overall, who outscored Mercer's best season before signing that contract, on a team desperate to retain any talent whatsoever.

You have Cirelli from Tampa aav at 6.1 and has never touched 50 points.

Which is a bad contract!

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

A bridge of $4M or so for a few years makes the most sense to me.

I would be A-ok with that.

 

[Zippy316]

Feels like Mercer is destined for a bridge just given the Devils cap situation. So much money locked up in forwards, have to be mindful of Luke & Nemec’s next deals too.

A three year bridge to when Palat & Hischier’s deals are up makes a ton of sense. Then you can re-evaluate whether to go long-term or possibly trade him for a haul like DeBrincat, Meier, and Fiala.

 

[billingtons ghost]

I mean. Don't pay Mercer but trade for a goalie that will command more? Has anyone looked around the league and NOT found that goalies are absolute crapshoots?

Saros might be as close to a known quantity as you get and miles better than 34 yr old Markstrom. But I would much rather fix our defense and find the next Lyon, Kochetkov, Hill etc before you have to pay him.

Askarov might be a better deal and cheaper.

 

[JimEIV]

22-23 Mercer, yes. 23-24 Mercer, absolutely not.

He was 5th on the team in Goals and 5th on the team in points in 2023

He's 5th on the team in Goals and 7th in points (1 point behind both Luke and Haula)....all while being out of the top 6 for the majority of the year.

I don't think it's that much different.

His CF% is 49.8 this year and it was 49.8 last year...that is at least some indication that his game is similar to last season

His shooting% was 16.8 last year and 16.7 this year

He's not getting as many opportunities he only has 90 shots through 52 (1.72) games....he had 162 last year (1.97)...but that's also going from regular top 6 to regular bottom 6.

It all looks very similar to me.

 

[Emperoreddy]

 

[Unknown Caller]

I mean. Don't pay Mercer but trade for a goalie that will command more? Has anyone looked around the league and NOT found that goalies are absolute crapshoots?

Saros might be as close to a known quantity as you get and miles better than 34 yr old Markstrom. But I would much rather fix our defense and find the next Lyon, Kochetkov, Hill etc before you have to pay him.

Askarov might be a better deal and cheaper.

No chance Nashville is moving Askarov. He’s going to be a key piece in their rebuild. 2 months ago we were salivating over Saros, now nobody wants him?

The window to win is now. Go get him. You can find a middle 6 forward that can fill the Mercer role elsewhere. He’s not a cornerstone piece.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I think I would rather bridge Mercer than give him a long term deal. He has had a poor season. I’d rather have the short term cap flexibility, even if we end up having to pay him more if his play hits another level.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

I think a 2 year, $7 million or 3 year, $12 million deal for Mercer makes the most sense.

I also think Mercer IS a cornerstone piece that is part of this core.

J. Hughes
Hischier
Bratt
Meier
Mercer

L. Hughes
Nemec

^ That's our core

I also think Bahl is going to be our Hjalmarsson.

 

[JimEIV]

No chance Nashville is moving Askarov. He’s going to be a key piece in their rebuild. 2 months ago we were salivating over Saros, now nobody wants him?

The window to win is now. Go get him. You can find a middle 6 forward that can fill the Mercer role elsewhere. He’s not a cornerstone piece.

I think it's the price.

Remember when two 2nd rounders got you a starter?

Now we are talking about roster players that were 1st round picks 3 years ago and add +++?

And seemingly Nashville playing hardball in a deal from reports?

No thank you.

 

[dzubrus8]

If Mercer for Saros gets it done, I'd probably do it.

I think the forward corps without Mercer long-term looks something like this

Top-line talent: Hischier, Hughes, Bratt
Top-six talent: Holtz, one of Gritsyuk/Hameenaho/Clarke, Meier,
Middle-six talent: two of Gritsyuk/Hameenaho/Clarke, 2024 1st

And then on top of this I imagine there will continue to be the revolving door of vets (Haula, Toffoli, Palat, and Lazar to name a few in the current lineup)

I think most people here would say Mercer does not get the job done as a center for this team. If I had to guess he's a ~70 pt winger in his prime which, while great to have, I think is worth trading for an elite goalie like Saros.

Question I have though - Is Saros injury prone? I noticed before the last two seasons he was only playing ~30-40 games per season. It's good if it means he has more tread on the tires than others, not so good if it means he's constantly getting injured. I think the lack of games bodes well for his aging curve. This idea that he's a super athlete gives me pause because that's something that fades away, especially relative to IQ/positioning or size