I think Edvinsson's far better defensively than Power and his offensive took a big jump this year. I don't think the Power-Hughes defensive gap is as big as you think it is and I think Power's better offensively than you think he is. Power's more of an offensive Dman than he is a two way one.
Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - part XXIV
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I think Edvinsson's far better defensively than Power and his offensive took a big jump this year. I don't think the Power-Hughes defensive gap is as big as you think it is and I think Power's better offensively than you think he is. Power's more of an offensive Dman than he is a two way one.
Eggtimer
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Holy shit, I didn’t know that Grits would be seen as that good of a prospect overall. I know he has been playing very well but didn’t know he was doig that good in comparison to other high end prospects. Very cool to hear that.
SteveCangialosi123
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The Devils do not need an entire 3rd line nor should that be more important than getting a top 6 forward. You shouldn’t be spending money on multiple 3rd line guys when you can likely just graduate some prospects to a role like that (Zetterlund, Thompson, etc.) Move Zacha and/or Johnsson, add one top 6 forward and the lines look more than fine.
I'd like to see some better defensive forwards play on the third line. They don't have to be hulks that lay big hits, but someone that can take big face-offs so McLeod plays less and someone who can spell Hischier on the penalty kill so he can play fewer minutes in that role. I think that they largely roll back with the same forwards next season. I don't see a good opportunity to trade up with any of those guys (maybe Zacha for a more expensive guy who is also close to UFA?) and short of buying them out they take up roster spots.
Devils731
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From a production perspective, a comparison to Sharangovich could shed some light.
Grits is having a similar regular season to what Sharangovich did but Grits is about 2 years younger than Sharangovich at the time of them performing this way. So Grits regular season is really impressive considering most were psyched about Sharangovich’s season.
Some comparables from his team this season for players you may have seen, Grits is outperforming a 27 year old Nail Yakupov and 33 Vlad Zharkov.
Grits has also gotten to play in the playoffs this year and his numbers actually have improved from the regular season. 13 games, 6 goals, and 4 assists.
He’s creating goals in multiple ways so he’s not a 1 trick pony and despite being 20/21, from what I read, the team does look to him to be an offensive catalyst when they need offense.
He’s having a real eye opening season.
The implication is that Castron should let Fitz pick the players in the first round where he has done reasonably well so far and let Castron and crew apply whatever they did when Shero was in charge to pick players in lower rounds.
FooteBahl
Took a big shitz for Nemec
I thought I read somewhere that at the same age, Gritz’s numbers are close to Panarin and the fella on MN whose name escapes me right now.
Kaprizov is the guy on Minnesota.
It's definitely encouraging that Gritsyuk has broken out in a big way. I hope he is able to come to North America soon. Would be a shame if the geopolitical climate kept him from making the most of his potential.
SteveCangialosi123
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It would be a big boost if Boqvist could make a jump in his defensive ability plus get better at faceoffs next year. Same with Mercer if he’s at center. Hopefully having a coach with a better system should help too.
Nichushkin is the prize if you want a defensive forward but he will get paid.
TrufleShufle
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It's crazy, from the lists 2015 through 2020, unless I missed some, the only guy we have on there is Ty Smith......
Needless to say, we've turned things around.
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Button usually champions Russians like Svechkov and he had him 6th on his 2021 draft list. So it’s a weird omission. Maybe because he didn’t play much in the KHL and he had no U20 to go by, who knows.
These lists are hard to do (and I’m not even an amateur scout) so I typically don’t rip every decision to shreds, even with Mr Quirky Pick, but having a very boom/bust guy with a high tweener vibes at 38 is a bit much. Button randomly champions CHL tweeners like that at times.
Wheeler was higher on Joshua Roy then a lot of people (everyone in the world?) and had him 34th on his draft board. I know this because I remember him being high on him and I looked at his most recent Montreal prospect rankings.
Despite that enthusiasm, plus Roy’s productive season, he has Roy at 7th just among Habs prospects. So, yeah, 38th among all team affiliated prospects is wild.
Montreal needs a good draft this year. The only Canadiens prospect I would even consider for a top 50 list is Guhle. Guhle would have a shot at my top 15, but still.
I have a theory here where a couple people disagree with, but I don't think the scouts are getting together enough with the GM/AGM to scrutinize all the prospects. I think Fitz wants to do this in the earlier picks -- Mukhamadullin and Stillman were obviously need/philosophy picks where they were taken, and it seems he had a hand in them. But you just can't convince me an entire Devils scouting team can look at Benjamin Baumgartner and say "well, here's the best available player". I have no doubt *one* scout loved him, but I can't the same staff which was picking Bratt and Sharangovich in the 5th/6th rounds all getting behind a 5'9, soft perimeter over-aged center without a single plus tool.
The Devils have a trio of 4th round picks this year and then one pick in the 5th, 6th and 7th rounds -- this is a prime opportunity. But you are absolutely correct that Fitzgerald needs to go back to whatever the Devils were doing under Shero when these picks are made.
I think you're seriously underestimating Owen Power. The kid is outstanding. I think Hughes can turn out to be better than all these guys -- as I said last year, he had the highest overall upside in the entire draft class. I agree Edvinsson's all around game looks much better this year, but so does Power's. But I can't agree with Button's low ranking of Luke Hughes, because as he showed time and time again this year, his upside is highest of anyone on that top 50 list.
Buck Dancer
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That's way too easy to say and it isn't the reality of a team looking to contend. You can't just plug a bunch of rookies on your 3rd line and expect to have a dependable 3rd line that will hold their own in key moments. That would be duplicating the same mistake we made this year which saw us utilize Hischier and McLeod more so than we should in roles one shouldn't be playing as much and the other is not cut out to do on a constant basis.
We need guys that play specific roles and dressing the best player isn't how you build a good team. I'll take a guy that does all the little things right over a better player who's game is one dimensional. For now, Boqvist/Tatar/Johnson/Zacha bring one thing and some would say that they're not all that great at that one thing, which makes them liabilities more often than not.
I'm not saying we should have a 3rd line costing us 15M$ but if you look at our 3rd line when everyone's healthy, it's pricey AF and those guys bring next to nothing.
Gritsyuk is neck-and-neck with Holtz as the #2 prospect in the Devils system behind Luke Hughes. It's really close between the two. Holtz has more pure goal-scoring ability, but Gritsyuk has a more dynamic overall game and the potential to be a line-driver at the NHL level.
Honestly, I don't know who I would rank #2 right now between Holtz and Gritsyuk if you forced me to. It's that close. Mukhamadullin is a solid #4. I almost laughed when Scott Wheeler ranked Reilly Walsh #3 in the Devils system. As much as I respect Mr. Wheeler, if you're ranking Walsh ahead of Gritsyuk and Mukhamadullin, it's safe to say you haven't watched any KHL hockey this year... or last year.
Perratrooper
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Besides from an elite goal scorer, what are the Devils biggest needs and what players are or could be available?
Mgd31
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Goalie is the one overwhelming need
I would agree with this. I think Power is honestly overrated as a prospect. He's a big guy that gets points, so everyone in the OBC just blows their load on sight of him.
He's never looked great defensively when I've seen him. At the (cut short) WJCs this winter, Power got walked quite a few times at even-strength. He dominated on the PP, but I thought a guy like Zellweger was a better overall player. I'm not as high on Hughes as others, but I think he's pretty close to Power.
Stephen Gionta
Boston College > Boston University
Biggest needs:
- Elite winger
- A goaltender that can stop the puck (I think we have that in house with a healthy Bernier/Blackwood tandem)
- 3rd line winger with snarl (Marchment is my ideal target)
Who's available?
- Ty Smith, Pavel Zacha, Tomas Tatar, Andreas Johnsson, Janne Kuokkanen, and MAYBE Alex Holtz depending on the return.
A 3rd line is more important than a top 6 forward, because if Holtz develops the Devils will have 6 of them, and if Gritsyuk comes over next year that would make 7.
The Devils 3rd line this year has -- at least over the second half of the season -- been the absolute worst in the NHL. No scoring, no physicality, no defense, no interior play. Devils opponents essentially get a breather every 4th shift.
Like many others, I was hoping Zacha would build on his career year of 2020-21, but this year he's really regressed. Johnsson had a hot start and then has fallen apart completely -- not quite the liability he was last year, but he's still such an easy out for opposing defenders it's almost embarrassing. Tatar has shown flashes of effectiveness and then flashes of invisibility, and you have to wonder if its age or compete level. There's a reason this guy was a perennial playoff scratch, and giving him two years was probably Fitzgerald's biggest contractual mistake as GM.
When you put any two of those three around Jesper Boqvist, the opposing defense does not have to worry about getting hit or a tough forecheck. They can take their time with the puck and make player through neutral ice with their heads up or down, it doesn't matter. No one crashes the crease, there is no cycle down low. There is basically nothing except Boqvist giving the Devils a nice speed element and Zacha's shot being something opposition D must caution against.
I think the final 10 games of the year determine whether Boqvist is in the NJ future plans as 3C. But Zacha, Johnsson and Tatar simply have to go. They do not score enough for a top 6 role and they have no elements necessary for an effective 3rd line. You can't play any of them on the PK except Zacha, and you can't play any of them on the PP except Tatar. They're like a black hole, no roles, no energy, nothing.
I agree maybe Zetterlund can take a spot here. But let's go after guys like Nichushkin and Niederrreiter who would add a physical element and some interior play. Though Niederreiter's best scoring days may be in the past, Nichushkin can play top 6 and push a player down to the 3rd line who would make the unit more offensively dangerous, like Holtz or Mercer. Marchment might be a good call too, though we can't be sure of what his contractual demands would be.
SteveCangialosi123
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Nah. We shouldn’t and won’t be adding 3 forwards when we already have too many as it is. Nico is used exactly as he should be. McLeod is a 4th liner and is used as a 4th liner.
When did I say we should be using an all rookie 3rd line? If you believe in Zetterlund at all, he will be a guy getting a chance in a role like that. You want him in the minors again? Holtz will be graduating to the NHL. Wood will be back.
Tatar does plenty of little things well and isn’t particularly great at one thing. He’s made a career of being a very solid all around player, you just have extreme bias against him and can’t see what he actually does well.
Holtz lower than Johnson isn't *dumb*. Johnson lower than Beniers is DUMB. They were on the same Michigan team, Button should be able to see -- like anyone -- which is the superior prospect, there.
Mgd31
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