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

[billingtons ghost]

How many of those years have they been a legit Cup contender, maybe half? They’ve pretty much been a postseason nonentity since their last Cup. The odds of getting a Crosby AND a Malkin are also much lower with the new lottery rules

Yet we have Hischier and Hughes. I'll be disappointed if we aren't in the playoffs for the next 15 years, and not at least in a cup conversation for half.

 

[JrFischer54]

If he wants to come here to little Switzerland he can also just not extend. The market will be different if he’s a pure rental. As a free agent someone will pay him big time and not give up assets. Meier himself has a huge say, the last word, on where he plays next year. That’s the big thing anyway. This years playoffs by themselves not worth mortgaging the farm for.

I would be completely fine with him coming as a pure rental. I’m not concerned at all about him not wanting to resign here long term and it should also lower his trade value.

The cap doesn't matter.

It doesn’t but everyone is hung up on how cheap he isn’t until he isn’t

 

[TheNeutralZone]

I wouldn't even consider Mercer in a Meier deal. Not even if he's the only piece going to SJ.

I can't believe that's ever been on the table for even a second in any plane of reality.

 

[billingtons ghost]

One of our biggest issues has been getting the puck out of the zone. That would be so bad going from Severson to Schenn. Though I guess Hughes-Schenn could be okay.

I'm not advocating moving Severson, but I think the biggest problem for Severson has been winning and controlling the puck behind net. I think having Smith back there taking the punishment has helped him. I think Shenn Severson might be a good pairing, or like you say... Hughes Schenn

 

[guitarguyvic]

All I know is this there are fewer 35-80 guys then there are 20-40 guys that with the fact from what I’ve been told on here we have a deep prospect pool is enough reason to pull the trigger.

You have a habit of over-simplifying things and refusing to consider the specifics of hypotheticals. Just because there are more of one type of player does not mean it will be easy to acquire them. You have to account for cap space and other factors, which was already pointed out but you just ignore it.

Who cares what people have said about our prospect pool. You're taking a generalized feeling about it and assuming that means we have this type of player already in the system. That's just a really lazy argument. If you think there's someone in our org that can replace what Mercer brings, feel free to name that player.

Everyone keeps mentioning the team control that’s great but still haven’t seen anyone say what his next contract would be like if everyone says and he takes another step next year in a contract year. 3 million? 3.5? 4?

He won't cost as much as a vet, at least not immediately. If we got rid of him in a trade now, we'd need to acquire someone to replace him immediately, otherwise we are just marginally better at the top end but probably no closer to cup contender than we already are.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Severson isn't going anywhere at the deadline let's be realistic here. It ain't happening.

The only players on the active roster that realistically could be moved at the deadline (and it would be in a Meier deal) are Sharangovich, Holtz, Zetterlund, Boqvist, Bahl, or Blackwood. My bet would be on only Holtz not being here on March 4th. Possibly Bahl or Boqvist too.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Not surprising. Hope it’s not too much longer.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Severson isn't going anywhere at the deadline let's be realistic here. It ain't happening.

The only players on the active roster that realistically could be moved at the deadline (and it would be in a Meier deal) are Sharangovich, Holtz, Zetterlund, Boqvist, Bahl, or Blackwood. My bet would be on only Holtz not being here on March 4th. Possibly Bahl or Boqvist too.

Fine with everyone on that list except Zetterlund. He's a big winger that fits our system really well and is exactly the type of player we need on the cheap in the bottom six. It's guys like Shara, Holtz, and Boqvist that we should be looking to move because they are more perimeter players whose games don't really make sense outside the top 6 but are being shoehorned into bottom six roles right now due to various factors.

 

[OmNomNom]

Not surprising. Hope it’s not too much longer.

would be totally ridiculous, but imagine he gets LTIR'd, which frees up space for the TDL. 3 weeks without hughes would suck though - we would have 9 games until deadline

 

[Normal Devil]

Severson isn't going anywhere at the deadline let's be realistic here. It ain't happening.

The only players on the active roster that realistically could be moved at the deadline (and it would be in a Meier deal) are Sharangovich, Holtz, Zetterlund, Boqvist, Bahl, or Blackwood. My bet would be on only Holtz not being here on March 4th. Possibly Bahl or Boqvist too.

We've all assumed that Holtz will be in a Meier deal, but just last year we wouldn't have considered letting him go. I'm still not sure the Devils brass is real quick to include him in deals.

 

[njdevils1982]

The cap doesn't matter.

"dont worry about my cap"

 

[JrFischer54]

You have a habit of over-simplifying things and refusing to consider the specifics of hypotheticals. Just because there are more of one type of player does not mean it will be easy to acquire them. You have to account for cap space and other factors, which was already pointed out but you just ignore it.

Who cares what people have said about our prospect pool. You're taking a generalized feeling about it and assuming that means we have this type of player already in the system. That's just a really lazy argument. If you think there's someone in our org that can replace what Mercer brings, feel free to name that player.


He won't cost as much as a vet, at least not immediately. If we got rid of him in a trade now, we'd need to acquire someone to replace him immediately, otherwise we are just marginally better at the top end but probably no closer to cup contender than we already are.

time and time again teams are constantly getting out of bad contracts to teams willing to eat them for pennies. not to mention the salary cap even if a little every year is going up and up. so no i'm not worried about the cap


for the bold not really because you can always use that great prospect pool to acquire another version of a mercer. if there isn't a mercer waiting in the ahl.

i'm still waiting to hear a number like say he goes 20g-50p next year?

 

[OmNomNom]

in lighter news, lol

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

If they got a good return for Severson, Luke Schenn as your third pairing right defenseman for the playoffs would be fine, especially if we end up trading for Meier.

no, it would not. Luke Schenn is heinous.

 

[JrFischer54]

If they got a good return for Severson, Luke Schenn as your third pairing right defenseman for the playoffs would be fine, especially if we end up trading for Meier.

the only way severson gets traded is in a package for an nhl player to come back. theres pretty much little chance he gets moved for futures and i would have zero interest in futures for him.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

If the Devils are hellbent on getting Timo Meier (I'm not in that camp), why not make it simple...

Meier and Karlsson (Sharks retain half) for Severson and Bratt.

 

[NjDevsRR]

in lighter news, lol

If the Devils are hellbent on getting Timo Meier (I'm not in that camp), why not make it simple...

Meier and Karlsson (Sharks retain half) for Severson and Bratt.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

If the Devils are hellbent on getting Timo Meier (I'm not in that camp), why not make it simple...

Meier and Karlsson (Sharks retain half) for Severson and Bratt.

thank God you arent in charge

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Fine with everyone on that list except Zetterlund. He's a big winger that fits our system really well and is exactly the type of player we need on the cheap in the bottom six. It's guys like Shara, Holtz, and Boqvist that we should be looking to move because they are more perimeter players whose games don't really make sense outside the top 6 but are being shoehorned into bottom six roles right now due to various factors.

I'd very much prefer to keep Zetterlund as well, but if Sharks insist on including him in a deal for Timo, I am happy to move on from him (depending on what else is included in the trade pakage)

But yes overall I hope Devils keep Zettertank. He's only going to get better as a bottom 6 fwd IMO.

We've all assumed that Holtz will be in a Meier deal, but just last year we wouldn't have considered letting him go. I'm still not sure the Devils brass is real quick to include him in deals.

Well if Holtz isn't included - how are we landing Meier? Luke Hughes isn't going anywhere. Nemec isn't going anywhere. Mercer isn't going anywhere. I think Fitz really wants to keep Gritsyuk in his back pocket for in 2-3 yrs when we need an older ELC that can hopefully be a top 6 forward.

Holtz is our main piece. And should be especially attractive to San Jose considering his previous success with their other top fwd prospect in Eklund.

 

[guitarguyvic]

time and time again teams are constantly getting out of bad contracts to teams willing to eat them for pennies. not to mention the salary cap even if a little every year is going up and up. so no i'm not worried about the cap


for the bold not really because you can always use that great prospect pool to acquire another version of a mercer. if there isn't a mercer waiting in the ahl.

i'm still waiting to hear a number like say he goes 20g-50p next year?

I agree that people exaggerate cap implications often, but that's not the case in this particular hypothetical. If the Devils are in a spot where they have to pony up money for a Mercer replacement but don't have the cap space, whose salary are they shedding to make room? It's not like we have many bad contracts that we could dispose of without making the team worse.

Acquiring another Mercer who is cost controlled isn't going to happen, it doesn't matter how good our prospect pool is. Those kinds of trades don't happen, and for good reason. You're making it seem like it's easy peasy to do this kind of stuff without any evidence that it's realistic.

Why do you need an exact number? Mercer will be a better value than a vet, that's pretty much a given because he's an RFA for several more years. Stop trying to make it seem like you have some gotcha on this, you don't.

 

[TonySoprano]

If they got a good return for Severson, Luke Schenn as your third pairing right defenseman for the playoffs would be fine, especially if we end up trading for Meier.

 

[Triumph]

time and time again teams are constantly getting out of bad contracts to teams willing to eat them for pennies. not to mention the salary cap even if a little every year is going up and up. so no i'm not worried about the cap

This is flat out untrue.

Edmonton traded Zack Kassian to Arizona - to do so, they moved down 3 spots in the first round and traded a 2nd and 3rd round pick. That's just to ditch 2 years at 3.2M. The Rangers traded two seasons of Patrik Nemeth at 2.5M for 2 2nd round picks. That's basically the going rate for a team to clean up a bad deal for you - 2 2nd round picks. This is a high price to pay because it means these teams won't have these picks to use in later deals.

The other thing is that space on the S.S. Tanker is limited, and most bad long-term deals are so bad that it's impossible to get out of them.

for the bold not really because you can always use that great prospect pool to acquire another version of a mercer. if there isn't a mercer waiting in the ahl.

You can't do this. Teams do not trade players like Mercer. Lining up trades like this is very difficult.

i'm still waiting to hear a number like say he goes 20g-50p next year?

Who cares. He's a very good player signed to an ELC. Teams don't throw those away.

 

[glenwo2]

time and time again teams are constantly getting out of bad contracts to teams willing to eat them for pennies. not to mention the salary cap even if a little every year is going up and up. so no i'm not worried about the cap


for the bold not really because you can always use that great prospect pool to acquire another version of a mercer. if there isn't a mercer waiting in the ahl.

i'm still waiting to hear a number like say he goes 20g-50p next year?

I'm still waiting for you to answer his question :

"If you think there's someone in our org that can replace what Mercer brings, feel free to name that player."

 

[Zacha37]

What’s the freakout with Mercer? Hasn’t it already been said that Meier would get less than Fiala returned, and that return wasn’t even worth Mercer alone imo.

 

[glenwo2]

If the Devils are hellbent on getting Timo Meier (I'm not in that camp), why not make it simple...

Meier and Karlsson (Sharks retain half) for Severson and Bratt.

thank God you arent in charge

I think he was joking....this time.