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

[TrufleShufle]

Luke needs to be higher

I wish he was lower, look at how people talk about Mercer. No one "overhyped" him. When he does good, people talk about him, when he's not lighting it up no one talks about him. I like our prospects not getting any attention until they can't be ignored.

 

[Eggtimer]

In regards to Fiala—does anyone know if him and Nico are close? Hopefully he can do some recruiting if Fitz is going to make a run at him come July.

I’d love Fiala but I think there are better fits for the roster. Yes I woild loce to add him but for the price it will cost , I’d rather sign Nuke and I e other good well rounded player like a Neiderrieder or Marchment. Nuke plus Marchment or Fiala… Agaun , I’d love to add Fiala but only if we could afford to get him plus a decent RHD , and two good forwards.

 

[OmNomNom]

marchment is gonna be PAID

 

[Guttersniped]

Who is going to sign Gaudreau? The Flames don't have the money and neither do the Flyers. If he really wants to come home, we're the best option.

Fortifying the top two lines isn't the biggest need, but if the prize falls in your lap, you'd have to be an idiot to say no.

Gaudreau drives their top line and is their key offensive player, I would be surprised if Calgary didn’t keep him. They likely have to move salary the off-season to get it done but I’m assuming it likely happens.

That team has a win now attitude and he’s reportedly very settled there after getting married.

Forsberg is likely getting re-signed in Nashville as well, he reportedly wants to stay and they have the cap space for it.

 

[Triumph]

Jeez buying out Lindblom after he returned from cancer is some bad karma and I think would majorly upset some fans/locker room.

Sad reality, and I'm sure Lindblom has worked incredibly hard to get where he is now, but he's not a $3 million player anymore. I don't envy this decision for the Flyers, though, and it wouldn't surprise me if they keep him on, but it's just punting the decision to next season.

 

[Oneiro]

I'm not sure about that. It'll be a nice discussion to have if we are ever in a contending position.

He's got his warts, but he's also got some great attributes that fly under the radar around the league. He is just 24 and presumably hitting his prime years right now. He essentially has 2 seasons' worth of games played.

Unless you're a superstar team, you will have some holes. He's got aspects to his game that makes him a fine 4th line center - with potential to be a very good one.

Sorry - side tangent for Tyce thread.

What qualities? Decent penalty killing and faceoffs? Nothing hard to find about that.

No scoring touch and doesn't create much at even strength - the IQ isn't there. Most of his possessions consist of him stapling himself with the puck to the wall so Bastian can fish it out or carrying the puck in smoothly through the NZ before coughing it up at first pressure. His speed never creates an advantage because he can't do anything with it. His physicality might be better than a lot of the guys but it's not saying much. He's earned his spot - I didn't think he'd even be an NHL player - but I doubt he keeps it.

I look at Thompson and I see a higher compete level, better shot and hands in tight areas. My guess is he surpasses McLeod pretty quickly but we'll see.

 

[Hisch13r]

More reasons to feel optimistic should we ever find a capable goalie.

I'm the optimistic type, so I'm going to sit here thinking this will all be a positive development for Daws in the future. Would love to see him become the guy inevitably, just not immediately unless he proves he can be consistent.

Yeah I went over this recently and we likely have all the pieces already outside of maybe another top 6 F or top pair D. For the F I think it’s either Gritsyuk or we don’t have it (Nuke pls). It could get filled at the draft. For the D it’s filled if Sevo stays around and I’d like it to be Jiricek longterm. Goalie is obviously the question mark. I still have faith it could be Blackwood

 

[TrufleShufle]

Can we just use everything not tied down to unite Nico and Timo?

 

[Guttersniped]

Joshua Roy at 38. Ok.

 

[Eggtimer]

Joshua Roy at 38. Ok.

The list is a joke. Hughes should at the least be in the top 5 . At the very least. Edvinsson at 3… quit swinging on Yzerman’s nut sack Button .

 

[Eggtimer]

Can we just use everything not tied down to unite Nico and Timo?

Timo would be deadly. Out of all these guys , who would you prefer?
Timo , Fiala , Tkachuk , Gaudreau , Forsberg.
I can not see us getting any of them and doubt Timo Tkachuk Johnny will even be available.
As awesome as it would be , I think we could do other moves to make the roster better as a whole .

 

[TrufleShufle]

The list is a joke. Hughes should at the least be in the top 5 . At the very least. Edvinsson at 3… quit swinging on Yzerman’s nut sack Button .

Hughes was drafted before him, had an absolute amazing season and a decent amount younger, why would make you think he would be listed above him?

 

[TrufleShufle]

Timo would be deadly. Out of all these guys , who would you prefer?
Timo , Fiala , Tkachuk , Gaudreau , Forsberg. I can see us getting any of them and doubt Timo Tkachuk Johnny will even be available.
As awesome as it would be , I think we could do other moves to make the roster better as a whole .

I think Timo, based on the chemistry, production, using his size, his age. He checks all the boxes and then some the other guys don't. Sure, you can pick a couple things the other guys do better, but when taking everything into account, I'd take Timo.

 

[Hisch13r]

Joshua Roy at 38. Ok.

Just skimming the list there's also stuff like Bolduc at 16 and Glass at 45. Button's an odd one.

 

[Hisch13r]

The list is a joke. Hughes should at the least be in the top 5 . At the very least. Edvinsson at 3… quit swinging on Yzerman’s nut sack Button .

Edvinsson's really good. I don't think that one in particular is bad. I like him better than Power.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Joshua Roy at 38. Ok.

I couldn't love this post enough. Here's a top 10 from someone who doesn't have to worry about ratings:

1 LD Jake Sanderson
2 LD Owen Power
3 LD Luke Hughes
4 C Matty Beniers
5 C Mason McTavish
6 RW Dylan Guenther
7 RD Brock Faber
8 LD Simon Edvinsson
9 LW Kent Johnson
10 LW Zachary L'Heureux

Also, any top 50 list has to have Arseni Gritsyuk, Fyodor Svechkov and Dmitry Rashevsky on it. Was Button boycotting Russians? Obviously not because Mukhamadullin. Gritsyuk should be in the top 20 conversation at this point.

 

[My3Sons]

Joshua Roy at 38. Ok.

It's only one guy's opinion. I'm sure everyone's list would be different. My guess is @StevenToddIves has Faber much higher as an example.



Edit: As I was typing and posting STI added his version and sure enough, it's much different than Button's. I'm sure there are fans of whatever team or players that would disagree with him.

 

[Hisch13r]

Luke and Beniers remain the 2 best of the 4 Michigan for me pretty easily yet here they are below both Power and Johnson.

 

[Brodeur]

Luke needs to be higher

Typically Button's lists have a little bit of recency bias, but I wouldn't worry too much about whether Luke is 4th vs. 10th. Here are Button's previous rankings. If you ever want a good laugh, make your own top prospects list and open it up a few years later.

2015: TSN Hockey's Top 30 NHL-affiliated prospects - TSN.ca
2016: TSN Hockey's Top 50 NHL-affiliated prospects - TSN.ca
2017: Who are the best players not skating in the NHL? - TSN.ca
2018: Cupboard is stocked for up-and-coming Canucks - TSN.ca
2019: Russian wingers top TSN’s ranking of NHL-affiliated prospects - TSN.ca
2020: Russian players dominate top spots in TSN’s ranking of NHL-affiliated prospects - TSN.ca
2021: Red Wings' blue chippers, Caufield headline Top 75 prospects list - TSN.ca

 

[Eggtimer]

I think Timo, based on the chemistry, production, using his size, his age. He checks all the boxes and then some the other guys don't. Sure, you can pick a couple things the other guys do better, but when taking everything into account, I'd take Timo.

I agree that Timo has a game style that would fit well with what we need.
I meant to say in my post that I DONT think we get any of those guys but it sure would be amazing to get one .

 

[StevenToddIves]

Timo would be deadly. Out of all these guys , who would you prefer?
Timo , Fiala , Tkachuk , Gaudreau , Forsberg.
I can not see us getting any of them and doubt Timo Tkachuk Johnny will even be available.
As awesome as it would be , I think we could do other moves to make the roster better as a whole .

Devils need to fill needs before worrying about a luxury like a top 6 F. Devils need a goalie, an entire 3rd D pairing (and to get something back for Smith) and an entire 3rd line (and to get something back for Johnsson, Zacha, Tatar).

As is, a top 6 of Hughes/Hischier/Bratt/Mercer/Sharangovich/Holtz is potentially one of the better top 6's in the conference. You sign Nichushkin as a UFA, it gets even better, and you can drop Holtz or Mercer to the 3rd line.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Typically Button's lists have a little bit of recency bias, but I wouldn't worry too much about whether Luke is 4th vs. 10th. Here are Button's previous rankings. If you ever want a good laugh, make your own top prospects list and open it up a few years later.

2015: TSN Hockey's Top 30 NHL-affiliated prospects - TSN.ca
2016: TSN Hockey's Top 50 NHL-affiliated prospects - TSN.ca
2017: Who are the best players not skating in the NHL? - TSN.ca
2018: Cupboard is stocked for up-and-coming Canucks - TSN.ca
2019: Russian wingers top TSN’s ranking of NHL-affiliated prospects - TSN.ca
2020: Russian players dominate top spots in TSN’s ranking of NHL-affiliated prospects - TSN.ca
2021: Red Wings' blue chippers, Caufield headline Top 75 prospects list - TSN.ca

Max Domi #1 and Leon Draisaitl #6 -- there's one Craig won't regret.

 

[My3Sons]

Devils need to fill needs before worrying about a luxury like a top 6 F. Devils need a goalie, an entire 3rd D pairing (and to get something back for Smith) and an entire 3rd line (and to get something back for Johnsson, Zacha, Tatar).

As is, a top 6 of Hughes/Hischier/Bratt/Mercer/Sharangovich/Holtz is potentially one of the better top 6's in the conference. You sign Nichushkin as a UFA, it gets even better, and you can drop Holtz or Mercer to the 3rd line.

Holtz playing at RW3 on a line with Hischier would be pretty good.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Edvinsson's really good. I don't think that one in particular is bad. I like him better than Power.

Edvinsson's defensive upside is close to Power, but Power is significantly superior offensively. Hughes is behind them both defensively, but far ahead of them offensively. The best defensive D prospect in the world is Sanderson, who has more offensive upside than Edvinsson and probably a bit higher than Power, though he's certainly below Hughes. But Sanderson is my #1 prospect outside the NHL right now.

 

[StevenToddIves]

It's only one guy's opinion. I'm sure everyone's list would be different. My guess is @StevenToddIves has Faber much higher as an example.



Edit: As I was typing and posting STI added his version and sure enough, it's much different than Button's. I'm sure there are fans of whatever team or players that would disagree with him.

Faber is the best shut-down D prospect there is right now aside from Sanderson. I value that a whole lot more than gaudy numbers from a defenseman who struggles in his own zone. I think he's the next Jake Slavin, and I think Slavin is a top 5 D in the league who should be in the Norris conversation this year as probably the 3rd place winner behind Josi and Makar.