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

[Camille the Eel]

two things need to happen this year for us to do some damage

goalies have to make timely saves no more soft goals that deflate the team

then most importantly jack has to stay healthy if he misses time 15+ games its going to suck the life out of the team

We need to become less dependent on Jack Hughs and more of an all around balanced team to which he makes his contributions. But not just the Jack Hughes show. Because the idea of being so very dependent on one player, however dynamic he may be, is a huge vulnerability. So I don't like the idea that if he misses time we automatically can't do damage. We have enough other talent so that we should be able to win both with and without him. One of Keefe's bigger challenges is making the team less dependent on Jack while still exploiting his extraordinary gifts. Ruff - who was hired to develop Jack and whose legacy here he is - seemed to let him pretty much do what he wanted and the results were often amazing. But to be a consistent powerhouse and challenge for a cup I think we need to play more of a team game.

This is a big deal of course because the Devils have been Jack's team since he's been here, he's the big attraction on the road, people pay to watch him play, and as Jack Hughes has gone so have gone the Devils. That is a big vulnerability however. Because when he's literally been "gone" with injury we've not been competitive. It would be wonderful to see him play all 82 games this coming season. If he does, we don't have any issues. But there's no reason we shouldn't be able to rely on good defense, systematic play and our balanced talent, and win even if Jack does miss some time.

The power play is obviously a point of focus in this connection too. He feasted on it during the early part of last year and I hope that continues. If he's going to play more of a reliable defensive role within a system,, the power play is an obvious place where he can cut loose to a greater degree.

Edmonton was running a whole bunch of creative weaves and implicit pick plays for McDavid up top during the finals, in essence not just one forward up high but sometimes two of them, often cycling past each other to rub off the defense (almost basketball like on the perimeter) and I imagine we will see Keefe and company incorporating some of that stuff for Jack, as when something catches on in the league it generally gets copied.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Jack is back on the ice, ramping up. Monster season upcoming...praying that shoulder is back to 100%

Noooooooo look how slow his stickhandling is! His shoulder's cooked!

 

[vtdevils2k]

Noooooooo look how slow his stickhandling is! His shoulder's cooked!

Watch people say, where is Luke? lol

Also, future Devil, Quinn looks great!

 

[Triumph]

I thought when Ruff got canned he was moved to RW. Oh well.

This is a myth that the board has repeated to itself over and over. It is not true.

 

[Devs3cups]

This is a myth that the board has repeated to itself over and over. It is not true.

I believe he played a few games at RW, including the hat trick game against St-Louis, but yeah, I recall him playing LW to end the year.

 

[Maine Fan]

The CapFriendly site that offered Cap Info by team has been purchased by the Washington Capitols and shut down to the public.

However Cap info by team can be found at the site:

PuckPedia - NHL Salary Cap, Player Contracts and Salary Cap Analysis | Puckpedia

puckpedia.com

The Bruins have $8,64M available with Swayman not signed as of 12:30 AM on 7/13.

 

[Maine Fan]

CapFriendly site that provided Cap Space information by teams has been purchased by the Washington Capitols and closed to the public.

Here is a site that will provide the same info.

PuckPedia - NHL Salary Cap, Player Contracts and Salary Cap Analysis | Puckpedia

puckpedia.com

Example the NJ Devils have $4.98 M available as of 7/1


2 to resign RFA like Mercer, Daws and others.

Check it out.

Let's Go Devils

 

[TrufleShufle]

Noooooooo look how slow his stickhandling is! His shoulder's cooked!

I know you are just joking, but he is skating really slow in that clip, if he goes into next season at that speed, he is going to get eaten alive by guys who can make sharp turns.

 

[glenwo2]

This capfriendly clone isn’t bad: https://capwages.com/teams/new_jersey_devils

Everyone needs to bookmark this.

 

[Hisch13r]

He ended the year on the left side and had good results, so I went with the assumption he'd start there! A lot of questions with the line combinations, excited to see what happens.

If they play Meier at RW though, it complicates things, it's also why I think it might not happen. Can Mercer play left wing? Cause if not Palat probably has to slot into the top 6.

It really doesn’t complicate things. The LW/RW debate isn’t a relevant factor here but he should still be that RW with Tatar-Nico. Idk why people act like it has to be Mercer there. Tatar-Nico were just as good with Zetterlund as with Mercer. Meier should be the guy there. Mercer the RW with Jack and Bratt. If you’re not putting Timo with Nico then you’re far better off letting him try and drive that 3rd line now that he’s healthy than make both him and Jack worse forcing them together.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Jack is back on the ice, ramping up. Monster season upcoming...praying that shoulder is back to 100%

My favorite thing was seeing a video of him on insta enjoying a concert and one of the comments was “why isn’t he in the gym getting stronger!!” As if he didn’t rehab earlier in the day and should be in the gym at 10p.

 

[Triumph]

I believe he played a few games at RW, including the hat trick game against St-Louis, but yeah, I recall him playing LW to end the year.

Fair enough, he absolutely did play RW that game, and it's safe to assume he was playing RW when he was with Palat - that was only 100 minutes though. He was the LW generally when he was playing with Bratt.

It really doesn’t complicate things. The LW/RW debate isn’t a relevant factor here but he should still be that RW with Tatar-Nico. Idk why people act like it has to be Mercer there. Tatar-Nico were just as good with Zetterlund as with Mercer. Meier should be the guy there. Mercer the RW with Jack and Bratt. If you’re not putting Timo with Nico then you’re far better off letting him try and drive that 3rd line now that he’s healthy than make both him and Jack worse forcing them together.

While it is a largely new coaching staff, Bratt-Hughes-Mercer was literally never a line in the last two seasons. I will be surprised if they go with that.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

There's a reason it looks so familiar...

They need to make some changes - folks saying they're gonna get hit with copyright infringement for not changing things a bit.

can you still get hit with copyright infringement for something that doesn't exist anymore? Not sure how that works tbh

 

[Hisch13r]

Fair enough, he absolutely did play RW that game, and it's safe to assume he was playing RW when he was with Palat - that was only 100 minutes though. He was the LW generally when he was playing with Bratt.



While it is a largely new coaching staff, Bratt-Hughes-Mercer was literally never a line in the last two seasons. I will be surprised if they go with that.

I know it hasn’t been and I haven’t been a fan of the Jack-Mercer pairing but Bratt’s great with both and the 3 of them together should work.

 

[Guadana]

I know it hasn’t been and I haven’t been a fan of the Jack-Mercer pairing but Bratt’s great with both and the 3 of them together should work.

Actually we dont know the vision of Keefe. May be he will try to build more top-9/bottom line team with Mercer on the third line with Haula, may be he will try to build top-6/bottom-6 structured team.


We dont know what kind of the strategy he will use, who will adapt better, who will work together better, how guys like Mercer develop their game, how far Palat, Haula and Tatar will step back if they will or bounce back.

I would like to add one more player from the market - Cousins, Sprong, JVR or even Vrana. I believe we will see some PTO additions.

 

[Hisch13r]

Actually we dont know the vision of Keefe. May be he will try to build more top-9/bottom line team with Mercer on the third line with Haula, may be he will try to build top-6/bottom-6 structured team.


We dont know what kind of the strategy he will use, who will adapt better, who will work together better, how guys like Mercer develop their game, how far Palat, Haula and Tatar will step back if they will or bounce back.

I would like to add one more player from the market - Cousins, Sprong, JVR or even Vrana. I believe we will see some PTO additions.

It doesn’t really matter if Mercer’s top 6 or 3rd line we’re still going to have a more traditional top 6 bottom 6. Mercer hasn’t show he can produce without the big guns and I don’t expect that to change too much even if he gets better. He’ll likely be a good complimentary top 6 piece. Only way it’s really more of a top 9/fourth line is if Bratt or Meier are on the 3rd line

If there’s any chance of signing Sprong I’m all over that. I think with Sprong you could have a more top 9/fourth line since he creates soooooo much offense. Palat-Haula could cover for him defensively

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Actually we dont know the vision of Keefe. May be he will try to build more top-9/bottom line team with Mercer on the third line with Haula, may be he will try to build top-6/bottom-6 structured team.


We dont know what kind of the strategy he will use, who will adapt better, who will work together better, how guys like Mercer develop their game, how far Palat, Haula and Tatar will step back if they will or bounce back.

I would like to add one more player from the market - Cousins, Sprong, JVR or even Vrana. I believe we will see some PTO additions.

I would love to take a chance on Vrana. The forward depth looks much more pedestrian to me with McLeod and Holtz gone for good.

It probably goes without saying but a major bounceback from Mercer would be ideal. I don't know if the 3C role is the right spot for him long term, but that's where I see a major hole in the lineup. We went from having incredible center depth with Hischier, Hughes, McLeod, Mercer, Boqvist, and then marginal c's like Zacha and Sharangovich to relying on a 33/34yo Haula to anchor a contending 3rd line.

 

[theoptimist]

And if Haula needs time away, Lazar 3C? Need to fix the McLeod problem - a cheap, faceoff specialist/PKer will do

 

[Patrik26]

Everyone needs to bookmark this.

Already did.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

And if Haula needs time away, Lazar 3C? Need to fix the McLeod problem - a cheap, faceoff specialist/PKer will do

how much NHL center depth do you think the average team has?

 

[Hisch13r]

how much NHL center depth do you think the average team has?

I’d imagine most have more than 3 legit centers. Lazar’s never been a full time center and Mercer’s only ever worked in the middle with Bratt there to help him along. Idk how you can look at our center depth and act like it’s not an issue. Yeah Jack/Nico can mask a lot but we don’t even have 4 real full time centers and we don’t have many wingers that can fill in the middle.

 

[Guadana]

And if Haula needs time away, Lazar 3C? Need to fix the McLeod problem - a cheap, faceoff specialist/PKer will do

For me Haula as a third line center isnt as big problem as the fact we dont have any alternatives and often need Haula in top-6 role. If he will play 3C role regularly, it shouldnt be problem.

 

[BostonDevil]

We need to become less dependent on Jack Hughs and more of an all around balanced team to which he makes his contributions. But not just the Jack Hughes show. Because the idea of being so very dependent on one player, however dynamic he may be, is a huge vulnerability. So I don't like the idea that if he misses time we automatically can't do damage. We have enough other talent so that we should be able to win both with and without him. One of Keefe's bigger challenges is making the team less dependent on Jack while still exploiting his extraordinary gifts. Ruff - who was hired to develop Jack and whose legacy here he is - seemed to let him pretty much do what he wanted and the results were often amazing. But to be a consistent powerhouse and challenge for a cup I think we need to play more of a team game.

This is a big deal of course because the Devils have been Jack's team since he's been here, he's the big attraction on the road, people pay to watch him play, and as Jack Hughes has gone so have gone the Devils. That is a big vulnerability however. Because when he's literally been "gone" with injury we've not been competitive. It would be wonderful to see him play all 82 games this coming season. If he does, we don't have any issues. But there's no reason we shouldn't be able to rely on good defense, systematic play and our balanced talent, and win even if Jack does miss some time.

The power play is obviously a point of focus in this connection too. He feasted on it during the early part of last year and I hope that continues. If he's going to play more of a reliable defensive role within a system,, the power play is an obvious place where he can cut loose to a greater degree.

Edmonton was running a whole bunch of creative weaves and implicit pick plays for McDavid up top during the finals, in essence not just one forward up high but sometimes two of them, often cycling past each other to rub off the defense (almost basketball like on the perimeter) and I imagine we will see Keefe and company incorporating some of that stuff for Jack, as when something catches on in the league it generally gets copied.

Not that I disagree but teams tend to rely on their best players. That's how the league works outside of some outliers like Seattle a few years ago and, I guess, Carolina.

You mention we need to stop relying on Jack then point out how to fix the PP by...relying on Jack like Edmonton relies on McDavid..

The problem here, and your greater point is, he's fragile. That's the concern.

This reminds me, as a Patriots fan (sorry, only local team I like ), of Gronk. "Yeah, he's great but what are we going to do for the 6 games he misses every year." It didn't seem to make a huge difference because of that #12 guy, but I'm at the point where I'm expecting to miss Jack for 15-25 games every year until it's been proven otherwise.

Love the additions on the back end but was REALLY hoping Fitz was going to get someone else to weather the storm up front when Jack goes down. Then again maybe by not allowing as many goals, we don't need to score as many...

 

[Hisch13r]

Not that I disagree but teams tend to rely on their best players. That's how the league works outside of some outliers like Seattle a few years ago and, I guess, Carolina.

You mention we need to stop relying on Jack then point out how to fix the PP by...relying on Jack like Edmonton relies on McDavid..

The problem here, and your greater point is, he's fragile. That's the concern.

This reminds me, as a Patriots fan (sorry, only local team I like ), of Gronk. "Yeah, he's great but what are we going to do for the 6 games he misses every year." It didn't seem to make a huge difference because of that #12 guy, but I'm at the point where I'm expecting to miss Jack for 15-25 games every year until it's been proven otherwise.

Love the additions on the back end but was REALLY hoping Fitz was going to get someone else to weather the storm up front when Jack goes down. Then again maybe by not allowing as many goals, we don't need to score as many...

He’s had 2 seasons where he’s had multiple big injuries and another 3 where he played basically the entire year (granted 2 were shortened years). If the shoulders become nagging things I’ll be concerned. It’s not like the guy is getting lit up and can’t avoid contact leading to the injuries. 21-22 that happened but then 22-23 he played 78 games and last year the injuries were self inflicted.

 

[forceten]

can you still get hit with copyright infringement for something that doesn't exist anymore? Not sure how that works tbh

No. The look and feel is generic and they aren't infringing anything. If they stole the site's code, that would be one thing, but obviously they didn't since there are numerous features from capfriendly still missing. It's a great start though and I don't doubt it will catch up within this season. Shows that the Crapitals could have built something themselves.

For me Haula as a third line center isnt as big problem as the fact we dont have any alternatives and often need Haula in top-6 role. If he will play 3C role regularly, it shouldnt be problem.

Haula is a legitimate NHL 3C I think. Lazar is a poor man's McLeod, and at three years older is unlikely to develop further. That said he's got high energy, speed, a little sandpaper, and is incredibly likable. Great team guy. Absolutely worth the pick we spent on him and he should play more than not.

Noesen and Cotter have potential - depends on how well they fit with their foot speed. Halonen looks like he would be a fine 4th liner. We have pieces, it's just a matter of figuring out where they fit. I wouldn't be surprised if we're a touch slow out of the gate this year, while everything shakes out.