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

[DerekDevils30]

I re-watched the Tampa game last night. That’s as sharp as the guys have looked in awhile. Everything was with a purpose. Passes were on the tape and everyone was in constant motion. No one was standing still. Absolute master class yesterday and the type of game that is going to be tough to slow down for any opponent.

 

[JimEIV]

"Nico's lack of production is a disgrace."

Nico: *Scores 30 goals and is at a point per game*

"Actually points don't matter anymore because there's more scoring."

I never said points don't matter or even implied it.

I think it's great Nico is 36th in scoring 6 years after being drafted #1 overall and 3rd in scoring from his draft class this year. Good thing Makar missed so games or he'd 4th.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Let Luke cook.

 

[Zippy316]

Neither of these two prospects are going to be able to provide what Severson does for at least another couple of years.

I mentioned in the Luke thread, I don't think Luke is NHL ready right now. I think we going to have to go through a lot of growing pains with Luke defensively next year. But if we can keep him sheltered and ease him in it won't be too big of a problem... that said, I am not sure how you can do that with two rookie Dmen that both may need varying degrees of hand holding for the next two seasons.

One of Severson or Graves has to be back next year. Or a veteran 7th better than Smith has to be added we can't go into next season with Bahl, Luke and Nemec as the top 7. All of those 3 just aren't ready to be 20+ minutes a night regular NHL Dman and that's what you'll be asking from at least one of them.

Asking one of them to fill the 20+ minutes role and giving the other two no support of a veteran Dman would be a real bad move.

The big caveat to this is timeline and cap space.

Graves and Severson are in line to get paid this year. Both could easily walk away with their retirement deals and at their age, I don’t blame them. For Severson, long term makes no sense for either side with Marino/Hamilton ahead of him and Nemec likely to need a spot before any of their deals are up. He’s almost assuredly walking.

For Graves, it’s about what makes sense for both. He should absolutely be looking for a long-term deal where he’s probably going to get 7x5 or close to it. Devils shouldn’t be giving him anymore than 3 years or else he clogs up the pipeline. Unless he takes a team friendly deal, he should be in the high 5s into the 6s on a three year deal which Devils can’t afford. He’d also be taking on a tremendous risk in taking three versus 5/6/7.

In an ideal world, Devils find a way to keep Graves for another three years. Would be the perfect insulation for Bahl/Luke/Nemec to make their way onto the roster.

 

[Clam Jensen]

With the way people react when Sevs/Graves/Hamilton make defensive mistakes, I guarantee Luke is going to be quite the polarizing topic for many on this board. I'm quite excited to see the absolute chaos when he has his first run of 3 or so classic Severson defensive games in a row.

This is apples and oranges though. You’re paying Damon and Graves for their D, so when they have gaffes on the back end it’s a harder pill to swallow. We all know Luke needs work on his D, but he is a much better skater than Graves/Sevo and his offense projects waaaay better than either of them.

Re: Dougie, yes he’s a mess at times on D but offensively he’s been wildly dynamic this year, so without getting into the nuances of Luke’s offense compared to Dougies, the lack of D is made up for with an abundance of offensive contributions. On top of that, Luke can skate circles around Dougie and hopefully by the time he’s 29, he’ll be better on D than Dougie is now. Even so, Dougie is like 6th in the NHL by GSVA for D. I would sign Luke up for th at every day of the week.

 

[Cheddabombs]

 

[MasterofGrond]

we need to find the next Graves, not re-sign this one to a deal he won’t be able to live up to.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Is Thursday the earliest that NJD can clinch? I saw @jkrdevil said that the magic number is 6, assuming a NJD win + FLA loss tomorrow and then Florida loses again Thursday.

EDIT: Just saw Florida plays a B2B, if they lose tonight and tomorrow, I think we can clinch tomorrow with a win. But they're playing the damn Flyers + Wings lol

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I never said points don't matter or even implied it.

I think it's great Nico is 36th in scoring 6 years after being drafted #1 overall and 3rd in scoring from his draft class this year. Good thing Makar missed so games or he'd 4th.

The act is extra funny considering Nico is like the quintessential Lou-era Devil. An old timer should love this player! Couldn’t ask for more out of him this year.

 

[Oneiro]

You can sign a stopgap RHD. I’d rather walk away from any big commitments to either Sevo or Graves. You have Bratt, Meier, Mercer plus I expect Luke and Nemec to get extended in similar fashion to Jack and Nico. You have to extract cap savings at every turn now.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Ideally we’d bring back Graves for cheap, but Bahl is giving me confidence he can replace some of what Graves has brought this year. I’d rather have some growing pains than be in cap hell.

 

[Saugus]

Is Thursday the earliest that NJD can clinch? I saw @jkrdevil said that the magic number is 6, assuming a NJD win + FLA loss tomorrow and then Florida loses again Thursday.

EDIT: Just saw Florida plays a B2B, if they lose tonight and tomorrow, I think we can clinch tomorrow with a win. But they're playing the damn Flyers + Wings lol

I believe the Islanders are actually the team to watch regarding when we clinch, because their possible point total on the season is lower than Florida's due to a game in hand.

Basically, if either of them drop more than a couple games, or we win 3 of the next 12, we're in. At this point the biggest question is whether we win the division, or if we are locked into a first round matchup against the Rangers.

 

[Devils731]

I know it depletes the futures more but the Devils letting Graves and Severson walk and spending assets to acquire a guy with a good value 2-3 contract makes sense.

Unless somehow Graves or Severson sign an under fair value deal without a no trade clause.

 

[TF1970]

You can sign a stopgap RHD. I’d rather walk away from any big commitments to either Sevo or Graves. You have Bratt, Meier, Mercer plus I expect Luke and Nemec to get extended in similar fashion to Jack and Nico. You have to extract cap savings at every turn now.

guy who i think could be a good fit and believe has been mentioned by others is connor clifton from boston. although imo betting money is he re-ups there.

 

[JimEIV]

The act is extra funny considering Nico is like the quintessential Lou-era Devil. An old timer should love this player! Couldn’t ask for more out of him this year.

There was no such thing as a #1 overall in the "Lou-era"

 

[NHL Fanatik]

There was no such thing as a #1 overall in the "Lou-era"

the entry draft began in 1963 with Garry Monahan

 

[njdevils1982]

There was no such thing as a #1 overall in the "Lou-era"

the closest to that would be shanahan 2nd overall...a month and half into lou's tenure with the team

 

[Better Call Sal]

 

[NHL Fanatik]

With the way people react when Sevs/Graves/Hamilton make defensive mistakes, I guarantee Luke is going to be quite the polarizing topic for many on this board. I'm quite excited to see the absolute chaos when he has his first run of 3 or so classic Severson defensive games in a row.

His last name is Hughes so it wont matter

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

There was no such thing as a #1 overall in the "Lou-era"

Nico was drafted 6 years ago...its irrelevant at this point. All that matters is that he keeps improving, which he has. He is going to approach a ppg player and he just turned 24 years old. Hes the captain of a top 3 NHL team and is tremendous at both ends of the ice.

If you can't be happy about that, thats a you problem.

 

[NHL Fanatik]

we need to find the next Graves, not re-sign this one to a deal he won’t be able to live up to.

Almost all UFA dont live up to their deals so ids why that matters

 

[My3Sons]

I never said points don't matter or even implied it.

I think it's great Nico is 36th in scoring 6 years after being drafted #1 overall and 3rd in scoring from his draft class this year. Good thing Makar missed so games or he'd 4th.

He’s also first in plus minus and first in the standings. My guess is the overwhelming majority fo fans would take that outcome over better scoring on a worse team and a player who can’t properly play the role needed.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Almost all UFA dont live up to their deals so ids why that matters

Yes, exactly, that's a reason not to do it.

If he were an elite talent, sure, don't, but he's not. Better to spend assets (again) and get somebody who doesn't hurt our cap moving forward.

 

[NHL Fanatik]

Yes, exactly, that's a reason not to do it.

If he were an elite talent, sure, don't, but he's not. Better to spend assets (again) and get somebody who doesn't hurt our cap moving forward.

Well thats certainly a lot easier said than done

Also who are you acquiring and with what assets? and that player likely will be on the third paid or gone in two seasons time

Youre better off just signing a FA unless the perfect deal comes along

Edit: also theres no Cup team that wins without FA's that arent elite so im still not even sure what youre issue is with a soon-to-be UFA

 

[MartyOwns]

i love when nico’s draft position is held against him lol. he developed like a mid first rounder, which of course is completely his fault for not following the 1OA playbook. his draft position is completely irrelevant- you may as well be frustrated with him because he shoots lefty.

on the other hand, if i was famously wrong about our 2 best forwards for the past 5 years i’d probably be scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point too.