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

[Saugus]

So, he’s dead?

 

[Goptor]

So, he’s dead?

He picked a bad song to play during practice so he's being punished.

 

[JimEIV]

It's easier to just pretend things are the way you think they are then use logic

He's been here for 120 games and has multiple long stretches with no goals and no impact.

His first year here was injured and only played 49 games...in those 49 games he had a 10 and 18 game stretches of no goals..On a team that had goals coming out of the ears....ok scratched it up to injuries. He missed nearly 3 months cut him a break..seems reasonable.

The following year he starts the season with 15 game goalless streak...So now we're 64 games into his Devil career, with a 10 game, an 18 game and a 15 game goalless streaks...and it only gets worse over the next 56 games he's played...

if you look at the end of the 2022-23 season from 3/9/23 into the beginning of the 2023-24 season through 11/16/2023 Palat went 33 consecutive games without a goal. to that point he only played 64 games here. That's some Cory Schneider level shit.

The problem so often with any matrix is the assumption that the a good or decent number achieved in a limited role equates to someone in a larger more difficult role. The assumption is if Palat got the same opportunity as say Hischier he would've scored about 20 5v5 goals based GF/60 (or any rate stat)... it's nonsense but that is the implication of the numbers and anyone with eyesight could see that would never be true for a multitude of reasons... Foremost, if a scrub like Palat was getting the same opportunity as a Hischier your team would be in deep shit and those numbers would revert rather quickly.

I don't know, I think my reasoning is a helluva lot more "logical" than blindly believing some dumb matrix or "player card" is actually telling you anything substantive about a guy who goes months without a goal regularly since he's been a Devil?

 

[TheUnseenHand]

So, he’s dead?

No, that's Hatakka. Simon is now a zombie.

 

[Whaddagoal]

I didn't get to watch the game much yesterday, can anyone explain what happened to hatakka?

I was hoping he would stay healthy... A lot of opportunity for him so far the way this season started.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I didn't get to watch the game much yesterday, can anyone explain what happened to hatakka?

I was hoping he would stay healthy... A lot of opportunity for him so far the way this season started.

I didn't notice. It certainly wasn't a physical game. I don't remember him really getting hit or anything.

My guess is whatever Haula had might be making it's way around the locker room.

 

[Whaddagoal]

I didn't notice. It certainly wasn't a physical game. I don't remember him really getting hit or anything.

My guess is whatever Haula had might be making it's way around the locker room.

Interesting. Got it... We shall find out soon enough.

 

[Hisch13r]

 

[AfroThunder396]

To criticize Palat's regular season performance in calendar year 2023 while ignoring his stellar 2023 playoff performance - tied for 2nd on the team in playoff points, including assisting on a Game 7 winner against NYR - is to ignore the entire reason he was brought into this team.

He is essentially an overpaid role player at this point, which is not ideal, but that role is still really important for winning games.

Would I like it if he had more points? Yeah, of course. Would I like it if his cap hit was 1.5M lower? Yeah, of course. But we have plenty of guys with pretty scoring numbers and pretty cap hits. As long as he shows up in the playoffs and can help close out games I can live with it.

 

[Hisch13r]

Really sucks he's going to be out of the league and in playing in Switzerland next year

 

[Maine Fan]

I had a little bit of an idea... @Guttersniped and @Maine Fan do you each have a favorite watering hole? What if we called said spot, after a big win, we reserved a beer for you all? Get's you out there, celebrating a win and we can all send them from "Jack Mehoff" or "Jacques Strappe". Hopefully covers a couple drinks with friends. I'll buy a couple rounds for both of you if you give me location and let that location know they're going to be hearing from a weirdo.

Thank you very much for your generous offer. While I would love to have an alcoholic drink with you, the medication I take can not be mixed. I would love to have a diet coke with you. I live in Monmouth County, Ocean Grove. I am moving there on October 8th. 2 walking blocks from the Ocean, how nice is that. I have a hotel room with a kitchenette until May 8, 2025. I have difficulty walking and going out so this would have to be a planned event so I can find transportation both ways before leaving my place. Thank you again. If I misread the post it is OK. Go Devils

 

[Maine Fan]

The board is going through some stuff this year. Feeling for you @Guttersniped, @Jerry, and @Maine Fan. I know thoughts and prayers are useless but I value the community we have here. Best wishes.

Thank you for your thoughts. I enjoy the board and the Devils fans on this board. I am alone. So this allows me to talk with someone about the Devils even though it is not in person. Thanks to all the people that make this forum available to me. Thanks to all the fans that interact with me. I don't feel alone and I can talk about the Devils.

 

[Maine Fan]

Was it because Dawson's contract was so sweet?

I like having him signed with the Devils. The real reason for the broken tooth is age 88 years young. I always chew in that area. It was the tooth in the back. They had to take it out. I am on blood thinners. It bleed all weekend, stopped now, thank God, sore and a mess. Getting better.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

To criticize Palat's regular season performance in calendar year 2023 while ignoring his stellar 2023 playoff performance - tied for 2nd on the team in playoff points, including assisting on a Game 7 winner against NYR - is to ignore the entire reason he was brought into this team.

He is essentially an overpaid role player at this point, which is not ideal, but that role is still really important for winning games.

Would I like it if he had more points? Yeah, of course. Would I like it if his cap hit was 1.5M lower? Yeah, of course. But we have plenty of guys with pretty scoring numbers and pretty cap hits. As long as he shows up in the playoffs and can help close out games I can live with it.

He also led the team in xGF% last year and was one of just a handful of regulars that had a positive goal differential at 5 on 5. He can still help the team even if he’s overpaid.

 

[Maine Fan]

You are a true hockey player now

That is funny. I played high school hockey and never broke a tooth. This was just age. My way of saying good bye to Ocean Township and hello to Ocean Grove. Funny comment, thanks, I laughed, that makes me feel good. Later

 

[HBK27]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1838947815218679873

 

[MartyOwns]

i'll be very interested to compare the current palat opinions to next year, when we have to pay a team and retain just to get rid of him in order to keep much, much better players whose impact can be measured without bending logic into a pretzel to suit a narrative. and like i've said before i don't hate the guy or anything, but my god those dollars could be put to better use.

 

[Triumph]

To criticize Palat's regular season performance in calendar year 2023 while ignoring his stellar 2023 playoff performance - tied for 2nd on the team in playoff points, including assisting on a Game 7 winner against NYR - is to ignore the entire reason he was brought into this team.

He is essentially an overpaid role player at this point, which is not ideal, but that role is still really important for winning games.

Would I like it if he had more points? Yeah, of course. Would I like it if his cap hit was 1.5M lower? Yeah, of course. But we have plenty of guys with pretty scoring numbers and pretty cap hits. As long as he shows up in the playoffs and can help close out games I can live with it.

A different time, but the Devils went through a 10 year stretch where they traded for Patrik Sundstrom, Peter Stastny, Bernie Nicholls, Neal Broten, and Doug Gilmour. The Devils had a phenomenal farm system at the time but they were short on playmaking centers and these guys were expensive and old.

The importing of Ondrej Palat is no different in principle - the Devils' had an abundance of talented forwards but not a whole lot of guys who play a boards-focused game, so they went out and got one. They paid the UFA price for a desirable player. I'm curious to see if Keefe's system agrees more with Palat - it felt like he said he was passing up offense for defense under Ruff because nobody else was.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Palat is overpaid by like 1.5M, it's not optimal but it really is fine. More than made up for by the fact he actually plays D, actually wins board battles, and actually has playoff experience,

I'd undo that contract, obviously, but if we're at the point that the 1.5M is f***ing us, we have way bigger problems.

 

[AfroThunder396]

i'll be very interested to compare the current palat opinions to next year, when we have to pay a team and retain just to get rid of him in order to keep much, much better players whose impact can be measured without bending logic into a pretzel to suit a narrative. and like i've said before i don't hate the guy or anything, but my god those dollars could be put to better use.

It really shouldn't be a problem. The only free agent of note next summer is Luke, an RFA. The UFAs next summer are Allen, Lazar, Bastian, Tatar, Kovacevic, and DeSimone. Not really that hard to replace those guys for cheap.

We have 10 forwards (9 if you don't count MacDermid), 5 defensemen, and 1 goalie under contract for 2025-26. 11.3M in cap space to re-sign Luke, find a backup (if not Daws), and get some new bottom-6 guys (re-sign Lazar + adding ELC Gritsyuk takes care of most of that) and that's not accounting for any cap increase (4.5M this summer, probably more next summer).

 

[Hisch13r]

i'll be very interested to compare the current palat opinions to next year, when we have to pay a team and retain just to get rid of him in order to keep much, much better players whose impact can be measured without bending logic into a pretzel to suit a narrative. and like i've said before i don't hate the guy or anything, but my god those dollars could be put to better use.

A buyout won't make sense next year. If we're in the unfortunate situation where we need to retain like half on him to get rid of him then we'll also be better off just keeping him rather rather retaining 3 mil and then needing to replace him for under 3 to even get any savings.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

i'll be very interested to compare the current palat opinions to next year, when we have to pay a team and retain just to get rid of him in order to keep much, much better players whose impact can be measured without bending logic into a pretzel to suit a narrative. and like i've said before i don't hate the guy or anything, but my god those dollars could be put to better use.

This is a very normal problem to have, which virtually every team goes through. Our cap situation is pretty damn amazing all things considered. I just hope he helps us win in the playoffs rather than worry about what issues he’ll cause.

There were players that make significantly more than him on the team last year that were much worse for extended periods and/or were injured.

 

[Emerz]

Hey folks, is Cam Squires still at camp? Cape Breton Eagles fan here haha, excited to see how he progresses this season. I haven’t seen him on any preseason rosters to this point.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

With Hughes, Pesce, and now potentially Hatakka all hurt, I think Casey may make the team out of camp. With his skating and puck skills I see no reason why he couldn't play on his offside:

Siegs - Hamilton
Dillon - Nemec
Casey - Kovacevic
DeSimone

Could give him a real chance to prove to Keefe that he makes the team better right now.

I am wondering if we see Casey again tonight.

If last night is any indication, I think Nemec may be at risk of losing his spot to Casey. By the end of the game, Casey had been promoted into Nemec's spot on the top pair, and was better than Simon in all three zones.

I was really hoping to see an improvement in Simon's explosiveness and agility this year, but he looked pretty sluggish last night, both mentally and physically. Hopefully he is fighting off an illness or recovering from injury.

 

[FinnishDevil]

Palat's contract sucks balls.

Palat the player is still good and very much something the team needs and needed at the time of signing. Devils are better with him than without him and can afford his cap hit for now.

Both can be true.