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

[Bleedred]

I'm not going to believe he's coming back unless Fitz comes right out and says he is.

If he comes out and says ''We're gonna look at everything and evaluate everybody over the next little while here'' then I'm gonna believe that the verdict will eventually be reached (or at least publicly announced soon enough) that he will be fired.

If it hasn't been announced before the month of May ends (at the very latest) then he's probably staying.

 

[Hollywood Nosebleed]

Apparently Severson passed the annual broken toe off to Hamilton this season. Sorry to who’s toe is next!

With our luck it's going to be which ever goalie we sign or trade for.

 

[NJDevs26]

Because you haven’t canned him yet.

We know the Devils process is collaborative, which can also means it runs slowly.

Especially if you’re trying to give the man a ‘retire gracefully’ option.

 

[Guadana]

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.

24 goals in 75 games. With and without Jack. If we will penciled out every player who can score on 25+ pace every season, we will never end this rebuild. Or spend much more money for questionable improvement.

It`s great, for you and for me, that decision will be making by GM. Not by couch expert.

 

[Bleedred]

As far as I can tell, the Flyers haven't even announced that Mike Yeo won't be back yet.

Does anybody here really think Mike Yeo will actually be back?

Granted, Ruff has almost an infinitely greater chance of coming back here than Yeo does to Philly, but outside of ''Blashill not being given an extension'' has any other head coach bit the bullet yet since the season ended? I would bet Dave Lowry is not back in Winnipeg, their game just ended a few minutes ago, but nobody else is gone yet. It's 1:40 PM in Las Vegas (it's not like the sun just came up there) and DeBoer hasn't been fired. I can't see him coming back since Vegas loves to just pop everybody, on top of the drama he had with Robin Lehner.

I did see Arizona and assistant coach Phil Housley have ''Mutally decided to part ways'' lol.

But that's all I got.

I don't think Arizona or Columbus are gonna fire their head coaches. It's only been one year. Same with Seattle.

Boughner is almost definitely out (unless the new GM pulls an Yzerman and lets him stay upon coming through the door just like Yzerman did with Blashill for three years) and maybe a couple other guys on playoff teams once they're eliminated. Boughner probably won't be officially out until the new GM is hired. Kind of like how we didn't get any news on the N. Bench guys (Stevens and Oates) in 2015 until after Shero came in and even then, he didn't even publicly rule out bringing them back.

But my point is that outside of Blashill, nobody else has been announced as ''No longer head coach'' with their respective teams.

 

[SKNJD9]

When time is on your side you use it. The current crop of available coaches is hot garbage anyway, might just wait to see who shakes loose after the playoffs. Ruff could also be gone tomorrow who knows ? Pr is gonna run as normal until they're told not to

 

[None Shall Pass]

I love PK, man:

 

[Guttersniped]

Sure, but Hughes gave him a big vote of confidence (at least Ruff, no one else in particular) today in his interview.

If the GM goes around leaving a coaching staff intact because their best player likes him (especially when he’s already signed for 8 years and we’re not dependent on bringing back Ruff/said staff to get him to stay. What’s he gonna do, hold out and refuse to play next year because Ruff got fired?) then that’s something that will get a GM fired and he has to worry about his own ass, rather than placating a guy that’s already locked up for 8 more years anyway.

That said, I remember wondering if Hynes was kept around at least until we saw what Taylor Hall was doing and before seeing if h would re-sign or not, as Hall went out of his way to talk about how much he liked Hynes.

Looking back on it, I’m not sure if that was ever the case because I don’t even know if Shero ever actually wanted to keep Hall by that point anyway.

If it was about Hall then Shero wouldn’t have had such a tough time putting a bullet into Hynes after it was clear Hall was a getting moved.

He sent Fitz down to be an AC and observe (lol) on Oct 16th after we went 0-4-2 to start the 2019-20 season.

That ended on Nov 25th, after a not very convincing 8-6-2 record. Hynes hung in there for four more games for some reason, until getting fired on Dec 3rd after the losses to the NYR & Buffalo.

Taylor Hall was scratched on Dec 13th and was finally traded on Dec 16th. So he played 4 games under Nasreddine.

Shero was fired on January 12th. So he lasted 18 more games than Hynes and 14 more than Hall.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Larry Brooks summed up the Devils perfectly in this article today:

Devils need Buck Showalter-esque authority figure to restore success

I'm not a fan of Brooks, but that aticle was spot on.

 

[Billdo]

They're way too low on Bratts next deal. Saying a multi year deal between 4 and 5 million is incredibly wrong. If he's signing for that little over multiple years I'll literally streak through the concourse on opening night.

 

[njdevils1982]

pre new years johnsson gets an A

GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	EV	PP	SH	GW	EV	PP	SH	S	S%	SHFT	TOI	ATOI
32	9	12	21	6	18	8	1	0	0	12	0	0	62	14.5	659	479:52	14:00

post new years he also gets an A but this time its for 'played like Ass'

GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	EV	PP	SH	GW	EV	PP	SH	S	S%	SHFT	TOI	ATOI
39	4	10	14	-2	12	4	0	0	0	10	0	0	52	7.7	743	539:51	13:51

 

[RangerDoggo]

I'm not a fan of Brooks, but that aticle was spot on.

Honestly, the more I think about that article, the more I think it’s kinda accurate. The collaborative process isn’t inspiring to watch and we do play pond hockey. The solutions are shit, but the read on the team isn’t 100% wrong.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I am not opposed to giving PK a one year deal, but to me that makes zero sense on his end. If he is taking one year deals he really should go cup hunting, even if i really appreciate he wants to stay here.

We shouldn't be giving up a multi year deal at all unless the price is stupid cheap, which again why would he do that?

Maybe you could talk me unto two years...but honestly idk

 

[Emperoreddy]

God damn, I knew it.

And Hischier seems like the kind of guy that would never offer up an injury as an excuse (not saying Dougie did this either), but I'm pretty certain he was dealing with a nagging lower body injury for a good portion of the season. He wasn't skating like the Hischier we're used to from like November to February.

EDIT: yes I understand the perils of arbitrary picking and choosing, but since February 1st, Hischier had 36 points in his last 32 games. A 92 point pace. I feel like I need to spend the entire offseason knocking on wood, but I get the feeling Hischier and Hughes are gonna be absolute monsters next season if they can stay relatively healthy.

The broken toe apparently is not the only injury either. So his unhealed face, broken toe, and other stuff.

He wasn't remotely close to healthy and that 100% explains his poor play.

 

[McDuffz88]

In other words Nico is saying get rid of Ruff lol. Atleast our captain agrees with us.

 

[Eggtimer]

Ya Hamilton and his play is probably the least of my worries for the team .
Conversation in order :
1. Goaltending

2. Goaltending

3. See #1/2

4. Fix the PP

5. Add interior forwards / revamped 3rd line. Defensive forwards that will block shots with their face if need be . Win puck battles .Drive the net . I want 3 Nichushkin’s replacing Johnson Tatar Zacha .

6. Add a defensive RHD to replace Subban

7. Smith and his play. Much rather have Okhotiuk Bahl or ???

8. High end scoring winger for the top 6

Good goaltending , good PP , healthy core players will fix a lot but not everything . Need a better constructed roster and not be so easy to play against

 

[RangerDoggo]

In other words Nico is saying get rid of Ruff lol. Atleast our captain agrees with us.

Fitz is too loyal to terrible coaching to listen. You know, it’s only your f***ing captain, not very important.

 

[Guttersniped]

Need that Clowe/Ryder offseason

No way, we need Brunner and Loktionov.

There’s a distinct amount of Rotislav Olesz disrespect in these two posts. (What an off-season in 2013, truly magical.)

 

[JK3]

I knew Hamilton was dealing with stuff (thought it was that leg injury earlier on) but hearing about his broken toe makes me feel better lol if that makes sense.

Hopefully he can recoup in the off-season and have a year like Nico did coming back after his injuries.

 

[NJDevs26]

I knew Hamilton was dealing with stuff (thought it was that leg injury earlier on) but hearing about his broken toe makes me feel better lol if that makes sense.

Hopefully he can recoup in the off-season and have a year like Nico did coming back after his injuries.

At this point I’m just hoping our geniuses on the medical staff didn’t make anything worse to the point where we’re hearing about stuff he still needs to work through by September

 

[Bleedred]

If it was about Hall then Shero wouldn’t have had such a tough time putting a bullet into Hynes after it was clear Hall was a getting moved.

He sent Fitz down to be an AC and observe (lol) on Oct 16th after we went 0-4-2 to start the 2019-20 season.

That ended on Nov 25th, after a not very convincing 8-6-2 record. Hynes hung in there for four more games for some reason, until getting fired on Dec 3rd after the losses to the NYR & Buffalo.

Taylor Hall was scratched on Dec 13th and was finally traded on Dec 16th. So he played 4 games under Nasreddine.

Shero was fired on January 12th. So he lasted 18 more games than Hynes and 14 more than Hall.

It was during the 18-19 season that I figured Hynes wouldn't be fired at any point until the next year, due to all the comments from Hall about how much he loved him and him coming up on the end of his contract. That was my thinking at the time and the rationale for why Hynes probably wasn't going anywhere until the next season (or until we knew Hall's fate) at that point.

But now looking back on it, no matter if we wanted Hynes gone or not, he almost definitely wasn't going to get fired the year after making the playoffs. Hall could have demanded a trade in the 2018 offseason and Hynes probably would have been back to at least start the 19-20 season.

But yes, he really should have been fired as soon as that desperation move of sending Fitz to the bench happened. I don't understand what that was supposed to do, but it was clear that Hynes was definitely getting close to the end, but they really should have been the end of him. And that's why I say Hynes probably only overstayed his welcome by about 7 weeks or however many weeks it was before the Fitz to the bench stuff, which looks like it was 7 weeks roughly.

 

[jkrdevil]

If the players are having the most fun ever under coach while finishing 28th you need to get rid of the coach. You also need to get rid of said players too.

 

[Devs3cups]

 

[Devilsgrl35]

I would have no problem bringing PK back on a 1 or 2 year deal for $3M-$3.5M. He was solid in his role I thought. I really don't think he'll be back though. I think we're going to see some changes filling out this roster.

 

[Guttersniped]

It was during the 18-19 season that I figured Hynes wouldn't be fired at any point until the next year, due to all the comments from Hall about how much he loved him and him coming up on the end of his contract. That was my thinking at the time and the rationale for why Hynes probably wasn't going anywhere until the next season (or until we knew Hall's fate) at that point.

But now looking back on it, no matter if we wanted Hynes gone or not, he almost definitely wasn't going to get fired the year after making the playoffs. Hall could have demanded a trade in the 2018 offseason and Hynes probably would have been back to at least start the 19-20 season.

But yes, he really should have been fired as soon as that desperation move of sending Fitz to the bench happened. I don't understand what that was supposed to do, but it was clear that Hynes was definitely getting close to the end, but they really should have been the end of him. And that's why I say Hynes probably only overstayed his welcome by about 7 weeks or however many weeks it was before the Fitz to the bench stuff, which looks like it was 7 weeks roughly.

Hynes first got a 3 year deal with an extra option for the 2018-19 season. They announced he got the 4th year in Feb 2018.



Hynes then got a multi-year extension that started in 2019-20 which was announced on Jan 3rd 2019. Hynes was kind of hanging on a thread considering he entered the season a lame duck.

The team was 15-16-7 but coming off a 4-2-0 stretch. (That little run included a 3 game winning streak! Get excited!) We then ended up going 16-24-3 and never won more than two games in a row.

Hall’s last game that season was on Dec 23 2018.



“Multi-year” turns out to reportedly be two years, according to this Tweet.




So again, not a massive amount of enthusiasm but Shero did take forever to finally fire him. I’m guessing in part because he just extended him. Which is why I don’t think Fitz sticks with Ruff. One lame duck year doesn’t give him much time before Fitz has to extend or fire him.

Having Ruff coach the season out as dead man walking, without ever extending him, would give us a very downbeat coach.