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

[Better Call Sal]

Generous segmentation by Jfresh. If it were me, 2017-2018 is the start of the Hughes/Hischier era. 2022-2023? Idk about that

It's kind of semantics on this newer era either way. Don't know if you could dub it the "Hughes/Hischier" era and start it before Hughes is even there.

You could get more technical and have the "Shero Era" and the "Fitzgerald Era". Let's open that debate again. Don't mind me while I light this fire and promptly run away.

 

[Guttersniped]

Generous segmentation by Jfresh. If it were me, 2017-2018 is the start of the Hughes/Hischier era. 2022-2023? Idk about that

I don’t know, I think Hughes has to get there before the Hughes/Hischier era starts.

 

[AfroThunder396]

He's gotta go, absolutely unacceptable to just accept medicority.

How is it accepting mediocrity? He's not the head coach and he won't be the head coach next season. The team sucked before he was made interim, it was going to suck no matter who we put up as a punching bag.

Serious question - the day after the deadline, were you honestly thinking the team was going to make the playoffs? We fired the head coach and then sold at the deadline, what exactly were you expecting him to do to fix it?

I'd like it if Green was let go, but you're acting like making him an assistant for another year is some kind of egregious war crime. Who f***ing cares if the guy we hired to be an assistant gets to be the assistant, it's not that big of a deal. Get the head coach right and the rest of the staff will sort itself out.

 

[NJDfan86]

Lashing out how? Because I don't care about Green's feelings? All I want is the whole coaching staff let go. You're the one trying to act like you're better than everyone else because you're just so damn caring that coaches are real people just like us.

Guilty I guess . I’m just better at separating my emotions from my logic than most you - you would think I was arguing to keep Green as Head Coach.

 

[NJDfan86]

What is he your dad or something? Why do you care so much?

Again, sorry for trying to reason logically with the incensed mob - didn’t realize everyone was frothing at the mouth to fire an interim coach.

 

[theoptimist]

I don’t know, I think Hughes has to get there before the Hughes/Hischier era starts.

Devils made the playoffs in 2017-2018 in Nico’s first year. I also didn't want to forget about this club’s first Hart Trophy. Hughes joined shortly after. For sure, there is a better name for whatever era is between 2017 and now

 

[Bleedred]

I'd like it if Green was let go, but you're acting like making him an assistant for another year is some kind of egregious war crime. Who f***ing cares if the guy we hired to be an assistant gets to be the assistant, it's not that big of a deal. Get the head coach right and the rest of the staff will sort itself out.

I've ALWAYS thought he had a heavy influence on this team, just as it appears Brunette did with last year's team.

So I would like it if he just weren't brought back at all.

However, as I've said a few times, the associate coach has much more pull than just an ''Assistant coach'', so if he were just an assistant (not associate) then maybe that changes and he doesn't have the influence here that he had this past year.

He did a horrible job with the power play though, which we know he runs that. It may have finished 10th (it was as of a couple of days ago) in percentage, but it was like 26th in expected goals at 5 on 4.

Even when it was first in the league in percentage by a mile at the time Dougie was injured, it was still only like 10th in expected goals. It was never a league best caliber power play.

 

[Satans Hockey]

How is it accepting mediocrity? He's not the head coach and he won't be the head coach next season. The team sucked before he was made interim, it was going to suck no matter who we put up as a punching bag.

Serious question - the day after the deadline, were you honestly thinking the team was going to make the playoffs? We fired the head coach and then sold at the deadline, what exactly were you expecting him to do to fix it?

I'd like it if Green was let go, but you're acting like making him an assistant for another year is some kind of egregious war crime. Who f***ing cares if the guy we hired to be an assistant gets to be the assistant, it's not that big of a deal. Get the head coach right and the rest of the staff will sort itself out.

You don't think assistants matter? Cause there was an assistant coach here last year who definitely mattered. This whole staff has shown they aren't fit for the jobs. I want to see the team move on from all of them.

 

[Davegarri]

Guilty I guess . I’m just better at separating my emotions from my logic than most you - you would think I was arguing to keep Green as Head Coach.

Not really. You're just at the opposite side of the emotional spectrum.

 

[Satans Hockey]

Guilty I guess . I’m just better at separating my emotions from my logic than most you - you would think I was arguing to keep Green as Head Coach.

Lol whatever you say. Most people who pretend to be better than others usually end up being the biggest hypocrites.

I've ALWAYS thought he had a heavy influence on this team, just as it appears Brunette did with last year's team.

So I would like it if he just weren't brought back at all.

However, as I've said a few times, the associate coach has much more pull than just an ''Assistant coach'', so if he were just an assistant (not associate) then maybe that changes and he doesn't have the influence here that he had this past year.

He did a horrible job with the power play though, which we know he runs that. It may have finished 10th (it was as of a couple of days ago) in percentage, but it was like 26th in expected goals at 5 on 4.

Even when it was first in the league in percentage by a mile at the time Dougie was injured, it was still only like 10th in expected goals. It was never a league best caliber power play.

Exactly why I wanna see the whole coaching staff cleared out. This team clearly needs different voices and direction in that locker room. Way too many absolutely pathetic performances this year not to get a whole new staff in there.

 

[My3Sons]

Lol whatever you say. Most people who pretend to be better than others usually end up being the biggest hypocrites.



Exactly why I wanna see the whole coaching staff cleared out. This team clearly needs different voices and direction in that locker room. Way too many absolutely pathetic performances this year not to get a whole new staff in there.

I am not a hypocrite. Now do as I say not as I do.

 

[Bleedred]

Exactly why I wanna see the whole coaching staff cleared out. This team clearly needs different voices and direction in that locker room. Way too many absolutely pathetic performances this year not to get a whole new staff in there.

I'm okay with McGill. Maybe he's to blame for some of the regressions of the defensemen, but maybe not? I don't know. The PK did fine after struggling to start the year.

I don't know enough about what Sarge does as coach to have an opinion.

Rogalski should have been the first coach on this staff to be fired. Even before Ruff. He's gotta go.

 

[NJDfan86]

Lol whatever you say. Most people who pretend to be better than others usually end up being the biggest hypocrites.

I’m not even sure where the hypocrisy would come from, I don’t want Green as the head coach and I’d be shocked if he was.

Interim head coaches don’t get canned at the end of season, Green likely has a contract and they might reassign him but they don’t have to do anything until they get a HC. You all are asking for performative theater that serves no purpose other than to make you feel better.

 

[NJDevs26]

Guilty I guess . I’m just better at separating my emotions from my logic than most you - you would think I was arguing to keep Green as Head Coach.

If you don’t disagree that Green should go then stop trying to police people’s emotions or their posting in how they express them. Fans are gonna be annoyed after arguably the most disappointing season in franchise history, and being served up shit burger after shit burger at home with Green as a big part of the staff all year.

As has already been said, few of us want to DM Green or his family and literally publicly flog the man. Ultimately I don’t care if they give him a buddy pass out the back door so long as he in fact goes out the back door. I don’t 100% trust Fitz not to foist Green as an assistant on the next coach so yeah people are going to be annoyed he isn’t immediately let go precisely because there IS that chance he isn’t.

 

[Bleedred]

If you don’t disagree that Green should go then stop trying to police people’s emotions or their posting in how they express them. Fans are gonna be annoyed after arguably the most disappointing season in franchise history, and being served up shit burger after shit burger at home with Green as a big part of the staff all year.

As has already been said, few of us want to DM Green or his family and literally publicly flog the man. Ultimately I don’t care if they give him a buddy pass out the back door so long as he in fact goes out the back door. I don’t 100% trust Fitz not to foist Green as an assistant on the next coach so yeah people are going to be annoyed he isn’t immediately let go precisely because there IS that chance he isn’t.

I've said this a lot down the stretch, about both players and coaches.

It may be petty and unfair, but I've said I have little interest in seeing anybody back next year who were here this year, but not last year. Green is the only member of the coaching staff that wasn't here last year.

And I don't think we're gonna see many people back who are UFAs. They probably do bring back MacDermid to counter Rempe lol. And if it's not him then it's gonna be someone like him on the market that they're going to sign instead. I can rant about that plenty in another post.

Allen was only here for a few minutes this season, so I'm okay with him being back.

Nemec is the only guy who was here for the majority of this year that I would like to see back, out of the guys who just had their first year here.

I know we're lacking center depth, but I don't get the recent Nosek fascination. Yeah, the injuries ruined his season, but he ain't that young and who knows if he's ever gonna be nearly what he was before those injuries. It's better to look for this year's version of Nosek (I'm sure they're out there) than gamble on the actual Nosek again.

 

[theoptimist]

It feels weird to include Gusev, Subban, or Dougie in the "post Brodeur era". Gomez/Kennedy/Ryder/Clowe/Brunner sure.

It seems Jfresh is using roster players to name the eras and I remember there was a distinct "this is not your grandparents Devils" narrative during Nico's first year (which included players like Hall, Palmieri, Coleman). Things went downhill fast after this season. We turned some of these guys into (Bahl, Mercer, Foote, etc.).

 

[MasterofGrond]

If you don’t disagree that Green should go then stop trying to police people’s emotions or their posting in how they express them. Fans are gonna be annoyed after arguably the most disappointing season in franchise history, and being served up shit burger after shit burger at home with Green as a big part of the staff all year.

As has already been said, few of us want to DM Green or his family and literally publicly flog the man. Ultimately I don’t care if they give him a buddy pass out the back door so long as he in fact goes out the back door. I don’t 100% trust Fitz not to foist Green as an assistant on the next coach so yeah people are going to be annoyed he isn’t immediately let go precisely because there IS that chance he isn’t.

People are gonna feel how they wanna feel. But if you come in here with doom and gloom histrionics about, not even actual decisions, but the timeline decisions are made on, you gotta be able to cope with people telling you to chill the f*** out.

Because seriously, the schtick is just as tiresome to me as I assume being told to relax is for them.

 

[theoptimist]

Nevermind, Jfresh is just using roster players for our chart. That is not the rule. Definitely Shero/Fitz Era to describe 2017 to 2024. (Red Wings below as an example)

 

[guitarguyvic]

Guilty I guess . I’m just better at separating my emotions from my logic than most you - you would think I was arguing to keep Green as Head Coach.

You haven't really made it clear what it is you think we are advocating for that is such a disrespect towards him.

 

[Rhodes 81]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convincing myself that fixing the forward depth is a higher priority than defense.

We have 4 legit top line forwards (Hischier, Bratt, Hughes, Meier), 3 middle sixers (Haula, Palat, Mercer), one solid 4th liner in Lazar and one mediocre 4th liner in Bastian. Holtz started the season well but has really only played a handful of impressive games since November. Maybe you can add him to the middle six group if he can be more consistent.

Halonen, Bowers, Willman, Dowling all played minutes for us this year. MacDermid has "played" 15 games. Tierney has played 51 games. Tierney is going to come in 13th in ES TOI this year and 2 of the guys above him aren't coming back. He was meant to be AHL depth. I had high hopes for Foote coming into the year and it seems like the org did too. It's probably too tough to go from AHLer to effective regular after not playing for a year.

Palat-Hischier-Bratt
x-Hughes-Meier
x-Haula-Mercer
Lazar-x-Bastian
Foote, x
I'm presuming Holtz is getting traded, but that's at least 3 forwards they need to hit on even if not. Not to mention it would be preferable if they could add 2 top 6 forward that would push Palat down. If you can keep Palat and Haula in the bottom 6 more often than not and keep Lazar on the 4th line and add a true anchor 4th liner like McLeod was it will go a long way toward building a team that can hold onto the puck in the OZ/NZ more often and mask the defensive deficiencies. If one of Bratt/Meier/Mercer/Holtz could be an effective LW that would help a lot with the balance.

That all hinges on Hamilton coming back near 100% and his presence improving the play of Marino, Bahl, and Seigenthaler. I'd personally still want to upgrade the top 4 LHD, but I think getting those forward additions right (and coaching/goal) is going to be more critical.

 

[ZYXWVUT]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convincing myself that fixing the forward depth is a higher priority than defense.

We have 4 legit top line forwards (Hischier, Bratt, Hughes, Meier), 3 middle sixers (Haula, Palat, Mercer), one solid 4th liner in Lazar and one mediocre 4th liner in Bastian. Holtz started the season well but has really only played a handful of impressive games since November. Maybe you can add him to the middle six group if he can be more consistent.

Halonen, Bowers, Willman, Dowling all played minutes for us this year. MacDermid has "played" 15 games. Tierney has played 51 games. Tierney is going to come in 13th in ES TOI this year and 2 of the guys above him aren't coming back. He was meant to be AHL depth. I had high hopes for Foote coming into the year and it seems like the org did too. It's probably too tough to go from AHLer to effective regular after not playing for a year.

Palat-Hischier-Bratt
x-Hughes-Meier
x-Haula-Mercer
Lazar-x-Bastian
Foote, x
I'm presuming Holtz is getting traded, but that's at least 3 forwards they need to hit on even if not. Not to mention it would be preferable if they could add 2 top 6 forward that would push Palat down. If you can keep Palat and Haula in the bottom 6 more often than not and keep Lazar on the 4th line and add a true anchor 4th liner like McLeod was it will go a long way toward building a team that can hold onto the puck in the OZ/NZ more often and mask the defensive deficiencies. If one of Bratt/Meier/Mercer/Holtz could be an effective LW that would help a lot with the balance.

That all hinges on Hamilton coming back near 100% and his presence improving the play of Marino, Bahl, and Seigenthaler. I'd personally still want to upgrade the top 4 LHD, but I think getting those forward additions right (and coaching/goal) is going to be more critical.

I am in the same headspace on those top two lines specifically. Palat-Hischier-Bratt have been one of the best in the league in terms of metrics when they have played together (in a large sample size). And I think Hughes-Meier could work with the right guy on the other wing to compliment. Doesn't need to be a star IMO, a middle six guy who can bring a blend of grit/skill.

 

[NJDfan86]

You haven't really made it clear what it is you think we are advocating for that is such a disrespect towards him.

Firing him right now, when there is no reason to? He isn’t our HC, the season isn’t over so the the FO doesn’t know who will be available to replace him as even an assistant, he has a contract and they might want him in a different role, etc. How many interim head coaches get the full firing treatment at the end of their tenures?

The Devils fired Ruff to try and spark the team to go on a run - there was a concrete reason for it. There is no reason to relieve Green of his duties today because there is no impact, and treating him with respect on his way out is the right thing to do.

 

[My3Sons]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convincing myself that fixing the forward depth is a higher priority than defense.

We have 4 legit top line forwards (Hischier, Bratt, Hughes, Meier), 3 middle sixers (Haula, Palat, Mercer), one solid 4th liner in Lazar and one mediocre 4th liner in Bastian. Holtz started the season well but has really only played a handful of impressive games since November. Maybe you can add him to the middle six group if he can be more consistent.

Halonen, Bowers, Willman, Dowling all played minutes for us this year. MacDermid has "played" 15 games. Tierney has played 51 games. Tierney is going to come in 13th in ES TOI this year and 2 of the guys above him aren't coming back. He was meant to be AHL depth. I had high hopes for Foote coming into the year and it seems like the org did too. It's probably too tough to go from AHLer to effective regular after not playing for a year.

Palat-Hischier-Bratt
x-Hughes-Meier
x-Haula-Mercer
Lazar-x-Bastian
Foote, x
I'm presuming Holtz is getting traded, but that's at least 3 forwards they need to hit on even if not. Not to mention it would be preferable if they could add 2 top 6 forward that would push Palat down. If you can keep Palat and Haula in the bottom 6 more often than not and keep Lazar on the 4th line and add a true anchor 4th liner like McLeod was it will go a long way toward building a team that can hold onto the puck in the OZ/NZ more often and mask the defensive deficiencies. If one of Bratt/Meier/Mercer/Holtz could be an effective LW that would help a lot with the balance.

That all hinges on Hamilton coming back near 100% and his presence improving the play of Marino, Bahl, and Seigenthaler. I'd personally still want to upgrade the top 4 LHD, but I think getting those forward additions right (and coaching/goal) is going to be more critical.

I'd probably start with Bratt-Meier-Hischier. The other team knew they were all NJ had after a certain point and even then they were very very good. I'd try to get two wings for Hughes. That leads you to a third line of Palat-Haula-Mercer. Let them face some easier matchups and maybe Mercer rebounds and can become a second line wing. The fourth line can be Foote-Lazar-Bastian. Keep MacDermid in the press box.

 

[Zippy316]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convincing myself that fixing the forward depth is a higher priority than defense.

We have 4 legit top line forwards (Hischier, Bratt, Hughes, Meier), 3 middle sixers (Haula, Palat, Mercer), one solid 4th liner in Lazar and one mediocre 4th liner in Bastian. Holtz started the season well but has really only played a handful of impressive games since November. Maybe you can add him to the middle six group if he can be more consistent.

Halonen, Bowers, Willman, Dowling all played minutes for us this year. MacDermid has "played" 15 games. Tierney has played 51 games. Tierney is going to come in 13th in ES TOI this year and 2 of the guys above him aren't coming back. He was meant to be AHL depth. I had high hopes for Foote coming into the year and it seems like the org did too. It's probably too tough to go from AHLer to effective regular after not playing for a year.

Palat-Hischier-Bratt
x-Hughes-Meier
x-Haula-Mercer
Lazar-x-Bastian
Foote, x
I'm presuming Holtz is getting traded, but that's at least 3 forwards they need to hit on even if not. Not to mention it would be preferable if they could add 2 top 6 forward that would push Palat down. If you can keep Palat and Haula in the bottom 6 more often than not and keep Lazar on the 4th line and add a true anchor 4th liner like McLeod was it will go a long way toward building a team that can hold onto the puck in the OZ/NZ more often and mask the defensive deficiencies. If one of Bratt/Meier/Mercer/Holtz could be an effective LW that would help a lot with the balance.

That all hinges on Hamilton coming back near 100% and his presence improving the play of Marino, Bahl, and Seigenthaler. I'd personally still want to upgrade the top 4 LHD, but I think getting those forward additions right (and coaching/goal) is going to be more critical.

There’s three main areas to address this off-season in my opinion:

1. 1A goalie with Allen as 1B/backup

This one is self explanatory.

2. Add a solid top four defensive LHD

This could in theory be Siegenthaler returning to form or Bahl taking a step forward, with the added return of Hamilton as you mentioned stabilizing things.

I think Fitz might not want to take risks and will look to acquire a McNabb or someone similar just to stabilize things.

3. Fix the forward group

Last year, this team thrived on the ability to run four lines that placed fast with either speed or tenacity. Fitzgerald tried to round out the team a bit and in doing so, missed the mark a bit on what made this team successful. He needs to find a way to do that again from lines 1-4, while also trying to add a bit more size and snarl.

I think we need one more Haula/Palat type to compliment the top nine. Henrique is the easy name there. Arvidsson is an interesting target too.

We need at least on tenacious forward in the bottom six along with Lazar. I really like Trenin for this role. Maybe can get Jeannot as a cap dump too. I wonder if Tampa would get behind a Jeannot for Bastian swap to free up cap.

Then we need to get another depth forward with speed that can regularly play an NHL shift. My vote is Duhaime here:

Palat - Hischier - Bratt
Henrique/Arvidsson - Hughes - Meier
Foote - Haula - Mercer
Trenin/Jeannot - Lazar - Bastian
Duhaime - MacDermid

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

How is it accepting mediocrity? He's not the head coach and he won't be the head coach next season. The team sucked before he was made interim, it was going to suck no matter who we put up as a punching bag.

Serious question - the day after the deadline, were you honestly thinking the team was going to make the playoffs? We fired the head coach and then sold at the deadline, what exactly were you expecting him to do to fix it?

I'd like it if Green was let go, but you're acting like making him an assistant for another year is some kind of egregious war crime. Who f***ing cares if the guy we hired to be an assistant gets to be the assistant, it's not that big of a deal. Get the head coach right and the rest of the staff will sort itself out.

Agreed here, the issue was not making Green the interim. They were cooked at that point, the issue was Fitz sitting on his laurels/hands and thinking they'd turn the corner with the guys who were hurt coming back. Jack's injury was worse than they either knew or he was letting on. The idea should've been LTIR'ing him and trading for a center that would've been a decent stopgap. Then you fire Lindy for a long term solution similar to the Islanders did with Lambert for Roy. There was a lot of mismanagement of this season but who the f*** cares about Travis Green? He's at the lowest tier of issue with this team, they were gonna be ass if McGill/Taylor or anyone else took over. The team was just mentally cooked, look at how two super veteran laden teams like Pittsburgh and the Islanders jumped them from mid March into fighting for the playoffs and in the Islanders case making it.