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

[BostonDevil]

I'll take the 30 pts if he's giving us the two way playdriving he can for just 1.8 mil. Rather have that over a guy like Duclair who will definitely produce next to the stars but is also a defensive blackhole. I would've preferred to spend the extra mil on Roslovic for the C/W versatility but Tatar's a solid add.

Except Tatar can actually provide some offense and defense. Where as Smith was basically a PK specialist who played forward and D for us because we didnt have enough good PK defenseman.

He was over used for what he was supposed to be frankly.

No clue how it will turn out but if he comes back and is able to work with Nico the same way that will be a crazy line, if Tatar Nico and Timo can find it.

Nico's best season to date was with Tatar mostly on his line.

I'm not saying he's a bad guy and is the same player as Smith but I'm dreading that Smith Feeling when he's out there most of the time.

Tatar being the key to Nico is a stretch. Don't think we need Tatar to unlock Nico. If he's healthy, he's going to produce.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Cotter deal but he's 10 years younger and almost 1/3 the price. Could we have tried that again?

This far from a big deal but it is a roster spot I would have preferred go somewhere else. I've seen enough of Tatar.

The nostalgia is a little too strong in here sometimes.

 

[dgibb10]

Matt didn't crack 40 goals or 100 points till his 6th season in the league. Prior to that his career high was 34 goals and 77 points. Levels Brady has already eclipsed.

Last 3 seasons Matt has 109 goals. Brady 102.

I wonder how much of Brady's "defensive woes" are playing on a crap team.


Except we saw very little of Lazar as a center last year.

Not that I'm against the idea, just the Devils haven't shown they are gung ho for it.

Matthew had fantastic defensive results even when he was 19 year sold. Whether calgary was a playoff team or not, Matthew had great defensive results.

Brady Tkachuk was drafted 2 years after Matthew. He's the exact same age as matthew was when he was traded. Matthew had a 40 goal, 105 point season under his belt.

If you actually take a look into it, you'll find Brady Tkachuk has virtually identical production to a healthy Timo Meier over the last 3 years (taking out the 14 games he played in december where he could barely skate due to 2 MCL injuries).

Matthew has had 2 40 goal seasons now, and this past year he had 41 xGoals with just some pretty brutal shooting luck. He generates significantly more offense than Brady, and is lightyears ahead defensively.

 

[devilsblood]

Tyler Bertuzzi suuuuuucks. What are we doing here??

Why do people think this? Scored 20+ 4 times in his career. On ice numbers look aight, especially good last year. Draws more penalties then he takes. Giveaway takeaway ratio was in line last year.

Not saying he's really good, but doesn't seem to deserve some of the heat he takes.

 

[dgibb10]

Problem is we have no one behind him. We REALLY need to sign an AHL-NHL tweener or two we can call up in case of emergencies. I have no confidence in who we have in Utica right now, and anyway, they could use a decent center down there.

Lazar is better on the wing regardless.

Cotter-Sturm-Lazar is a 4th line I would expect to be excellent.

Cotter-Lazar-Bastian I'm not nearly as sure about, especially when you're likely 1 injury to lazar away from disaster (Kurtis Macdermid)

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

@NjDevsRR is the Lighthouse of Dano meme posters.

 

[Hisch13r]

Lazar is better on the wing regardless.

Cotter-Sturm-Lazar is a 4th line I would expect to be excellent.

Cotter-Lazar-Bastian I'm not nearly as sure about, especially when you're likely 1 injury to lazar away from disaster (Kurtis Macdermid)

I wouldn't be too surprised if MacDermid's already ahead of Nate. Keefe played Reaves 49 times last season

 

[devilsblood]

Matthew had fantastic defensive results even when he was 19 year sold. Whether calgary was a playoff team or not, Matthew had great defensive results.

Brady Tkachuk was drafted 2 years after Matthew. He's the exact same age as matthew was when he was traded. Matthew had a 40 goal, 105 point season under his belt.

If you actually take a look into it, you'll find Brady Tkachuk has virtually identical production to a healthy Timo Meier over the last 3 years (taking out the 14 games he played in december where he could barely skate due to 2 MCL injuries).

Matthew has had 2 40 goal seasons now, and this past year he had 41 xGoals with just some pretty brutal shooting luck. He generates significantly more offense than Brady, and is lightyears ahead defensively.

Again, last 3 season 108 goals for Matt, 102 for Brady.

Brady's on ice numbers look pretty darn good this year. 57% cf. 55% xGF. Edit: very good last season as well.

 

[Hisch13r]

I'm not saying he's a bad guy and is the same player as Smith but I'm dreading that Smith Feeling when he's out there most of the time.

Tatar being the key to Nico is a stretch. Don't think we need Tatar to unlock Nico. If he's healthy, he's going to produce.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Cotter deal but he's 10 years younger and almost 1/3 the price. Could we have tried that again?

This far from a big deal but it is a roster spot I would have preferred go somewhere else. I've seen enough of Tatar.

The nostalgia is a little too strong in here sometimes.

If we get anything even remotely close to Tatar from 2 years ago that's a substantially better player than Cotter. The only real issues with Tatar would be the playoff stuff but I only think he's a placeholder anyway for a TDL move and/or Gritsyuk

 

[Guttersniped]

Hardman is a BC guy so I'm sure the Devils staff knows him well and Colton White grew up in the Devils organization. With jobs on the line after last season, I'm not sure a lot of time and/or energy was spent addressing the AHL club.

FWIW, Rockford fans on here were hoping Hawks would re-sign Hardman.

I like the Hardman signing, he was I guy I was interested in, but Utica desperately needs more offense, and specifically, a top six center.

Plenty of other teams have addressed their AHL clubs with signing this year already.

The Devils traditionally make most of these signings for Utica on July 1st, like Kyle Criscuolo and Justin Dowling last year.

 

[devilsblood]

Lazar is better on the wing regardless.

Cotter-Sturm-Lazar is a 4th line I would expect to be excellent.

Cotter-Lazar-Bastian I'm not nearly as sure about, especially when you're likely 1 injury to lazar away from disaster (Kurtis Macdermid)

Would set us up for the 3 Nico's in 25-26.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Problem is we have no one behind him. We REALLY need to sign an AHL-NHL tweener or two we can call up in case of emergencies. I have no confidence in who we have in Utica right now, and anyway, they could use a decent center down there.

Ah, another cohort!

I like the Hardman signing, he was I guy I was interested in, but Utica desperately needs more offense, and specifically, a top six center.

Plenty of other teams have addressed their AHL clubs with signing this year already.

The Devils traditionally make most of these signings for Utica on July 1st, like Kyle Criscuolo and Justin Dowling last year.

Hardman is a LW/RW. That does nothing for the 4-yr empty 1st center slot as you well know.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I like the Hardman signing, he was I guy I was interested in, but Utica desperately needs more offense, and specifically, a top six center.

Plenty of other teams have addressed their AHL clubs with signing this year already.

The Devils traditionally make most of these signings for Utica on July 1st, like Kyle Criscuolo and Justin Dowling last year.

Hardman is a LW/RW. That does nothing for the 4-yr empty 1st center slot as you well know.

 

[My3Sons]

Hardman is a LW/RW. That does nothing for the 4-yr empty 1st center slot as you well know.

Thr organization is really barren in that department. They have two top guys and little else. With all the piles of defenders they have picked thr past few years it is surprising they couldn’t find a few center prospects they liked.

 

[Devs3cups]

I'd be furious if Fitz traded Nemec for Brady.

#1 D >>>>>>>>>> 1st line W.

Yup, 100% agreed. It’s not happening.

 

[JimEIV]

Don't know if this was posted anywhere but it's mildly interesting.

Don't think anything can really be learned from it but still worth a look...

 

[Comparison Ford]

Problem is we have no one behind him. We REALLY need to sign an AHL-NHL tweener or two we can call up in case of emergencies. I have no confidence in who we have in Utica right now, and anyway, they could use a decent center down there.

yeah the only one who showed a glimmer of something (in a mostly glimmerless season for everyone) was shane bowers.

 

[Nubmer6]

Don't think anything can really be learned from it but still worth a look...

Ya. We drafted a @&$(@/$ giraffe.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Ya. We drafted a @&$(@/$ giraffe.

Hopefully he's not chaotic...

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

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

As I said above there is not a defensemen in the league who would say Jack Hughes or Jesper Bratt are easy to play against.

Fitzgerald himself said the roster needed to be tougher to play against and felt the additions we made help that. With that in mind, it seems like he thinks our guys were too easy to play against

The argument seems to be over semantics and word-choice. Jack and co can be skilled and easy to play against; but they can also change that if they put their mind to it

 

[dgibb10]

Again, last 3 season 108 goals for Matt, 102 for Brady.

Brady's on ice numbers look pretty darn good this year. 57% cf. 55% xGF. Edit: very good last season as well.

Yes, Brady Tkachuk is ALMOST as good a goal scorer as matthew.

Unfortunately Matthew is twice the playmaker, and vastly better defensively. Brady Tkachuk also has somewhat inflated expected goals numbers.

Over his career Brady tkachuk has had 224 expected goals. Only 162 actual goals. It is not a 1 year unlucky trend. Every, single year, his actual goal numbers vastly trail behind his expected numbers.

22 goals on 28 xgoals, 21 goals on 34 xgoals, 17 goals on 27 xgoals, 30 goals on 36 xgoals, 35 goals on 52 xgoals, 37 goals on 57 xgoals. Those are the years of Brady's career.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Thr organization is really barren in that department. They have two top guys and little else. With all the piles of defenders they have picked thr past few years it is surprising they couldn’t find a few center prospects they liked.

You WOULD think wouldn't you?
I honestly believe it's because Fitz works so hard trying to do what he wants for the Devils, he doesn't have time to devote to the farm.

This is where MacKinnon should surface. Fitz should give him a budget to work with and he should be all over AHL/NHL tweener guys and bringing some on board. Nope he is busy bringing on AHL cannon fodder that he assigns to Adirondack for callups that usually prove worthless when Utica is desperate for help.

Dineen is no help either as he is not comfortable with extra bodies on his roster. He's so much of a "good guy" that he feels he has to play guys if they are on the roster. Thus, his roster does not carry guys that will sit out any length of time. So, he sends those that can go down to Adirondack. Those that can't he puts into the lineup on a rotational basis even if the guys they rotate with shouldn't be coming out. This keeps lower end AHL players away from Utica. They want AHL 1-ways, not the AHL 2-ways MacKinnon offers.

Heaven forbid the Devils experience enough injuries to need callups for a time. Their choices in Utica are "not so good", bad, and worse.

They have already seen the value of Willman, Bowers, Dowling, and Halonen (probably the best, but a wing only). Who they going to try next? Probably Hardman because they haven't tried him yet. Then who? Laberge? Stillman? Filmon? Maybe Beckman? He was traded here because the Wild saw him as their version of Clarke, a guy who just wasn't going to make it at the NHL level and they tried him with the big club a lot more than NJ tried Clarke, who he was traded for because NJ had the same opinon of him.

The Comets roster currently looks much like last season. Thus, not a lot of high expectations and not much that will be useful to the Devils. Even if they mange to get DeSimone, Hatakka, Bastian, and MacDermid through waivers in order to use their NHL money on another forward, Bastian and MacDermid become their callup forwards. If they end up trading Bastian in that forward deal, he won't even be available.

The D in DeSimone and Hatakka become good callups. That's even one for the left and one for the right. They would still have Casey, Misyul, and Vilen in reserve.

Goalies in Daws and Poulter aren't too shabby either.

Up front? Flip a coin and punt!

 

[devilsblood]

Yes, Brady Tkachuk is ALMOST as good a goal scorer as matthew.

Unfortunately Matthew is twice the playmaker, and vastly better defensively. Brady Tkachuk also has somewhat inflated expected goals numbers.

Over his career Brady tkachuk has had 224 expected goals. Only 162 actual goals. It is not a 1 year unlucky trend. Every, single year, his actual goal numbers vastly trail behind his expected numbers.

22 goals on 28 xgoals, 21 goals on 34 xgoals, 17 goals on 27 xgoals, 30 goals on 36 xgoals, 35 goals on 52 xgoals, 37 goals on 57 xgoals. Those are the years of Brady's career.

That xGF% is on ice, not individual.

I just don't see where in Brady's career that he was ever a bad defender. His on ice numbers, even in his early seasons, were amongst the best on the team.

Fitzgerald himself said the roster needed to be tougher to play against and felt the additions we made help that. With that in mind, it seems like he thinks our guys were too easy to play against

The argument seems to be over semantics and word-choice. Jack and co can be skilled and easy to play against; but they can also change that if they put their mind to it

Ya, very much semantics, people don't want to accept that "hard to play against" has a specific meaning.

 

[Hisch13r]

Thr organization is really barren in that department. They have two top guys and little else. With all the piles of defenders they have picked thr past few years it is surprising they couldn’t find a few center prospects they liked.

Fitz thinks he’ll combust if he addresses the center problem.

Yes, Brady Tkachuk is ALMOST as good a goal scorer as matthew.

Unfortunately Matthew is twice the playmaker, and vastly better defensively. Brady Tkachuk also has somewhat inflated expected goals numbers.

Over his career Brady tkachuk has had 224 expected goals. Only 162 actual goals. It is not a 1 year unlucky trend. Every, single year, his actual goal numbers vastly trail behind his expected numbers.

22 goals on 28 xgoals, 21 goals on 34 xgoals, 17 goals on 27 xgoals, 30 goals on 36 xgoals, 35 goals on 52 xgoals, 37 goals on 57 xgoals. Those are the years of Brady's career.

Brady’s elite at stuffing rebounds right into the goalies pads

 

[devilsblood]

Don't know if this was posted anywhere but it's mildly interesting.

Don't think anything can really be learned from it but still worth a look...

Geezus, who is #81?

Brady’s elite at stuffing rebounds right into the goalies pads

To the tune of 102 goals the last 3 seasons.

 

[dgibb10]

Geezus, who is #81?


To the tune of 102 goals the last 3 seasons.

yes and Timo Meier has 103 goals over the last 3 years. Like I said, he's much closer to Timo than he is Matthew.

Nobody is saying Brady Tkachuk isn't a productive goal scorer