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

[BostonDevil]

I just don't really get the Markstrom hype.

Have you seen our goaltending for the last handful of years? Jake Allen has our hearts aflutter.

I'm fine with Markstrom. Would rather have Saros but I sort of like the idea of an older guy coming in here with 2 years left and will be out the door soon enough.

If you trade for Saros, it's more of a commitment. A commitment in assets of players, money and time. You're going to have to pay big to bring him here, then spend big to keep him for a long time.

You better get it right, and at this point, with this GM, with this position, I assume he will do the wrong thing.

Markstrom would be lower risk all around.

 

[Triumph]

The thing with Smith is weird, he was a healthy scratch down the stretch last year yet somehow can't come out of the lineup this year despite his really poor play.

They're down two defenders and they don't trust a lot of the others to kill penalties. Smith is unplayable at ES but his results on the PK are quite good and he's been on PK1 for a while.

 

[None Shall Pass]

If we can get Markstrom for like a 2nd round pick / an equivalent prospect, fine whatever. I think he stinks but goalies are voodoo anyway.

I won't have the Nico Daws slander, though. He's a very good young goalie who hasn't played much because he got double hip surgery, and he played well when Ruff wasn't running him into the ground. He's going to be a fine NHL goalie within the next few years.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Nemec hasn’t been good? What in Danonation….


You literally won’t see a better two way dman at his age again in a very long time

 

[MadDevil]

Nemec hasn’t been good? What in Danonation….


You literally won’t see a better two way dman at his age again in a very long time

Jim just needs a high pick to bitch about.

 

[BostonDevil]

If we can get Markstrom for like a 2nd round pick / an equivalent prospect, fine whatever. I think he stinks but goalies are voodoo anyway.

I won't have the Nico Daws slander, though. He's a very good young goalie who hasn't played much because he got double hip surgery, and he played well when Ruff wasn't running him into the ground. He's going to be a fine NHL goalie within the next few years.

Kinda why I wouldn't mind Markstrom. Gives Daws a few years to get back and at that point we can make a decision.

Saros would essentially mean that him and Akira are done here and I think it's too early for that.

 

[Guttersniped]

But that's not really why we stepped back.

We stepped back because Siegs and Marino regressed big time and Dougie got hurt.

Honestly Bahl has not been as much of a problem this year when he isn't asked too do too much, and Luke was a positive player for at least half the season even with hiccups.

It's a misidentification of what went wrong here which could lead to issues with how he chooses to fix things.

It goes along with I don't think coaching or management has any issues with Brandon Smith and what he has brought this team when they really should when identifying what has and hasn't worked.

The issue about calling the team soft is simply a player availability issue. The players that can solve that issue without trading a major NHL piece away or arent a net negative on the ice aren't available.

The tough guys that are regularly available are usually those locker room types that can't play hockey that GMs love for some reason.

They shouldn’t have any issue with Smith because he costs 1.1m and he’s one of the best PK guys in the NHL.

I want good moves too but how we spent ~1m on Smith or Nosek is not a problem with this team.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

If we can get Markstrom for like a 2nd round pick / an equivalent prospect, fine whatever. I think he stinks but goalies are voodoo anyway.

I won't have the Nico Daws slander, though. He's a very good young goalie who hasn't played much because he got double hip surgery, and he played well when Ruff wasn't running him into the ground. He's going to be a fine NHL goalie within the next few years.

Markström stinks? Okay, that's bold statement.

Markström is old, and that's the only reason why I'm not interested in him. But he is a good goalie, and definitely an above average goalie, who would make the Devils better.

 

[Emperoreddy]

They shouldn’t have any issue with Smith because he costs 1.1m and he’s one of the best PK guys in the NHL.

I want good moves too but how we spent ~1m on Smith or Nosek is not a problem with this team.

Fair point, but it's more a usage issue, but Siegs to me is the far bigger issue.

Idk how we do it, but he needs to be pushed down the lineup or replaced.

I'm nervous about Marino, but I think with Dougie back and Nemec continuing to grow that even if he doesn't fully bounce back he won't have as big a role which should be ok.

Siegs is overexposed in our current lineup and I'm not sure he can handle a top 4 spot if we want to be successful.

Nosek just wasn't a good signing, but it wasn't the worst idea in a vacuum, especially at what we paid him.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Markstrom is a definite risk, he could easily be a pumpkin for the rest of his contract.

But he could also be good enough and the price at least shouldn't be that high and it won't take long to get out from under his contract.

Saros is going to cost a lot in a trade on top of a massive extension. Obviously he is less likely to turn into a pumpkin, but it's not a guarantee and we would have a f*** ton invested in him that him being a let down would be catastrophic.

Ullmark is probably the middle ground between the two, but it's possible Boston asks for way too much.

 

[Bleedred]

Hopefully Gibson is no longer an option.

I get that tingly, embarrassed, cringy feeling when thinking about him.

At that point I would just bring back the current tandem if that’s the best we can do.

I still have nightmares about the quotes about us being interested in Gibson a few months ago.

 

[MadDevil]

Markstrom worries me because of how up and down he's been the last 4 years. He's been great this year but he was also an .892 goalie just a season ago. For comparison Vitek is an .890 this season. He was good the year before and probably about league average the year before, so you could write off his bad year as being an outlier, but he's also 34 years old so I'm not sure how much you can trust he'll maintain that level.

The counter to this is that we hopefully won't need an elite goalie to win, but are we trading for him just to get in the playoffs the next two years or to have multiple Cup runs with this core? Saros would be more expensive but you're also probably getting 5+ years of (hopefully) making deep runs with him versus 2-3 with Markstrom.

 

[Guttersniped]

Fair point, but it's more a usage issue, but Siegs to me is the far bigger issue.

Idk how we do it, but he needs to be pushed down the lineup or replaced.

I'm nervous about Marino, but I think with Dougie back and Nemec continuing to grow that even if he doesn't fully bounce back he won't have as big a role which should be ok.

Siegs is overexposed in our current lineup and I'm not sure he can handle a top 4 spot if we want to be successful.

Nosek just wasn't a good signing, but it wasn't the worst idea in a vacuum, especially at what we paid him.

I think Nosek was fine for 1m, he just was injured most of the season.

I like Marino the problem is playing like a top pairing defender.

Siegenthaler did not have good season, to put it mildly, and I wouldn’t be adverse to pawning him off if possible but we might be stuck with him.

But here ya go:

Spoiler: Defense 2023-24

Spoiler: Defense 2023-24

 

[NjDevsRR]

Nosek is a solid player. We are finally seeing that after his terrible injury luck.

I wouldn’t mind bringing him back for depth, but the wingers in the bottom 6 100% need to be strengthened

 

[MartyOwns]

If we can get Markstrom for like a 2nd round pick / an equivalent prospect, fine whatever. I think he stinks but goalies are voodoo anyway.

but unless i’m mistaken, the cost was pretty high when we were kicking the tires. i can’t imagine his value is going to plummet by june, there have to be other teams interested. the additional cost will be having serious money invested in goalies, but i don’t think that’s a big deal right now.

but yeah if they trade him for a second rounder, why not?

 

[Billdo]

Have you seen our goaltending for the last handful of years? Jake Allen has our hearts aflutter.

I'm fine with Markstrom. Would rather have Saros but I sort of like the idea of an older guy coming in here with 2 years left and will be out the door soon enough.

If you trade for Saros, it's more of a commitment. A commitment in assets of players, money and time. You're going to have to pay big to bring him here, then spend big to keep him for a long time.

You better get it right, and at this point, with this GM, with this position, I assume he will do the wrong thing.

Markstrom would be lower risk all around.

Markstrom isn't going to come cheap though. Obviously they need an upgrade but I don't think Markstrom is that guy. Saros I'd be all over though.

Nosek is a solid player. We are finally seeing that after his terrible injury luck.

I wouldn’t mind bringing him back for depth, but the wingers in the bottom 6 100% need to be strengthened

Kinda hoped Foote was that guy but the guy cannot stay healthy.

 

[My3Sons]

Nosek is a solid player. We are finally seeing that after his terrible injury luck.

I wouldn’t mind bringing him back for depth, but the wingers in the bottom 6 100% need to be strengthened

He’s ok for the price but NJ could use some players with a bit more edge

 

[Bleedred]

Nosek was a fine signing, he just got hurt early (two different times? Or was it the same injury and he just got hurt again?) and was pretty horrible after coming back.

He’s looked a bit better recently and has even scored a couple of goals.

I’m surprised he wasn’t traded at the deadline. I know he’s been bad and injured for most of this season, but I figured there’d be a call or two. Being injured most of the year probably halted interest.

 

[njdevils1982]

Nosek was a fine signing, he just got hurt early (two different times? Or was it the same injury and he just got hurt again?) and was pretty horrible after coming back.

He’s looked a bit better recently and has even scored a couple of goals.

I’m surprised he wasn’t traded at the deadline. I know he’s been bad and injured for most of this season, but I figured there’d be a call or two. Being injured most of the year probably halted interest.

i cant see signing him again... maybe foote is alive for once or at least next season?

or not.... (from 6 days ago)

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils/latest-news/new-jersey-devils-travis-green-nolan-foote-injury

 

[Bleedred]

i cant see signing him again... maybe foote is alive for once or at least next season?

or not.... (from 6 days ago)

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils/latest-news/new-jersey-devils-travis-green-nolan-foote-injury

I wouldn't sign him again either

I don't have much interest in bringing hardly anybody back next year that was here this year and not here before this year.

Obviously, I can make some exceptions. Nemec would be one of them. Allen - who will have only been here for a few minutes of this year and was not part of the goalie problem earlier in the year. We sent that stool sample of undercooked hibachi to San Jose.

Yeah, I see no reason to bring him back.

 

[glenwo2]

I swear...if we end up with Travis Green next season....

 

[Billdo]

I wouldn't sign him again either

I don't have much interest in bringing hardly anybody back next year that was here this year and not here before this year.

Obviously, I can make some exceptions. Nemec would be one of them. Allen - who will have only been here for a few minutes of this year and was not part of the goalie problem earlier in the year. We sent that stool sample of undercooked hibachi to San Jose.

Yeah, I see no reason to bring him back.

I want Zetterlund back lol

 

[Bleedred]

I swear...if we end up with Travis Green next season....

At most they may bring him back and reassign him to the role he had last season. Like they did with Nas the year after they hired Ruff.

I hope not, as he's been running the power play all year which was a top-10 power play (like 8-10) when it was scoring on 40%+ of its opportunities earlier in the year. It's now down to 27th in expected goals. It's been steadily PLUMMETING since about November.

The team has been worse under him than they were under Ruff. There were some ugly games with Ruff right before he was fired. Anything that would lead you to believe this team has been better under him is nothing but a gigantic mirage. The goalies have been better under him. Is that because he cleaned some of the mistakes? Maybe? We have better goalies now than we did at any point this season, so I'm skeptical it's that. He may have cleaned it up a little bit, but I'm pretty sure our offense has been worse since Green took over. We've had a lot of pathetic games with little shots.

Any idea that we look better since he took over is pretty much like when Blackwood got hot under Nas and we won more under Nas than we did under Hynes. And we haven't even been winning as much under Green as we did under Nas, if that tells you anything.

I can't see him being head coach beyond this season. That's a death sentence for Fitz. He's basically firing himself if he does that.

Then again, I said the talent here was good enough that a bad coach probably couldn't FUBAR it too bad, at least not to where we aren't in the playoffs, so long as we're somewhat reasonably healthy, which we have not been at any point this year.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I think Nosek was fine for 1m, he just was injured most of the season.

I like Marino the problem is playing like a top pairing defender.

Siegenthaler did not have good season, to put it mildly, and I wouldn’t be adverse to pawning him off if possible but we might be stuck with him.

But here ya go:

Spoiler: Defense 2023-24

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Spoiler: Defense 2023-24

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Yeah I realize there might not be a solution on D.

Just wasn't a fan of Fitz putting so much of this team's issues on Luke and Nemec when the vets have been so much worse. Seems like misplaced blame for one of our major issues.

Plus the loosey goosey D play most of the year was a team wide situation. There wasn't a player that wasn't making awful choices with the puck, and that probably was a Ruff problem more then anything.

 

[Bleedred]

I want Zetterlund back lol

Not gonna happen

San Jose doesn't have many good players. He's second on their team in points and first in goals.