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

[McDuffz88]

Yegor had points in only 4 of the 14 games Hughes was out.

I'm still nowhere near sold on him. We need an upgrade there and shouldn't make the mistake of penciling him in for a top line role next year.

Yegor was also played on the 3rd line for a period of time so I wouldn't look into it. Its not like he was stapled next to Nico for 14 games. Also how do you replace Yegor when we are already short 2 top 6 wingers? Do you plan on bringing in 3 top 6 wingers this off season? That ain't happening. We can argue Mercer is a top 6 winger for us but that still leaves 2 top 6 spots open if your gonna replace Yegor. Right now the lineup is
Sharangovich-Hughes-Mercer
?-Nico-Bratt
Remove Yegor and we got two top 6 spots open which there is 0 chance we fill. We will be lucky if we get 1 top line winger this off season never mind 2-3. Yegor is the least of our concerns.

 

[Hisch13r]

Ooh, this is a new one, I like it. Counting the number of games a player had points in. I bet he had more than 1 in some of those games!

Yegor with Hughes out had 31 shots on goal in 13 games and he missed almost the entire Rangers game with an injury. Consider me not at all worried about him - if Yegor is getting 2.5 shots/game, he is going to score, and of course he had 5 goals in 14 games, but yeah, points in only 4 games.

I also really don't give a shit whether of not he's not as good without Jack because yeah you're not going to be as good without an elite player. They've found great chemistry and Yegor produces at a 1st line level when he's with Jack.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[NJDevs26]

They absolutely played pond hockey the last three months, that’s not even debatable. Not that they had much of a coherent system before that but at least they tried to keep the shots down until they were obviously out of the race, then the season became about juicing up the young forwards offensive numbers Thrashers style.

 

[HersheyBob27]

I f***ing HATE twitter so f***ing much.

It only lets you read so many quotes before it makes you sign in or sign up.

I have no interest in having a twitter account, but I did make one once and I forget the password and all that. I don't feel like going through the bullshit.

I just wanna read the quotes.

Same

 

[Zippy316]

I wonder if Yzerman grabs the Syracuse Crunch coach Benoit Groulx or we consider him.

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2022

What is the “post automatically merging” stuff? I see it other people’s posts.

Edit: Lol well I know now. Not sure I’m into this.

Hard pass on any coach without experience on this point. This team is young and they need a coach who knows what he’s doing and commands that respect.

Give me Boudreau, DeBoer, and maybe Montgomery if they’re all available. From a purely coaching perspective, Quenneville is an intriguing option. I’m all for second chances but I think it’s way too soon to cross that bridge for him. He would need to do a lot to make up before he should be reinstated in my opinion, less than a year is too soon.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Lehner was injured for a part of this year, that’s why he only started in 44 games, many while dealing with injuries. They’ve been a mess because they lost some depth and most guys were injured at some point, including the defense.


People make it sound like we’ve been this high flying, high scoring “pond hockey” team for years. I don’t know when that happened, I mostly remember the endless years with the Devils having one of the worst offenses in the NHL. For a decade in fact. Hughes broke this season and he came back when our goaltending was at it’s low point. The team was a bigger mess last season but they barely got to practice, which is hard for young players.

You need a lot of plain old offensive talent to win in this league too and we lost for years because we lacked it. Bitching about our offensive talent is a weird take, it just started and they’re young. Nico was not good defensively until this season.

And everyone wants a really good coach for this team. Everyone would like good complimentary players. Good complimentary players are easier to get than players like Hughes, it’s why you want to get elite offense with high picks. The idea that we’re full up because we have a couple is not true either. We could us a bunch of stuff, that true of most teams. So? The team is still being built and finding it’s way after being nothing for a long time.

Your point on Lehner basically echoes my point: Even a Vezina guy couldn't overcome playing behind a mediocre team. I don't know how anyone expects borderline AHL guys to do so behind a chaotic team.

No one is saying we want less talent and everything you say there is true. At least now we have some HOPE. I think Fitz going into last season was looking for more scoring talent bc Zacha was our leading point getter and Hughes/Bratt/Nico really weren't getting off. Hence Tatar and Johnsson were good moves (and hoping Yegor and Kuokk would take the next step...) Instead, this year Hughes/Bratt/Nico all took the next step and left the other garbage behind so Fitz's marching orders should be different. Find complimetary players that make space for those guys, remove some of the targets from their back, and settle things down on the ice in our own zone but still have enough talent to roof that beautiful pass from Jack.

We aren't pond hockey. But we are a very careless team with the puck as Lindy says every frigging post game. I have complete faith that Jack, Nico and Jesper will grow up in that regard so I'm not worried about our talent. Just like Miles Wood grew up from being braindead to being reasonably responsible. Mercer is almost already there at 19. Guys like Tatar/Johnsson however have had time to grow up and still lose the puck at both bluelines so we don't need that kind of 'talent'.

Your coach comments and complimentary players are right on. So yeah, we should be pretty damn optimistic, I think.

 

[Triumph]

They absolutely played pond hockey the last three months, that’s not even debatable. Not that they had much of a coherent system before that but at least they tried to keep the shots down until they were obviously out of the race, then the season became about juicing up the young forwards offensive numbers Thrashers style.

It is debatable. 'Keep the shots down' - the Devils were middle of the pack in shots against over the last 3 months. Now that said, are the Devils overly aggressive in their own zone, sure, I do not think this means they were playing 'pond hockey'.

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2022

Your point on Lehner basically echoes my point: Even a Vezina guy couldn't overcome playing behind a mediocre team. I don't know how anyone expects borderline AHL guys to do so behind a chaotic team.

How in the world does it 'echo your point' - Lehner had season-ending surgery and wouldn't've been able to play in the playoffs even if Vegas had made them. I know you have this belief that defense causes injuries to goalies, but Lehner was hurt, he's been hurt since mid-March, and that's what he couldn't overcome.

 

[tailfins]

Isn't the Devils organizational structure modeled on the Sixers? It also sounds like what we know of the Canes's approach. Both those teams seem to me mostly making smart decisions. I'm unconvinced the organizational structure will doom the team, and the Devils need to revert to a single hockey man driving things. The benefit of the single hockey man approach is bold moves can be made when needed without the frictions of bureaucracy, but I don't really think the Devils need that right now. The only thing about the Devils structure that I find truly odd is how Ruff couldn't hire his own assistants. I hope they fire the staff and let the next HC hire his own assistants, that set up seems less than ideal.

I think this is very fair. I have a feeling Brooks doesn’t have the imagination to understand how a different structure could work. I don’t think I’d model much after the Sixers, though. They seem a mess.

 

[billingtons ghost]

It is debatable. 'Keep the shots down' - the Devils were middle of the pack in shots against over the last 3 months. Now that said, are the Devils overly aggressive in their own zone, sure, I do not think this means they were playing 'pond hockey'.

For a switch, it's all about quantifying and not about qualifying, right? There's something new.

We very sparingly played a good brand of hockey over these 82 games. Most nights weren't complete shitshows, but most nights had terrible breakdowns and terrible decisions that led to goals. We were a young team playing a loose style of hockey. If that qualifies as 'pond hockey' in someone's book, then I guess it could be.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[NJDevs26]

I mean a lot of games we were trailing and teams didn’t even need to push the envelope late so that affects shot totals too but whatever. They also modified the all offense approach that led to a ton of 7-4 games for a two month stretch after Hughes went out.

 

[None Shall Pass]

As someone who figured out how to multi-quote years ago and wondered why so many didn't use it, I'm loving this automatic post merging thing.

 

[Triumph]

I mean a lot of games we were trailing and teams didn’t even need to push the envelope late so that affects shot totals too but whatever. They also modified the all offense approach that led to a ton of 7-4 games for a two month stretch after Hughes went out.

Devils were slightly worse with the score tied but not significantly. Even with the score tied and away, they were 20th in the league in shots against for the last 3 months of the season (the pond hockey months, as you called them). And yes, having poor goaltending helps your shots against because you don't tend to have those 40+ shots nights against, but there were still teams giving up a lot more shots.

 

[Eggtimer]

Totally makes sense. Our C-grade defense, really pushed our D grade goalies into that F final grade.

Everything matters, goalies getting hung out to dry by poor team defense is going to make them look worse. But when they’re bad to begin with, that can also effect the way the team plays in front of them, and make the team defense look worse/lose confidence.

We need both, maybe a more established goalie, would have better been able to communicate his needs to the team in front of him. Sometimes It’s too easy to blame the goalies.

I agree . I know and understand from a goalie outlook , that not having consistent and reliable defensive would make it more difficult to anticipate plays and be able to be as agessuve as they would like to play the shooter etc etc . However , I think some of the reason our D was not consistent in how they played certain situations - 2on1 etc. was because our D knew that our goaltending was so awful that they have to play a different way or do something they nitnslky wouldn’t do if they knew we had a capable goalie .
I suck at writing what I am trying to say.
Yes , our goalies may have sucked because the way our D play . However , maybe our D played that way because they knew our goaltending was horrific ?

 

[MauDevils]

Ooh, this is a new one, I like it. Counting the number of games a player had points in. I bet he had more than 1 in some of those games!

Yegor with Hughes out had 31 shots on goal in 13 games and he missed almost the entire Rangers game with an injury. Consider me not at all worried about him - if Yegor is getting 2.5 shots/game, he is going to score, and of course he had 5 goals in 14 games, but yeah, points in only 4 games.

What's new? Looking at the consistency of a player's production?

He had 7 points in those 14 games which would still be below his season average so...my point still stands? Or am I only supposed to measure shots per game now?

He was less productive than guys like Boqvist, Zetterlund and even Zacha over that stretch so ... Cool. Definitely a guy we should pencil in for big minutes again.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Guy's gonna lose his coach and roommate very shortly welcome to the NHL!

 

[Eggtimer]

From the interview clips I have heard so far , it seems like there are going to be a lot of changes made this off-season . Jack alluded to it as well by more or less saying that the team we are going to win with isn’t the team they have right now . I think it was Wood ? Who said that the core is in place , need to surround it now with the right players

I think they identified the core and main pieces or “ keepers” and now are going to clean house and fill in the holes .

 

[Hisch13r]

Guy's gonna lose his coach and roommate very shortly welcome to the NHL!

He only has to wait a year to get his brother as his roommate anyway

 

[Devs3cups]

What's new? Looking at the consistency of a player's production?

He had 7 points in those 14 games which would still be below his season average so...my point still stands? Or am I only supposed to measure shots per game now?

He was less productive than guys like Boqvist, Zetterlund and even Zacha over that stretch so ... Cool. Definitely a guy we should pencil in for big minutes again.

5 goals in 14 games is basically a 30 goal pace. 7 points in 14 games is a 41 point pace. His 82 game point pace this season is 49. It's really not that big of a difference. Of course he's gonna produce less without an elite #1 C. Anyone would. I'm actually surprised he produced this much without him, I thought it'd be lower.

 

[Zippy316]

 

[GameSeven]

Yeah, contrary to a guy who makes a diplomatic positive comment, a "no comment" speaks pretty damn loudly.

 

[Devs3cups]

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

From the interview clips I have heard so far , it seems like there are going to be a lot of changes made this off-season . Jack alluded to it as well by more or less saying that the team we are going to win with isn’t the team they have right now . I think it was Wood ? Who said that the core is in place , need to surround it now with the right players

I think they identified the core and main pieces or “ keepers” and now are going to clean house and fill in the holes .

They aren't gonna be comfortable signing mid-market UFAs though given what we've seen, and trades are very difficult way to remake a roster. The only guy going via trade that really would be a major shakeup is Blackwood which let's say is 50/50 to happen. Zacha and Subban will go also most likely but those are "major moves" only on paper 3 years ago at this point.

 

[guitarguyvic]

I am not at all convinced that Ruff is getting fired. And Recchi isn’t getting the heave ho with the same HC staying in place.