Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - camp edition

[britdevil]

I support everything that was done this off season(except for Tatar, that was dumb) and I think we'll be a better team for it...but I can't help but think all that was done was really done was reverting to 2023 with losses of Severson(add Pesce), Graves(add Dillon), Wood(add Cotter)...

It really all seems like an admission of guilt to me.

Pesce and Dillon are huge upgrades on those two bums.

Jury out on Cotter, but the Wood contract was stinking garbage too.

 

[Better Call Sal]

You don't think "talks are on going" on the first day of camp isn't bad news? They had almost 3 months to get this done after every Free Agent was signed

No, because I don't get wrapped up in these sorts of things the way I used to. He will sign eventually, and no one will be worse for wear.

 

[Nocashstyle]

I could've written exactly what he just wrote, whether or not I had information about Dawson Mercer's contract talks.

Pagnotta is not Eklund, but he is by no means an insider. He gets a few more right than Eklund did, but not many more, and he's been straight up wrong about things a few times too.

lol whatever you want to believe. He’s clearly plugged in.

 

[Devils731]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1836431501946192291

Devils pay Dougie to admin so that he can get some off-cap money.

 

[JimEIV]

No, because I don't get wrapped up in these sorts of things the way I used to. He will sign eventually, and no one will be worse for wear.

Worse for wear won't be immediately apparent. We have no idea how either party will feel at the end of an arduous contract battle...

We've seen a lot of players over the years hold long time grudges for how their deals were handled.

 

[Devils731]

lol whatever you want to believe. He’s clearly plugged in.

I don’t think I would say he’s plugged in, for me.

I think Pagnotta is a mouthpiece for players and agents, so I believe he has connections, but he’s so low on the power totem pole that he can be used to intentionally leak bad information into the world without worry about burning a bridge with him.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Worse for wear won't be immediately apparent. We have no idea how either party will feel at the end of arduous contract battle...

We've seen a lot of players over the years hold long time grudges for how their deals were handled.

If the way this organization treated Bratt didn't sour him, I think Dawson will be fine. This is likely just between his agent and the organization anyway. I doubt Mercer is the one actually holding this up.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Worse for wear won't be immediately apparent. We have no idea how either party will feel at the end of arduous contract battle...

We've seen a lot of players over the years hold long time grudges for how their deals were handled.

Everyone said the same thing with Bratt, and it never happened. And Bratt is a more valuable player.

 

[tailfins]

I support everything that was done this off season(except for Tatar, that was dumb) and I think we'll be a better team for it...but I can't help but think all that was done was really done was reverting to 2023 with losses of Severson(add Pesce), Graves(add Dillon), Wood(add Cotter)...

It really all seems like an admission of guilt to me.

I don't know if it's any admission of guilt as much as Fitzgerald knew there would be a step back and needed time to address it. You can argue how much of an upgrade, if any, the Devils got with Dillon and Pesce, but it's inarguable that they were able to get the new guys at lower cap hits and less term. That's valuable knowing that we'll need to pay Luke, Nemec, and of course Mercer.

Dillon: 3 years, $4 million AAv
Graves: 5 more years, $4.5 million AAV

Pesce: 6 years, $5.5 million AAV
Severson: 7 more years, $6.25 AAV

 

[Nocashstyle]

Pagnotta has done enough over the years to discredit himself. And he said the talks are still ongoing. What's the bad news?

I don’t know why I feel like I need to defend Pagnotta here, but it’s important to recognize the distinction between Friedman, Lebrun, and Dreger vs. guys like Pagnotta, Weekes, and Seravelli. The former only report on things that are about to happen. They aren’t really in the business of rumors. The latter put things out there earlier. Sometimes it happens, other times they don’t. It doesn’t mean they’re not plugged in.

 

[JimEIV]

If the way this organization treated Bratt didn't sour him, I think Dawson will be fine. This is likely just between his agent and the organization anyway. I doubt Mercer is the one actually holding this up.

Of course it's agent v organization.... Mercer is still sitting waiting for a call though...with training camp opened

I don't know if it's any admission of guilt as much as Fitzgerald knew there would be a step back and needed time to address it. You can argue how much of an upgrade, if any, the Devils got with Dillon and Pesce, but it's inarguable that they were able to get the new guys at lower cap hits and less term. That's valuable knowing that we'll need to pay Luke, Nemec, and of course Mercer.

Dillon: 3 years, $4 million AAv
Graves: 5 more years, $4.5 million AAV

Pesce: 6 years, $5.5 million AAV
Severson: 7 more years, $6.25 AAV

Right we threw away an entire season to save 1.2Million a year. That's good cap management.

 

[Nocashstyle]

I don’t think I would say he’s plugged in, for me.

I think Pagnotta is a mouthpiece for players and agents, so I believe he has connections, but he’s so low on the power totem pole that he can be used to intentionally leak bad information into the world without worry about burning a bridge with him.

That may be true. Still don’t understand why that would even matter in the case of him reporting that talks with Mercer are still ongoing and likely looking at 2 or 3 year deals. Just don’t understand why any posters think they need to discredit that report, when it’s not in any way outlandish.

 

[njdevil26]

I really do like a good Czech pilsner though. It's the perfect style if I want something not too heavy and not too light.

Pilsner Urquell is good... but I really like Staropramen

 

[Triumph]

lol whatever you want to believe. He’s clearly plugged in.

He has some sources. If he doesn't have good sources on a particular thing, he will make stuff up, or be fed bad information.

That may be true. Still don’t understand why that would even matter in the case of him reporting that talks with Mercer are still ongoing and likely looking at 2 or 3 year deals. Just don’t understand why any posters think they need to discredit that report, when it’s not in any way outlandish.

Because I could report that. It's not discrediting - the other things Pagnotta has reported are discrediting. It is so banal that it's not information.

 

[JimEIV]

The thing is training camp was a hard deadline to shoot for...once you cross that precipice, you're really resetting the clock to a new date.

 

[MadDevil]

No, because I don't get wrapped up in these sorts of things the way I used to. He will sign eventually, and no one will be worse for wear.

I got over worrying about this shit after the Bratt contract drama. And he was far more important of a player than Mercer. No offense to Dawson, I like the kid a lot and hope he's a Devil for a long time, but he's just not a core player, at least at this point. And eventually tough decisions have to be made on who a team prioritizes. They can't just give long term contracts to every guy coming off their ELC.

 

[Nocashstyle]

He has some sources. If he doesn't have good sources on a particular thing, he will make stuff up, or be fed bad information.



Because I could report that. It's not discrediting - the other things Pagnotta has reported are discrediting. It is so banal that it's not information.

I don’t even understand what your issue is. Sure, you could have posted something from your Twitter account with 23 followers. Pagnotta still has more sources than you and just reported that the sides are still working. Basically confirmation that talks haven’t completely fallen apart. It’s not that serious.

 

[JimEIV]

I got over worrying about this shit after the Bratt contract drama. And he was far more important of a player than Mercer. No offense to Dawson, I like the kid a lot and hope he's a Devil for a long time, but he's just not a core player, at least at this point. And eventually tough decisions have to be made on who a team prioritizes. They can't just give long term contracts to every guy coming off their ELC.

Not everyone believed Bratt was an important player while negotiations were going on, I actually did but this board certainly did not...quite the opposite actually.

 

[glenwo2]

While it's nice to hear big game targets are interested in the Devils, I'm glad we "lost out" on Stamkos.

Yeah...it would've also messed with the chemistry a bit.

Like...where would you play him? 1st? 2nd? 3rd-line, i guess?

Another thing is how much he has left in the tank.

Last thing we want is for Fitz to pour money into someone that just doesn't have it anymore.

Stamkos' best years were in Tampa and that has now gone by the wayside.

Good luck to him in Nashville...just watch out for Golf Carts....

 

[MartyOwns]

did i miss the part where mercer is our best player or something? he's obviously going to sign, and if his feefees are hurt he's incredibly replaceable in the near future.

 

[njdevil26]

Seems like Stamkos used the Devils a bit as leverage. I've heard enough from Friedman, agents, players to know that players and agents are well aware what teams have what cap space and Stamkos probably knew he wouldn't fit in here.

I also don't think Fitz set out with Stamkos on his wish list... but like he said you have to take those calls lol .

 

[TheUnseenHand]

did i miss the part where mercer is our best player or something? he's obviously going to sign, and if his feefees are hurt he's incredibly replaceable in the near future.

No, you missed the part where Mercer has the same hobbies as Jim.

 

[Triumph]

I don’t even understand what your issue is. Sure, you could have posted something from your Twitter account with 23 followers. Pagnotta still has more sources than you and just reported that the sides are still working. Basically confirmation that talks haven’t completely fallen apart. It’s not that serious.

It's not confirmation of anything because it comes from Pagnotta, who is not a reliable source. My issue is that the information given, because it comes from an unreliable source, is not information at all. My suspicion is that it is true, but I would believe that to be the case whether or not Pagnotta reported it, which is my point about me reporting it. It would be much more newsworthy if the Devils and Mercer were not talking at all, and I'd at least give Pagnotta credit for maybe having some information if that's what he reported.

 

[MadDevil]

Not everyone believed Bratt was an important player while negotiations were going on, I actually did but this board certainly did not...quite the opposite actually.

And he ended up signing a long term deal in the end, so maybe chill out a bit.

 

[glenwo2]

So Mercer is officially a hold out now?

Paging @britdevil , paging britdevil.....


Oh...he answered already....

Not having a deal done before camp is one of my pet hates.

I hated on Bratt for it and I am going to hate on Mercer for it.

Remember when Gionta came to camp with no contract? I miss that.

Glad someone ELSE is going to get your ire for a change.