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

[Hockey Sports Fan]

what happened to Bowers?

centering topic du jour Palat and Holtz on the third line, taste the excitement!

 

[My3Sons]

centering topic du jour Palat and Holtz on the third line, taste the excitement!

It will all be over soon.

 

[NjDevsRR]

did we even need to lock the last GDT? do we even need one tonight? Who's excited for top line Graeme Clarke?!

WE ARE NOW LIVE FAM

 

[Guttersniped]

Brendan Smith played 60 games, Chris Tierney played 50 games, we've had Shane Bowers and Nick DeSimone and Max Williman and something named Samuel Laberge play for us this season and we were pretty damned close to being a cap team the day the season opened.

Depth pieces that we so sorely missed? Depth defenseman? Henrique and Hall were cheap and available because of how many cap-strung teams there were before the season started. Maybe Fitz coul'dve addressed the physicality/youth/leadership concerns with an RoR contract offer? Or maybe the extra $6m in cap space makes Fitz feel more comfortable in adding Helle in the offseason?

There are a million answers to this question, all of which are significantly better than "3 more years of an 11-goal scoring $6m winger who misses a quarter of every year".


Since literally nobody has come out and said "Palat is such a big voice for us in the locker room" a single time, it's safe to say he's just a passenger.

How was Henrique available pre-season due to teams being “cap-strung”?

Hall played 10 games this season before being injured.

I would exchange Palat’s deal for O’Reilly’s. So what? Palat’s deal already happened.

He’s not movable and we can’t buy him out until 2026.

 

[forceten]

When are we allowed to root for tanking to try to improve the quality of the draft asset?

 

[Guttersniped]

When are we allowed to root for tanking to try to improve the quality of the draft asset?

You can talk about tanking here to your hearts content, just not in GDT threads.

That’s the rule.

 

[forceten]

You can talk about tanking here to your hearts content, just not in GDT threads.

That’s the rule.

Oh thank heavens. Cel-e-brini good times come on!

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

It would be really wild if the Devils got Celebrini. And if the mid 2010s Oilers are any indication, it's no promise of success. It's still kinda crazy to think McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, Hall, and Yakupov all played on a team together, along with Eberle (22nd overall), Nurse (7th overall), and Griffin Reinhart (4th overall )

 

[HughesCorporation]

Palat didnt get the opportunity to do what we were paying him for, good playoff hockey. his season starts in april.. to a lesser extent haula
we should be a playoff team ..thats no longer the goalpost .. beating the canes, bears and cats in a PO series are where we need to get to

this roster needs upgrades to get that done.. we lost speed if thats our go to ,, needs more.. or do we become more difficult in other areas.. bolster the checking line, dump and forecheck line its more than a coach and goalie.. this FO is supposedly completely analytics driven, find out where we failed defensively and fix it

 

[MartyOwns]

If a healthy Jack, Bratt, Timo, Nico and Dougie can't make the playoffs easily and make some noise in the playoffs...we need to reconsider that group.

you mean like they did literally last season?

Although the defense is very much in that "young" condition...but the broader team, it's time for some of those players to man up and win games with sheer will.

sheer will lol. this isn't air bud 4: pawsitively dunkalicious, we need league average goaltending and a coach with some structure.

 

[HBK27]

You can talk about tanking here to your hearts content, just not in GDT threads.

That’s the rule.

In that case...

Looks like we're tied for 9th worst record with Buffalo with a (LOL) NHL .500 record. We have one additional RW and two additional ROW's though, which for this particular tie-breaker, I don't think is good as it would knock us down to the 10th pick pre-lottery.

More than likely we finish in the 8-11th range, though a win streak could potentially drop us further.

Securing the 8 spot requires Calgary to finish strong as they're 4 points back though with 2 games in-hand. They've got the Kings, Ducks, Yotes, Canucks and Sharks on left, so it's not completely off the table.

More importantly for now though is we'll have to keep an eye on the Sabres and Kraken. We're tied with Buffalo but own the tie-breaker. They have a home game vs. Washington, then a road trip to Florida & Tampa. Caps are obviously fighting for their playoff lives, Florida will be tough as they'll likely still be battling for playoff position...though Tampa is essentially locked into that WC1 spot and will likely be resting players that final game.

Devils are tied with the Kraken with 79 points, though they have two more games to play. They have Sharks at home before finishing with a 4-game road trip at Dallas, St. Louis, Winnipeg & Minnesota. Seattle has won 5 of its past 7, albeit all against bottom-feeders (Anaheim x3, Sharks & Coyotes).

Devils at Toronto tonight, then against a checked-out Philly team that's on a 8 game skid and then against an Islander team that might be locked into the #3 seed by that final game.

Given all these factors, I'd say 10th or maybe 11th is the most likely.

 

[NJDevs26]

When are we allowed to root for tanking to try to improve the quality of the draft asset?

Here and in the draft thread, just not in GDT’s as it were, presumably people still watching are those that still want the team to win or at least the players to do well

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

i don't need them to win anymore. But if they lost the 2 away games, then won at home - I think thats ideal. I always root for a home win - barring some weird standings need.

 

[Bleedred]

i don't need them to win anymore. But if they lost the 2 away games, then won at home - I think thats ideal. I always root for a home win - barring some weird standings need.

I predicted a 7-13-1 record under Travis Green. We’re currently at 7-10-1. So if we lose out in regulation we’ll meet that.

I almost feel like it’s hard to see us losing to the Flyers right now though.

 

[Guttersniped]

It would be really wild if the Devils got Celebrini. And if the mid 2010s Oilers are any indication, it's no promise of success. It's still kinda crazy to think McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, Hall, and Yakupov all played on a team together, along with Eberle (22nd overall), Nurse (7th overall), and Griffin Reinhart (4th overall )

Considering our odds our 3.5%, that would be really wild.

The only lotteries for 1OA won with <10% chance to win:

In 2011, we won as the 8th seed to move up to 8th (3.6% odds).

In 1999, Chicago won as the 8th seed to move to 4th (3.7%).

In 1995, LA Kings won as the 7th seed to move to 3rd (4.2%).

In 2000, the NY Isles won as the 5th seed to 1OA (8.0%).

In 2007, Chicago won as the 5th seed to 1OA (8.1%).

In 2017, we won as the 5th seed to 1OA (8.5%).

*In 2020, “TEAM E” won the 12th seed with 2.5% odds in the 1st COVID Draft Lottery to force a 2nd lottery.
However the NY Rags had 12.5% odds in the post-Qualifying Round, 2nd Draft Lottery.

 

[Guadana]

It would be really wild if the Devils got Celebrini. And if the mid 2010s Oilers are any indication, it's no promise of success. It's still kinda crazy to think McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, Hall, and Yakupov all played on a team together, along with Eberle (22nd overall), Nurse (7th overall), and Griffin Reinhart (4th overall )

Lets hope we will win 2OA pick, pick Lindstrom and know one will remember about it after a couple of years. Lindstrom is what this team just haaardly needs. Player who can play "deep into the offensive zone and net front" center role, Jack can play more perimeter playmaking role. It would be perfect. Just perfect. There would be no team in the league who will match that after a couple of years with Jack, Nico, Lindstrom, Meier, Bratt and Mercer as top-6 players.
The problem is there is a very little chance to win this lottery ticket. There are ~ no chances to win it.
So we should talk more about Buium\Nygard\Helenius, top-6 wingers\third line center\top-4 defenseman role value, potential of Nygard and Helenius as NHL centers etc. Because thinking about winning the lottery is poison.

 

[bossram]

did we even need to lock the last GDT? do we even need one tonight? Who's excited for top line Graeme Clarke?!

As the resident Clarke truther, this is probably the only thing to bother following the rest of the season for.

 

[theoptimist]

I’d bring back Smith if Siegenthaler is gone and an upgrade is made.

Smith is King Glass and Out, which is conducive to playoff hockey. He’d take a discount. I trust Fitz to know the locker room.

 

[Ripshot 43]

I predicted a 7-13-1 record under Travis Green. We’re currently at 7-10-1. So if we lose out in regulation we’ll meet that.

I almost feel like it’s hard to see us losing to the Flyers right now though.

You best be predicting a great 2024-25 Devils season.

 

[Devs3cups]

Is it weird we haven’t gotten any news about Jack’s surgery? Thought there was usually news of “successful surgeries”

 

[Homedresser]

for those that complain about Palat's contract, what has it stopped us from doing?

We had a zillion dollars on LTIR this year and didn't use basically any of it. We could have.

It really isn't a big deal. He's overpaid by a few million. Pretend Jack makes $10 and Palat makes $4. Same difference.

it's not the same but don't let the facts get in the way of a rant.

 

[MasterofGrond]

remember when timo had 11 goals on march first lmao

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

it's not the same but don't let the facts get in the way of a rant.

ah here he is!

Please tell me how $8+6 is different than $10+4? Can't wait to hear this one!

Please tell me what Palat's contract, specifically, has hampered the team from accomplishing?

 

[Emperoreddy]

Is it weird we haven’t gotten any news about Jack’s surgery? Thought there was usually news of “successful surgeries”

Let's be fair, with our team, he could have died on the table and we would get a "he is day to day" update while they try to figure out if voodoo works

 

[My3Sons]

Let's be fair, with our team, he could have died on the table and we would get a "he is day to day" update while they try to figure out if voodoo works

It does