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

[Ripshot 43]

That’s such a stupid and clearly just trying to make a headline.
Even dumber than putting the devils #2 pick at 5 and saying the top 5 pieces have a 90% chance of being moved even though trades like that never ever happen and there’s probably a less than likely chance of that happening even if Fitz is aggressively looking into it.

Well when he bombs with his 90% chance then I hope people stop giving him clicks. Sadly… we know better.

 

[Saugus]

Eh, I'm not sure on that. Less likely chance to win a Bratt trade even at the deadline than it is to win a trade with the second overall involved.

I'm saying both are unlikely. Bratt wasn't being shopped, and we probably aren't actively looking to move the #2 pick. Fitz will of course listen to sensible offers, but that's about it. Any claims to the contrary are most likely spurious rumors.

 

[glenwo2]

Bratt added to the trade bait board

10. Jesper Bratt
Right Wing, New Jersey Devils
Age: 23
Stats: 76 GP, 26 G, 47 A, 73 Pts
Contract: Pending RFA, Arbitration Eligible
Scoop: Admittedly, Bratt is a bit of a perplexing name on the board. GM Tom Fitzgerald said after the season Bratt is a big part of New Jersey’s future. Makes sense. He is a heck of a player. He’s young. He’s worked his way to become a point-per-game guy from a 6th-round pick. On the other hand, sources indicated Bratt was available at the deadline last spring. To my knowledge, there have been no contract extension talks to this point for what will be an expensive deal. Add in Fitzgerald’s mandate to find “hard skill” this summer, and well, it makes you wonder.

Frank needs to find a new line of work.

May I suggest The Onion?

 

[StevenToddIves]

Bratt added to the trade bait board

10. Jesper Bratt
Right Wing, New Jersey Devils
Age: 23
Stats: 76 GP, 26 G, 47 A, 73 Pts
Contract: Pending RFA, Arbitration Eligible
Scoop: Admittedly, Bratt is a bit of a perplexing name on the board. GM Tom Fitzgerald said after the season Bratt is a big part of New Jersey’s future. Makes sense. He is a heck of a player. He’s young. He’s worked his way to become a point-per-game guy from a 6th-round pick. On the other hand, sources indicated Bratt was available at the deadline last spring. To my knowledge, there have been no contract extension talks to this point for what will be an expensive deal. Add in Fitzgerald’s mandate to find “hard skill” this summer, and well, it makes you wonder.

Nice to know half the hockey media thinks Tom Fitzgerald is a complete imbecile. I can't wait for the Bratt-for-Garland-and-Dickinson rumors to make us all throw up.

 

[Forge]

Nice to know half the hockey media thinks Tom Fitzgerald is a complete imbecile. I can't wait for the Bratt-for-Garland-and-Dickinson rumors to make us all throw up.

If we throw in #2OA, they'll give us JT Miller too!

 

[MauDevils]

Pittsburgh signed Rust less than a day after being eliminated and we haven't even talked numbers with Bratt yet?

 

[Hisch13r]

Pittsburgh signed Rust less than a day after being eliminated and we haven't even talked numbers with Bratt yet?

As long as it gets done before camp I literally couldn't care less when it's done.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Hey guys, I'm all done with my final Top 120 2022 Draft Rankings, and you guys are all welcome to check them out and share them anywhere you want.

I've worked really hard this year to make the Devils HFBoards one of the top draft-day resources available anywhere, and I hope my work can help you all enjoy the draft even more.

Prospect Info: - 2022 Draft Final STI Rankings -- Top 120

2022 Draft — Steven Todd Ives Final Top 120 Rankings More in-depth write-ups for all of these prospects can be found on this thread: Prospect Info: - Devils HFBoards 2022 Draft Resource, Indexed Profiles A Thru Z A couple quick notes before we get into the list. First off, there are no goalies...

hfboards.mandatory.com

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

 

[Blackjack]

Lol, that value of 2OA pick on the trade board is a total shit show

As long as it gets done before camp I literally couldn't care less when it's done.

arbitration filing deadline is July 17, I’d like it done before then.

 

[MadDevil]

I would imagine GMs talk about players and potential deals all the time. That's kind of their job. That doesn't mean a player is necessarily being shopped or that a trade is even likely. For all we know a couple teams called Fitz about Bratt, he said no, but somebody heard that multiple teams called and it gets turned into "Bratt was being shopped". Also, even if we were "shopping" him last spring, before he had his breakout season, we sure as hell aren't now that he's had that season.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I wonder if not talking numbers was a strategy by the Bratt camp to see what the cap was going to be knowing it was likely going up. Its a tool they can leverage.

 

[nugg]

Well when he bombs with his 90% chance then I hope people stop giving him clicks. Sadly… we know better.

I read that wrong at first. Sometimes at a distance cl looks like a d

 

[SKNJD9]

I think its just a lot of speculation due to a lot of contenders not having cap space

 

[Better Call Sal]

Some people just kind of lose sight of how drafts work, or what constitutes a "bust". When you're drafting there's only so much info you can go by, and projecting the eventual career outcomes of a bunch of teenagers is a hell of a tough game to play. In recent times, this has only been exacerbated by the pandemic and the lost playing time a lot of these guys are dealing with, something that also makes adjusting to the NHL schedule and style even more difficult. But even under normal circumstances, you have to try and project how a guy might grow physically after age 18, and a litany of other factors. If you come out of a draft and have just one guy become a NHL regular, that's really not bad...and anyone who can become a regular on the big league level should not by any means be labeled a "bust", even if they don't hit their top projections.

Hell, I'll bet there are a few teams that draft great but are crap at the player development side of things, leading to them not getting as much out of their draft picks as they should; Marty's whole thing earlier this season about how the Devils have been rushing too many high draft picks to the big leagues seemed to be a sign of recognition that the Devils had been failing in player development in recent history and that they're working to rectify that. That's good, and I obviously hope it bears fruit.

All this in mind, I'm absolutely not about to act all scared that Holtz is not going to make it or something. To be clear, it's entirely possible he doesn't really make it; any number of factors from injuries to a sheer inability to transition to the NHL game could pop up, shit happens. But a kid who's just getting used to this style of play, who's still like 20 or whatever? No, I refuse to freak out about that. Sometimes players need more time, whether its to physically grow, get mentally sharper, or work out other adjustments they need to make, and that's just how it goes sometimes.

Unrelated, but I've got a 20% coupon I can use on NHL Shop and I think I want a black jersey. Main thing: I can either pay $180 for an authentic without a name/number (before the discount), or $250 to get the shop to put the name/number on for me. Curious if you guys think it makes sense to just have the shop do it (though then I have to think of whose number I actually want, shit!), or to take the blank one...and if I do take the blank one, where do you like going to get numbers stitched on around Jersey?

Ugh, I suddenly miss having Sports Express at Livingston Mall available to me. I don't live by the mall anymore, but I still work pretty close to it, and it came in handy circa 2008-2010 for my Devils and Mets jersey needs. Those guys even had Patty sign my jersey for no extra cost when I got the stitching done with them! Sweet, sweet memories...

Definitely get a blank black jersey and bring it somewhere local to get it stitched or shipped out. Middlebury Sports in Randolph did my Hamilton black jersey and it came out awesome.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

never get lettering from NHL shop

Exclusive Pro is who I've always used on my blanks....I think they used to do the actual real Devils jerseys

Customization Form | Exclusive Pro -- Hockey Team Uniforms, Hockey Club Uniforms

www.exclusivepro.com

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I wonder if not talking numbers was a strategy by the Bratt camp to see what the cap was going to be knowing it was likely going up. Its a tool they can leverage.

What took the Hamilton deal so long to negotiate was to structure it so that as much of the money as possible would be paid out when escrow goes down dramatically. So that’s what’s likely going to be the case with Bratt and potentially Gaudreau.

 

[SKNJD9]

Man that garbage 3 team trade rumor on twitter sure is causing a lot of trash talking on twitter

 

[Captain3rdLine]

If that’s what they’re actually looking for we gotta be out. No way we’re offering 2ovr, a young player, and top prospects.

I’m also not thinking he’ll get traded reading that. I think they’re hoping someone will do what they did for Jones and while Debrincat is better than Jones I doubt anyone offers high draft picks (plural), a young player, and top prospects for him. Maybe 1 or 2 of those things depending on high and how good of players involved we’re talking.

 

[Forge]

Devil's Insiders going in on Montreal Media and Marco D'amico is pretty funny

If that’s what they’re actually looking for we gotta be out. No way we’re offering 2ovr, a young player, and top prospects.

This is in line with what I mentioned previously. I kind of assumed that they would ask for the Eichel package, which is pretty much what that is. I'm not sure that they will get it, but makes sense that is what they are requesting.

I think our version of that trade would be something like Holtz, 2023 top 10 protected first, Sharangovich.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Devil's Insiders going in on Montreal Media and Marco D'amico is pretty funny



This is in line with what I mentioned previously. I kind of assumed that they would ask for the Eichel package, which is pretty much what that is. I'm not sure that they will get it, but makes sense that is what they are requesting.

I think our version of that trade would be something like Holtz, 2023 top 10 protected first, Sharangovich.

I honestly wouldn’t be completely against something like that especially if we’re taking Slafkovsky but it sounds like they want more than that to me.

They won’t and shouldn’t get an Eichel package for Debrincat and if that’s the case which it sounds like it may be he isn’t really any more available than most other players in the league.
They’re just calling around and saying hey do you want to pay this huge price for him?
Maybe taking a shot to recover somewhat from what they lost in the stupid Jones trade a year ago.

 

[billingtons ghost]

I was not posting here at the time, but I never thought the Devils were taking Nolan. It seemed clear they liked Nico's personality and "fast attacking supportive" was the big phrase used at the time. Nolan was not fast and attacking, even when healthy.

I was posting here- and I think we all liked Nolan up until just a week or two before the draft. Then- it was clear that Nico was going to shoot up the charts and be the pick. I don't think anyone was unhappy with the pick over Nolan - if so, it was a very limited number of folks.

 

[Blackjack]

I think its just a lot of speculation due to a lot of contenders not having cap space

And people thinking we have a lot more cap space than we do.

Could we add a $10 million contract? Probably. And then we still have to sign Bratt (probably to a shorter term deal for less AAV), Wood, a 3RD, Boqvist and Zetterlund, another goalie, gets tight quick. Also have to figure out what to do with Zacha.

 

[Eggtimer]

And people thinking we have a lot more cap space than we do.

Could we add a $10 million contract? Probably. And then we still have to sign Bratt (probably to a shorter term deal for less AAV), Wood, a 3RD, Boqvist and Zetterlund, another goalie, gets tight quick. Also have to figure out what to do with Zacha.

Yes we dont have as much as people think but we have toms of viable options to make more room.
If,push came to shove , I’m sure we could trade Johnson Zacha and Tatar . Tatar might have negative value and be tricky to move but the other two should be easy if we are ok with minimal returns to make cap room in a hurry.
We can replace those clowns with cheap ELC from within and not miss much production , if any .

 

[Patrik26]

daaamn..

His head has been a friggin' magnet for getting hit. WTF???

I really REAALLLY feel bad for him.

Concussions and other head injuries are no joke.

And Curtis f'n Gabriel? @Bleedred , do you recall such a player?

Gabriel takes out Patrick, but couldn't do the same to Marchand when he had the chance. He had ONE JOB.