Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2023 offseason part II

[Emperoreddy]

Graves was pretty mid and Bahl showed a lot of progress last season. I think he will be fine. It's not as big a hole to fill as it seemed

 

[glenwo2]

Speaking of Bahl (an excerpt from Novo's article) :

Bahl played in a career-high 42 regular season games this season – where he averaged 6.52 hits per 60 minutes – and 11 playoff games. In his final 19 regular season games, Bahl ranked fifth among Devils players in Corsi for rating at five-on-five (57.14%), fourth in hits (29) and 12th in shots blocked (11).

Asked about his sudden rise in 2022-23, Bahl said his improved ice time – as well as his relationship with Ruff and defenseman coach Ryan McGill – helped him boom in a deep crew of Devils blueliners.

“I think I needed to grow and find out what I was going to do on this team and what I was capable of,” Bahl said. “I think I came a long way… I think I was learning to play certain situations, what I can and can’t do, what I can get away with.

“Fast forward a couple of months going into the playoffs, learning that being that physical guy, that’s a big element in playoffs especially when you’re playing seven games straight. It was a big learning curve.”

 

[NjDevsRR]

Poor Nico can’t afford a belt.

3c’s don’t get paid much

 

[Bleedred]

This is JF’s section on us:
View attachment 733140


LOST RAW OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION:
Tatar 82 GP 20G 28A 48 Pts
Shara 75 GP 13G 17A 30 Pts
Wood 76 GP 13G 14A 27 Pts
Boqvist 70 GP 10G 11A 21 Pts
Zetterlund 45 GP 6G 14A 20 Pts
= 62 Goals 84 Assists 146 Points
*Meier 21 GP 9G 5A 14 Pts*

Severson 81 GP 7G 26A 33 Pts
Graves 78 GP 8G 18A 26 Pts
= 15 Goals 44 Assists 59 Points

The good news on offense, getting higher end guys is better than a bag of stuff, so getting Meier full-time and Toffoli is a very good thing.

The bad is Meier contributed a bit already last season, so those two don’t put us ahead, so a lot depends on where else we could get more.

On the offensive end:
Palat playing more than 49 games.
Mercer could provide more offense.
Does Holtz stick and start to produce?
Does Footie Pajamas stick and start to produce?
Curtis Lazar exists.
Tomas Nosek exists.
Bastian only played 43 games (Hey, he can score a little! Don’t be mean.)
But McLeod could be dealing with some things *cough*

Conclusion: Looking forward to seeing the top six play but the depth scoring is a question mark at best and almost non-existent at worst.


On the Defensive end:
Luke should make up some of that offense.
Miller could as well.
More Bahl will even help.
Not sure we see much of Nemec this season.
72 points for Dougie was a career high, as was his points/60, so we can’t count on him doing it again. (Though it would be cool if he did.)

Conclusion: Not sure how the defense shakes out but LUUUUKKKEEE!

The goaltending is a bit scary as Schmid is a baby goalie and Daws doesn’t get back from hip surgery until ~December.

Before that the goalie depth is Kallgren and then you don’t want to know.

Anything is better than paying Blackwood $2.4 million (like the Sharks) to likely provide inadequare goaltending for the FOURTH year in a row.

And yes, that's exactly all I have to pick out from your post.

But seriously, I'm just bored and it's the slowest part of the offseason, I'm bored and it's been a while since I brought him up.

 

[Aurinko]

Anything is better than paying Blackwood $2.4 million (like the Sharks) to likely provide inadequare goaltending for the FOURTH year in a row.

And yes, that's exactly all I have to pick out from your post.

But seriously, I'm just bored and it's the slowest part of the offseason, I'm bored and it's been a while since I brought him up.

Sharks have been working their asses off trying to trade one single guy off the team.

Something makes me think they are not contenders this year and might even be pretty rough spot to be a goalie in, but all the best luck to Blackwood.

 

[Bleedred]

Sven Baertschi retired.

I was about to say, it's been about 4 or 5 years now since I've seen someone on this forum suggest him as someone we should pick up.

He was a name I remember seeing people want for a several year stretch here, around the first regime change up through about 2019.

Tyler Johnson and Drouin were two others.

 

[Saugus]

Graves was pretty mid and Bahl showed a lot of progress last season. I think he will be fine. It's not as big a hole to fill as it seemed

I looked at Graves as being boom or bust. There were times when he looked like a legit top pairing guy paired with Dougie, or could play a shutdown role paired with Marino. He even showed some random flashes of offensive capability that was slightly better than the average stone hands defensive defenseman.

But then there were other times that he made baffling errors, looked lost, or played soft.

The only defenseman we had last season who was even less consistent was Severson, and now both are gone.

 

[Guttersniped]

Expectations like this can also be dangerous. As others have mentioned, a lot of things went right for us last year that you can't assume we can be in control of this year. We were largely injury free aside from a period of time without Jack. Having a 13 game win streak likely will be difficult to pull off again. We also won't be catching any teams off-guard this year as we may have last year. All it takes is 1 month to make things a tighter, more dire situation again. People were jumping off a cliff here in December.

I'm all for raising the bar, but I also treat each season as a separate entity. There's far too much parity in the league to think 50 wins season after season is the measuring stick. The key is getting to the dance and having the roster to make noise in the playoffs. That is something I certainly feel that we have.

The key is to keep getting to dance because it’s very hard to win the playoffs.

So far, the Devils made it to the Conference or Stanley Cup Finals seven times. That’s a lot and we’ve been blessed there, but people forget we’ve had 12 1st round exits too.

It’s never a given you “build” on last years playoff performance. You start in round one like everyone else.

The playoffs are exciting, but sometimes exciting like “losing control of your car on a patch of black ice” exciting. “Wondering if your bank account was hacked” exciting.

When people talk about only caring about the playoffs I start to wonder if they’re sociopaths or masochists. Now that I’m getting older I’m starting to wonder if Devils in the NHL Playoffs are just going to kill me at some point.

Any way, some fun stats! Enjoy!


The 7 Conference appearances

1887-88: 38-36-6, 82 pts, .513
4th in the Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Conference Finals (4-3) to BOS
Won Division Finals (4-3) over WSH
Won Division Semi-Finals (4-2) over NYI
1993-94: 47-25-12, 106 pts, .631
2nd in Atlantic (7 teams)
Lost Conference Finals (4-3) to NYR
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-2) over BOS
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-3) over BUF
1994-95: 22-18-8, 52 pts, .542
2nd in Atlantic (7 teams)
Won Stanley Cup Final (4-0) over DET
Won Conference Finals (4-2) over PHI
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) over PIT
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) over BOS
1999-00: 45-24-8-5, 103 pts, .628
2nd in Atlantic (5 teams)
Won Stanley Cup Final (4-2) over DAL
Won Conference Finals (4-3) over PHI
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-2) over TOR
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-0) over FLA
2000-01: 48-19-12-3, 111 pts, .677
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Stanley Cup Final (4-3) to COL Won Conference Finals (4-1) over PIT
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-3) over TOR
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-2) over CAR
2002-03: 46-20-10-6, 108 pts, .659
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Won Stanley Cup Final (4-3) over MDA
Won Conference Finals (4-3) over OTT
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) over TBL
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) over BOS
2011-12: 48-28-6, 102 pts, .622
4th in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Stanley Cup Final (4-2) to LAK
Won Conference Finals (4-2) over NYR
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) over PHI
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-3) over FLA

Lost in the 2nd Round 4 times.

1996-97: 45-23-14, 104 pts, .634
1st in Atlantic (7 teams)
Lost Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) to NYR
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) over MTL
2005-06: 46-27-9, 101 pts, .616
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) to CAR
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-0) over NYR
2006-07: 49-24-9, 107 pts, .652
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) to OTT
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-2) over TBL
2023-24: 52-22-8, 112 pts, .683
8th in the Metro (8 teams)
Lost Second Round (4-1) to CAR
Won First Round (4-3) over NYR

And had 12 first round exits.

1989-90: 37-34-9, 83 pts, .519
2nd in Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Division Semi-Finals (4-2) to WSH
1990-91: 32-33-15, 79 pts, .494
4th in Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Division Semi-Finals (4-3) to PIT
1991-92: 38-31-11, 87 pts, .544
4th in Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Division Semi-Finals (4-3) to NYR
1992-93: 40-37-7, 87 pts, .518
4th in Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Division SemiFinals (4-1) to PIT
1997-98: 48-23-11, 107 pts, .652
1st in Atlantic (7 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-2) to OTT
1998-99: 47-24-11, 105 pts, .640
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-3) to PIT
2001-02: 41-28-9-4, 95 pts, .579
3rd in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-2) to CAR
2003-04: 43-25-12-2, 100 pts, .610
2nd in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) to PHI
2007-08: 46-29-7, 99 pts, .604
2nd in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) to NYR
2008-09: 51-27-4, 106 pts, .646
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-3) to CAR
2009-10: 48-27-7, 103 pts, .628
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) to PHI
2017-18: 44-29-9, 97 pts, .591
5th in Metro (8 teams)
Lost First Round (4-1) to TBL

 

[Billdo]

Graves was pretty mid and Bahl showed a lot of progress last season. I think he will be fine. It's not as big a hole to fill as it seemed

Graves infuriated me. He should be a more complete player than he is but the amount of times someone unplugged his controller and he just stood there with no pressure below the goal line instead of moving the puck only to eventually turn it over made me want to pull my hair out. A guy his size should've been more physical as well. He was a good stop gap though.

 

[Guttersniped]

I don't think it's fair to say he's had a full shot. There are many players in the NHL who were highly drafted who had a full season to play, or two, or three, before that tag was placed on them. He's had sporadic time with lower quality players. I don't know about his numbers because I'm old and I also fear the numbers 3 and 8 because they're so similar yet hate each other, but he showed some interesting aspects of his game in limited time such as passing well and digging pucks out from corners walls and behind the net. Probably also his couches.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

The only defenseman we had last season who was even less consistent was Severson, and now both are gone.

Severson was excellent in the playoffs though. Graves was still terrible.

 

[Guttersniped]

I don't think it's fair to say he's had a full shot. There are many players in the NHL who were highly drafted who had a full season to play, or two, or three, before that tag was placed on them. He's had sporadic time with lower quality players. I don't know about his numbers because I'm old and I also fear the numbers 3 and 8 because they're so similar yet hate each other, but he showed some interesting aspects of his game in limited time such as passing well and digging pucks out from corners walls and behind the net. Probably also his couches.

Wait, 3s and 8s don’t hate each other?

Hmm, conflicting answers…

What is the “enneagram”? Why it’s “one of the most powerful and insightful tools for understanding ourselves and others”.

From Wiki:

Although the origins and history of ideas associated with the Enneagram of Personality are disputed, contemporary approaches are principally derived from the teachings of the Bolivian psycho-spiritual teacher Oscar Ichazo from the 1950s and the Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjofrom the 1970s.[2] Naranjo's theories were also influenced by earlier teachings about personality by George Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way tradition in the first half of the 20th century.
<snip>
The Enneagram of Personality is promoted in both business management [LOLOLOL] and spirituality contexts through seminars, conferences, books, magazines, and DVDs.[4][5] In business contexts, it is often promoted as a means to gain insights into workplace interpersonal dynamics [LOLOLOL]; in spirituality it is commonly presented as a path to states of enlightenment and essence. Proponents in both contexts say it has aided in self-awareness, self-understanding, and self-development.[4]

There has been limited formal psychometric analysis of the Enneagram, and the peer-reviewed research that has been done is not accepted within the relevant academic communities.[6] Though the Enneagram integrates some concepts that parallel other theories of personality,[7] it has been dismissed by personality assessment experts as pseudoscience. [No f***ing way, really?] [8]

Got to love how there are no bigger suckers for pseudo-psychology bunk than business management and business schools.

 

[Aurinko]

Graves infuriated me. He should be a more complete player than he is but the amount of times someone unplugged his controller and he just stood there with no pressure below the goal line instead of moving the puck only to eventually turn it over made me want to pull my hair out. A guy his size should've been more physical as well. He was a good stop gap though.

I love what Graves brings to a team and did not see these problems the same way. The offensive instincts were there for big surprises, he was not a defensive liability and with Marino they actually had quite fantastic GFvsGA stats no matter who carried the pair.

I think he had everything needed to be paid 4,5M and the Penguins got a good guy. It's probably not a high value contract at that price, but definitely not a bad pickup for the Pens.

 

[Devs3cups]

 

[devilsblood]

I like this guy less and less.

 

[Darkauron]

I like this guy less and less.

There was never anything to like about him. He is such annoying

 

[Devs3cups]

 

[Triumph]

Brattpack is annoying as shit but it is a good time to give a big lol to the people who said that ownership won't spend money

 

[devilsblood]

Where is this coming from? Nico was not the main shooter.

Though once Meier came aboard, Jack, who was the main shooter for the season, took more of a passers role. Nico had an edge in shots on goal, but Meier had an edge in shot attempts.

Edit: And Brat was no where near Hughes in terms of shots on goals or shot attempts. And that goes for the whole of the season, or late season after Meier arrived.

I didn't think we were very good, let alone great. at moving the puck as a team either.

 

[njdevils1982]

who gives a f***. it's money well spent, the roster is loaded and well set up

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Their powerplay will be better next year. Brunette clearly hit a wall at some points last year with personnel and his stubbornness with not putting Timo on the half boards was obvious. Also think that PP2 will be a lot better with the Toffoli add or if he bumps someone off of PP1.

 

[Goptor]

The key is to keep getting to dance because it’s very hard to win the playoffs.

So far, the Devils made it to the Conference or Stanley Cup Finals seven times. That’s a lot and we’ve been blessed there, but people forget we’ve had 12 1st round exits too.

It’s never a given you “build” on last years playoff performance. You start in round one like everyone else.

The playoffs are exciting, but sometimes exciting like “losing control of your car on a patch of black ice” ice. “Wondering if your bank account was hacked” exciting.

When people talk about only caring about the playoffs I start to wonder if they’re sociopaths or masochists. Now that I’m getting older I’m starting to wonder if Devils in the NHL Playoffs are just going to kill me at some point.

Any way, some fun stats! Enjoy!


The 7 Conference appearances

1887-88: 38-36-6, 82 pts, .513
4th in the Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Conference Finals (4-3) to BOS
Won Division Finals (4-3) over WSH
Won Division Semi-Finals (4-2) over NYI
1993-94: 47-25-12, 106 pts, .631
2nd in Atlantic (7 teams)
Lost Conference Finals (4-3) to NYR
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-2) over BOS
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-3) over BUF
1994-95: 22-18-8, 52 pts, .542
2nd in Atlantic (7 teams)
Won Stanley Cup Final (4-0) over DET
Won Conference Finals (4-2) over PHI
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) over PIT
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) over BOS
1999-00: 45-24-8-5, 103 pts, .628
2nd in Atlantic (5 teams)
Won Stanley Cup Final (4-2) over DAL
Won Conference Finals (4-3) over PHI
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-2) over TOR
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-0) over FLA
2000-01: 48-19-12-3, 111 pts, .677
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Stanley Cup Final (4-3) to COL Won Conference Finals (4-1) over PIT
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-3) over TOR
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-2) over CAR
2002-03: 46-20-10-6, 108 pts, .659
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Won Stanley Cup Final (4-3) over MDA
Won Conference Finals (4-3) over OTT
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) over TBL
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) over BOS
2011-12: 48-28-6, 102 pts, .622
4th in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Stanley Cup Final (4-2) to LAK
Won Conference Finals (4-2) over NYR
Won Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) over PHI
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-3) over FLA

Lost in the 2nd Round 4 times.

1996-97: 45-23-14, 104 pts, .634
1st in Atlantic (7 teams)
Lost Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) to NYR
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) over MTL
2005-06: 46-27-9, 101 pts, .616
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) to CAR
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-0) over NYR
2006-07: 49-24-9, 107 pts, .652
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Semi-Finals (4-1) to OTT
Won Conference Quarter-Finals (4-2) over TBL
2023-24: 52-22-8, 112 pts, .683
8th in the Metro (8 teams)
Lost Second Round (4-1) to CAR
Won First Round (4-3) over NYR

And had 12 first round exits.

1989-90: 37-34-9, 83 pts, .519
2nd in Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Division Semi-Finals (4-2) to WSH
1990-91: 32-33-15, 79 pts, .494
4th in Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Division Semi-Finals (4-3) to PIT
1991-92: 38-31-11, 87 pts, .544
4th in Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Division Semi-Finals (4-3) to NYR
1992-93: 40-37-7, 87 pts, .518
4th in Patrick (6 teams)
Lost Division SemiFinals (4-1) to PIT
1997-98: 48-23-11, 107 pts, .652
1st in Atlantic (7 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-2) to OTT
1998-99: 47-24-11, 105 pts, .640
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-3) to PIT
2001-02: 41-28-9-4, 95 pts, .579
3rd in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-2) to CAR
2003-04: 43-25-12-2, 100 pts, .610
2nd in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) to PHI
2007-08: 46-29-7, 99 pts, .604
2nd in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) to NYR
2008-09: 51-27-4, 106 pts, .646
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-3) to CAR
2009-10: 48-27-7, 103 pts, .628
1st in Atlantic (5 teams)
Lost Conference Quarter-Finals (4-1) to PHI
2017-18: 44-29-9, 97 pts, .591
5th in Metro (8 teams)
Lost First Round (4-1) to TBL

Sucks we're gonna be last in the Metro next year. Did not see this coming with the Flyers in the division.

 

[Triumph]

Where is this coming from? Nico was not the main shooter.

Though once Meier came aboard, Jack, who was the main shooter for the season, took more of a passers role. Nico had an edge in shots on goal, but Meier had an edge in shot attempts.

Edit: And Brat was no where near Hughes in terms of shots on goals or shot attempts. And that goes for the whole of the season, or late season after Meier arrived.

I didn't think we were very good, let alone great. at moving the puck as a team either.

This is very, very obviously not contending that Nico was the person who took the most shots.

 

[devilsblood]

Their powerplay will be better next year. Brunette clearly hit a wall at some points last year with personnel and his stubbornness with not putting Timo on the half boards was obvious. Also think that PP2 will be a lot better with the Toffoli add or if he bumps someone off of PP1.

You say it yourself, if Meier is on the halfwall, then Bratt is not. The decision between Toffoli or Bratt down low is a pretty easy one.

This is very, very obviously not contending that Nico was the person who took the most shots.

"The NJ powerplay had great passing in 2022-23 with Hischier as the main shooter"

What is it saying exactly?

 

[Triumph]

"The NJ powerplay had great passing in 2022-23 with Hischier as the main shooter"

What is it saying exactly?

Try looking at the chart attached to the post, it might explain what the post is trying to say. This is using a metric called shooting score, which I haven't seen before, but it is not just totaling up shots. It is saying that when Nico was the trigger man, better stuff happened than when he wasn't, which makes intuitive sense given how the Devils' power play operates.