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

[RangerDoggo]

1. Paul Maurice
2. John Tortorella
3. Kevin Dineen
4. Joel Quenneville

Those are the guys in order who I hope is the next head coach of the Devils.

Hard pass on all of these. Maurice may not even want to come back, Torts always flames out and wears out his welcome (can't argue with the results at the start but he's not a long term solution), Dineen is not the meaningful change we need, and Q presided over the rape of a player and did nothing to stop it what the hell is wrong with you

 

[Nocashstyle]

I’d like to give Jim Montgomery his second chance as long as there wasn’t anything else happening below the surface.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Well Husso mania should start sweeping this board soon.

I'm almost ready to say Fitz should trade a 3rd for his negotiating rights at the draft.

Edit: I'm currently fine with trading one of the 3 4ths for his rights

 

[Devs3cups]

I’d like to give Jim Montgomery his second chance as long as there wasn’t anything else happening below the surface.

Yep.

 

[jkrdevil]

I’ll worry about a guy who wears out his welcome after they are welcomed first.

 

[Eggtimer]

Bruce B in Van C is not a done deal yet is it?
Could be a possibility.

 

[Bleedred]

I’ll worry about a guy who wears out his welcome after they are welcomed first.

Yeah, I’m not saying I want Torts, but he does last probably longer with each team (other than the one year stop in Vancouver) he coaches than the average head coaching tenure in the league.

Not gonna count his very brief interim tenure with the Rangers way back in 2000 that was only 4 games long and was his first NHL head coaching job, but he lasted 7.5 seasons in Tampa, not quite 5 seasons with the Rangers, 1 season in Vancouver and almost 6 whole seasons in Columbus.

Even with the one year in Vancouver, his average head coaching tenure is about 4.5 seasons. Actually something like 4.6 seasons. If you really wanna nitpick you can point out how three of these seasons were lockout or covid shortened, but every single NHL head coach that’s been a head coach in the last 9 years has lost games coached due to the same thing.

The average NHL head coaching tenure was about 3 years at one point, but it might be even shorter than that these last few years.

Torts was also the fourth longest tenured coach in the league at the time he was let go by the Blue Jackets. Only Cooper, Maurice and Blashill had been with their team longer and both Maurice and Blashill have since parted ways with their teams.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Bruce B in Van C is not a done deal yet is it?
Could be a possibility.

The memes would be outstanding.

 

[Unknown Caller]

I’d like to give Jim Montgomery his second chance as long as there wasn’t anything else happening below the surface.

Yep, agreed on Jimmy Montgomery.

I'll admit that deep down I would love Torts, I'm just deathly afraid of what he would do to guys like Bratt and Hughes. No question that he would love guys like Nico, Mercer, and Siegenthaler though. Either way, it would be such a breath of fresh air to have Torts running the show. Just probably not worth the eventual turmoil that follows him.

 

[RangerDoggo]

If we get Torts, Fitz had better be ready to cut the cord with him at a moment's notice. He's said on ESPN that he likes watching Hughes, but what he says and what he'd do as a coach are two very different things.

 

[tailfins]

My list is:

Claude Julien
Paul Maurice
Dineen
Jim Montgomery

I know Bleed is going to talk about Julien-ball and we'll get the stories of someone shooting a puck at him.

Still, I think Julien's experience with the Bruins could make him a really good fit. He's been successful coaching young talent, and helped the Bruins to one cup win and a cup finals appearance.

He coached Bergeron was 22, Krejci was 21, Kessel was 20, and Lucic was 19. He had a 30 year old Chara who was good, but hadn't yet gone supernova. He also helped Marchand and Pasta break in. Marchand credits Julien with helping him improve:

Brad Marchand credits ex-coach Claude Julien for making him a better player

MONTREAL — On the eve of the Bruins’ first game against ex-coach Claude Julien’s Canadiens, there were the fondest of memories all across the visiting team room yesterday at Bell …

www.bostonherald.com

Bergeron, Krejci and Rask have also said similarly good things.

 

[Emperoreddy]

They haven't fired Pete in Vegas yet either, so management taking a couple days isn't unprecedented

It will be confirmed one way or another when Fitz speaks later in the week

 

[RangerDoggo]

They haven't fired Pete in Vegas yet either, so management taking a couple days isn't unprecedented

It will be confirmed one way or another when Fitz speaks later in the week

They also haven't officially (that word is key) fired Yeo in Philly either.

I think it's going to happen but if no changes are coming, then I'm not getting any hopes up.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Yep, agreed on Jimmy Montgomery.

I'll admit that deep down I would love Torts, I'm just deathly afraid of what he would do to guys like Bratt and Hughes. No question that he would love guys like Nico, Mercer, and Siegenthaler though. Either way, it would be such a breath of fresh air to have Torts running the show. Just probably not worth the eventual turmoil that follows him.

Yeah. At this point in Hughes and Bratt’s careers, I’m not ready for them to “clean up” their games just yet. They both clearly cheat in the defensive zone at times, but I’d rather they have another season or two of really establishing themselves as elite offensive players before a coach like Torts comes in and tries to change them.

Lest we forget, whether he was just trying to stir the pot for TV or not, Torts did say he thinks Barkov is better than McDavid.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

If we get Torts, Fitz had better be ready to cut the cord with him at a moment's notice. He's said on ESPN that he likes watching Hughes, but what he says and what he'd do as a coach are two very different things.

Was a bit more than that.

 

[Oneiro]

"When an older team is pushing...a lot of the times, you're not resetting to play the simple game, you get away from it a little bit, you start wanting to score, wanting to create a scoring chance, you're maybe not coming as hard back into the d-zone. All of a sudden, they're strong, they're more experienced...We were probably trying to play a little pretty. A really good defensive team usually wins."

It's not like they're clueless. But sort of implies that the messaging from the bench is not strong enough at pivotal points in the game.

 

[NJDevs26]

They also haven't officially (that word is key) fired Yeo in Philly either.

I think it's going to happen but if no changes are coming, then I'm not getting any hopes up.

They did as of today, after Weekes broke it last night

 

[JnL Hughes]

If we made a coaching change wouldnt it need to be after the first or second round, when one or two coaches are possibly let go?

Unless they really like somebody else available now, but how would they have interviewed them?

 

[NJDevs26]

If we made a coaching change wouldnt it need to be after the first or second round, when one or two coaches are possibly let go?

Unless they really like somebody else available now, but how would they have interviewed them?

It’s possible they could be waiting for someone’s season to end, including Dineen

 

[mtnet]

Between goaltending, coaching, and some key extensions to consider...Fitz really has one hell of a challenging offseason ahead of him. Even achieving partial success in those endeavors would be daunting, and the success of it all will remain in question for quite some time if we're talking about wholesale turnover behind the bench. For that reason, I would not be entirely shocked if he had this crew back again next year. Either that or he may be looking to solve this internally by rewarding Dineen, hard to say.

One thing is for sure, we can't do worse than Recchi so it's way past time to take a mulligan on that whiff and move on. It's probably time for new coaches but it's so much easier said than done. At this point, I'd rather be disappointed by a new crew behind the bench than the current bunch...nothing personal. The sad part is I don't think the team is even in a next step stage yet, and remains very much in a phase of development. It's one of those precarious situations where Fitz might be inclined to stick with the 'devil you know'.

Goaltending tops the list though, or we're just rearranging deck chairs. I'd like to think Fitz is smart enough to avoid underperforming goalies with big contracts. Our offseason could go moderately right, or so very wrong.

 

[Omar Little]

"When an older team is pushing...a lot of the times, you're not resetting to play the simple game, you get away from it a little bit, you start wanting to score, wanting to create a scoring chance, you're maybe not coming as hard back into the d-zone. All of a sudden, they're strong, they're more experienced...We were probably trying to play a little pretty. A really good defensive team usually wins."

It's not like they're clueless. But sort of implies that the messaging from the bench is not strong enough at pivotal points in the game.

I doubt it's coaching. The whole team is young. Many of the young players are likely somewhat immature when it comes to their decision making process ("ooh here's a chance to make a nice play rather than just get it out"). The veteran forwards we have are not known defensive players so there is no one for the coaching staff to turn to to settle things down.

Beyond Nico there aren't really any forwards on our team who I look to as having a very heady defensive game. There is no choice for the coaching staff but to continue to play young and/or poor defensive forward players.

 

[McDuffz88]

If we get Torts, Fitz had better be ready to cut the cord with him at a moment's notice. He's said on ESPN that he likes watching Hughes, but what he says and what he'd do as a coach are two very different things.

So give Torts a proven head coach a short leash but keep Ruff for years? That makes 0 sense. Idk why people are so scared of Torts. So what if Hughes or Bratt don't score as many points? Its not an individual sport its a team effort. Our players aint rookies anymore. This will be Hughes 4th year in the league. There comes a point when you got to teach these guys how to play with team structure/defense. The goal is to win games & get to the playoffs not cater to Hughes/Bratts point totals.

 

[RangerDoggo]

I doubt it's coaching. The whole team is young. Many of the young players are likely somewhat immature when it comes to their decision making process ("ooh here's a chance to make a nice play rather than just get it out"). The veteran forwards we have are not known defensive players so there is no one for the coaching staff to turn to to settle things down.

Beyond Nico there aren't really any forwards on our team who I look to as having a very heady defensive game. There is no choice for the coaching staff but to continue to play young and/or poor defensive forward players.

You contradicted yourself, in bold.

Post automatically merged: May 3, 2022

So give Torts a proven head coach a short leash but keep Ruff for years? That makes 0 sense. Idk why people are so scared of Torts. So what if Hughes or Bratt don't score as many points? Its not an individual sport its a team effort. Our players aint rookies anymore. This will be Hughes 4th year in the league. There comes a point when you got to teach these guys how to play with team structure/defense. The goal is to win games & get to the playoffs not cater to Hughes/Bratts point totals.

I didn't say we should hire Torts, far from it. In fact I think we should stay the hell away from him

 

[Eggtimer]

This will be two seasons in a row where Fitz has recognized that the PP was a a large issue. If he continues on with Recchi , then Fitz needs to look in the mirror and ask himself if he can do what it takes to win. I just cant see how he could possibly think it’s a good idea to keep Recchi . He has been given more than enough of a chance to find a way to fix the PP and has failed miserably.

 

[RangerDoggo]

I don't think he's sticking with Recchi, unless his loyalty is greater than his desire to do anything but suck giant dicks in the standings, which it very well might be.

Remember that the interviews are coming this week. If nothing happens after that, then we're f***ed.