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

[Rhodes 81]

Notable Buyouts so far are Duchene, Yamamoto, Wheeler, and Reilly. Don't think any of them are the right adds specifically but Yamamoto is at least interesting.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I would absolutely take Duchene for cheap on a 1 year deal, but I am sure some other forward needy team will offer him way more than we would

 

[Bcap88]

Duchene can play wing ?

 

[Rhodes 81]

Yeah, I assume Duchene will have better options than a cheap 1 year deal and he's fairly redundant with us at this point. Unless he just wants to go cup chasing and we're the best team that makes an offer I doubt it would happen.

 

[TrufleShufle]

Duchene can play wing ?

I think that's all he can play at this point.

 

[beekay414]

Yeah Duchene's gonna go to the highest bidder. He seems like the mercenary type and not a cup chaser.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I don't really have an interest in Duchene, to be honest. I guess he could be a better option for that last winger spot in the top 9? I know he's a good finisher overall, but I don't know that I'm really interested in kicking those tires.

I'm baffled Nashville bought him out though. Talk about a major reset.

 

[jkrdevil]

Yeah Duchene's gonna go to the highest bidder. He seems like the mercenary type and not a cup chaser.

He’s 32. Is it better for him to sign a cheap one year deal with a contender and hit the market again next year in a better cap environment or max out now in years? He has the buyout money coming.

With all the teams tight to the cap, plus the buyout and probably a wave of rfa’s not being qualified it is going to be a flooded market this year.

 

[Devils731]

He’s 32. Is it better for him to sign a cheap one year deal with a contender and hit the market again next year in a better cap environment or max out now in years? He has the buyout money coming.

With all the teams tight to the cap, plus the buyout and probably a wave of rfa’s not being qualified it is going to be a flooded market this year.

I think that’s a decent point. Going somewhere that lets him put up big numbers for 1 year may earn him more money over the next 5 years.

 

[jkrdevil]

I think that’s a decent point. Going somewhere that lets him put up big numbers for 1 year may earn him more money over the next 5 years.

Well that wouldn’t be a contender. That would be a bad team he can get more minutes.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Here's an interesting thought, if Luke and Nemac, possibly Holtz make the jump next year, do we theoretically go from one of the best prospect pools in the league to the worst?

It doesn't matter, we are locked and loaded more than any team I can think of both in talent and time, but it is interesting to think about. We hopefully have more than enough time to restock the cupboards before needing anything out of them again. I'm just curious to see the league team prospect pool ratings half way through next year.

Probably? But that's to be expected. It's impossible to stay in the top 5 or whatever when your high pick prospects graduate and you're picking in the end of the rounds again.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Bertuzzi is a UFA. He is not an option for this team as he would hamper the cap structure, particularly after this year.

The question about the Toffoli trade was whether the resources and cap space were better used on a defense 1-year rental (or a goalie). But I guess the team is banking on LHughes being good right away, Bahl continuing to be a solid defender, and Nemec maybe being close to ready to contribute by the playoffs.

Oh I think he will be. I'm not so sure about Nemec though.

 

[Zippy316]

You can't overreact with grit though, IMO. Because the other factor that I think plays more of a role is simply experience. That was the first taste of the playoffs for a lot of the key players on that roster.

Exactly. I really don’t think many guys on the team looked that out of place. Hughes showed up, was throwing hits, and was blocking shots. Bratt, Meier, and Hischier all put out strong performances by the numbers but were snakebitten. Mercer, Luke, and McLeod all showed well. I think they all come back stronger next year.

I think the more important thing is swapping out some of the guys like Sharangovich and Tatar with players who compliment our core better and aren’t as much of pushovers. Fitz has done a great job so far doing that

 

[Zippy316]

We’re talking about a player that got benched for half the playoffs. Carolina found players like Fast, Martinook and Noesen For nothing and they were much more impactful than someone like Boqvist.

And that’s not to say he shouldn't be in the conversation for the roster but he’s certainly not done enough to be considered a lock.

We already have Haula, Palat, McLeod, and Bastian. Those are our players like the Carolina group you mentioned.

I wouldn’t consider Boqvist a lock. I would consider him a solid roster player who is a good fourth liner and the potential to still be something more than that. You will need some extra forwards too, we already have one in Lazar. Boqvist as another one bringing a different skill set is intriguing

 

[Devils731]

Well that wouldn’t be a contender. That would be a bad team he can get more minutes.

Depends. A team with a wide open system, with a few other offensive players, and where I can play PP1 may be the best regardless of wins/losses.

Minutes do matter but I think he would get top 9 minutes but not monster minutes on most teams.

 

[glenwo2]

Exactly. I really don’t think many guys on the team looked that out of place. Hughes showed up, was throwing hits, and was blocking shots. Bratt, Meier, and Hischier all put out strong performances by the numbers but were snakebitten. Mercer, Luke, and McLeod all showed well. I think they all come back stronger next year.

I think the more important thing is swapping out some of the guys like Sharangovich and Tatar with players who compliment our core better and aren’t as much of pushovers. Fitz has done a great job so far doing that

BrAtT SuCkS...He FaiLeD 2 Gurd BrEnT BuRns...TraiD HiM!

 

[TrufleShufle]

Probably? But that's to be expected. It's impossible to stay in the top 5 or whatever when your high pick prospects graduate and you're picking in the end of the rounds again.

Yea the reasons are obvious and the problem is non existent. I tried to make that clear.

I'm just saying it was an interesting tid bit that our rankings over one year are going to be so dramatically different. We had/have(presumably) all of what made us top 5 in the league graduating or traded all at once.

There is no debate here, no panic. Just "hey guys this is funny to think about lol"

 

[Guttersniped]

I certainly don't care about grit as a "skill" nor as a catch-all phrase. The simple fact is you get harder to play against by getting better and we got better by adding something that was drastically missing from the top 6 (a true right shot goal scorer - sorry Dawson). Between Meier, Mercer and Toffoli and Nico (who isn't a soft player no matter how many people want to say it), we have several guys that play heavier than they get credit for. It was our first run in the playoffs with a young team against a team that's been there before. I'm not worried about "grit" more so than I am about talent and fit. Toffoli fits like a glove both in the locker room and on the ice.

We also played that series with like half-Timo. We have to learn how to win and that was a learning experience. If it becomes a recurring problem, then get back to me about "grit."

I actually agree that we could use more hard to play against, physical skill players who can also score. I mean, who wouldn’t want that.

Fitz can’t just go to the Grit Store and pick some up, those players (if actually good at hockey) are actually pretty coveted and expensive. You don’t have to lust after them to the point where you throw stupid money at them.

The galaxy brain “dump Bratt for Barbashev” thing wouldn’t have actually worked since Barbashev didn’t even make it to the UFA market. With him gone, and this year’s crop being grotesquely bad, Bertuzzi might get a very nutty contract. He certainly will have plenty of suitors.

But both those guys were rentals, this isn’t like not having a top line center or a top pairing defenseman. Vegas somehow bucked the trend, and was able to get Pietrangelo and Eichel, even though 1st pair defensemen are rarely on the market and 1C are just about never available. It took them years however to get that final center, uh, piece.

The same with physical defensemen like Gudas, they get moved like candy on Halloween when the TDL rolls around.

We just became a playoffs team 5 minutes ago, I genuinely don’t understand how people are angry that we’re still under construction.

Now, if you hate any of our just locked-up core, well, tough luck there. But you don’t have to bitch about complimentary pieces because those can and will change relatively quickly.

I thought Drury knee jerk “grit” moves last season were idiotic and I think I was proved right (it was a popular view, I’m not breaking my arm patting myself on the back for recognizing the obvious).

The best thing they might have gotten out of all that is the 2025 5th Minnesota inexplicably gave them for Reaves. The July 2021 Buchnevich trade tree is dead and they have a 30 year old Barkley Goodrow on a 4 year/3.64m deal, w/ 15 team a no trade list.

The lesson: You don’t do dumb shit because some people proclaimed you needed “will not skill”.

 

[MB3]

Luke Hughes was already "very good right away". I think he'll be a sensation next year.

 

[bossram]

Duchene can play wing ?

He's pretty much exclusively a winger now.

He still has offense to give. His chance creation numbers and rush chance creation numbers are good. If he's cheap, he would be a nice fit in NJ.

 

[Devs3cups]

 

[Guttersniped]

Yea the reasons are obvious and the problem is non existent. I tried to make that clear.

I'm just saying it was an interesting tid bit that our rankings over one year are going to be so dramatically different. We had/have(presumably) all of what made us top 5 in the league graduating or traded all at once.

There is no debate here, no panic. Just "hey guys this is funny to think about lol"

I actually have thought about this myself and, yes, when Luke/Nemec/Holtz graduate we’re sinking like a stone to the bottom. And it’s pretty wild.

 

[glenwo2]

 

[jkrdevil]

This might be the dumbest idea I’ve read. I don’t think trading for a worse goalie with more term and money is going to be the move Fitz makes

Duhatschek Notebook: NHL free agency could be a question of realism vs. greed

Free agency is almost always a frenetic time of giddy overspending, but is that about to change?

theathletic.com

 

[TF1970]

Reilly is a decent depth dman. Just got the shaft and ended up in the American League bc of bostons cap. Wouldn’t hate it. Another name I’ve thought about up front is JVR on a one year deal in the $1.75ish range - big body, nose for the net, gets to the dirty areas, can finish, doesn’t need the puck on his stick.