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

[JimEIV]

its ok

penance is drink 3 bloody marys

Bloody Marys are one thing I never got into... I'm a little freaked out by vegetables in my cocktails.

 

[njdevils1982]

Bloody Marys are one thing I never got into... I'm a little freaked out by vegetables in my cocktails.

i do caesars ..clamato

not tomacco though

 

[TrufleShufle]

People eat them, I don't. I just like to catch them. They're aggressive and fun.

So not an amazing fish but hard to fish against?

 

[NjDevsRR]

They're aggressive and fun.

 

[Guttersniped]

Annoying is not the word, but dogshit offense has been correct after season 1 and on paper this roster looks even offensively worse. S**t Kyle Criscuolo and Xavier Parent signings would be a huge improvement over the majority of these forwards.

It is only July 3, but with all these guys already signed it's not like we can expect a lot more. I'm sure McKinnon will be signing his normal 2-way AHL contracts over the next few weeks. That only means Adirondack's roster will be filling up.

I’m following the fringe signings way too closely, unfortunately.

Centers still available (like it matters lol)
Riley Damiani 24 C
Rourke Chartier 28 C
Peter Abbandonato 26 C
Frederik Olofsson 28 C/LW {Veteran >320 GP}
Oskar Steen 26 C/RW {Veteran >320 GP}

 

[glenwo2]

No point in following those signings since Fitz is done (at least that's what it looks like).

 

[crashline]

i do caesars ..clamato

not tomacco though

Fitz introducing his latest batch of recruits at 1:28 ...

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

Based on ice time, Im happy with:

Bratt/Mercer-Hischier-Meier
Palat-Hughes-Mercer/Bratt
Tatar-Haula-Noesen
Cotter-Lazar-Bastian
MacDermaid, Foote

Hughes-Pesce
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillon-Nemec
DeSimone, Hattaka

Markstrom
Allen
Daws

 

[crashline]

Whats our hit rate on Finnish players we drafted anyway?

It's an unmitigated wasteland ...

Kaspar Pikkarainen - TBD
Veeti Louhivaara - TBD
Lenni Hameenaho - TBD
Topias Vilen - TBD
Samu Salminen - TBD

--------------

F - Eetu Pakkila - 0 games
F - Aarne Talvitie - 0 games
D - Teemu Kesa - 0 games
F - Vili Sopanen - 0 games
F - Ilkka Pikkarainen - 31 games
F - Tuomas Pihlman - 15 games
F - Teemu Laine - 0 games
G - Ari Ahonen - 0 games
D - Mikko Jokela - 1 game
F - Marko Ahosilta - 0 games
D - Pasi Petrilainen - 0 games
F - Janne Ojanen - 98 games
F - Jarkko Piiparinen - 0 games

All strength to the arms of the newest crop, they're gonna need it.

 

[njdevils1982]

Based on ice time, Im happy with:

Bratt/Mercer-Hischier-Meier
Palat-Hughes-Mercer/Bratt
Tatar-Haula-Noesen
Cotter-Lazar-Bastian
MacDermaid, Foote

Hughes-Pesce
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillon-Nemec
DeSimone, Hattaka

Markstrom
Allen
Daws

keefe loves mix blender lines

its gonna be a trip

be irie

 

[Bad Goalie]

I’m following the fringe signings way too closely, unfortunately.

Centers still available (like it matters lol)
Riley Damiani 24 C
Rourke Chartier 28 C
Peter Abbandonato 26 C
Frederik Olofsson 28 C/LW {Veteran >320 GP}
Oskar Steen 26 C/RW {Veteran >320 GP}

I started a few days ago. Made a nice list and then watched a bunch go and scratched the list. I did it the last 2 seasons and all I got was pissed off.

Better to just wait until the roster is set and accept the Devils don't really care about the farm because since season 1 there has been little here for them to hope for. Just Nemec and goalies . The goalies don't need anything special except time to work and getting a lot of shots apparently is good for them, LOL.

No reason to hunt down good helpers for not so good prospects. Saves money.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

keefe loves mix blender lines

its gonna be a trip

be irie

Keefe vibing out mixing things up

 

[Bleedred]

So I came across something that either hasn’t been formally announced or was only a very quiet addition and won’t be announced.

But Manny Legace is now listed on the Devils website as head amateur goalie scout/development coach. Not sure how new this is, as he’s not listed as working anywhere in 23-24 on elite prospects, but last worked as the goalie coach for the Blue Jackets in 22-23.

I’m starting to remember maybe this was something we discussed months ago? Or maybe I’m just imagining that now after the fact that I saw him in the team directory?

I’m not sure who had this role before he did or if it’s a new position.

 

[RSeen]

Based on ice time, Im happy with:

Bratt/Mercer-Hischier-Meier
Palat-Hughes-Mercer/Bratt
Tatar-Haula-Noesen
Cotter-Lazar-Bastian
MacDermaid, Foote

Hughes-Pesce
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillon-Nemec
DeSimone, Hattaka

Markstrom
Allen
Daws

Agree with this entirely. Kovecvic I think will be the #7 Dman though.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Or maybe you can just add another winger with some size and grit willing to crash the net on occasions that is capable of playing in the top 6....that seems a little easier

We literally did that and have multiple guys that can do exactly what you said and have spent time capably playing in the top 6 of other top teams as filler guys.

That's not my job but I think there were a bunch this FA period.. Bertuzzi would've been a good target.

Jeez Bertuzzi sucks and the contract he got is terrible. Thank god we didn’t do that.

 

[ninetyeight]

fitz essentially confirmed we were in on helenius, but got convinced to pick up silayev

That is interesting, which means the two players a lot of people here wanted, Buium & Brandsegg-Nygård weren't in their top2 of what was left. And maybe not even in the next 2 who knows.

 

[Guttersniped]

So I came across something that either hasn’t been formally announced or was only a very quiet addition and won’t be announced.

But Manny Legace is now listed on the Devils website as head amateur goalie scout/development coach. Not sure how new this is, as he’s not listed as working anywhere in 23-24 on elite prospects, but last worked as the goalie coach for the Blue Jackets in 22-23.

I’m starting to remember maybe this was something we discussed months ago? Or maybe I’m just imagining that now after the fact that I saw him in the team directory?

I’m not sure who had this role before he did or if it’s a new position.

 

[NJDevils#4]

What’s the latest info on Michael McLeod. UFA/RFA ? Legal standing now? Any chance of a return?

 

[Hisch13r]

What’s the latest info on Michael McLeod. UFA/RFA ? Legal standing now? Any chance of a return?

Unqualified just like the rest of the shit heads. He’s a UFA. He’ll likely end up in Russia. Hart’s believed to be going there

 

[JimEIV]

There is no truth in saying elite highly skilled players are easy to play against.

Name the easy to play against players.

So Fitz has been popping off about being harder to play against every off season for at least 3 years now...there has been a general thought league wide for a long time that our team is soft...but let's call it easy to play against....we use to dismiss it by saying "they're just young"

This has been a known problem that our GM publicly states year after year.

Now I'm going to leave it up to you to fill in the names of the culprits?

Why is our team easy to play against. Why does Fitz think he needs "a little more violence"...Who are these people that are lacking in violence and easy to play against?

You know my 3 nominees... would love to hear yours.

 

[My3Sons]

What’s the latest info on Michael McLeod. UFA/RFA ? Legal standing now? Any chance of a return?

Short of an outright dismissal of thr charges or an acquittal where it turns out everything was some sort of misunderstanding about him I think he’s played his last NHL game. If there is real testimony and we learn thr details it will be close to impossible to accept him back. Plus the league probably doesn’t formally suspend that group of players until after the resolution of thr prosecution so it’s possible they aren’t even eligible to play for another four or five years if ever.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

What’s the latest info on Michael McLeod. UFA/RFA ? Legal standing now? Any chance of a return?

Thankfully there appears to be no chance of return.

 

[NJDevs26]

I actually think the defense has been a far bigger culprit in the soft meme tbh, it’s not like forwards are trying to stop other forwards one on one in front of the net the majority of the time. When you have a small, finesse D that’s a lot more impactful in letting other forwards skate without physical pushback and park in front of the net than having small, finesse forwards, hence Fitz getting the bulldozer out there.

The issue with the forwards isn’t that they’re soft necessarily, it’s that they’re small and inherently more of an injury risk against other teams’ physical players. Plus there just isn’t enough variety there, you do need one big guy on each line to balance things out a little bit. You can’t only have one way to score, that is what makes you easier to shut down when skill gets clamped down on in bigger games.

 

[JimEIV]

And I'll add one another thing...if I wore that big "C" on my chest and the GM was popping off every chance he got about being easy to play against....I would take it as a personal indictment.

Because that's what leaders do.

 

[tailfins]

I actually think the defense has been a far bigger culprit in the soft meme tbh, it’s not like forwards are trying to stop other forwards one on one in front of the net the majority of the time. When you have a small, finesse D that’s a lot more impactful in letting other forwards skate without physical pushback and park in front of the net than having small, finesse forwards, hence Fitz getting the bulldozer out there.

The issue with the forwards isn’t that they’re soft necessarily, it’s that they’re small and inherently more of an injury risk against other teams’ physical players. Plus there just isn’t enough variety there, you do need one big guy on each line to balance things out a little bit. You can’t only have one way to score, that is what makes you easier to shut down when skill gets clamped down on in bigger games.

1 skinny, 1 medium, 2 fat!