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

[jkrdevil]

Why lean on guys you don't even pick though? This is a big disconnect to me, there's no way Ruff picked all these guys who he had no real connection with before he got here while Fitz clearly had a connection with at least Recchi, Nas and Green. Brunette I'm sure was partially hired because Lindy was on the hot seat, I don't know if Fitz had a prior relationship with him but I suspect he had to given the way he personalizes everything and the fact their careers overlapped (apparently they were on the same team at least a year in Nashville so I'm gonna go with yes there too).

If Chris Taylor or another Ruff disciple was the assistant than maybe I'd buy the lassez-faire thing but not with these guys.

Brunette and Fitzgerald were former teammates (I believe in Nashville).

 

[Billdo]

I will say, losing Brunette is probably the single worst thing Fitz has done in his tenure here.

In the last 3 season he has:
- Led a presidents trophy winning team
- Been behind the bench with a team who set their best regular season record ever
- Taken a mediocre roster to comfortably make the playoffs and make finish with 100+ points which NO ONE expected.

He clearly had a MASSIVE positive impact on this roster because its not luck when everywhere you go those teams have unreal seasons.

There's no way they'd fire Ruff after last year though. The only thing they could've done was "promote" him to some front office gig and then promote Brunnette.

 

[MadDevil]

Brunette and Fitzgerald were former teammates (I believe in Nashville).

Yes, Fitz was their first captain and Brunette scored the first goal in franchise history.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Forecheck, neutral zone, and defensive gaps I think are the 3 things that looked significantly different the year Brunette was here versus the years he is not. So he should get some credit for that, even if it was a collaborative process; it certainly appears from the outside he had a large and effective voice in those matters.

General cohesion too, the way the systems flowed from zone to zone but that’s tougher to peg down the “why” of it all.

Potentially, but the powers that be and more informed than any of us decided Brunette was not as important to keep around than retaining Ruff. Whether that would have been the right decision is something we’ll never know. We know it was the wrong decision to retain Ruff. Doesn’t automatically mean Brunette would have been the right decision. Florida moved on from him. The Devils allowed him to walk. Who knows.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Forecheck, neutral zone, and defensive gaps I think are the 3 things that looked significantly different the year Brunette was here versus the years he is not. So he should get some credit for that, even if it was a collaborative process; it certainly appears from the outside he had a large and effective voice in those matters.

General cohesion too, the way the systems flowed from zone to zone but that’s tougher to peg down the “why” of it all.

We didn’t forecheck well last season. That has not changed. McLeod’s lines were modestly capable of a dump and chase game both seasons but that was it. Haven’t had a team for quite some time that forechecked or had a plan B when the rush didn’t work.

 

[Devils731]

We didn’t forecheck well last season. That has not changed. McLeod’s lines were modestly capable of a dump and chase game both seasons but that was it. Haven’t had a team for quite some time that forechecked or had a plan B when the rush didn’t work.

The Devils created a lot more turnovers on the forecheck last year. They had 2 forwards who basically made a rhythmic X around the opposing team’s blue line that created difficulties for teams at times.

This year teams almost never struggle to break out of their defensive zone.

Potentially, but the powers that be and more informed than any of us decided Brunette was not as important to keep around than retaining Ruff. Whether that would have been the right decision is something we’ll never know. We know it was the wrong decision to retain Ruff. Doesn’t automatically mean Brunette would have been the right decision. Florida moved on from him. The Devils allowed him to walk. Who knows.

You asked what we can give Brunette credit for and I think those 3 items.

Otherwise it’s just an appeal to authority of “well the Devils kept Ruff over him” in which case the question isn’t asked in a way anyone other than Fitz himself could give you an answer that would be useful to discuss.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

I remain always of the opinion that there are 3-4 coaches that truly make any team they coach better and another 3-4 that actually make their teams worse. Everyone else is just a function of the talent on their roster, how much that talent meshes with the coach's desired style of play, and goaltending.

This X 1000. Great post

 

[NJDevs26]

Sure, and that same bottom 10-12 roster had a (vegas odds) preseason prediction of 85 points this year.

According to Vegas they were the 10th ranked team in the west with +250 odds to make the playoffs pre-season.

He has smashed expectations, he will bring them probably to +15 points above what was expected and comfortably secured them a playoff spot with Tommy Novak, Luke Evangalista and Colton Sissons as their 2nd liners... Those guys have NEVER surpassed 40 points in their lives before this season.

The job he has done is nothing short of remarkable and discrediting him is absurd. And since you bring up the Flyers and Torts, they had a pre-season expected point total of 76.5. The Flyers are currently 7 points above what was expected - The Preds are already 9 points above what was expected so yes he is actually doing an even better then expected job then Torts is with the Preds

The only team with a higher points tally above what was expected is Vancouver and Dallas lol. Edit- and Washington sorry

Basing anything definitely off Vegas ‘predictions’ (and putting more stock in that than pedigree) is silly, especially since they want to find numbers where people will bet both ways more than actually trying to predict the correct number. People won’t bet a high Nashville number cause they aren’t sexy but they’re consistent. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised organization consistency counts for nothing here.

And Torts overachieving some was almost certainly baked into the Flyers preseason number already, based on talent they’re less than a 75

Not saying he isn’t a good coach but you guys completely jumped the shark on him from the first minute of the pregame intros last season. Hell he’s a better coach than Hynes, on that basis alone a similar or slightly better point total to last year for Nashville didn’t shock me at all, you guys make it out like that and taking over a stacked Panthers team makes him coach of the decade.

 

[NJDevs26]

I mean Florida was also 1 Pittsburgh Penguins win vs either CBJ or CHI at home from missing altogether...

They snuck in barely last season and nearly missed before going on the insane playoff run

And they’re in contention for the President’s Cup again, and they started 7-0 in the season Brunette coached before he took over. Not saying any coach would have gotten them to 120 points that year, but the sociopath who was there would have.

 

[Guttersniped]

Was (too slowly) typing up a response in the GDT, and then couldn’t post it, because the thread was shut down.

I hope the Mod who did that knows they robbed the board, nay the world, of an absolute gem.

 

[Bleedred]

Was (too slowly) typing up a response in the GDT, and then couldn’t post it, because the thread was shut down.

I hope the Mod who did that knows they robbed the board, nay the world, of an absolute gem.

Backspace, then copy and paste?

Probably too late now, I'd suspect.

Hate when that happens.

 

[glenwo2]

This is how I feel right now (don't stare.....much) :

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

Time to relax, watch and enjoy the playoffs without the pain. Sorry but this buttercup squad would get eaten up and spit out with playoff hockey. The only stress left is hoping the Rangers do not lift the cup.

 

[Ripshot 43]

This is how I feel right now (don't stare.....much) :

I’m not an expert by any means… but I’m not sure that’s how women hold their hands.

 

[glenwo2]

I’m not an expert by any means… but I’m not sure that’s how women hold their hands.

Well it's not like I drew this.

I can only do stick figures.

But your point is well-taken.

 

[MartyOwns]

The only stress left is hoping the Rangers do not lift the cup.

don't be stressed, the rangers aren't winning the cup. they're built for the regular season like every other year.

 

[ZYXWVUT]

Gonna throw out a scenario here. Let’s say Buffalo having Levi coming is open to moving Luukkonen. Especially since he is an RFA with what is said to be a strong arb case if it gets there. If they don’t want to pay him (see mittelstadt), what would you be willing to give up to get him? Is this year’s first on the table if that got it done?

 

[TrufleShufle]

I’m not an expert by any means… but I’m not sure that’s how women hold their hands.

Well if that dude was ogling any woman's chest like that, I'd imagine they would also hold their hands that way.

 

[ZYXWVUT]

don't be stressed, the rangers aren't winning the cup. they're built for the regular season like every other year.

I think rangers definitely have as good a shot as anyone, especially in terms of coming out of the East. But I am also not as convinced as many others that Carolina will bow out to them again like the past matchups.

 

[glenwo2]

Well if that dude was ogling any woman's chest like that, I'd imagine they would also hold their hands that way.

Though I think the attempt by the "artist" was to have her hands like that as if she had her elbows on a table.

And "incidently", her boobs were on that table too.


(anyway, the whole point of the picture was the "excited" person on the right)

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

To continue the Jack criticism from the past thread , yeah he's hurt but it doesn't account for some of the stuff he does on the ice that are mental. We know he is our most valuable offensive player quite easily , it's just annoying they still have him playing games instead of shutting him down. How bad is this injury if the teams medical staff let him play through it ? Were already thinking about next season , shutting him down will help him heal so he can have a somewhat normal offseason. A bum shoulder is no excuse to whiff on a penalty shot or take super long shifts in overtime though. This would be an injury he would ideally play through the playoffs as well. He's still pretty productive even with a bum shoulder which is a good sign to me. It's just not worth him playing meaningless games right now.

I just wanna see him back next season at 100% with hopefully a better supporting cast.

 

[Normal Devil]

There's no way they'd fire Ruff after last year though. The only thing they could've done was "promote" him to some front office gig and then promote Brunnette.

I wish they would have went this route .. especially when Nashville signalled their interest. I can't imagine Fitz thought Lindy was a serious long term solution, but he apparently did.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I wish they would have went this route .. especially when Nashville signalled their interest. I can't imagine Fitz thought Lindy was a serious long term solution, but he apparently did.

Lindy had stated publicly before that he wanted to continue coaching as long as he could.

There was no realistic scenario that existed for moving on from Lindy after the season we had last year.

 

[MadDevil]

Lindy had stated publicly before that he wanted to continue coaching as long as he could.

There was no realistic scenario that existed for moving on from Lindy after the season we had last year.

And Brunette wasn't going to stick around because of some handshake deal to take over eventually. It was just unfortunate timing all around, made even more frustrating by how the season has turned out for both teams

 

[My3Sons]

I will say this, and I have this on pretty good authority (with someone who is in and around the locker room everyday with the team). The players were extremely bummed that Brunette left.

He was apparently like the " best friend" and big vibes guy in the locker room that everyone loved. I know nothing about his coaching and tactics whatever but he was beloved by everyone there.

Added edit: He is apparently known to be a huge culture builder within locker rooms both in his time at FLA, us and now NSH.

Oh please. As if anyone driving around Florida drunk in a golf cart wouldn’t be loved by any hockey team. And culture is not just getting thr kids on the team to step up to Crown Royal or Buffalo Trace instead of Miller Light. It helps but it’s not fair to call it culture building.