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

[glenwo2]

Consistently makes plays like this on D. Good gap, closes on the guy, good stick, plays the body, puts his body in between the player and the puck, reads the pressure well to escape. So many small things in a play like this that he does so well.

Hopefully they don’t take him out for Smith tomorrow.

Man...it's like Night and Day with him and Smith.

He's giving me a ton of hope going forward.

Trade Smith for whatever you can get, is what I think.

 

[McDuffz88]

Okhotuik & Bahl are a breath of fresh air. Finally some dmen who aren't afraid to get physical and shut down the opponent. Its what we desperately need.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Man...it's like Night and Day with him and Smith.

He's giving me a ton of hope going forward.

Trade Smith for whatever you can get, is what I think.

Agreed. Smith needs to be moved before the start of next season. He's just not close to as effective at preventing goals as Okhotyuk or Bahl. With Luke Hughes likely arriving in two years, Smith needs to be moved while he still has the "reclamation value" of his productive rookie year and first-round pedigree.

 

[Oneiro]

Only thing I'm watching for Okhotiuk and Bahl short term is how quickly they get stops and turn it around without unforced errors. You might like the elements they bring but if they're stuck in their own zone most of the time, that's all you need to know.

I don't see what Smith can do to stay on this team, even if Bahl and Okhotiuk fade out. It's probably better to act on a trade this summer.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Only thing I'm watching for Okhotiuk and Bahl short term is how quickly they get stops and turn it around without unforced errors. You might like the elements they bring but if they're stuck in their own zone most of the time, that's all you need to know.

I don't see what Smith can do to stay on this team, even if Bahl and Okhotiuk fade out. It's probably better to act on a trade this summer.

Okhotiuk has been very efficient with the puck in his own end. His first pass, as I mentioned over a year ago, is quite good. On Thursday he hit all but one breakout pass. He must have had 12 or 13.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Only thing I'm watching for Okhotiuk and Bahl short term is how quickly they get stops and turn it around without unforced errors. You might like the elements they bring but if they're stuck in their own zone most of the time, that's all you need to know.

I don't see what Smith can do to stay on this team, even if Bahl and Okhotiuk fade out. It's probably better to act on a trade this summer.

Yeah I was on the fence but given how good Bahl and Okhotiuk have looked, and given I don't think there's even a stretch of 3 straight games all year Smith has looked good, he should probably be moved this offseason. He's in the AHL baring an insane camp next year I think.

 

[Eggtimer]

I already penciled them in for the next 10 yeaes

Okhotiuk Bahl
Hughes Hamilton
Siegenthaler Severson

Can’t imagine it doesn’t work out like that.

You guys are sleeping on Mukhamadulin !! He can possibly be better than Okhotiuk and Bahl.

 

[StevenToddIves]

How about this for a trade proposal?

To Los Angeles:
LD Ty Smith
LW Pavel Zacha
RW Graeme Clarke

To New Jersey:
RD Brock Faber
2nd round pick 2022 (currently #51 overall)

I think it makes sense for both teams. LA stands to lose one or both of UFA LD Maata and Edler, and lack a puck-moving LD. Zacha could make it in LA as a puck-moving middle 6 LW. Graeme Clarke gives them another RW scoring prospect who is also the brother of their #2 overall prospect in Brandt Clarke.

For NJ, a huge hole is filled at RD, where Faber jumps to #1 on the prospect depth chart, a country mile ahead of McCarthy or Walsh. In fact, I'd say Faber would be not-to-far behind Holtz/Gritsyuk as the #4 overall prospect for NJ, just ahead of Mukhamadullin. The pick has obvious value to the Devils, who would still need to draft for RD, depth C and interior/power F.

With the #1 prospect pool in the NHL, the Kings can clearly deal with the loss of those picks. Although losing Faber would hurt, LA still has Doughty at the NHL level and the #1 RD prospect in hockey with Brandt Clarke -- though I'd say Faber is currently #2 in that respect.

Who says no?

 

[glenwo2]

How about this for a trade proposal?

To Los Angeles:
LD Ty Smith
LW Pavel Zacha
RW Graeme Clarke

To New Jersey:
RD Brock Faber
2nd round pick 2022 (currently #51 overall)

I think it makes sense for both teams. LA stands to lose one or both of UFA LD Maata and Edler, and lack a puck-moving LD. Zacha could make it in LA as a puck-moving middle 6 LW. Graeme Clarke gives them another RW scoring prospect who is also the brother of their #2 overall prospect in Brandt Clarke.

For NJ, a huge hole is filled at RD, where Faber jumps to #1 on the prospect depth chart, a country mile ahead of McCarthy or Walsh. In fact, I'd say Faber would be not-to-far behind Holtz/Gritsyuk as the #4 overall prospect for NJ, just ahead of Mukhamadullin. The pick has obvious value to the Devils, who would still need to draft for RD, depth C and interior/power F.

With the #1 prospect pool in the NHL, the Kings can clearly deal with the loss of those picks. Although losing Faber would hurt, LA still has Doughty at the NHL level and the #1 RD prospect in hockey with Brandt Clarke -- though I'd say Faber is currently #2 in that respect.

Who says no?

It also helps that we have Brandt's brother so that would be attractive as well.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

You guys are sleeping on Mukhamadulin !! He can possibly be better than Okhotiuk and Bahl.

That post was mostly a joke.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Saying we have to trade Smith even for a bag of pucks is pure HF nonsense.

You don't dump kids because of a bad sophomore season. Thats dumb.

If the right deal shows up then sure. But if you get lowballed you keep him and give him every opportunity to bounce back.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Saying we have to trade Smith even for a bag of pucks is pure HF nonsense.

You don't dump kids because of a bad sophomore season. Thats dumb.

If the right deal shows up then sure. But if you get lowballed you keep him and give him every opportunity to bounce back.

I agree with this for the most part. The only thing I will say which might just be semantics is that we shouldn’t necessarily just “give” him every opportunity to bounce back. He will likely get an opportunity at some point but I think he really has to prove himself and earn his way back into the lineup assuming Bahl and Okhotiuk finish this season strong and continue into camp. Like he shouldn’t be given the 3LD spot going into next season IMO over Bahl. He needs to show everyone that he gives us a better chance of winning than Bahl who’s been much better so far in his 13 games (maybe not as much the first 2) than Smith was this season.

And yes if the right deal shows up it would probably be a good idea to consider trading him.

 

[Eggtimer]

How about this for a trade proposal?

To Los Angeles:
LD Ty Smith
LW Pavel Zacha
RW Graeme Clarke

To New Jersey:
RD Brock Faber
2nd round pick 2022 (currently #51 overall)

I think it makes sense for both teams. LA stands to lose one or both of UFA LD Maata and Edler, and lack a puck-moving LD. Zacha could make it in LA as a puck-moving middle 6 LW. Graeme Clarke gives them another RW scoring prospect who is also the brother of their #2 overall prospect in Brandt Clarke.

For NJ, a huge hole is filled at RD, where Faber jumps to #1 on the prospect depth chart, a country mile ahead of McCarthy or Walsh. In fact, I'd say Faber would be not-to-far behind Holtz/Gritsyuk as the #4 overall prospect for NJ, just ahead of Mukhamadullin. The pick has obvious value to the Devils, who would still need to draft for RD, depth C and interior/power F.

With the #1 prospect pool in the NHL, the Kings can clearly deal with the loss of those picks. Although losing Faber would hurt, LA still has Doughty at the NHL level and the #1 RD prospect in hockey with Brandt Clarke -- though I'd say Faber is currently #2 in that respect.

Who says no?

I think the Kings are very very high on Faber . Maybe the emergence of Durzi might make Faber somewhat available ? I’d do this trade in a heartbeat . Which makes me question if the Kings would

 

[devilsblood]

How about this for a trade proposal?

To Los Angeles:
LD Ty Smith
LW Pavel Zacha
RW Graeme Clarke

To New Jersey:
RD Brock Faber
2nd round pick 2022 (currently #51 overall)

I think it makes sense for both teams. LA stands to lose one or both of UFA LD Maata and Edler, and lack a puck-moving LD. Zacha could make it in LA as a puck-moving middle 6 LW. Graeme Clarke gives them another RW scoring prospect who is also the brother of their #2 overall prospect in Brandt Clarke.

For NJ, a huge hole is filled at RD, where Faber jumps to #1 on the prospect depth chart, a country mile ahead of McCarthy or Walsh. In fact, I'd say Faber would be not-to-far behind Holtz/Gritsyuk as the #4 overall prospect for NJ, just ahead of Mukhamadullin. The pick has obvious value to the Devils, who would still need to draft for RD, depth C and interior/power F.

With the #1 prospect pool in the NHL, the Kings can clearly deal with the loss of those picks. Although losing Faber would hurt, LA still has Doughty at the NHL level and the #1 RD prospect in hockey with Brandt Clarke -- though I'd say Faber is currently #2 in that respect.

Who says no?

I think the Kings are very very high on Faber . Maybe the emergence of Durzi might make Faber somewhat available ? I’d do this trade in a heartbeat . Which makes me question if the Kings would

I dunno, is Faber that great a prospect? 2nd round pick. OK production in college. OK production before that with the US U-18 team. OK size. I'm doubting he's a plus skater.

All that points to me as Faber maybe having 2nd pair upside. In return we are trading 2 former 1st picks, each with NHL experience and a former 3rd rnd pick to boot.

I'm not very high on Smith, and while I've always liked Zacha's potential, I think his time here is running pretty short. Still I don't think the return in this trade is enough.

Edit: it also looks like LA has drafted RD pretty heavily in recent years. Clarke, Spence, Grans.

 

[Bleedred]

Gonna be quite a matchup tomorrow.

The two (non-interim) head coaches that most desperately need to be rocketed to Russia (like literally to the KHL for Blashill or the rocking chair in Ruff's case) going head to head tomorrow.

And no, I didn't count Mike Yeo, who is an interim and I'd give it a 100% chance he's gone next year, while there's a slight chance these two are back with their teams.

I'm not sure why Blashill is still there. Not only did Yzerman not fire Blashill, but he actually gave Blashill an extension since he's been there and it was just last year.

They seem more worried about firing a 68 year old zamboni driver with an enlarged prostate that had been there for 50 years for pissing in a drainpipe than getting this LOSER sack of shit coach and sticking him somewhere else that isn't on their team. I bet nobody (including him) thought he'd be fired before Blashill was.

 

[Ripshot 43]

What did Foote do to get benched?

 

[Bleedred]

What did Foote do to get benched?

I don’t know if he really did anything to get benched. He just wasn’t used every shift. His skating is very poor, if anything got him fewer shifts.

It’s been speculated that Foote was only called up because Bratt was sick and couldn’t play.

 

[MadDevil]

I don't think Smith "needs" to be moved based off of small sample sizes with Okhotiuk (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) and Bahl, but if the right deal comes along he's expendable.

 

[crashline]

Checking the draft rankings then watching us lose, again, but still picking up points.

 

[My3Sons]

Saying we have to trade Smith even for a bag of pucks is pure HF nonsense.

You don't dump kids because of a bad sophomore season. Thats dumb.

If the right deal shows up then sure. But if you get lowballed you keep him and give him every opportunity to bounce back.

That’s where you are wrong. My middle son struggled in Biology as a sophomore and I dumped him on some neighbors and haven’t looked back.

 

[vtdevils2k]

Throwing this out there....dont know anything contracts or anything etc...

Rico for Zacha

Rico (#14 Henrique who we all miss) becomes the 3C

Can this work? Watching him play and he would be a great fit on that 3rd line for us.

Apologizes if this has already been brought up.

 

[TrufleShufle]

Saying we have to trade Smith even for a bag of pucks is pure HF nonsense.

You don't dump kids because of a bad sophomore season. Thats dumb.

If the right deal shows up then sure. But if you get lowballed you keep him and give him every opportunity to bounce back.

People aren't saying to dump him for a bag of pucks or just because of a bad sophomore year. They are saying to trade the weakest asset of our deepest asset pool to fill in some other areas.

Smith 100% could go on to another team, break out and be the "one who got away," but the difference between him and someone else we are down on, say Blackwood or Severson is if they went on to have success with another team, we would be struggling to find someone to fill the hole they left while also regretting the trade.

Smith might very well go on to be a great player, but it's a playstyle and position that's 100% expendable if he isn't blowing you out of the water.

 

[Bleedred]

Throwing this out there....dont know anything contracts or anything etc...

Rico for Zacha

Rico (#14 Henrique who we all miss) becomes the 3C

Can this work? Watching him play and he would be a great fit on that 3rd line for us.

Apologizes if this has already been brought up.

Hmmm?

Two more years of Henrique at close to $6 million per? Or multiple years of Zacha at probably $4 million per?

Tough choice.

And I’m sure it’ll be right after we get Henrique back that he finally stops being a 15% shooter.

Henrique is somehow pacing for a career high in shots on goal this year. That probably wont continue next year.

Henrique is a better player than Zacha in 2022, but part of my rationale for getting Zacha outta here is that he’s money better spent elsewhere and I’m not sure if one extra year of Henrique at close to $6 million helps cancel out one year where Zacha is (as of right now) isn’t under contract and will be UFA eligible for.

 

[TrufleShufle]

Throwing this out there....dont know anything contracts or anything etc...

Rico for Zacha

Rico (#14 Henrique who we all miss) becomes the 3C

Can this work? Watching him play and he would be a great fit on that 3rd line for us.

Apologizes if this has already been brought up.

As much as I'd love to have Rico back for our 3c, I think it would be a waste to sit Nico.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Saying we have to trade Smith even for a bag of pucks is pure HF nonsense.

You don't dump kids because of a bad sophomore season. Thats dumb.

If the right deal shows up then sure. But if you get lowballed you keep him and give him every opportunity to bounce back.

I can't see any way Smith makes the team next year. Which would kill his trade value, unless the Devils could trade him before the season starts.

Right now, I'd say he goes into camp 5th on the LD depth chart after Siegenthaler, Graves, Okhotyuk and Bahl. If Mukhamadullin comes over, that drops him to 6th. And Luke Hughes is pretty much self-explanatory.

You're not "dumping Smith" so much as you'd be trading from an area of great depth to address areas of weakness.