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

[MasterofGrond]

Your Graves hate so dumb. He’s not bad at all.

He’s mediocre, and not particularly good defensively. He’s a fine defenseman, but needs a good partner to cover his warts.

Sevs, who I love, is not the right guy.

 

[Hisch13r]

He’s mediocre, and not particularly good defensively. He’s a fine defenseman, but needs a good partner to cover his warts.

Sevs, who I love, is not the right guy.

He is a perfectly competent 2nd pair Dman

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Graves is okay. He seems like a guy someone will overpay. I’d take him back for the right deal though.

 

[Blackjack]

He is a perfectly competent 2nd pair Dman

Then who is it? Four perfectly competent defensemen wouldn’t be getting caved like this. Is it Severson? Siegenthaler?

Graves is barely passable, he’s better than Smith but that’s about the best you can say.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Then who is it? Four perfectly competent defensemen wouldn’t be getting caved like this. Is it Severson? Siegenthaler?

Graves is barely passable, he’s better than Smith but that’s about the best you can say.

Siegenthaler has been particularly terrible of late. He must be nursing something.

 

[Devils090]

Not really a fan of Graves, I’d take him back on 2 year deal at most but I think we just give his spot to Luke next year and save some money.

 

[Blackjack]

Siegenthaler has been particularly terrible of late. He must be nursing something.

He has been quite a bit worse recently and still better than Graves.

 

[jkrdevil]

Siegenthaler has been particularly terrible of late. He must be nursing something.

Probably is, but also probably getting stiffer competition. They were using a Graves-Marino before the pair got hurt.

I think the dip in play is a combination of 3 things:

1. Marino being out For a lengthy period of time. It has a cumulative effect. Other defensemen have to play a bigger role because Bahl and Oh can’t be trusted. Over time there wear out a bit.
2. The bottom 6 hitting a wall. The BMW line has been bad, and Wood is probably playing injured. They haven’t gotten much out of who ever is the third line.
3. Schedule ano travel. They traveled a lot in the past month, including a trip to the west coast, back and then out to the Midwest. That wears on a team at a point in the season guys are starting to nurse stuff.

The break comes at a good time. They can rest up. Marino will presumably be back after the break, slotting the defense correctly. Then it is three weeks until the deadline and reinforcements.

 

[GameSeven]

Devils’ assistant GM reveals plan for prospects Luke Hughes, Shakir Mukhamadullin, more

Devils assistant GM Dan MacKinnon revealed the plan for his top prospects to NJ Advance Media on Friday.

www.nj.com

Article confirming everyone's expectations with Luke going pro at the end of the NCAA season.

Also snippets on Muk and Gritsyuk.

Also buried in the content, I did not know that Sergei Nemchinov is a Devil's scout in Russia.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

damn, so it sounds like Grisyuk might stay over there another year or two...not sure I like the sound of that.

 

[Nocashstyle]

No sure if it’s been brought up yet, but for all the talk about a specific Devils forward who may or may not be pacing to break the franchise single season goal and point record…there’s also a certain defenseman who is pacing to break the single season goal total and just under the point pace right now…although Stevens had 83 games to do it.

But we’re not talking about any of that.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

damn, so it sounds like Grisyuk might stay over there another year or two...not sure I like the sound of that.

He may be a San Jose Shark

 

[MasterofGrond]

dougie is actually only 4 points from his career high

 

[Nocashstyle]

dougie is actually only 4 points from his career high

With only 33 more games to go. I wonder if he gets it?

 

[Hisch13r]

With only 33 more games to go. I wonder if he gets it?

Well let's hope he doesn't break his leg again. He was going to do it in 19-20 and then it broke then

 

[Eggtimer]

My dream world addition on D if Graves and Severson walks - Orlov . Upcoming UFA . No way Caps are dumb enough to not resign him. Orlov is one of a few players I have always wanted on the Devils ( that is somewhat realistic) I think he currently makes 5 mil per. 31 years old . Even if the Caps dont extend him , some team would offer him way more years than what we need him for . I’d like a solid veteran D that is very solid defensively to pair with Luke or any rookie we use in the lineup. Not sure who that will be. Any above average guys will not want to sign a one or two year deal , and with Luke , Nemec , Mukhamadoulin, Bahl , Okhotiuk close to ready ,it doesn’t make sense to sign an expensive guy long term. It will be tricky to find a good stop-gap player . Kulikov ? Gudas?

 

[Hisch13r]

My dream world addition on D if Graves and Severson walks - Orlov . Upcoming UFA . No way Caps are dumb enough to not resign him. Orlov is one of a few players I have always wanted on the Devils ( that is somewhat realistic)

At that point I'd rather just keep Sevo. You could probably get him to sign for a bit of a discount to stay while Orlov's probably looking at a big deal as a UFA

 

[FooteBahl]

With only 33 more games to go. I wonder if he gets it?

With his recent pace, he’ll get it by game 30 or 29

 

[Zippy316]

My dream world addition on D if Graves and Severson walks - Orlov . Upcoming UFA . No way Caps are dumb enough to not resign him. Orlov is one of a few players I have always wanted on the Devils ( that is somewhat realistic)

I’d rather just take a run at Graves than pay Orlov a UFA contract. Orlov would be a nice pick up though.

What Fitz does with this defense will definitely play itself out when we see what Luke and Nemec look like when they get a game or two at some point.

Unless those two just blow the doors off, I think we end up grabbing another Graves like defender to add some depth.

 

[RSeen]

Graves is solid defensively - he faces tough matchups. He is not the best puck mover but if he was more competent, his price tag would be much higher.

For a 2nd pair Dman, I have a hard time complaining about what he brings.

 

[Classic Devil]

Devils’ assistant GM reveals plan for prospects Luke Hughes, Shakir Mukhamadullin, more

Devils assistant GM Dan MacKinnon revealed the plan for his top prospects to NJ Advance Media on Friday.

www.nj.com

Article confirming everyone's expectations with Luke going pro at the end of the NCAA season.

Also snippets on Muk and Gritsyuk.

Also buried in the content, I did not know that Sergei Nemchinov is a Devil's scout in Russia.

I always liked Nemchinov. I turned him into the Art Ross winner in NHL2002 a few times.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Graves is solid defensively - he faces tough matchups. He is not the best puck mover but if he was more competent, his price tag would be much higher.

For a 2nd pair Dman, I have a hard time complaining about what he brings.

He definitely seems to have a habit of panicking with the puck, especially late in a game, and it can be costly. I don’t want to say “mentally weak,” but he certainly lets nerves get the better of him. I kind of fear what he’s going to look like in the playoffs. I know Avs fans were completely fed up with him because of that.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Boy howdy. If people think we would have won 9 games in the last month with last year’s goaltenders, then Id like what they are having.

The overall team play hasn’t been good for a while now.

 

[Guttersniped]

Probably is, but also probably getting stiffer competition. They were using a Graves-Marino before the pair got hurt.

I think the dip in play is a combination of 3 things:

1. Marino being out For a lengthy period of time. It has a cumulative effect. Other defensemen have to play a bigger role because Bahl and Oh can’t be trusted. Over time there wear out a bit.
2. The bottom 6 hitting a wall. The BMW line has been bad, and Wood is probably playing injured. They haven’t gotten much out of who ever is the third line.
3. Schedule ano travel. They traveled a lot in the past month, including a trip to the west coast, back and then out to the Midwest. That wears on a team at a point in the season guys are starting to nurse stuff.

The break comes at a good time. They can rest up. Marino will presumably be back after the break, slotting the defense correctly. Then it is three weeks until the deadline and reinforcements.

The BMW hasn’t been bad in results at least defensively at least.

The MW without B yes, but the BMW line is still 6 GF & 1 GA after 161:28.

Are they a little lucky? Maybe?

Or is it…

Wood & McLeod w/ out Bastian, 179:34 w/ 6 GF & 11 GA

 

[Killing Joke]

Carolina is a great team, but they're not winning the Stanley Cup with Jesperi Kotkaniemi centering the 2nd line. It's just that simple -- every cup winner is two deep up the middle, and I cannot think of a recent exception. I watch a lot of Carolina, and they've tried the aging duo of Stastny and Staal as the 2C for short periods but always seem to bafflingly want to go back to Kotkaniemi to justify their immature "Take that Montreal!" RFA acquisition of him. The fact is, Kotkaniemi certainly cost them a far superior 2C option in Trocheck and, to NJ's benefit, also contributed to their losing Dougie Hamilton.

One would have to think the Hurricanes will go after a Bo Horvat or Ryan O'Reilly at the deadline. They already have 4 legit top-6 wingers in Svechnikov, Necas, Teravainen and Jarvis but all four of their stats have been hurt by the fact they only have one top-6 center to rotate them around in Sebastian Aho.

I honestly feel the Timo Meier sweepstakes are going to come down to the Devils and Rangers. The Devils have a clear advantage in prospect depth, but if the Rangers include Alexis Lafreniere in a deal (which I feel they will), then all bets are off.

The rangers don’t have the cap space for meier. Especially a long term deal around 9 million which is apparently what meier is saying he wants.

The devils have a forward forward prospect and some d prospects they can fire San Jose’s way along with a roster player that can fit their timeline. We have the best chance to get him out of anyone in the league and are going to be a cup contender very soon and have a longer window than a team like the rangers who’s window honestly closed given the downward trend for Panarin and Kreider and their lack of developing forwards.