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

[MauDevils]

Edit: checked it and Nico was Shero and Bratt was Fitz.

Don't forget Pavel "f***ing Brampton" Zacha.

 

[glenwo2]

Young Tom Gulitti strikes again

 

[glenwo2]

Well I mean OF COURSE they're interested in Bratt.

He's a Unicorn.

Unicorns are always interesting.

/thread

yeah. I think Kevin Weekes bit unfortunately on a false rumor by Seravelli(sp?) .

Meanwhile, Ryan is in direct contact with Bratt's agent who specifically TOLD HIM that they will negotiate soon (meaning they haven't even BEGUN to negotiate yet).

Sorry but I'll take the word of someone who is a tad more involved and informed (unlike Weeksie) of the situation than one who is communicating from NHL headquarters or some other friggin' STATE.

 

[Eggtimer]

The stars are aligning. Bratt + to Cgy for Tkachuk. Gaudreau in FA. Gaudreau-Hughes-Tkachuk

Not going to lie , it would be a kick to the groin losing Bratt . But Johnny and Tkachuk centred by Hughes …. Could be one of the best lines in the league ..

 

[Eggtimer]

I feel like we are not used to this since we havent had good or great young players reach RFA status in awhile since both Nico and Jack signed early, but this is bunch of nothing until theres a quote from Jesper and/or his agent that he doesnt want to stay in Jersey. Until then its clickbaits for the writers (it works) and possibly Bratt's camp throwing some fuel in the fire to speed up talks with zero intentions not to sign.

Even if Bratt did not want to stay , he would never come out and say so .
I could see some resentment about not being part of the core / healthy scratched ( he deserved to be at the time ) and negotiations we not perfect . I would say it’s about 85% he signs but have a tad bit of concern a trade could be possible .

 

[FinnishDevil]

Even if Bratt did not want to stay , he would never come out and say so .
I could see some resentment about not being part of the core / healthy scratched ( he deserved to be at the time ) and negotiations we not perfect . I would say it’s about 85% he signs but have a tad bit of concern a trade could be possible .

Sure everything is possible but Devils likely dont win any trade involving Bratt so that should be the last option for Fitz which in my opinion makes it very unlikely.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

It does give me pause this is coming from Weekes, I’m not gonna lie. I don’t necessarily believe squat that Bratt’s agent tells Ryan because the agent is going to play the PR game if necessary.

And we don’t really know who the main heavy was in that holdout two years ago because we don’t know what either side truly wanted, but there is always a possibility this negotiation could go sideways given what happened two years ago.


Yet everyone took BrattPack and Devils Insiders’ speculation as a somethingburger, but a reputable guy who clearly has sources in the organization is a nothingburger

But Weekes didn’t actually say anything meaningful. Sure he said they haven’t made significant contract progress.

But the rest was a nothing burger basically implying that he could be traded by saying other teams are interested (no shit).
He never said the devils were looking to trade him, he never said Bratt wanted to be traded, and he never said the Devils were getting and listening to calls on Bratt.

Basically just said Bratt is a damn good player who’s an RFA this off-season and other teams would be interested in a first-line winger.

That’s about as nothingburger as it gets.

 

[NJDevs26]

But Weekes didn’t actually say anything meaningful. Sure he said they haven’t made significant contract progress.

Well that's a pretty big something...and I get no progress is truly meaningful till the contract is actually signed. But he's broken other team-related news before, he clearly has sources (re: Marty). Maybe it's just being put out there tacitly by management as a warning shot to the Bratt camp that you could be traded if you don't come down off some of your demands.

 

[Hisch13r]

But Weekes didn’t actually say anything meaningful. Sure he said they haven’t made significant contract progress.

But the rest was a nothing burger basically implying that he could be traded by saying other teams are interested (no shit).
He never said the devils were looking to trade him, he never said Bratt wanted to be traded, and he never said the Devils were getting and listening to calls on Bratt.

Basically just said Bratt is a damn good player who’s an RFA this off-season and other teams would be interested in a first-line winger.

That’s about as nothingburger as it gets.

Yeah I mean we already knew there hasn't really been significant talks. That's basically what Bratt's agent said and he said they're going to work on it soon.

 

[vtdevils2k]

Unless there's a deal for Johnny Hockey behind the scenes who replaces Bratt and his production...and then Bratt is traded for Tkachuk etc...makes no sense.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Well that's a pretty big something...and I get no progress is truly meaningful till the contract is actually signed. But he's broken other team-related news before, he clearly has sources (re: Marty). Maybe it's just being put out there tacitly by management as a warning shot to the Bratt camp that you could be traded if you don't come down off some of your demands.

I doubt that. It really does nothing for them tactically. If I’m Bratt and his agent and they want to trade me than trade me. I’m not taking a discount so they don’t trade me.

I’m not doubting his sources but it kind of seems to me like he almost was told by someone that they’ve been talking but haven’t gotten too far into anything and he spun it to look like something more and use it as a click bait.

It’s not like he said negotiations are stalled or aren’t going well or that they’re way apart. Just said that they haven’t made significant progress which means very little at this stage. From the sounds of it they just haven’t gotten that far into it and there’s really no rush. Sammy Blais is literally the only RFA who has signed at this point even though there’s 30 teams not playing right now with a ton of rfa’s.

It really seems like he’s just trying to put out a click bait here by using language that means very little to nothing but can be read and somewhat implies something more that isn’t true.

Yeah I mean we already knew there hasn't really been significant talks. That's basically what Bratt's agent said and he said they're going to work on it soon.

Ya it looks like he’s basically taking that and trying to spin it into something more for clicks.
Nothing, including what Weekes said has even remotely suggested that negotiations aren’t going well or something. It just sounds like there just hasn’t been much in terms of negotiations yet.

 

[Xirik]

I don't know if it was this thread or another but someone said that all the bad Habs trade proposals for 2OA reminded them of Flyers fans doing the same back in 2017.

I'm curious, What sort of trades did Flyer fans float out there back then?

 

[McDuffz88]

We are quickly approaching the draft (July 7-8) and free agency (July 13) and we haven’t even heard a whisper about the coaching staff.

Are they trying to poach people off the Lightning or Avs?! I find this whole situation to be an utter disaster. Why? Ruff, has stated in the passed he has full input with both the PP and PK. The staff works as a team/whole. How the hell is a shake up going to work, if the new coaches have to work within Ruff’s system? Lets say by some chance Ruff does well next season, does he get an extension? The organization looks unstable this offseason, I wonder how that will attract FA’s?!

(Look how many teams announced their coaches during the playoffs.)

This is what I said the other day. We are watching as all the big name coaches get signed. Cassidy & Torts are now gone. Trotz seems like he is taking a break (as if he would ever come here in the 1st place) It's almost a certain at this point we ride with Ruff and it's a horrible move. This is the last year of Ruffs contract so we know by year end the latest he is gone. Between it being his last year combined with the disappointment of last season with the assistants being fired you might as well start fresh. Especially with all these big names available. In a year from now we got no clue what coaches will be available. It's just a recipe for disaster. Either 1 of 2 scenarios happen. We don't have a great start & fire Ruff mid season (having us hire the leftovers or promote from within) or we ride with Ruff to the end & pray there's good coaches around next season. Whoever the next coach is NEEDS to be the one to take us to the next level. Next year when we bring in our coach I'm sure he's going to want to pick his own assistants so what are we going to do? Fire the brand new assistants we just hired? It makes 0 sense.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

 

[McDuffz88]

Habs fan coming in peace. Sorry for all of those terrible trade proposals for #2. I actually come for another reason.

I collect hockey cards and last night I pulled a bigger Dawson Mercer card. It is a Young Gun Exclusive out of 100 for anyone curious. Cards tend to sell well once a new product is released and two have sold already at $300 USD.

I had only watched him play a handful of times last year. He did impress me a lot. Stat watching he had a really good rookie year. What does next season look like for him? Anyone have any ideas who his line mates could be? Any ideas on stats projections? He was 82-17-25-42 this past season. What do you think he maxes out at?

Sorry for all of the questions. I’m just seeing if I should try to sell the card now while I can get top dollar for it. Or if I am better to hold on to it and tuck it away for a few years and if he really progresses well then I am sitting on a much bigger value card.

Hold onto that card. Mercer is going to be a superstar. He will probably play with Hughes this year.

 

[NJDevs26]

Well at least 'ongoing' is somewhat promising...however nebulous that is as a term.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Well at least 'ongoing' is somewhat promising...however nebulous that is as a term.

They still have over 100 days to get it done. It takes time to negotiate multi-year million dollar contracts with different clauses and stuff.
I won’t be concerned in the slightest until I hear something about them being far apart or stalled negotiations. Until then they are just working on it.

 

[NJDevs26]

They still have over 100 days to get it done. It takes time to negotiate multi-year million dollar contracts with different clauses and stuff.

Considering they got Hughes and Nico done way before they 'needed' to without any fuss, I'm still a bit skeptical this gets over the finish line anytime soon.

 

[MauDevils]

They still have over 100 days to get it done. It takes time to negotiate multi-year million dollar contracts with different clauses and stuff.
I won’t be concerned in the slightest until I hear something about them being far apart or stalled negotiations. Until then they are just working on it.

Can't he file for arbitration in like 30 days?

 

[vtdevils2k]

The new beat writer is absolutely a GIFT and killing it.

Amazing what a beat writer can bring to our team

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Considering they got Hughes and Nico done way before they 'needed' to without any fuss, I'm still a bit skeptical this gets over the finish line anytime soon.

It can happen quick but it can take time too. Hughes and Hischier are different too. They were #1 pucks with big expections still on their ELC’s. How many #1 overall picks have had contract holdouts or long talks? They don’t even take bridge deals. They all get signed quick because they are the face of the franchise that a team is somewhat reliant on.

It’s very different when talking about a 24 year old coming off a bridge deal who has played 5 seasons and finally just broke out. So much more complicated and the organization is much more likely to be concerned it isn’t sustainable and they are more likely to push for a lower price. And trading a player like that is an option.

With a #1 puck like Jack Hughes, trading them isn’t an option, they’re still only 20-21 years old trending upwards and the talent and potential is obvious and has been well documented for years and they are the face of the franchise so GM’s are gonna aggressively pursue locking them up as long as possible.

Can't he file for arbitration in like 30 days?

True maybe. I’m not sure. Can someone else confirm?

If that’s the case I’m still not too worried. We still have lots of time and it sounds like Bratt wants to stay here.
I’m also not sure arbitration works in Bratt’s favour. The production in years past would be a main driving factor and Bratt could end up getting much lower than he actually wants and what he could get otherwise. And he wouldn’t get a long-term contract which I’m sure he wants.

 

[glenwo2]

Once again...

I trust Ryan over Kevin Weekes and any other NHL talking head.

Thank you very much.

Well at least 'ongoing' is somewhat promising...however nebulous that is as a term.

"Ongoing" meaning "in progress".

Nothing "nebulous" about it unless you think it's something different.

Don't be so pessimistic, NJ.

 

[Guttersniped]

It does give me pause this is coming from Weekes, I’m not gonna lie. I don’t necessarily believe squat that Bratt’s agent tells Ryan because the agent is going to play the PR game if necessary.

And we don’t really know who the main heavy was in that holdout two years ago because we don’t know what either side truly wanted, but there is always a possibility this negotiation could go sideways given what happened two years ago.


Yet everyone took BrattPack and Devils Insiders’ speculation as a somethingburger, but a reputable guy who clearly has sources in the organization is a nothingburger

The rumors are a bit concerning, more so than the ones about the 2OA because those can be traced to a certain extent to Fitz answering “yes” to a generic question in the presser about trading our pre-lottery 1st in the right trade.

The fact that this deal isn’t done doesn’t particularly bother me though (other than the rumor of it being done not coming true is annoying), you don’t see any other major RFA deals being signed yet.

Fitz also took forever to get him signed to a meager 2 year/2m deal. In his post-season presser Fitz did say the goal was to sign Bratt long term and that he was a piece in the puzzle.

I looked up his agent, Joakim Persson, to see if he has history of playing hard ball and he only represents a handful of NHL players: one major client (Linus Ullmark), one minor client (Gustav Forsling), one fringy guy I’ve heard of (Oskar Steen) and two fringy guys I don’t know (Victor Berglund & Jesper Froden).

When Persson represented Ullmark as a RFA he always filed for arbitration to get a contract done faster so he’ll most likely do the same here.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

The rumors are a bit concerning, more so than the ones about the 2OA because those can be traced to a certain extent to Fitz answering “yes” to a generic question in the presser about trading our pre-lottery 1st in the right trade.

The fact that this deal isn’t done doesn’t particularly bother me though (other than the rumor of it being done not coming true is annoying), you don’t see any other major RFA deals being signed yet.

Fitz also took forever to get him signed to a meager 2 year/2m deal. In his post-season presser Fitz did say the goal was to sign Bratt long term and that he was a piece in the puzzle.

I looked up his agent, Joakim Persson, to see if he has history of playing hard ball and he only represents a handful of NHL players: one major client (Linus Ullmark), one minor client (Gustav Forsling), one fringy guy I’ve heard of (Oskar Steen) and two fringy guys I don’t know (Victor Berglund & Jesper Froden).

When Persson represented Ullmark as a RFA he always filed for arbitration to get a contract done faster so he’ll most likely do the same here.

This shouldn’t be any more concerning. This could be traced to Weekes being told that the devils haven’t made significant progress on a Bratt extension yet which isn’t remotely concerning. That’s the only knowledge he has. Anything else is just pure speculation.

 

[Guttersniped]

Is this NHL22? Montreal offers their late first, two 3rds and three 4th rounders for our 2OA.

The offers are hilariously bad. I need to apologize to the Vancouver fanbase for suggesting that the delusional segment of their fanbase was the most delusional in Canada. It’s a distant second.