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

[Bcap88]

lazar sticks up for Hughes and gets 2,5,10

Causing the devils to play with 10 forwards the last five minutes of the first and the first 10 minutes of the second. Which had a trickle down effect into the line combos for half the game

 

[Lou Bloom]

If they had Markstrom for 3 playoff runs (this season included), I would have been in. But with burning this season, I don't think it's worth the premium assets now just to have an older Markstrom for two years.

Saros and Ullmark are both possibilities in the offseason, but again they're UFAs after next year so (a) you have to give either one a big ticket contract and (b) you can just wait out next season and get them for free as UFAs instead of giving up high 1sts and/or top prospects.

At this point, my plan might be to get a cheaper stop gap on a short term/expiring deal for next season (Kahkonen, Broissoit, Allen, Driedger, DeSmith) and then try to grab Ullmark or Saros in UFA for free.

There's a good chance Saros never sees UFA, so if you want him you'll probably have to trade for him and extend him.

I'm fine with going the cheap route, but outside of Broissoit and maybe Driedger, I'm not interested in any of those goalies. I'd be really interested in what Florida does because they'll probably choose between Spencer Knight and bringing back Stolarz and I'd be very interested in either.

 

[Forge]

Siegenthaler for Graves with $750K retained, so salaries basically become a wash. Change of scenery for both. Reunite Graves-Marino & Pitt can run Siegenthaler with one of Letang/Karlsson since Graves has not worked next to either. I’d do it all day.

Nah, no interest in Graves.

If I'm looking at a Pitt defender, it's pettersson

 

[Unknown Caller]

There's a good chance Saros never sees UFA, so if you want him you'll probably have to trade for him and extend him.

I'm fine with going the cheap route, but outside of Broissoit and maybe Driedger, I'm not interested in any of those goalies. I'd be really interested in what Florida does because they'll probably choose between Spencer Knight and bringing back Stolarz and I'd be very interested in either.

Knight would be a lottery ticket at best, he's not even at .900 in the AHL this season and he struggled in his last season in the NHL.

I don't mind taking a flyer on him on the side given the upside, but you have to get a real NHL stabilizer.

 

[NjDevsRR]

A 35 year old Markstom for two years should

A.) Not cost too much with no retention
B.) Gives you a stable option as a starter
C.) Devils can properly develop Schmid/Daws

The only scary part is his health. But some goalies can last long and put up good seasons at that age. If the price isn’t bad I would make the trade.

 

[minibrodeur]

There’s a reason we didn’t have anyone and most teams don’t have a goon. They’re completely useless.

But we do now, why do you think we acquired Mcdermid? I'm not a fan of 1 dimensional goons, and I'm in agreement they're mostly useless, the Geersten experiment was terrible. That's said, I think it's important to have that element of toughness. We're getting pushed around right now, Bastian is out, we got a lot of young players and can't afford more injuries. The team as a whole will hopefully get tougher as they get stronger.

 

[Forge]

A 35 year old Markstom for two years should

A.) Not cost too much with no retention
B.) Gives you a stable option as a starter
C.) Devils can properly develop Schmid/Daws

The only scary part is his health. But some goalies can last long. If the price isn’t bad I would make the trade.

Ive checked out that other Calgary forum that they talked about on the main board, and a lot of them think the return is still Mercer or holtz + 1st and a lot think it'll be Mercer. Absolutely wild to me

 

[Lou Bloom]

Knight would be a lottery ticket at best, he's not even at .900 in the AHL this season and he struggled in his last season in the NHL.

I don't mind taking a flyer on him on the side given the upside, but you have to get a real NHL stabilizer.

The majority of goalies in the league are lottery tickets at best. We're talking about a former 1st round pick, that was a hobey baker finalist, great international player who also held his own at the NHL level and is only 22.

Outside of the top 10-15 goalies in the league there's no such thing as a real NHL stabilizer at goalie. Vanecek was a better than league average goalie with significant starting experience. If Vanecek doesn't fit that category, than all of those "stop gap" options you named certainly don't fit that bill.

 

[Bcap88]

Saros fits the timeline better

 

[Unknown Caller]

The majority of goalies in the league are lottery tickets at best. We're talking about a former 1st round pick, that was a hobey baker finalist, great international player who also held his own at the NHL level and is only 22.

Outside of the top 10-15 goalies in the league there's no such thing as a real NHL stabilizer at goalie. Vanecek was a better than league average goalie with significant starting experience. If Vanecek doesn't fit that category, than all of those "stop gap" options you named certainly don't fit that bill.

I understand his historical profile, but that doesn't make him a good NHL goalie. The guy has had significant off-ice issues in addition to mediocre on-ice play for multiple years now. You need a real goalie.

Vanecek was never better than league average for the record. He had negative GSAx every single season in Washington and he was even more brutal in the playoffs for them.

 

[Bleedred]

I'm not big on Markstrom because of his age. Crazy how a career journeyman like Alex Lyon can establish himself as a NHL starter but, we can't find shit! VV last year was a mirage that got exposed when it really mattered. Ugh. We'll never have another Marty but, give me someone who can keep it straight and on the rails and not into a river. Christ!

VV may be fine somewhere else, but he’s beyond rehabbing here.

It was never going to work here after his explosively bad playoffs last year.

He needs to go after this year. He’s either gonna have to be (cap) dumped or he goes the other way in the potential trade.

 

[JimEIV]

A 35 year old Markstom for two years should

A.) Not cost too much with no retention
B.) Gives you a stable option as a starter
C.) Devils can properly develop Schmid/Daws

The only scary part is his health. But some goalies can last long and put up good seasons at that age. If the price isn’t bad I would make the trade.

It feels like throwing crap at the wall and hoping something sticks

 

[Unknown Caller]

It feels like throwing crap at the wall and hoping something sticks

Welcome to goaltending. We drafted Holtz over Askarov and the only semi-premium pick we've used on a goalie in multiple decades was Blackwood, whose career was completely derailed by injuries.

They need to pay a premium for a good goalie and the options are limited. There's no perfect option.

 

[NjDevsRR]

It feels like throwing crap at the wall and hoping something sticks

I don’t think it is crap. He is a proven starting goalie. For only two seasons, given his age, I don’t think it will cost as much as Flames posters are saying.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Look, something has to give. This team gets deflated constantly from goaltending. We need a stable guy especially with our D group that is still learning.

Also, Daws needs to develop properly. And I also think Schmid can benefit from being a backup behind Markstrom who he can learn from.

 

[Unknown Caller]

I don’t think it is crap. He is a proven starting goalie. For only two seasons, given his age, I don’t think it will cost as much as Flames posters are saying.

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He's a fine two year stopgap at a limited cost, but mid-to-high first round pick(s) and Alex Holtz seem a little rich now that there's no retention and they'll only get two usable playoff runs out of him.

The offer I'm comfortable with now is way different than the offer I was comfortable with a month or two ago.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Eh the Flames still have leverage, they’re the team in a playoff hunt a bit more than us so they won’t sell unless it’s an overpay

They are 7 pts out with 2 games in hand

We are 5 pts out with 1 gm in hand

Same spot

 

[jkrdevil]

Can only move up like 4 spots now if you win the lottery, so it wouldn't matter anyway. The difference between picking something like 7th overall and 10th overall is negligible.

You can move up to 10 spots in the lottery. Only move 4 spots was how it was back in the day when we won the lottery to pick Larsson.

 

[NJDevs26]

Hopefully the Flames come to their senses and cash out now that they’re seven points back and Markstrom is publicly disgruntled

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Yeah at this point something like Vanecek for Jake Allen makes sense just to give both guys a change of scenery. There's really zero other teams I can see trying to sell goaltending at the deadline unless it's an overpay. The Devils thought they'd have a lot of nice options to add at the deadline and they were wrong. They also were wrong about where they'd be at the deadline relatively speaking.

Devils need to regroup for the offseason to get goaltending, there's no market here.

 

[NJDevs26]

They are 7 pts out with 2 games in hand

We are 5 pts out with 1 gm in hand

Same spot

Yeah I was going by a few days ago, I guess they really fell out of it hence the deleted post

 

[jkrdevil]

The idea that Ruff has no interest in physical play is also absurd. He was the coach during the Sabres-Senators brawl 15+ years ago. He played Mason Geertsen for 25 games in 2022. He put Brendan Smith in for Game 2 last year because of physical play. He is way more focused on it than I bet even the board is, but he doesn't have the horses for it.

To your point, they just traded for a “tough” guy.

 

[JimEIV]

I don’t think it is crap. He is a proven starting goalie. For only two seasons, given his age, I don’t think it will cost as much as Flames posters are saying.

View attachment 828082

I get that that he's been decent but it seems to me that this is short-sighted and a bandaid to larger problems.

There is no "cheap" it'll cost us a valuable asset and it doesn't address any of the problems that we have with the defense, the lack of physicality, the holes in the bottom 6 and at center.

It just seems like a poor break-fix solution to me?

 

[ZYXWVUT]

Gustav Forsling is a UFA at the end of the season. Florida will probably find a way to keep him but in the chance they don't he'd be a better addition for the Devils than Hanifin and should be cheaper too.

Yea don’t see any way Florida doesn’t keep him. Unless for some reason they want to go the hanifin route which wouldn’t make sense. I mean Forsling is their best D by far all around and is better than hanifin imo.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Yeah I was going by a few days ago, I guess they really fell out of it hence the deleted post

All thanks to the Preds going on a hot run. If the Devils could have had just one of those this season and they are on the inside

But seems like they just can’t get a good streak. Which is crazy because even bad teams put together a good winning streak at least once a year due to just luck