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

[Saugus]

oh damn interesting okay

so that means no Timo tomorrow either I'd imagine

I think they might be ok with putting him into a game even if he hasn't had practice time. You don't keep a player of that caliber out for that reason.

If he's still out tomorrow, I would instead guess that it's injury related.

 

[Bcap88]

oh damn interesting okay

so that means no Timo tomorrow either I'd imagine

Ruff made it seem like they were gonna see if he can get cleared yesterday or today. If he’s cleared then I assume he practices and plays tomorrow. We likely won’t find out until he steps on the ice with a regular jersey or a non contact

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Ruff made it seem like they were gonna see if he can get cleared yesterday or today. If he’s cleared then I assume he practices and plays tomorrow. We likely won’t find out until he steps on the ice with a regular jersey or a non contact

yeah but they don't have practice today

I just don't see them throwing him in a game without a full contact practice first, but I guess who knows

 

[OmNomNom]

don't forget, this team sprung Jack Hughes on us recently after his injury. like day of, they told us he'd be playing



wouldn't be surprised if he's cleared and is set to go tomorrow

 

[MauDevils]

I don't see any reason to rush Timo. He'll probably play his first game Tuesday at home.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

I don't see any reason to rush Timo. He'll probably play his first game Tuesday at home.

Team has scored 7 in each of the last 2 games. Not exactly hurting for offense ATM

 

[NHL Fanatik]

Love the idea. Hate the price.

As a US, out of market, Devils fan, ESPN+ is way cheaper.

The bundle with ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu is half the price.

Is this meant for in-market who don’t have access? I don’t get it.

It is meant for in-market customers yes, as an alternative to cable.

Will it allow those in Jersey too close to Philly to watch? Not sure

 

[britdevil]

Scenes when this goes to the absolute wire.... AGAIN.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

They're literally on the chart.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Just looking at our remaining schedule and wtf is this?

Tuesday 3/14 HOME vs TB
Thursday 3/16 HOME vs TB
Saturday 3/18 AWAY vs FLA
Sunday 3/19 AWAY vs TB

Did they just straight up forget we had to play them and have to cram those games in at the end?

 

[StevenToddIves]

For the life of me I don't understand why Bader's model was so harsh on Mercer's junior years post draft, pretty sure he got hurt for the year in one of them and he bounced around in the 19-20 year. But I agree 100%, I've been peddling the Parise 2.0 with Mercer and it's easy to see why, he's a guy when he's not scoring will change games in other ways which is priceless in today's cap era. If you become to one dimensional, teams don't have a use for you. Besides the obvious draft picks with Luke, Jack, Nico, Nemec, etc, Mercer is my favorite Devils draft pick in a longggggg time.

Agreed with you 100% on Mercer. He's a heart-and-soul guy who also plays an incredibly smart game. His upside is huge, I'm not sure how people don't see this. If he had played top-6 minutes all season instead of being a "good soldier" and flipping around all 4 lines all year, I think he'd be north of 30 goals already.

As for Bader, the reason his model is always, always wrong about the majority of players is because, well... it's a useless, terrible, inaccurate model. Nobody should even pay attention to that type of nonsense when evaluating players.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I remember from the day he was drafted you were pumping his tires and telling us his hustle and IQ were off the charts…and here we are!

Mercer's entire draft year was basically a "Pump Dawson's Tires Fest" in my draft writing. I've loved him as much as any prospect in the past decade. I was watching the 2020 draft at a Red Wings draft party in Brooklyn, and when we took Mercer at #18 I literally shouted like I just scored an overtime goal. I hadn't done that since NJ drafted Parise. I might not be that sports-happy again until I see Dawson (and Hughsie and Nico and co.) lift the Stanley Cup. And that's something else I'm very confident we'll all live to see.

 

[My3Sons]

Posted this in another thread, but just wanted to post this here. It adds context to the “Fitz doesn’t want to pay any forward more than Jack” rumour and I don’t think it’s been posted other than the original Tweet which is kind of misleading.

——————————————

I’ll also post this here, it gives additional context to the rumours that they don’t want to pay anyone more than Jack. Feel like that has been overlooked by her initial tweet, that made it sound like it was a hard stance, when it in fact really isn’t. It’s a preference that will get pitched, but it’s not a “line in the sand” type of thing.

I don’t disagree with any of that. Nonetheless something is humming up the process. This is at least the third time Fitz has tried to negotiate a long term deal with Bratt’s agent. Something is off. Assume Fitz will offer Bratt more than Jack. They still aren’t finding common ground. It’s not catastrophic yet but you’d like to wrap it up so you can start on a Meier extension before the end of the season. You don’t want those two going into their last RFA year without an extension. Whatever sales pitch Fitz is making thr agent isn’t buying it. It seems counterproductive to just make Bratt stew while other guys sign deals with AAVs over $8 mil and now approaching $9 mil.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I can give him credit, but will ask drive license before drinking beer with him.

What we should draft instead him? As I remember someone wanted Bourque or Schneider (just imagine, rangers making the same trade and draft Mercer). Good days.

Haha, imagine NJ paid attention to the idiots and drafted Kakko, leaving a generational talent like Jack Hughes to play for the Rangers.

Also, what's the drinking age in Russia? I always assumed you folks filled baby's bottles with vodka instead of milk.

 

[NHL Fanatik]

What about a fun trade idea

Blackwood + Boqvist for Ritchie + Ingram

Itd leave us with $440,792 in cap space.

Ingram is a 25yo waiver-claimed goalie idk much about, but his stats this year arent bad and he had a good series in the playoffs with Nashville before. RFA as well. Wouldnt need to send him down until post-regular season I believe, cause we have an extra contract slot. Also would save us money on Blackwood's QO.

Ritchie is 27 and a UFA. Maybe you could sign him to a 2-3 year deal around 3-3.5m. Real big boy who throws a ton of hits and produces at a decent clip. Would get that size that Fitz seems to speak so often about (Boqvist is really the smallest player realistically available, also doesnt play the physical game Fitz wants)

Curious what others think

 

[HBK27]

What about a fun trade idea

Blackwood + Boqvist for Ritchie + Ingram

Itd leave us with $440,792 in cap space.

Ingram is a 25yo waiver-claimed goalie idk much about, but his stats this year arent bad and he had a good series in the playoffs with Nashville before. RFA as well. Wouldnt need to send him down until post-regular season

Ritchie is 27 and a UFA. Maybe you could sign him to a 2-3 year deal around 3-3.5m. Real big boy who throws a ton of hits and produces at a decent clip. Would get that size that Fitz seems to speak so often about (Boqvist is really the smallest player realistically available, also doesnt play the physical game Fitz wants)

Curious what others think

I personally don't think Ritchie is much of an upgrade over Boqvist and you're giving up a younger RFA for a pending UFA.

Not sure what to make of Ingram vs. Blackwood, but I think this would be a downgrade.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

What about a fun trade idea

Blackwood + Boqvist for Ritchie + Ingram

Itd leave us with $440,792 in cap space.

Ingram is a 25yo waiver-claimed goalie idk much about, but his stats this year arent bad and he had a good series in the playoffs with Nashville before. RFA as well. Wouldnt need to send him down until post-regular season

Ritchie is 27 and a UFA. Maybe you could sign him to a 2-3 year deal around 3-3.5m. Real big boy who throws a ton of hits and produces at a decent clip. Would get that size that Fitz seems to speak so often about (Boqvist is really the smallest player realistically available, also doesnt play the physical game Fitz wants)

Curious what others think

Don't see a reason for Arizona to do this. Why not just extend Ingram for cheaper than what it would take to use Blackwood's team control (Qualifying Offer, attempt to re-sign him)?

 

[NHL Fanatik]

I personally don't think Ritchie is much of an upgrade over Boqvist and you're giving up a younger RFA for a pending UFA.

Fitz was also talking about possibly adding to our goaltending depth and this would be a serious downgrade - making Schmid and Daws our #2/#3 goalies.

At this rate I think they see Schmid as the #2, though I do know Blackwood is hurt.

I think Ingram, worse or not, will be healthy for us if forbid anything happened to our guys. Blackwood as of now isnt healthy and even when hes back, idk if he can be trusted with his history of lingering issues.

Going into the playoffs its hard not to fawn over a guy like Ritchie, even if hes terribly slow. Would go a long ways toward keeping us physically matched up with teams when the going gets tough.

Biggest issue is signing Ritchie. I think if he was on board youd have a good deal on your hands

Don't see a reason for Arizona to do this. Why not just extend Ingram for cheaper than what it would take to use Blackwood's team control (Qualifying Offer, attempt to re-sign him)?

Because they get Boqvist who would be cheaper for them than Ritchie re-signing, plus Blackwood can be flipped in the offseason if they dont like his negotiation/QO.

I only assume theyd do it since Ingram was a waiver-pickup, and Im pretty confident Blackwood woukd be instantly grabbed up if put on waiver; so in that sense he has more value? Cant be a lot though

Im with you though Arizona may not find it too enticing unless they like Boqvist.

 

[DevilsHughes86]

Just looking at our remaining schedule and wtf is this?

Tuesday 3/14 HOME vs TB
Thursday 3/16 HOME vs TB
Saturday 3/18 AWAY vs FLA
Sunday 3/19 AWAY vs TB

Did they just straight up forget we had to play them and have to cram those games in at the end?

Probably lol

Jokes aside, it's great to play those matchups going into the playoffs. I wouldn't want easy games and bad habits following

 

[HBK27]

Does Weekes actually know something?

 

[StevenToddIves]

or you find guys good at both?

I seriously don't understand why you hate advanced stats so much....its kind of weird. Just don't use them. That doesnt mean other people can't find them useful.

Because they're presented as inalienable truth without context or explanation, again and again.

There's a Devils "writer" named CJ Turtoro. During the Meier Trade Saga, I was explaining to multitudes of Devils fans how Dawson Mercer was a core piece for NJ who would, could and should not be traded. So this Turtoro dude prints a chart and tweets something to the effect that Mercer was not as good as people thought and it wouldn't be a big deal to package him in a trade.

The idiocy of these types of actions cannot be understated. This dude's chart was not fact, but rather an imperfect depiction of a singular facet of Mercer's game which avoided context completely. If people would put up their colorful charts with explanation like: "this chart suggests that this aspect of XXX player's game in XXX situation is a weakness" -- well, then I'd be fine with it. But analytics seem to be embraced the most by people with a poor understanding of the sport of hockey, who then gaslight anyone who disputes them like we're denying evolution or some actually proven science.

My final answer is that analytics are a useful tool in evaluating certain aspects of a players' game when used in tandem with other tools. But don't just put up a chart saying something overarching and controversial about a player and state it as some absolute fact.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Does Weekes actually know something?

Speculating mostly I think.

 

[HBK27]

Speculating mostly I think.

Yeah, probably.

 

[StevenToddIves]

That was not a 7 - 5 game, that was utter dominance of the best team in the West. Vanecek was hot trash. This is a Terreri/Brodeur scenario emerging.

I was going to go with Chevier/Burke but ok, you win.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Because they're presented as inalienable truth without context or explanation, again and again.

There's a Devils "writer" named CJ Turtoro. During the Meier Trade Saga, I was explaining to multitudes of Devils fans how Dawson Mercer was a core piece for NJ who would, could and should not be traded. So this Turtoro dude prints a chart and tweets something to the effect that Mercer was not as good as people thought and it wouldn't be a big deal to package him in a trade.

The idiocy of these types of actions cannot be understated. This dude's chart was not fact, but rather an imperfect depiction of a singular facet of Mercer's game which avoided context completely. If people would put up their colorful charts with explanation like: "this chart suggests that this aspect of XXX player's game in XXX situation is a weakness" -- well, then I'd be fine with it. But analytics seem to be embraced the most by people with a poor understanding of the sport of hockey, who then gaslight anyone who disputes them like we're denying evolution or some actually proven science.

My final answer is that analytics are a useful tool in evaluating certain aspects of a players' game when used in tandem with other tools. But don't just put up a chart saying something overarching and controversial about a player and state it as some absolute fact.

They aren't, and I don't know why you take it that way. I don't see anyone that does that, and I think its a strawman. The data in these charts and graphs are BASED ON what happens on the ice. They aren't "made up" numbers.

They are a tool for use, just like boxscore stats, just like the eye test, etc. None of these are 100% infallible, but they do provide good information on players because nobody can watch every play play every game in every season. That isn't possible.