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

[ThePrideofStockholm]

I really hope that we are done drafting players from Djurgården, Josefsson, Urbom and Holtz, I cant take another of my guys failing from my home town team

 

[Hisch13r]

Palat with consistent top-6 time and a healthy lineup could also maybe hit 60

lol Stop it

 

[JimEIV]

PIM leaders by year

2024 Bahl 82 (21 more than Smith in second)
2023 Miles Wood 76
2022 PK Subban 82
2021 McLeod 42 *56 game season
2020 PK Subban 79
2019 Miles Wood 91
2018 Miles Wood 84
2017 Miles Wood 86
2016 Jordan Tootoo 102 and Bobby Farnham had 92

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

I remember hearing about a goalie from another team wanting to work with Legace even though he was working with the BJs at the time. I thought it was Korpisalo but it was Campbell and it was after Legace was let go:

Oilers’ Jack Campbell joined by Manny Legace in Bakersfield

 

[Hisch13r]

Dillon was on with Dimitri Filipovich on the PDOCast today. When he started talking about the Devils talent the first guy he mentioned was Bratt and how Bratt dashes him up every time he plays him. Then he mentioned Jack and having the puck on a string all the time. NOT HARD TO PLAY AGAINST!!!!!!

 

[MartyOwns]

i'm still catching up, but are we saying we want guys who take a lot of penalties now?

 

[My3Sons]

Dillon was on with Dimitri Filipovich on the PDOCast today. When he started talking about the Devils talent the first guy he mentioned was Bratt and how Bratt dashes him up every time he plays him. Then he mentioned Jack and having the puck on a string all the time. NOT HARD TO PLAY AGAINST!!!!!!

It’s a term that people get to define for themselves in different ways and rarely is the definition discussed and agreed upon before the conclusions are thrown around.

 

[ndkjr70]

PIM leaders by year

2024 Bahl 82 (21 more than Smith in second)
2023 Miles Wood 76
2022 PK Subban 82
2021 McLeod 42 *56 game season
2020 PK Subban 79
2019 Miles Wood 91
2018 Miles Wood 84
2017 Miles Wood 86
2016 Jordan Tootoo 102 and Bobby Farnham had 92

that’s nothing if not a list of the best players this franchise has proudly put on display these past 8 seasons.

look at those beauties. give me a team of those guys. throw 3 miles woods on a line and we are f***in’ cooking. 2022 PK Subban is an all-timer of a hockey player.

 

[Devils731]

Dillon was on with Dimitri Filipovich on the PDOCast today. When he started talking about the Devils talent the first guy he mentioned was Bratt and how Bratt dashes him up every time he plays him. Then he mentioned Jack and having the puck on a string all the time. NOT HARD TO PLAY AGAINST!!!!!!

Those guys may scored goals and were hard to stop but how many bruises did Dillon take? (Blocking shot bruises don’t count)

 

[Bcap88]

Being hard to play against and being tough aren’t mutually exclusive

Marian Hossa was hard to play against but wasn’t really tough

 

[Hisch13r]

Being hard to play against and being tough aren’t mutually exclusive

Marian Hossa was hard to play against but wasn’t really tough

Might be a crazy take but I think it’s hard to play against good players lol

 

[JimEIV]

that’s nothing if not a list of the best players this franchise has proudly put on display these past 8 seasons.

look at those beauties. give me a team of those guys. throw 3 miles woods on a line and we are f***in’ cooking. 2022 PK Subban is an all-timer of a hockey player.

Yet we spent 4 million dollars a year for 3 years on a 34 year old defender to replace exactly that element .. . Interesting.

Dillon did have 92 PIMs last year.

On this board Jack Bratt hard to play against like a really physical tennis match ... Serena better look out Jack and Bratt are coming.

Hard to play against



And the response is phenomenal!

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Yet we spent 4 million dollars a year for 3 years on a 34 year old defender to replace exactly that element .. . Interesting.

Dillon did have 92 PIMs last year.

On this board Jack Bratt hard to play against like a really physical tennis match ... Serena better look out Jack and Bratt are coming.

Hard to play against



And the response is phenomenal!

99% of NHL players are hurting their shoulder on that and Lauzon is f***ing garbage. If he gets thrown out of a game as a 5/6D and he took a legit penalty against a superstar, he's done the best thing he can lol

 

[Hisch13r]

As I’ve always said Sidney Crosby is not hard to play against.

 

[JimEIV]

I love this twisting yourselves into pretzels to redefine "Hard to play against" when Fitz has clearly articulated what means over and over for the last 3 years...at least.

And he doesn't mean puck possession.

We're a soft team. We have been for a long time. To deny that is just silly... it's almost Orwellian...and if you made a list of the softest players descending, Jack and Bratt would be at the top. Nico wouldn't be too far behind. Well, we Tatar again so maybe we might have to rearrange the marshmallow depth chart.

 

[BurntToast]

I just want to say. I think we as fans were a lot closer to getting March than we realized.

He was linked to the Devils, until the Stamkos signing. Which he said helped persuaded him to select Predators over others.

I am happy the Devils didn’t over react with another bad contract. I think Tatar and his contract is a win-win for both parties.

I also think they addressed team speed. Cotter and Tatar have more zip than Nosek/Tierney. Lazar was a slight downgrade to the “criminal”, but still serviceable. There should be some speed on each line.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I love this twisting yourselves into pretzels to redefine "Hard to play against" when Fitz has clearly articulated what means over and over for the last 3 years...at least.

And he doesn't mean puck possession.

We're a soft team. We have been for a long time. To deny that is just silly... it's almost Orwellian...and if you made a list of the softest players descending, Jack and Bratt would be at the top. Nico wouldn't be too far behind. Well, we Tatar again so maybe we might have to rearrange the marshmallow depth chart.

I wouldn't outright disagree with you. I think hard to play against and soft are two different things. And frankly yeah, I think we have been soft.

However, I'm starting to wonder if you watched Bratt last year. He was a beast. Guys were bouncing off of him and no one could get the puck from him or knock him off his feet. He didn't throw any big hits, but he was also anything but soft. He's just so talented he's often clowning players with his skating and skill. And people see that and think "perimeter player". That's simply not true. He's a freaking unicorn.

Admittedly he wasn't always that way. I think he took a big step last year and was noticeably stronger.

 

[Blackjack]

I just want to say. I think we as fans were a lot closer to getting March than we realized.

What? We had been told that it was a done deal. How does it get closer than that?

Like the Gaudreau contract before, missing out on this turd of a contract is nothing to cry about.

 

[TrufleShufle]

As I’ve always said Sidney Crosby is not hard to play against.

I know the point you are trying to make, but in the sense that is being talked about ("hard to play against") that people keep pretending not to know what it means out of fear someone is actually saying the team sucks, Crosby in his early years was not. After one of his longer times out, he definitely came back with a lot more bite in his game and became much harder to play against, again in the sense it's actually being talked about.

If you aren't just pretending, an easy example to understand is Brad Marchand is harder to play against than Jack Hughes. Jack Hughes is way better at hockey and you would rather Brad Marchand coming at you with the puck on his stick than Jack Hughes 10/10 as a defender.

Another example is using "hard" and "difficult" to mean slightly different things. Moving 20 50lb bags of concrete from one side of a yard to the other is hard, not difficult for anyone that is able to physically lift that much. Mixing, pouring, setting and finishing that concrete is difficult and with out years of practice, you probably won't be able to do it.

Brad Marchand is hard to play against, most decent players can do it, but it takes a lot of you and is exhausting. Jack Hughes is difficult to play against, even the best players will have a hard time knowing what's coming next, directing him where they need him to go to be less of a threat and even just not looking foolish in general.

Mixing the two? Being exhausted dealing with Brad and then having to play the mental game of playing against Jack? I don't think I have to explain any further.

And I picked Brad at random and also bonus because he is small. Don't want Brad and the person who is "hard to play against" isn't just someone big. You(general people) can say Brad Marchand is really good or really sucks to discredit everything I just said, but the point still stands.

 

[NJDevs26]

People jump the shark just as much to say being skilled isn't being easy to play, as if it's the same as being soft (and likewise erroneously equate being easy to play with being soft). No it's not easy to shut down skill but it's certainly easier when you're a completely one-dimensional skill line and have no other way to score when you aren't getting time and space all over the ice against bad and disinterested defenses in January.

 

[Hisch13r]

I know the point you are trying to make, but in the sense that is being talked about ("hard to play against") that people keep pretending not to know what it means out of fear someone is actually saying the team sucks, Crosby in his early years was not. After one of his longer times out, he definitely came back with a lot more bite in his game and became much harder to play against, again in the sense it's actually being talked about.

If you aren't just pretending, an easy example to understand is Brad Marchand is harder to play against than Jack Hughes. Jack Hughes is way better at hockey and you would rather Brad Marchand coming at you with the puck on his stick than Jack Hughes 10/10 as a defender.

Another example is using "hard" and "difficult" to mean slightly different things. Moving 20 50lb bags of concrete from one side of a yard to the other is hard, not difficult for anyone that is able to physically lift that much. Mixing, pouring, setting and finishing that concrete is difficult and with out years of practice, you probably won't be able to do it.

Brad Marchand is hard to play against, most decent players can do it, but it takes a lot of you and is exhausting. Jack Hughes is difficult to play against, even the best players will have a hard time knowing what's coming next, directing him where they need him to go to be less of a threat and even just not looking foolish in general.

Mixing the two? Being exhausted dealing with Brad and then having to play the mental game of playing against Jack? I don't think I have to explain any further.

And I picked Brad at random and also bonus because he is small. Don't want Brad and the person who is "hard to play against" isn't just someone big. You(general people) can say Brad Marchand is really good or really sucks to discredit everything I just said, but the point still stands.

No one is saying compete level doesn't matter. I’ve personally brought up Evan Rodrigues multiple times. It’s the acting like “hard to play against” is simply guys who big and out there throwing the body all the time and racking up the PIMs or acting like Jack isn’t “hard to play” against as if he doesn’t compete hard and didn’t play great in the playoffs.

 

[TrufleShufle]

No one is saying compete level doesn't matter. I’ve personally brought up Evan Rodrigues multiple times. It’s the acting like “hard to play against” is simply guys who big and out there throwing the body all the time and racking up the PIMs or acting like Jack isn’t “hard to play” against as if he doesn’t compete hard and didn’t play great in the playoffs.

No one is acting like that. People pretending not to understand what is being said when someone says "hard to play against" are pushing the conversation there.

I also pick Brad because he is not "simply big," to avoid that strawman. Also tried to convey that every knows Jack is insanely difficult to play against. So again, people are purposely avoiding understanding what is actually being said, for some weird reason.

 

[Darkauron]

Im tough to play against. No one wants to deal with me. Not even myself!

 

[JimEIV]

I think hard to play against and soft are two different things. And frankly yeah, I think we have been soft.

Not in the context Fitzgerald has been talking about it. He would never use the term "soft" to describe his team...when he has been talking about getting tougher to play against he clearly and unequivocally means getting tougher, meaner and nastier.... he's said it, he's used those words and words like them over and over... I'm not making it up.

 

[NjDevsRR]