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

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Ruff answers seem reasonable, I hope it means what we think: if another guy we like better (e.g. Boudreau) is available and willing to come we will replace him otherwise we like what he's done for us so far and will give him another year, which is fair I think.

 

[Oneiro]

The response about the defense being bigger, more mobile, tougher to play against - that's the most intriguing bit to me, plus the people that "think like me" part.

Doesn't necessarily means he will go neanderthal on who he brings in but if you found the last few drafts discouraging, I'm not so sure what he's said does much to assuage fears about decisionmaking. (Our reported interest in Risto a while back was surprising and seemed weird from a team employing Dellow and Cane.)

 

[Stephen Gionta]

What would the Devils have to add to Alex Holtz to acquire Kevin Fiala?

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

What would the Devils have to add to Alex Holtz to acquire Kevin Fiala?

Fiala is an RFA with arb rights - 1 year of team control only. Without a new contract Fiala is not worth Holtz IMO

 

[Guttersniped]

 

[NjDevsRR]

LETS GOOOOOOOOO

 

[Guttersniped]

LETS GOOOOOOOOO

 

[McDuffz88]

Sounds like Fitz just wants a bunch of yes men in the organization. Not what I wanted to hear. This almost reinforces that we are like a country club. No accountability, no one to push back & say you know what this is a horrible idea. If Fitz goes into next season with Ruff he will suffer the same fate as Shero. What a odd hill to die on seeing your so called "mentor" got fired for doing the same thing your doing now.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

View attachment 541090

Bring that hat, bring that hat!

 

[mtnet]

Needs to wear the hat in warmups

 

[RangerDoggo]

Sounds like Fitz just wants a bunch of yes men in the organization. Not what I wanted to hear. This almost reinforces that we are like a country club. No accountability, no one to push back & say you know what this is a horrible idea. If Fitz goes into next season with Ruff he will suffer the same fate as Shero. What a odd hill to die on seeing your so called "mentor" got fired for doing the same thing your doing now.

Well if nothing else it proves, once again, that Brooksie is full of shit. Remember him trashing the "rule by committee" approach?

The statement can be interpreted a lot of ways, and I'm trying to see where it goes.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Every year we talk about moving our 1st for a young roster player who can help immediately, but I'll believe it when I see it. You've got to find a team who values your 1st as highly as they value the player you're giving up, which NHL general managers generally don't do.

I especially hope he's not thinking about moving a 1st for a goalie. I get that we've reached DEFCON 1 without goalie situation and that searching through the reject bin will continue to disappoint us. It's easy to say "f*** it, just pay the price and we won't have to worry about this ever again." But it would be horrendous asset management to trade a top-5 pick for a goalie unless it's one of like four guys in the league.

 

[RangerDoggo]

Every year we talk about moving our 1st for a young roster player who can help immediately, but I'll believe it when I see it. You've got to find a team who values your 1st as highly as they value the player you're giving up, which NHL general managers generally don't do.

I especially hope he's not thinking about moving a 1st for a goalie. I get that we've reached DEFCON 1 without goalie situation and that searching through the reject bin will continue to disappoint us. It's easy to say "f*** it, just pay the price and we won't have to worry about this ever again." But it would be horrendous asset management to trade a top-5 pick for a goalie unless it's one of like four guys in the league.

It depends on whether you think we have the core necessary to take the next step outside of goalie. If we move down I say go for it. There's an Athletic article that says goalie is the easiest position to see improvement in, and Sean McIndoe famously says goaltending is voodoo, but we've managed to make consistent(ly bad) goaltending a staple since 2017-18. In the back of my mind, I don't think we're going to see improvement unless Fitz gets desperate and somewhat reckless. And yes, I'm still of the mind that it can be just as bad next season, based on current personnel and Ruff's affinity for burning out netminders.

Plus, we traded an 8th overall pick for a goalie before. That position worked well for us for a few seasons, even if nothing else did.

 

[Emperoreddy]

If the right deal presents itself you trade the pick. There isn't some can't miss prospect sitting there in our position this year.

 

[Azathoth]

View attachment 541090

 

[glenwo2]

SIGN HIM

Very definitive as opposed to what he said about Pavel.

It's going to be a Cage Match between Fitz and Bratt's agent this offseason.

 

[AfroThunder396]

It depends on whether you think we have the core necessary to take the next step outside of goalie. If we move down I say go for it. There's an Athletic article that says goalie is the easiest position to see improvement in, and Sean McIndoe famously says goaltending is voodoo, but we've managed to make consistent(ly bad) goaltending a staple since 2017-18. In the back of my mind, I don't think we're going to see improvement unless Fitz gets desperate and somewhat reckless. And yes, I'm still of the mind that it can be just as bad next season, based on current personnel and Ruff's affinity for burning out netminders.

Plus, we traded an 8th overall pick for a goalie before. That position worked well for us for a few seasons, even if nothing else did.

And that was 100% the wrong decision in hindsight, a descending team wasted quality draft capital on an ascending goalie that did nothing but delay our much needed rebuild.

What happens when we trade a top-5 pick for a 27-29 year old goalie we ends up giving us 2-3 years before having a Schneider-like fall? Especially when the opportunity cost is a top-line goal scorer like Slavkovsky or a potential top-pairing defensive guy like Nemic or Jiricek? Our core us pretty solid up front but nowhere near good enough that we can be recklessly throwing away premium assets at the most volatile position in pro sports.

You had better be DAMN sure that the goalie you're getting is both young enough to be a part of the core, but proven enough that you know you're getting a legitimate #1 guy to make the cost worth it. There's a handful of guys like that in the league and none of them are available.

Shesterkin and Sorokin are non-starters because they're division rivals. Spencer Knight has the right age but his play still has question marks. Vasilevskiy isn't old per se but he has a lot of miles on him for a 27 year old. Demko, maybe. Saros, maybe. Those are really the only guys I'd be willing to have a conversation over for #5 overall.

 

[NjDevsRR]

 

[Better Call Sal]

Congrats to Pando.

 

[RangerDoggo]

And that was 100% the wrong decision in hindsight, a descending team wasted quality draft capital on an ascending goalie that did nothing but delay our much needed rebuild.

What happens when we trade a top-5 pick for a 27-29 year old goalie we ends up giving us 2-3 years before having a Schneider-like fall? Especially when the opportunity cost is a top-line goal scorer like Slavkovsky or a potential top-pairing defensive guy like Nemic or Jiricek? Our core us pretty solid up front but nowhere near good enough that we can be recklessly throwing away premium assets at the most volatile position in pro sports.

You had better be DAMN sure that the goalie you're getting is both young enough to be a part of the core, but proven enough that you know you're getting a legitimate #1 guy to make the cost worth it. There's a handful of guys like that in the league and none of them are available.

Shesterkin and Sorokin are non-starters because they're division rivals. Spencer Knight has the right age but his play still has question marks. Vasilevskiy isn't old per se but he has a lot of miles on him for a 27 year old. Demko, maybe. Saros, maybe. Those are really the only guys I'd be willing to have a conversation over for #5 overall.

I'd be more willing to do it if we ended up moving down (I think that's a thing that can happen under the new rules, right?). If we stay at number 5, it would be a harder decision, not sure if I'd do it.

The difference between us then and us now is that we were an older team with nothing doing in the pipeline when Lou traded for Schneider. It's the complete opposite now.

 

[Zippy316]

Maybe it is just the quotes, but it is interesting that Fitzgerald didn’t explicitly say that Ruff would return as head coach, just that he see things the same way as himself and he wants to keep him around.

I do wonder if that opens the door to move Ruff into a hands on management role or special assignment coach role. It does seem like the owners don’t like to fire staff and prefers to just let them walk after their contracts end.

Also allows the Devils to pursue a head coach they want if one becomes available.

 

[SKNJD9]

 

[RangerDoggo]

Maybe it is just the quotes, but it is interesting that Fitzgerald didn’t explicitly say that Ruff would return as head coach, just that he see things the same way as himself and he wants to keep him around.

I do wonder if that opens the door to move Ruff into a hands on management role or special assignment coach role. It does seem like the owners don’t like to fire staff and prefers to just let them walk after their contracts end.

Also allows the Devils to pursue a head coach they want if one becomes available.

Fitz explicitly did say he brought Ruff in to help develop the youth. The million dollar question is whether he thinks there's more work to be done, or if enough has been done to make the way for someone new.

The fact that it isn't an outright "yes" makes me think that Ruff is in trouble.

 

[Nubmer6]

Could take this one a few different ways.

I dunno. Ruff "Brought into be his partner" makes me feel almost like it's not his call to hire/fire him, and that they're both on the same level.

 

[Omar Little]

Fitzie's full comments are pretty spot on