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

[youryeah]

I’d be surprised if the Devils signed any real FA’s this offseason - probably a #7 dman, and some depth players.

I think you might be surprised. they need some help at forward and there's some good complementary players out there in FA that could really help imo

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Believe it was reported at the time that they were not targeting someone who was taken in the top 10, and Domi was a likely candidate.

Regardless, everyone likes to highlight the one player who hit in retrospect rather than the ten other guys taken in that area that didn’t.

The trade was not Horvat for Schneider.

That's exactly how it is recorded history wise as he was the player picked with the pick traded for CS....

Schneider trade was fine on value. He gave us several years of being a top 3-5 goalie in the league. It was just shitty timing because the team was too washed to make use of it and then injuries wrecked him. If Schneider was available today given where this team is, I would make that trade again easily. There is no goalie available now like Schneider at the time, though.

It was at that time I wanted Devils to go full rebuild but you are right it was good value and that doesn't exist right now ....

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I’d be surprised if the Devils signed any real FA’s this offseason - probably a #7 dman, and some depth players.

why? We have a ton of cap space

There are TONS of middle six forwards that I would to sign. Debrusk and Foegele at the top of the list.

 

[Devils Trap]

why? We have a ton of cap space

There are TONS of middle six forwards that I would to sign. Debrusk and Foegele at the top of the list.

I wouldnt mind Noesen for the bottom 6 as well

 

[Rhodes 81]

We currently don't really even have 12 NHL forwards under contract so they have to sign someone.

 

[Brodeur]

That's exactly how it is recorded history wise as he was the player picked with the pick traded for CS....

Sometimes it's unfair to judge it that way. Everybody craps on Edmonton for giving up the Matt Barzal pick but they would have taken Joel Eriksson-Ek had they kept it. Meanwhile nobody seems to give LA any grief for giving up a higher pick for a year of Milan Lucic mostly because Boston used the pick on Jakub Zboril. According to former Kings assistant GM Mike Futa, LA would have taken Barzal had they kept the pick. So is it more fair to say the Kings traded Barzal for Lucic or Zboril for Lucic?

 

[Stephen Gionta]

I think we may see the Devils sign 2-3 UFA forwards.

Stephenson, DeBrusk, Henrique, Joshua, Noesen, Wennberg, Toffoli, Bertuzzi, Martinook, Trenin, Foegele, Amadio, Cousins.

I would place a heavy, heavy wager on at least one of those players above playing for the Devils next season. Probably 2, maybe even 3.

Haula - Hughes - 1X
Bratt - Hischier - Meier
Palat - 2X - Mercer
3X - 4X - Lazar
Bastian, MacDermid


1X - Bertuzzi? DeBrusk? Toffoli?
2X - Stephenson? Henrique? Wennberg?
3x and 4x - Joshua? Noesen? Martinook? Trenin? Foegele? Amadio? Cousins? Nolan Foote?

 

[RSeen]

I think we may see the Devils sign 2-3 UFA forwards.

Stephenson, DeBrusk, Henrique, Joshua, Noesen, Wennberg, Toffoli, Bertuzzi, Martinook, Trenin, Foegele, Amadio, Cousins.

I would place a heavy, heavy wager on at least one of those players above playing for the Devils next season. Probably 2, maybe even 3.

Haula - Hughes - 1X
Bratt - Hischier - Meier
Palat - 2X - Mercer
3X - 4X - Lazar
Bastian, MacDermid


1X - Bertuzzi? DeBrusk? Toffoli?
2X - Stephenson? Henrique? Wennberg?
3x and 4x - Joshua? Noesen? Martinook? Trenin? Foegele? Amadio? Cousins? Nolan Foote?

None of the 1X unless you can get Bertuzzi at a decent price (unlikely).

None of 2X unless Henrique would join on a short-term deal

for 3X and 4X I'd go pretty much all of those players. Joshua would be my #1 target.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

None of the 1X unless you can get Bertuzzi at a decent price (unlikely).

None of 2X unless Henrique would join on a short-term deal

for 3X and 4X I'd go pretty much all of those players. Joshua would be my #1 target.

Why none of the 1X and 2X that arent Henrique and Bertuzzi??

I think adding Bertuzzi and Cousins would make the Devils much tougher to play against.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Why none of the 1X and 2X that arent Henrique and Bertuzzi??

I think adding Bertuzzi and Cousins would make the Devils much tougher to play against.

Toronto also thought adding Bertuzzi would make them tougher

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Toronto also thought adding Bertuzzi would make them tougher

And it did.

Did you choose to not watch the first round series between the Leafs and the Bs? Or did you just not see Bertuzzi and Marchand going at it game after game

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Sometimes it's unfair to judge it that way. Everybody craps on Edmonton for giving up the Matt Barzal pick but they would have taken Joel Eriksson-Ek had they kept it. Meanwhile nobody seems to give LA any grief for giving up a higher pick for a year of Milan Lucic mostly because Boston used the pick on Jakub Zboril. According to former Kings assistant GM Mike Futa, LA would have taken Barzal had they kept the pick. So is it more fair to say the Kings traded Barzal for Lucic or Zboril for Lucic?

See both sides but my main point is you don't trade the 10th overall Imo for a 30 year old goalie...To me it's shortsighted can it work of course but it can fail big time especially when most will want term and a high aav...

 

[MasterofGrond]

Bertuzzi is another career defensive sieve.

No thanks

 

[Elias2626]

I think we may see the Devils sign 2-3 UFA forwards.

Stephenson, DeBrusk, Henrique, Joshua, Noesen, Wennberg, Toffoli, Bertuzzi, Martinook, Trenin, Foegele, Amadio, Cousins.

I would place a heavy, heavy wager on at least one of those players above playing for the Devils next season. Probably 2, maybe even 3.

Haula - Hughes - 1X
Bratt - Hischier - Meier
Palat - 2X - Mercer
3X - 4X - Lazar
Bastian, MacDermid


1X - Bertuzzi? DeBrusk? Toffoli?
2X - Stephenson? Henrique? Wennberg?
3x and 4x - Joshua? Noesen? Martinook? Trenin? Foegele? Amadio? Cousins? Nolan Foote?

I just think the top 6 Haula era has to come to a close if we want to meaningfully improve. He is a third line forward. We need a better option than Haula to staple to Jack's wing.

 

[TrufleShufle]

Toronto also thought adding Bertuzzi would make them tougher

It did. Idk if he was the sole reason for it, but they didn't get "beat up" more than Boston did, just seemed like two teams playing playoff hockey for the most part. But Bertuzzi definitely was the only guy doing the things that they needed more of, like actually getting within 5 ft of the goalie and really battling for pucks past the initial interaction.

If the entire team played the way Bertuzzi did, along with their individual skill sets they already had, they would have won.

Idk what his contract would look like and/or if it would be worth it for the Devils. But the Leafs got exactly what they wanted from him in the playoffs, I don't think you'll find many complaints outside of some bad penalties about him from Leafs fans.

 

[RSeen]

None of the 1X unless you can get Bertuzzi at a decent price (unlikely).

None of 2X unless Henrique would join on a short-term deal

for 3X and 4X I'd go pretty much all of those players. Joshua would be my #1 target.

Debrusk has been inconsistent year to year so that is risky. Toffoli will get overpaid over too long of a contract.

Stephenson is coming off a year with not great advanced stats. Wennberg has been okay but I wonder if we can do better with a more physical player.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

I just think the top 6 Haula era has to come to a close if we want to meaningfully improve. He is a third line forward. We need a better option than Haula to staple to Jack's wing.

OK. Then put 2X next to Hughes.

Hughes likes playing with Haula. So it wouldn't be a surprise to see them together again

 

[Triumph]

Not quite sure why all these AHL guys are being signed to NHL deals - the Devils have plenty of room on their reserve list so that's not an issue, but they seem to be signing too many wingers and no centers again.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I like Bertuzzi but I have no interest in giving that guy a UFA deal. He also looked pedestrian with Marner/Matthews for a time this year when he should've been burying garbage goals left, right and center from them. Also speaking of adds, would love to poach Nic Hague off Vegas to solidify the LD, I wouldn't be opposed to using the Toffoli trade picks for that.

 

[NJDfan86]

I think you might be surprised. they need some help at forward and there's some good complementary players out there in FA that could really help

why? We have a ton of cap space

There are TONS of middle six forwards that I would to sign. Debrusk and Foegele at the top of the list.

I guess the word “real” was too ambiguous, to clarify I wouldn’t expect them to sign anyone of the top 10-15 FA’s this year.

I expect them to be more active in trade market to fill out the roster spots folks around here are lining up FA’s for.

 

[NJDfan86]

I think we may see the Devils sign 2-3 UFA forwards.

Stephenson, DeBrusk, Henrique, Joshua, Noesen, Wennberg, Toffoli, Bertuzzi, Martinook, Trenin, Foegele, Amadio, Cousins.

I would place a heavy, heavy wager on at least one of those players above playing for the Devils next season. Probably 2, maybe even 3.

Haula - Hughes - 1X
Bratt - Hischier - Meier
Palat - 2X - Mercer
3X - 4X - Lazar
Bastian, MacDermid


1X - Bertuzzi? DeBrusk? Toffoli?
2X - Stephenson? Henrique? Wennberg?
3x and 4x - Joshua? Noesen? Martinook? Trenin? Foegele? Amadio? Cousins? Nolan Foote?

Here helps clarify - I would be shocked if the Devils signed anyone from your 1x or 2x as they will likely all be too expensive, and I see them at most signing one from the 3x/4x.

Lazar will center the 4th with Bastian, with Foote getting a chance at the LW spot and Mac rotating in. Maybe they bring in a vet to complete there, but they won’t be an expensive one.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Not quite sure why all these AHL guys are being signed to NHL deals - the Devils have plenty of room on their reserve list so that's not an issue, but they seem to be signing too many wingers and no centers again.

What difference does it make whether they're on NHL or AHL deals if we're not close to the SPC limit?

 

[Guttersniped]

Not quite sure why all these AHL guys are being signed to NHL deals - the Devils have plenty of room on their reserve list so that's not an issue, but they seem to be signing too many wingers and no centers again.

What difference does it make whether they're on NHL or AHL deals if we're not close to the SPC limit?

Two are definitely centers, Bowers and Schmelzer. We need more but we can’t lose them too.
Minor League Salaries (age in Oct 2024)
Schmelzer: 2 years, 250k (31)
Bowers: 220k, 225k (25)

Willman was a playdriver for a team that didn’t have much of that and obviously played a 18 NHL games. Can play center.
LW/C: 1 year, 300k (29)

Halonen was the Comets most productive player when healthy.
RW: 2 years, 80k (25)

Legare is more meh to me but they presumably like his physicality and think he can produce more.
RW: 1 year, 85k (23)

Laberge. OK, this seems a bit excessive lol but whatever.
LW: 1 year, 90k (27)

I’m worried Xavier Parent is a goner.

“It is making sure that they are guys that can supplement our current group of forwards – both young and experienced – and can provide a little more pop offensively but also physically as well,” MacKinnon said. “I felt we were a touch on the small side this year. It showed up at times and I’d like to be a little more robust up front next year, if we can do it.”

(Yeah, I guess this is more Utica based but I’m not moving it.)

https://www.romesentinel.com/sports/utica-comets-look-ahead-after-lackluster-season/article_12bf3f40-12ec-11ef-9e42-df85223ed9d1.html

 

[Triumph]

What difference does it make whether they're on NHL or AHL deals if we're not close to the SPC limit?

It crowds out minor league bound UFAs who might otherwise be signed here. I'm too lazy to dig up the veteran limits and who may or may not be close to them - I will say that the defense will be pretty young no matter what, so they probably have plenty of room.

Two are definitely centers, Bowers and Schmelzer. We need more but we can’t lose them too.
Minor League Salaries (age in Oct 2024)
Schmelzer: 2 years, 250k (31)
Bowers: 220k, 225k (25)

Willman was a playdriver for a team that didn’t have much of that and obviously played a 18 NHL games. Can play center.
LW/C: 1 year, 300k (29)

Halonen was the Comets most productive player when healthy.
RW: 2 years, 80k (25)

Legare is more meh to me but they presumably like his physicality and think he can produce more.
RW: 1 year, 85k (23)

Laberge. OK, this seems a bit excessive lol but whatever.
LW: 1 year, 90k (27)

I’m worried Xavier Parent is a goner.


(Yeah, I guess this is more Utica based but I’m not moving it.)

https://www.romesentinel.com/sports/utica-comets-look-ahead-after-lackluster-season/article_12bf3f40-12ec-11ef-9e42-df85223ed9d1.html

Yeah, Bowers and Schmelzer are both centers, but both seem like they belong on a 3rd line ideally, or at least Schmelzer looked that way before this season, and he turns 31 in July. Keeping Legare and jettisoning Parent would be exactly the kind of bad decision - to me it doesn't even look like the team has much room for Legare even with the assumption that Graeme Clarke is going to be traded in a similar fashion to how Reilly Walsh was dealt this past off-season.

 

[Schemp]

I’d be surprised if the Devils signed any real FA’s this offseason - probably a #7 dman, and some depth players.

I have a hunch that Pesce will reach out to the Devils