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

[tailfins]

delete - beaten to it!

 

[MasterofGrond]

great, perfect deal.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

look at Novo breaking numbers

 

[Nocashstyle]

I would have preferred two years, but three isn’t the end of the world. He’s shown his worth.

 

[Devils Trap]

I probably wouldn't go 3 years for Haula...much prefer 2. But maybe that extra year helps get the AAV down a bit.

The guy wanted stability. Talked about how he always moves around. Makes sense for us to give him an extra year if he took less.

 

[MB3]

My guess is 3 years at 2.83m per year.

If it was a 2 year deal you're probably looking at 3.5+ per season.

 

[Bleedred]

I do think Vernon is a little suspect.


I like the Adjusted Hockey project and I feel like Vernon is a little suspect. Not going to lie, didn’t watch a ton of Calgary in the 1990s lol so can’t speak firsthand.



Adjusted Hockey is no hater and tries to be nice.




I will say even before seeing this I was a huge Joseph supporter, also thought Vanbiesbrouck was a strong candidate (though his US Hockey leadership is a trash fire so less enthusiasm lol) and would do back flips if Vokoun got in*. Love me some Tomas Vokoun.

And Thomas sneaking in makes feel totally seen. (But as I said before, even if they considered him worthy, they aren’t giving him a microphone and risking him going off.)

And Barrasso makes the cut! See! And Chico nearly does, good for him. Underrated. As is Richter. (I like Rags goalies, I can’t explain either.)

Edit: And I didn’t mention Burke, take my Offical Elderly Devils Fan card away. He was the star of this memorable (cheapo) ad:



I’m surprised Kiprusoff isn’t higher. Oh well.

@Bleedred Osgood coming behind of Ward is so lowkey harsh, they might as well just punched him in the face lol.


Well Turgeon and Barrasso came earlier than he expected. And look, there’s a certain fella sitting hypothetically in his Class of 2026 we’re all pretty fond of.

Here’s his defensive candidates:




*Disclaimer: I can’t actually do backflips.

The fact that SCAM Ward is even talked about as a potential HOF inductee is a complete and utter abomination.

Look up Conn Smythe winners and the two biggest rando's and JAG's you'll find in the last 40+ years are Bill Ranford and Cam Ward.

I'm not saying they didn't deserve the Conn Smythe in the years they won it, just that their careers are nothing memorable outside of their Conn Smythe. Cam Ward had wayyy more bad years in his NHL career than good ones. Same goes for Bill Ranford.

Cam Ward had a 4 year span between 2008 and 2012 where he was good. Everything before that (besides the 2006 playoffs) and after that was GARBAGE.

Giguere and his 300 pounds of equipment had a better career/was a better goalie than SCAM was.

Ward is seriously one of the biggest hot garbage goalies ever to have that long of a career. His last few years in Carolina were filled with all his sympathizers talking about how Carolina wasn't bad because of him/their goalies, it was because their defense/Bill Peters/Kirk Muller's systems were trash. And he's better than Darling (what a f***ing bar to set?) and then all of the sudden after him (and all the TRASH like Darling and Lack) were gone, MraSUCK goes there and has a decent season, better than anything Ward had done since the 2012 lockout.

St. Louis fans are now the same way with that AHL sideshow circus act goalie they won the cup with. Ward may actually go down as being better than Binnington, who I'm convinced was never going to be nothing more than an AHL tweener that just got hot at the right time and had a couple of average years in the NHL. Ward had better seasons and a better 4 year stretch than Binnington has.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Eh, not the best AAV but not the worst. 9M in a 35 year old Haula and 32 year old Palat will have to be figured out when Nemec and Luke are going to be looking for deals but not the end of the world.

 

[youryeah]

it's fine

it's not a good or bad deal imo

 

[MasterofGrond]

That's an easy deal to move off of if need be, but also he doesn't have to be that good to justify 3.1M if the cap is up above 90M

 

[Bleedred]

Over 3 and for 3 years. Didn't lower either the hit or the term. Don't like that

I'm kind of whatever on this too.

I just hope we don't go giving McLeod $2 million or more at this point.

 

[Rhodes 81]

Don't necessarily love his AAV increasing by an ELC's worth, but it ends before Nemec needs a new deal if he doesn't play this year. That's my measuring stick at this point.

 

[Nubmer6]

I was hoping for 2x3m.

Thats a fairly expensive drink stirrer

 

[R8Devs]

Don't necessarily love his AAV increasing by an ELC's worth, but it ends before Nemec needs a new deal if he doesn't play this year. That's my measuring stick at this point.

I think it's better to burn Nemec's year off this season and try to sign him to an extension in 2 years -- his cap hit on a long-term would be lower if he signed in 2 years

Also I think development in the NHL and him probably being better than whatever 6/7 d-man are out there on the market should lend him to being in the NHL this season

 

[tailfins]

Over 3 and for 3 years. Didn't lower either the hit or the term. Don't like that

I get your point - philosophically, it's right that if we're haggling to keep dollars down with Bratt, we should do the same with Haula.

But, I also like that Fitz prioritized pragmatism here. Haula would have been UFA soon. He's a complimentary player who fits well here. It's a shorter term contract.

Best to get a deal done quickly and move on vs get bogged down and perhaps end up losing Haula.

Edit: just saw Evolving Hockey had him at 3 years, $4 million

Devils 2023 UFAs: Who Stays? Who Goes? - The Hockey Writers Latest News, Analysis & More

The New Jersey Devils have 6 UFAs this offseason who played key roles for them in 2022-23. Who stays and who goes for 2023-24?

thehockeywriters.com

 

[NJDevs26]

The guy wanted stability. Talked about how he always moves around. Makes sense for us to give him an extra year if he took less.

This is less? Dude got paid, good for him but I’d much rather either a 3.4 on a 2 or less for a 3

 

[Billdo]

Some of you will never be happy. They'll win the cup and y'all will complain about who got to hold it 7th.

 

[Hisch13r]

I get your point - philosophically, it's right that if we're haggling to keep dollars down with Bratt, we should do the same with Haula.

But, I also like that Fitz prioritized pragmatism here. Haula would have been UFA soon. He's a complimentary player who fits well here. It's a shorter term contract.

Best to get a deal done quickly and move on vs get bogged down and perhaps end up losing Haula.

Edit: just saw Evolving Hockey had him at 3 years, $4 million

Devils 2023 UFAs: Who Stays? Who Goes? - The Hockey Writers Latest News, Analysis & More

The New Jersey Devils have 6 UFAs this offseason who played key roles for them in 2022-23. Who stays and who goes for 2023-24?

thehockeywriters.com

This is twice now he hasn't gotten vets to take less on either term or cap hit (granted Palat was a UFA but 6x5 is still crazy).

 

[NJDevs26]

This is twice now he hasn't gotten vets to take less on either term or cap hit (granted Palat was a UFA but 6x5 is still crazy).

Well Haula is all but UFA too at this point so you’re paying the going rate

 

[Hisch13r]

I get your point - philosophically, it's right that if we're haggling to keep dollars down with Bratt, we should do the same with Haula.

But, I also like that Fitz prioritized pragmatism here. Haula would have been UFA soon. He's a complimentary player who fits well here. It's a shorter term contract.

Best to get a deal done quickly and move on vs get bogged down and perhaps end up losing Haula.

Edit: just saw Evolving Hockey had him at 3 years, $4 million

Devils 2023 UFAs: Who Stays? Who Goes? - The Hockey Writers Latest News, Analysis & More

The New Jersey Devils have 6 UFAs this offseason who played key roles for them in 2022-23. Who stays and who goes for 2023-24?

thehockeywriters.com

They had 3x3.4. For 2 they had 2.9. I'm not the biggest fan of the contract model because I mean just look at it.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I'm kind of whatever on this too.

I just hope we don't go giving McLeod $2 million or more at this point.

I think McLeod is a bit easier to negotiate with because his replacement in Curtis Lazar is already here. Not sure there's exactly a 3C on this roster that could step into the role and the ones in UFA are definitely asking for more than 3.13x3 in Jordan Staal, ROR, Alex Kerfoot, etc.

 

[Hisch13r]

Well Haula is all but UFA too so you’re paying the going rate at this point

Yeah but he wanted to stay here whereas Palat had no connection to here. I think because of that it should've lowered Haula's cap hit.

 

[Bleedred]

Just re-sign Timo, don't overpay for McLeod/Bastian/Boqvist on their new deals, and ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RE-SIGN EITHER MILES WOOD OR THE WORTHLESS SHITBAG #29 TO ANY PLAYER CONTRACT OF ANY KIND!

And I'll probably be happy with this offseason.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

This is twice now he hasn't gotten vets to take less on either term or cap hit (granted Palat was a UFA but 6x5 is still crazy).

His thinking could be that Hughes/Nico/Bratt are all on steals that you sorta overpay for the depth on the roster a little bit. I'm not saying I totally agree with it but I can see that as his line of thinking here. Plus it's arguably the spot that the Hurricanes absolutely mangled us in round 2 besides in net obviously.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Haula would have gotten even more on the open market