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

[TheUnseenHand]

Extended Ullmark for Mercer interest anyone?

Nope.

Also the Markstrom value is getting overinflated in here. He's not going to get near what people are thinking as a return imo.

 

[BostonDevil]

Extended Ullmark for Mercer interest anyone?

Can't say "No" loud enough.

Vitek Part 2

 

[Mgd31]

Extended Ullmark for Mercer interest anyone?

I would probably boycott watching the Devils next year if that happened

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

the only semi-realistic goalie I would trade Mercer for is Swayman. And Boston aint gonna do anything like that.

I am not trading him for any 30+ year old goalie.

 

[devilsblood]

Objectively his production and results alongside competent linemates was quite good.

His production with Scrubs was bad.

Again, play him with Haula and Palat if you don't want to play him with Jack. Holtz had quite good results alongside Haula.

Holtz and Haula also enjoyed a 75% offensive zone start%.

I'm assuming here, but it's probably against some very weak comp.

Away from Holtz, Haula's O-Zone was well below 50%. Probably playing against more difficult opposition. And to Triumph's point above given that Haula had a 42% offensive zone start while leading, vs's Holtz's 68%, it's also a safe assumption to say they didn't play together much while protecting a lead.

Now it is true that once the injuries kicked in, the drop off from Haula in terms of lines mates was drastic, so Holtz's numbers are skewed by playing with some bad NHLr's, but was he good with better players like Haula? I think the numbers are skewed a bit there as well.

 

[Whaddagoal]

What do we do with Schmid next season assuming we get another NHL veteran goalie (Kahkonen, Saros, etc)?

I was just listening to the "Get to know about Schmid" segment on NJD media.

I feel like he was caught between a rock and a hard place as the wheels were falling off in the season. Not fully the problem, but he was a small to moderate piece of it, and could never get enough good opportunities to get in the game when the forwards and d core had a good game, or when he played a good game we had no output. One of those screwed by circumstances and not enough mojo of his own to control out of it.

Daws looked better for his time up here, but having Schmid there at times still looked like a good long term option. Daws looked steady at times but also had some usual pains as the stint went on longer.

I doubt we need to keep both Schmid and Daws long term if we land someone, but who would you take if you had to keep one?

I like them both and would have liked to see them in better situations up here. Just the fact the Schmid had an amazing experience vs. Rangers is high enough to always have in consideration....

 

[Forge]

I don't think the devils, as a team building philosophy, have any interest in a goalie for 5+ years. I've said it multiple times, I think that's why markstrom is a guy they are really targeting. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a good amount of interest in gustavsson too.

What do we do with Schmid next season assuming we get another NHL veteran goalie (Kahkonen, Saros, etc)?

I was just listening to the "Get to know about Schmid" segment on NJD media.

I feel like he was caught between a rock and a hard place as the wheels were falling off in the season. Not fully the problem, but he was a small to moderate piece of it, and could never get enough good opportunities to get in the game when the forwards and d core had a good game, or when he played a good game we had no output. One of those screwed by circumstances and not enough mojo of his own to control out of it.

Daws looked better for his time up here, but having Schmid there at times still looked like a good long term option.

I doubt we need to keep both Schmid and Daws long term if we land someone, but who would you take if you had to keep one?

I like them both and would have liked to see them in better situations up here. Just the fact the Schmid had an amazing experience vs. Rangers is high enough to always have in consideration....

Assume he'll be in ahl. I think he's still waivers exempt so they don't have to make a decision yet

 

[dgibb10]

Holtz and Haula also enjoyed a 75% offensive zone start%.

I'm assuming here, but it's probably against some very weak comp.

Away from Holtz, Haula's O-Zone was well below 50%. Probably playing against more difficult opposition. And to Triumph's point above given that Haula had a 42% offensive zone start while leading, vs's Holtz's 68%, it's also a safe assumption to say they didn't play together much while protecting a lead.

Now it is true that once the injuries kicked in, the drop off from Haula in terms of lines mates was drastic, so Holtz's numbers are skewed by playing with some bad NHLr's, but was he good with better players like Haula? I think the numbers are skewed a bit there as well.

He had his best results alongside McLeod getting 40% ozone starts.

Let him play with a play driver. Simple as that.

Put the sniper in positions where he'll be able to snipe.

Or you can trade him, watch that team put him in those exact situations, and be in shock when he scores 30+ goals next year for them (assuming he actually gets power play time)

 

[A1LeafNation]

What do we do with Schmid next season assuming we get another NHL veteran goalie (Kahkonen, Saros, etc)?

I was just listening to the "Get to know about Schmid" segment on NJD media.

I feel like he was caught between a rock and a hard place as the wheels were falling off in the season. Not fully the problem, but he was a small to moderate piece of it, and could never get enough good opportunities to get in the game when the forwards and d core had a good game, or when he played a good game we had no output. One of those screwed by circumstances and not enough mojo of his own to control out of it.

Daws looked better for his time up here, but having Schmid there at times still looked like a good long term option. Daws looked steady at times but also had some usual pains as the stint went on longer.

I doubt we need to keep both Schmid and Daws long term if we land someone, but who would you take if you had to keep one?

I like them both and would have liked to see them in better situations up here. Just the fact the Schmid had an amazing experience vs. Rangers is high enough to always have in consideration....

We know Allen is not in the long term plans, so the obvious choice is to trade Allen and bring in a true starter.

No need to rush on a decision to choose Schmid or Daws yet when both are capable of being the NHL back up behind a guy like Ullmark/Markstrom.

If Daws falters, bring up Schmid. If Schmid falters, bring up Daws. Between the 2 of them, they can handle AHL starter duties and 30 NHL back up games.

Similar to Binnington/Hofer this past season, Ullmark/Markstrom can play 50 games, Daws/Schmid play 30.

No pressure on either to carry the load in this scenario and gives the Devils more time to make a decision on their future starter.

 

[MB3]

random question + bizarre insight time

what do we think about marco scandella? my wife is friends with his fiance, who grew up a die-hard devils fan (she had season tickets forever, actually befriended my wife in the prudential center). my
wife said she and marco listed their apartment for sale in st. louis and are moving out.

wonder if there’s a match to be made there?

 

[Forge]

We know Allen is not in the long term plans, so the obvious choice is to trade Allen and bring in a true starter.

No need to rush on a decision to choose Schmid or Daws yet when both are capable of being the NHL back up behind a guy like Ullmark/Markstrom.

If Daws falters, bring up Schmid. If Schmid falters, bring up Daws. Between the 2 of them, they can handle AHL starter duties and 30 NHL back up games.

Similar to Binnington/Hofer this past season, Ullmark/Markstrom can play 50 games, Daws/Schmid play 30.

No pressure on either to carry the load in this scenario and gives the Devils more time to make a decision on their future starter.

I doubt that they trade Allen. Daws and Schmid likely chill in the ahl if one isn't traded.

Poulter pushing them both makes it a very interesting question on what happens moving forward though

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

A 6’2 wheeler who just scored 53 and 71 points over the last two years. 25 years of age…..seems like exactly what we would need

Price likely to high tho

For free sure. Not someone we should be spending assets for.

 

[theoptimist]

I think peak Kyle Quincey is a better partner for Dougie Hamilton than long name 71. I’ll take Luke, Quincey, Moore over last season LHDs.

 

[devilsblood]

He had his best results alongside McLeod getting 40% ozone starts.

Let him play with a play driver. Simple as that.

Put the sniper in positions where he'll be able to snipe.

Or you can trade him, watch that team put him in those exact situations, and be in shock when he scores 30+ goals next year for them (assuming he actually gets power play time)

Haula’s not a play driver though. At least not much of one. Kind of funny that McLeod is now considered one, but i guess he was this year. Nico is and Holtz has been lousy on his wing. Of course Nico, unlike McLeod early this season, doesn’t play against 4th line competition.

End of the day I don’t think its about who Holtz plays with, it’s about him improving his overall game. Guys who have some scoring skills but need to play in very specific situations alongside really good hockey players in order to succeed, aren’t very good hockey players themselves.

 

[Call Me Al]

holtz’s two biggest issues for me were that he always loses board battles, like an automatic possession turnover once he’s pinned against the boards, and he doesn’t make fast enough decisions so when he has the puck he often gets swarmed and then loses the puck with his automatic turnover board battle incompetence.

he looks fine in open space and when he gets his shot off but that’s why he still hasn’t stuck with good players, he’s a liability despite his skills

 

[Better Call Sal]

holtz’s two biggest issues for me were that he always loses board battles, like an automatic turnover possession once he’s pinned against the boards, and he doesn’t make fast enough decisions so when he has the puck he often gets swarmed and then loses the puck with his automatic turnover board battle incompetence.

he looks fine in open space and when he gets his shot off but that’s why he still hasn’t stuck with good players, he’s a liability despite his skills

And it's easy to see why the coaching staff lost patience and stapled him to the 4th line as a result. I have to imagine this had been a constant message from them for far too long, and they saw it as "Well, if he isn't going to do those things, we're going to have to give him as limited ice time as possible where he won't be up against the opposition's best players."

I'm as guilty of thinking that coaches don't know how to best deploy some players purely out of stubbornness, and that includes Holtz's usage, but I think it's become pretty apparent that he has not progressed in certain areas enough to warrant being higher in the lineup. If he will constantly turn the puck over, and can't push play on his own due to his skating being average at best, he's going to end up topping out as a bottom 6, PP2 specialist.

 

[Triumph]

He had his best results alongside McLeod getting 40% ozone starts.

Let him play with a play driver. Simple as that.

Put the sniper in positions where he'll be able to snipe.

Or you can trade him, watch that team put him in those exact situations, and be in shock when he scores 30+ goals next year for them (assuming he actually gets power play time)

I will be shocked if he scores 30 because nobody is going to do these things, just hand him a ton of ice time and responsbility. Holtz is a soft-minute scorer who has massive liabilities elsewhere, he's not getting 17 minutes a game outside of San Jose. If he can figure out the boards a bit, he's got a future, but otherwise he will be the kind of player who bounces around the league with teams hoping to figure out how to use him but not getting what they want out of him.

McLeod had crazy good results with everyone this year, Holtz is a particularly good fit because McLeod could carry the puck all over the place for him.

 

[MartyOwns]

Extended Ullmark for Mercer interest anyone?

honestly, i'd rather just try and sign stolarz. solid stats, jersey kid, won't get a ridiculous contract, won't cost any assets. heading into next year with him and allen would be decent.

 

[JrFischer54]

Nope.

Also the Markstrom value is getting overinflated in here. He's not going to get near what people are thinking as a return imo.

he isn't going to return a super huge amount and at the same time his price isn't going to come down a bunch from the trade deadline. so the devils basically just kicked the can down the road til the summer when they could've probably gotten him for the same price at the deadline which at that point he maybe helps us make the playoffs the kids get some valuable playoff experience. instead they dont play meaningful games for the last what about month of a season again.


i rather markstrom then either boston goalie markstrom fits our timeline where you get him in as a stop gap with allen and you hope by the time their contracts run out either daws or schmid are ready to step in at minimum a backup roll. the boston goalies just dont do it for me and you are buying super high

honestly, i'd rather just try and sign stolarz. solid stats, jersey kid, won't get a ridiculous contract, won't cost any assets. heading into next year with him and allen would be decent.

basically a vitek 2.0 attempt ? no thanks

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Apparently Devils will be heavily interested in Chandler Stephenson.

This person told me about the Ruff firing the night before it was announced, and also about the John Marino trade a few hours before it was announced publicly anywhere.

 

[Forge]

honestly, i'd rather just try and sign stolarz. solid stats, jersey kid, won't get a ridiculous contract, won't cost any assets. heading into next year with him and allen would be decent.

Just not going to happen. Going into the year with two 30+ year old career backup goalies and having a season undone that way and I don't know that there's any wiggle room for Fitz to keep his job

 

[MB3]

Apparently Devils will be heavily interested in Chandler Stephenson.

This person told me about the Ruff firing the night before it was announced, and also about the John Marino trade a few hours before it was announced publicly anywhere.

great faceoff guy, won a couple of Cups, high effort / high energy kind of guy. I like it. analytics don't love him I don't think.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

great faceoff guy, won a couple of Cups, high effort / high energy kind of guy. I like it. analytics don't love him I don't think.

I think maybe the management views him as an option as a McLeod replacement

 

[MB3]

Names that are interesting from that list:

• Mercer 6/6.5. Seems....high....
• DeBrusk 5/5.8
• Lindholm 5/6.75
• Pesce 5/6.25
• Lundell (RFA) 6/5.75
• Stephenson 5/5.6
• Bertuzzi 4/5.2
• Tanev 3/4.4
• Duclair 3/4.3
• Domi 2/3.5
• Amadio 3/3.2
• Dillon 2/2.8.
• Kakko 1/2.5 (RFA) wink wink

 

[Forge]

AFP has Stephenson at 5 @ 5.6

Mercer 6/6.5. Seems....high....

They have him at 3.7 if it's a 2 year bridge deal, which is what I expect