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

[glenwo2]

EJ Drunk-ek

 

[NjDevsRR]

but seriously…who would have thought a Devils Kings Stanley Cup rematch would actually be in the realm of possibility?

 

[Bleedred]

LA is low key really good and nobody is talking about them, but I think he’s gotta swap the two spots.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

but seriously…who would have thought a Devils Kings Stanley Cup rematch would actually be in the realm of possibility?

Don't look now - but every cup or final we've played except Detroit because they're not in the West any longer is possible.

Getting the band back together baby!

 

[Bleedred]

Don't look now - but every cup or final we've played except Detroit because they're not in the West any longer is possible.

Getting the band back together baby!

Not Anaheim cause they’re basically already eliminated lol.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Not Anaheim cause they’re basically already eliminated lol.

Oh forgot about them. Sh*t. Was thinking Colorado, Dallas, LA, Detroit

 

[Buggsy]

Scored a great deal $120 CDN lower bowl tix, making the 7 hour drive in the morning from NB. Gotta head back Sunday so sadly no nightlife this trip.

Happy to see other east coast Canadian fans. 7 hours puts you in Fredericton?

I’m originally from Quispamsis

 

[Patrik26]

Akira is playing so much better than Vitek. What's the plan here ?

 

[Guadana]

Not Anaheim cause they’re basically already eliminated lol.

Give them a couple of years and Bedard on the draft and you will have wc contender

 

[HughesCorporation]

wife and kid just took off from bergen county headed towards montreal with passports, tickets and Brodeur jerseys // while im stuck at home with the non hockey kids.. not sure how this happened

 

[Nubmer6]

wife and kid just took off from bergen county headed towards montreal with passports, tickets and Brodeur jerseys // while im stuck at home with the non hockey kids.. no sure how this happened

*Points and laughs*

 

[Ripshot 43]

wife and kid just took off from bergen county headed towards montreal with passports, tickets and Brodeur jerseys // while im stuck at home with the non hockey kids.. no sure how this happened

But you’re a good husband and all that bla bla bla

 

[tailfins]

Ya no way they trade away an ELC player that is as good as he is.
I was thinking maybe Lundell from the Panthers but same thing applies

Issue isn’t ELC - it’s that the Wild already signed Boldy to a 7 x $7 million deal.

That means two things: why would they trade a core guy for a new guy (unless new guy was huge upgrade - which isn’t clear with Bratt vs Boldy) and why would they trade long term - and likely cheaper - contract for unsigned RFA a year from UFA?

Imo, Bratt trade would be done likely net the Devils:

- a good but not great veteran on a shorter (and lower $$) contract who could fill a short term need for the Devils (likely a middle six player - e.g., Rico)

- medium term cap flexibility - so space to sign Mercer, Luke, Nemec (and maybe retain Graves or Tatar in the short term)

- a good prospect (ideally) or a pick to restock the pipeline

So more similar to the Fiala deal than Tkachuk, but tweaked because of the Devils circumstances (Wild took all futures - I don’t think the Devils would want that since the plan is to compete asap).

I don’t think the Devils would want another RFA a year from UFA - if they’re not willing to pay Bratt, it’s a pretty big gamble to commit long term $$ to a guy who hasn’t played on the team. Unless like Meier you have some reasons to believe in the fit.

 

[Guadana]

Bratt cost 1st round pick + good(not great) prospect. Like it was with Fiala or DeBrincat. He isn't even Tkachuk level trade asset. It would be much better to sign him long term. I don't think there is one or two gms in the league who is ready to give him 8.5+ mil somewhere in the league. And he should understand that he will not continue to play with Jack/Nico level player like he did this full season, and it may effect his production and cost money for him, if he will decide to sign QO. To many risks. Not so many good opportunities to find better conditions. For him its time to sign long term, and the timeline for him is "until the summer". He can bet more on himself and prove more in playoff, gain 500k more, so we don't need to worry about. If he will play better , he will earn 8.5kk, if he will not, he will have 8kk(+/-), so its better to wait, until it will happen. Because when it will happen, no one will care about two more months of negotiations.

 

[Forge]

I would wager Bratt would return similar to Fiala as well, maybe a prospect just a smidge lower than Faber.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Devils took all futures for him though. They could use that in a separate deal (maybe target a guy like Schmaltz? I don't particularly care for Schmaltz, but he's locked in at 3 more years and sub 6 million and you just know that Arizona wants out of that deal before the real money blossoms, which may make him slightly cheaper).

But honestly, they could move on from Bratt, sign Timo and then just commit to Rango (give him a 1-2 year deal) and live and die with Holtz in the lineup next year. If it doesn't work, they can make a move on a rental to supplement, and if it does work they are in a good position to give a long term contract to Mercer as soon as he's up. And frankly, I want Mercer locked up as soon as possible.

 

[glenwo2]

^^^^ You make it sound so easy that the Devils can move on from Bratt.

The thing is that should Bratt end up leaving (Thanks to his f*cking Agent), we'll be back in the same position we were prior to acquiring Timo. (Good but could be better with another Top winger)

I am praying that scenario does not happen, though.


As good as Timo is, Bratt brings a lot to the Devils as well.

 

[RCPXP]

Happy to see other east coast Canadian fans. 7 hours puts you in Fredericton?

I’m originally from Quispamsis

Hartland. Originally from Saint John. We were practically neighbours.

 

[MauDevils]

A Bratt trade comes down to opportunity cost based on what you can do with that 8 million instead. That's the big unknown.

The trade itself is likely just a 1st+prospect+something small. Not sure what the market will be, but I just can't see teams lining up to pay this guy 8+ million.

 

[glenwo2]

Oh?

 

[NJDevils17]

The narrative around Bratt feels like it’s fueled by the fact he’s still unsigned longterm rather than true indictment of his contributions to the team (or downplaying it as such to lessen the blow of losing him.)

Hasn’t played his best recently but neither has Jack (probably hurt still), Nico went through a slump, Mercer was good but in a bottom six role, etc. It’s an ebb and flow with players. Bratt is still almost a PPG winger with great on-ice impacts in that time. Perfect player? No, but we need him if we’re going to contend for the Cup. There’s not another player currently in the purple line that can do what he does.

 

[Forge]

^^^^ You make it sound so easy that the Devils can move on from Bratt.

The thing is that should Bratt end up leaving (Thanks to his f*cking Agent), we'll be back in the same position we were prior to acquiring Timo. (Good but could be better with another Top winger)

I am praying that scenario does not happen, though.


As good as Timo is, Bratt brings a lot to the Devils as well.

Choices get made. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. As someone else said - a lot depends one what you're doing with that surplus cash.

 

[Nubmer6]

BTW...

Speaking of Meier, Friedman wonders if the Devils might consider club-elected arbitration with the 26-year-old winger for 85 percent of his $10 million qualifying offer.

Certainly hoping it doesn't get down to this, but it's interesting to know the option exists

 

[TrufleShufle]

Choices get made. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. As someone else said - a lot depends one what you're doing with that surplus cash.

Exactly this, I love having Bratt and the way he plays and I think he is a big piece. But if he his demanding too much or Fitz doesn't think he's worth as much as he wants at least, I would trust Fitz to use that extra space to make more room.

At the end of the day, we have a fully working team that needs tinkering, Timo (hopefully signing) helps ease the pain and if Bratt were to walk/be traded, it wouldn't be nearly as big of a set back now. You can see a world (obviously not definite) where that space gets used either right off the bat to fill out the team more evenly, or gets saved and we don't realize how beneficial it was for a couple years until we need to sign other big contracts we otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

I obviously hope he gets signed and we move on, but I trust Fitz to figure it out and make it work regardless. We have an insane amount of good pieces, we are in a good spot no matter what IMO.

 

[Forge]

The narrative around Bratt feels like it’s fueled by the fact he’s still unsigned longterm rather than true indictment of his contributions to the team (or downplaying it as such to lessen the blow of losing him.)

Hasn’t played his best recently but neither has Jack (probably hurt still), Nico went through a slump, Mercer was good but in a bottom six role, etc. It’s an ebb and flow with players. Bratt is still almost a PPG winger with great on-ice impacts in that time. Perfect player? No, but we need him if we’re going to contend for the Cup. There’s not another player currently in the purple line that can do what he does.

Bratt is a wonderful player. There are definitely people on this board who don't want to give him the contract he's going to get, but I think most do. But the contract issue looms larger each day. I can't imagine that they are going to let him get to free agency for nothing if he won't lock in.

 

[MauDevils]

BTW...



Certainly hoping it doesn't get down to this, but it's interesting to know the option exists

That sounds terrible. If that happens it 100% means we're trading him.