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

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

The thing and why some people are interested in jumping on this is because it’s a rare situation where a very good player who isn’t old is only available because of a rare situation. This doesn’t happen all the time. It’s only because Minnesota has 12m+ I’m buyouts against there cap. Otherwise he wouldn’t even be available.

He may only be available one year early if he intends to test UFA

 

[MartyOwns]

If we were 10th in offense we still would have missed the playoffs...Badly

Washington was 10th in the league with 270 Goals For - We had 248 Goals For - So 22 goals more to put us where Washington was...

Problem was we gave up 307 goals... and that is a -37 Goal differential even with 22 more goals -

NO team makes the playoffs or is even a bubble team with a -37 goal differential. +30 was lowest Goal Differential of the top 8 in our Conference. We were actually -59

NO amount of offense can make up for 307 Goals Against... And I would argue no amount goaltending can either... A team has to be structurally nonexistent to gives up 300+ goals even with a garbage can in net. That is 1980's stuff - We have never given up 300 goals in an 82 game schedule before this season...That is not just goaltending that is a fundamental problem.

 

[FooteBahl]

We need a GDT for today

 

[glenwo2]

My one and only lottery sim for the yr

Give me Slaf or give me "Hynes"(Death)

 

[RangerDoggo]

Give me Fiala for a fifth.

 

[glenwo2]

Also want to add a 4C to the wishlist

Imagine the Devils win the #1 pick somehow.

You'll get your wish and we'll have Shane f'n Wright.

 

[Devs3cups]

We need a GDT for today

I was on it, it's up now!

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Give me Fiala for a fifth.

Give me Kaprizov for a second

 

[JimEIV]

Every single goaltender in the league would be average to below average playing behind this team...Every single one of them.

 

[Billdo]

Just ran it on my work PC and we went to 6th with San Jose winning the lottery. On my phone we stayed at 5 with AZ and Montreal flip flopping.

 

[Guttersniped]

If we were 10th in offense we still would have missed the playoffs...Badly

Washington was 10th in the league with 270 Goals For - We had 248 Goals For - So 22 goals more to put us where Washington was...

Problem was we gave up 307 goals... and that is a -37 Goal differential even with 22 more goals -

NO team makes the playoffs or is even a bubble team with a -37 goal differential. +30 was lowest Goal Differential of the top 8 in our Conference. We were actually -59

NO amount of offense can make up for 307 Goals Against... And I would argue no amount goaltending can either... A team has to be structurally nonexistent to gives up 300+ goals even with a garbage can in net. That is 1980's stuff - We have never given up 300 goals in an 82 game schedule before this season...That is not just goaltending that is a fundamental problem.

We wouldn’t have made the playoffs with this goaltending even with more offense. We didn’t have wonderful team defense and it got worse at time (that’s how seasons go) but it was far from the worst in the league.

I mean The Athletic’s last Power Ranking summed up the season nicely.

 

[MartyOwns]

Every single goaltender in the league would be average to below average playing behind this team...Every single one of them.

the only goalie we had that could stop 9 out of 10 pucks was bernier, who died in the tangshan earthquake of 1976. surely a different goalie could have surpassed that very low benchmark.

 

[Guttersniped]

Agreed, for all the talk about the defense and goaltending (and rightfully so) the offense only finished 19th in scoring this season. Fiala finished top 25 in scoring on the season while playing 2nd line with Freddy Gaudreau and a rookie in Matt Boldy. The idea that a Devils team that just finished bottom 5 for a 2nd straight season and bottom 10 for a 4th straight season can't use a player like that on their roster is insane to me.

Not to mention that everyone talking up all the UFAs on the market seem to ignore how bad the free agency route tends to go for most teams. There's no guarantee you'll get the guy you want in the open market and there's no guarantee he won't end up like most UFA signings and end up underperforming expectations. With Fiala it'll likely be a sign and trade which means you have that contract assurance that you'll get your guy for the money you want.

It’s a question of what assets he’s worth and I go by other trades. I just think if the ask is too much I don’t do it.

I would try do trades where I give up secondary assets to get an impact player (Toews, Buchnevich, etc). Since it’s a trade for a winger then Holtz is possible, even though here that’s RW for LW.

I don’t necessarily see Fiala signing for longer than 4-5 years and he’s very streaky player with his flaws. I believe in winning trades and ignore when people say “you have to give to get” (unless it’s a more valuable player than Fiala).

Getting that 1st from us would be a fantastic return for the Wild, it would be a major win for Guerin. I don’t like being on the other side of that.

 

[StevenToddIves]

So...fix the goaltending, fix the defense, replace a full 1/3 of the forwards, get a new coaching staff and draft better?

That's not really fixing anything... That's building a new team.

As often happens, the point was missed.

Goaltending requires bringing in one new player. Defense requires one UFA signing for the 3-RD and an in-house fix at 3-LD. I also said in-house options could be considered for the 3rd line (Zetterlund, Foote, Boqvist), though I'd bring in one new player.

Coaching staffs are routinely changed by NHL teams and the Devils are already going that route. Fixing the late round drafting requires changing the strategy back to how it was with the same scouting staff under Shero.

Always nice when you write a detailed post trying to set a nice, logical blueprint for all the HFBoards Devils fans, and someone gives it a cursory skim-over before ripping it in a two-sentence post.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Every single goaltender in the league would be average to below average playing behind this team...Every single one of them.

That's a very easy blanket statement to make.

When you lose your top 2 goaltenders to injuries, lose a 3rd stringer on waivers prior to those injuries, your 4th stringer you acquire is a journeyman and one of the worst goalies in terms of goals given up that he should have stopped, 2 rookies who should have never seen NHL ice this year had everything gone correctly and a 34 year old journeyman, you're not going to get good goaltending by the end of the season.

We can all stop acting like goaltending wasn't an issue any day now. There are other flaws on this team, no one is denying that. But it seems people think we somehow would have received different results if those flaws were corrected with the above slog of goaltending we received. It wouldn't have happened.

Also, welcome back.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

It’s a question of what assets he’s worth and I go by other trades. I just think if the ask is too much I don’t do it.

I would try do trades where I give up secondary assets to get an impact player (Toews, Buchnevich, etc). Since it’s a trade for a winger then Holtz is possible, even though here that’s RW for LW.

I don’t necessarily see Fiala signing for longer than 4-5 years and he’s very streaky player with his flaws. I believe in winning trades and ignore when people say “you have to give to get” (unless it’s a more valuable player than Fiala).

Getting that 1st from us would be a fantastic return for the Wild, it would be a major win for Guerin. I don’t like being on the other side of that.

Devils could win #1OA, swap top picks with Arizona with the Devils picking up one of Arizona's other two first rounders. Trade that pick and Zacha for Fiala and like a third.

 

[My3Sons]

Every single goaltender in the league would be average to below average playing behind this team...Every single one of them.

If the team had gotten average goaltending it would be much easier to identify and thus address the other structural problems. It's easy to state your opinion as a fact but it doesn't necessarily make you right. I guess we have to wait all summer and see what transpires.

 

[Billdo]

If the team had gotten average goaltending it would be much easier to identify and thus address the other structural problems. It's easy to state your opinion as a fact but it doesn't necessarily make you right. I guess we have to wait all summer and see what transpires.

I wonder out of those 307 goals he's using as the foundation of his argument wouldn't have been in the if we had league average goaltending. I'd say it is probably 20-25 less over the course of the year which puts us closer to breaking even than not.

 

[Eggtimer]

We are winning the lotto.I already know that so we need to figure out what to do now. I’m thinkig take Slafkovsky regardless

 

[My3Sons]

We are winning the lotto.I already know that so we need to figure out what to do now. I’m thinkig take Slafkovsky regardless

I like the trade down idea if that happens.

 

[britdevil]

Every single goaltender in the league would be average to below average playing behind this team...Every single one of them.

Comes out of hibernation with this sweet and spicy take. Welcome back!

 

[Billdo]

We are winning the lotto.I already know that so we need to figure out what to do now. I’m thinkig take Slafkovsky regardless

I'm moving the pick to whoever is 2nd or 3rd and wants to add something to it to move up.

 

[tailfins]

I assume Fitz will fix the goaltending. If he doesn't, then nothing matters. But, once he does, we still have a team that has little structure, can't score when space is at a premium, and can't defend when other teams crash the net with intent.

It's interesting to read the Rangers board after the last loss. I could see many of their complaints here on the Devils board. Too much east / west. Not enough simple plays. No one going to the dirty areas.

If Shesterkin isn't injured, what do you make of the Rangers? They tried to add grit, but they did it around the edges. They're still led by Panarin, Zib, Strome, Kreider, Fox. Not a lot of grit there. Kreider is the only guy who could impose his will physically. On D, they're missing Lindgren. Him, Trouba, Schneider, and Miller can all be physical. But, the lack of structure and lack of support from the forwards has left them exposed.

To me, that sounds a lot like the Devils.

 

[JimEIV]

the only goalie we had that could stop 9 out of 10 pucks was bernier, who died in the tangshan earthquake of 1976. surely a different goalie could have surpassed that very low benchmark.

Not sure how much we can surmise from 8 starts and 10 games played in, but Bernier's SV% has never been lower with any other team than with NJ

5 years with LA .912
3 Years with Toronto .915
3 years with Detroit .908
1 year with Anaheim .915
1 year with Colorado .913

10 games with NJ .902 ---


Maybe he's old an done, maybe it's just coincidence? Maybe hardly any Devil forward has any concept of defense and the defensemen aren't much better? I don't know the answer

 

[Devs3cups]

I wonder out of those 307 goals he's using as the foundation of his argument wouldn't have been in the if we had league average goaltending. I'd say it is probably 20-25 less over the course of the year which puts us closer to breaking even than not.

Our xGA was -41 at years end I believe, so 25-30 less goals isn't a stretch.

Not sure how much we can surmise from 8 starts and 10 games played in, but Bernier's SV% has never been lower with any other team than with NJ

5 years with LA .912
3 Years with Toronto .915
3 years with Detroit .908
1 year with Anaheim .915
1 year with Colorado .913

10 games with NJ .902 ---


Maybe he's old an done, maybe it's just coincidence? Maybe hardly any Devil forward has any concept of defense and the defensemen aren't much better? I don't know the answer

Pretty sure it's been confirmed that Bernier was nursing an injury since training camp. This certainly has an effect.