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

[Bad Goalie]

Those OT loss points don’t actually have that big of an impact. The two teams with the most points gained from OT loses got 14 and then 12 and the two teams with the least got 5. And then everyone else was in between that. So the biggest difference between the 5 and 14 OT lose teams is 9. Otherwise the differences caused by the OT loses is for the most in the 1-5 point range which really isn’t huge.

Will give you that the bottom half of the league has gained more points in Ot than the top half. 153 vs 124. On average bottom 16 teams have gotten 1.8 more points than top 16 teams from OT and shootout losses. Not really a drastic difference.

Go back to the old 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, OT points if you lose and see the good from the bad separate even further. The current point set up makes the races tighter and gives teams the appearance of being in a fight much longer and as a result makes the owners more money. It's all about the money and we all know that.

 

[Devils731]

Lol I'm so curious what happened here. Did Blackwood not say how he really felt for a while then spoke up when the pain was too much or did he say something and they tried to help him play through it rather than shut him down again.

Based on this season, the medical staff seems to recommend anyone that is 30% healthy or more is good to play.

 

[Billdo]

Go back to the old 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, OT points if you lose and see the good from the bad separate even further. The current point set up makes the races tighter and gives teams the appearance of being in a fight much longer and as a result makes the owners more money. It's all about the money and we all know that.

They should do away with the shootout and just let 3v3 OT decide it. At some point it would end. Also they need to impliment some sort of rule where you cannot willing leave the offensive zone while you have possession. That shit drives me nuts.

 

[My3Sons]

They should do away with the shootout and just let 3v3 OT decide it. At some point it would end. Also they need to impliment some sort of rule where you cannot willing leave the offensive zone while you have possession. That shit drives me nuts.

I like the "keep it in" rule. It works in lacrosse. I'd like them to play in OT until someone wins but the reality is the league only cares so much about regular season games and they want the arena workers and the fans home at a semi-reasonable hour.

 

[Eggtimer]

They should do away with the shootout and just let 3v3 OT decide it. At some point it would end. Also they need to impliment some sort of rule where you cannot willing leave the offensive zone while you have possession. That shit drives me nuts.

If they removed the shootout , they need a way to end the game for sure after a set amount of time. I’d like to seeing go to 2vs2 after 5 minutes then 1v1 after another 5 minutes…. Lol. It would never happen but I’d like it more than the shootout.

 

[My3Sons]

If they removed the shootout , they need a way to end the game for sure after a set amount of time. I’d like to seeing go to 2vs2 after 5 minutes then 1v1 after another 5 minutes…. Lol. It would never happen but I’d like it more than the shootout.

How about each team picks one guy to sing with a mask on and if Ken Jeong can guess which player is singing that team gets the OT point.

 

[Billdo]

I like the "keep it in" rule. It works in lacrosse. I'd like them to play in OT until someone wins but the reality is the league only cares so much about regular season games and they want the arena workers and the fans home at a semi-reasonable hour.

I think if they went to 10 mins 3v3 with keeping it in as a rule probably somewhere near 80% would end in OT. The few that don't, idk whatever. Let them play Rock Paper Scissors for all I care. I just hate the shootout.

 

[Guttersniped]

Vesey has been useless since December. I'm okay if Kuokkanen is the 13th forward next season.

Vesey is our best PK forward, he’s been shockingly great at it.

That’s why he made the team and he’s been a PTO success story there.

And for a guy who’s not naturally a defensive forward 5v5, he does ok there. Nothing special at all, but respectable.

It’s just that since Feb 1st (26 GP for him, 35 GP for the team) Vesey’s had an On Ice Shooting % 5.41% 5v5, the lowest among 13 forwards who played at least 50 minutes. He averaged 11:56 5v5 TOI during that stretch.

Vesey personally shot 2.50%, the lowest among the same 13 forwards. (Zacha shot 2.78% in his 26 games in the same period.)

In raw numbers that’s 1 goal in 40 shots, 67 SAT, 42 individual SCF, and 17 individual HDCF. More than anything, that’s really annoying.

(Zacha had 1 5v5 goal in 36 shots, 70 SAT, 56 individual SCF, and 24 individual HDCF in those games. So he somehow managed to be even more annoying.)

Kuokanen had 1 goal in the same period in 14 games with a shooting % of 5.88% but he doesn’t shoot the puck nearly as much as Vesey. Only McLeod shoots it less then him.

Vesey shot creation is more promising, but he shot 6.60% overall on the year for his 7 goals and 4.35% 5v5 for 4 5v5 goals. I don’t know if his finishing is going to bounce back much from that.

 

[Brodeur]

Probably no room for Vesey next year, we probably already need to ship out a vet forward to open up a spot for Holtz as it is. Zetterlund (and Boqvist) won't be waiver exempt next season, so he'll have the inside track for one of the 14F spots.

But we'll see what trades/signings happen.

 

[NJDevs26]

Based on this season, the medical staff seems to recommend anyone that is 30% healthy or more is good to play.

Unless it’s the golden boy

 

[Emperoreddy]

They should do away with the shootout and just let 3v3 OT decide it. At some point it would end. Also they need to impliment some sort of rule where you cannot willing leave the offensive zone while you have possession. That shit drives me nuts.

Players union would never approve it. They don't want the players playing super long regular season games.

It's either the shootout or ties

 

[Devils731]

Unless it’s the golden boy

Hughes? I think they had him come back too early with his shoulder and let him play on a knee injury that shut him down for the season.

The team seems to have a huge risk appetite when it comes to playing on injuries.

 

[MachoDiablo]

You think networks are the ones who have money at stake here or remotely the most?

You forget that the NHL is much more of a gate driven league. Playoff teams do better in attendance and you can sell season ticket plans off signs of success like making the playoffs.

Playoff games are huge moneymakers because players are working for free (unless they win the Cup), the tickets are more expensive, games sell out and and you sell more crap.

There’s a reason all with a reasonable chance to make the playoffs often trade for something at the TDL.

Having 16 garbage non-playoff teams is a lot, considering that such a huge % used to make it. In 1991-92 there was still only five non-playoff teams. Expansion happened and two more teams were just recently added. That’s a new reality that is going to eventually cause some changes here. There’s going to be at least some sort of play-in round or teams added in some way.

The East lacks parity this season in a stark way but that’s a bit new. Good teams miss the playoffs quite a bit. Having more playoff teams means more teams are trying to win, I’m not sure what the downside is unless you liked how MLB worked in the past with so many teams living in hopelessness. (And you apparently did.)

Like I said, I do much prefer the smaller playoffs for MLB; a league that markets a 162 game season really shouldn't make the regular season a formality. And hell, I'm a lifelong Mets fan, so not making the playoffs is basically my status quo.

But again, I can see the argument better for hockey; it's only an 82 game season, and given the history of so few teams missing the playoffs in the past it probably feels weird for older fans to have this 50/50 reality. I honestly only got deeper into watching hockey in the mid-00s; I grew up a "just watch the playoffs" kid (didn't help my family didn't have SportsChannel when I was little) with hockey, so the reality of so few teams missing never really sunk in with me, and I'm instead just used to the status quo being "half the teams make it, half the teams don't, c'est la vie."

I do pin plenty of blame on the networks for ponying up the broadcast rights cash to all these leagues for more playoffs, but not for a second do I excuse the owners, either. They want all they can get, of course.

But sure, if they decide they want to do some kind of small play-in and figure out some kind of bye they can give to the top seeds? I could probably get behind that. I just don't really feel bad about crappy teams missing out.

 

[Camille the Eel]

To be really nuts, I hate the salary cap. When I look back at those great old Canadiens and Bruins teams from the 70’s, I think that we will never again see clubs with such a depth of talent. The cap serves the owners well by keeping salaries cheap. If we want some kind of parity then a wealth tax on payrolls above a certain point, shared with the have not clubs could maybe do the trick.

But it’s universal as long as the courts say it isn’t a combination in restraint of trade. Which of course it clearly is.

 

[Blackjack]

To be really nuts, I hate the salary cap. When I look back at those great old Canadiens and Bruins teams from the 70’s, I think that we will never again see clubs with such a depth of talent. The cap serves the owners well by keeping salaries cheap. If we want some kind of parity then a wealth tax on payrolls above a certain point, shared with the have not clubs could maybe do the trick.

But it’s universal as long as the courts say it isn’t a combination in restraint of trade. Which of course it clearly is.

Teams like Toronto and NY continue to have a huge advantage over other clubs because the salary cap is a complete joke.

Tampa and Vegas have been able to exploit the LTIR loophole to load up on contracts way over the "cap". The league is probably just as unbalanced as it was in the '70s, it just seems like it's tighter because the insane points scheme.

 

[devilsblood]

Vesey is our best PK forward, he’s been shockingly great at it.

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That’s why he made the team and he’s been a PTO success story there.

And for a guy who’s not naturally a defensive forward 5v5, he does ok there. Nothing special at all, but respectable.

It’s just that since Feb 1st (26 GP for him, 35 GP for the team) Vesey’s had an On Ice Shooting % 5.41% 5v5, the lowest among 13 forwards who played at least 50 minutes. He averaged 11:56 5v5 TOI during that stretch.

Vesey personally shot 2.50%, the lowest among the same 13 forwards. (Zacha shot 2.78% in his 26 games in the same period.)

In raw numbers that’s 1 goal in 40 shots, 67 SAT, 42 individual SCF, and 17 individual HDCF. More than anything, that’s really annoying.

(Zacha had 1 5v5 goal in 36 shots, 70 SAT, 56 individual SCF, and 24 individual HDCF in those games. So he somehow managed to be even more annoying.)

Kuokanen had 1 goal in the same period in 14 games with a shooting % of 5.88% but he doesn’t shoot the puck nearly as much as Vesey. Only McLeod shoots it less then him.

Vesey shot creation is more promising, but he shot 6.60% overall on the year for his 7 goals and 4.35% 5v5 for 4 5v5 goals. I don’t know if his finishing is going to bounce back much from that.

I really liked what Vesey brought this year, but there are just too many fwds. Wood will hopefully be on the 4th line. Zetterlund and Holtz most likely working their way into the lineup. We need to move out Tatar/Johnnson/Zacha but with the hopes of upgrading that 3rd line lw position. Even the 13th fwd position he has Kuok to beat out.

He may have earned himself a job if he had put more points on the board, but without it, I just can't see him coming back.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Teams like Toronto and NY continue to have a huge advantage over other clubs because the salary cap is a complete joke.

Tampa and Vegas have been able to exploit the LTIR loophole to load up on contracts way over the "cap". The league is probably just as unbalanced as it was in the '70s, it just seems like it's tighter because the insane points scheme.

Tampa has had no major UFA signings in a long time, except for re-signing their own players. The Rangers and Toronto have really only had one each.

If these teams are helped out by anything it was expansion and there being teams out there willing to take their trash.

 

[Guttersniped]

I really liked what Vesey brought this year, but there are just too many fwds. Wood will hopefully be on the 4th line. Zetterlund and Holtz most likely working their way into the lineup. Needing to move out Tatar/Johnnson/Zacha. A potential upgrade would be nice. Even the 13th fwd position he has Kuok to beat out.

He may have earned himself a job if he had put more points on the board, but without it, I just can't see him coming back.

I don’t really see it either. Just being great at the PK isn’t something amazing that we can’t lose. The dream there is to get a better defensive forward or someone who can score more or get our guys to PK. People have ignored the PK aspect even though I can guarantee you that’s why he originally made the team.

After last season’s debacle and the loss of vets like Zajac on top of that, Ruff wasn’t going into this season with just the kids manning the PK. In the first month Vesey and Gauthier were the forwards with the most TOI/GP on the PK (Gauthier played 8 games).

The frustrating part is he does reasonably good job of getting pucks to the net but they (mostly) just would not go. And he got dire offensive results with McLeod for a large chunk of the season but that reflects on his line-mates too.

There is a basis for more goals there with his shot creation, but he just didn’t finish.

If you just look at our last 40 games, Boqvist (38 games) shot 18% 5v5 and scored 8 5v5 goals with 50 shots while Vesey (31 games) shot 2.33% 5v5 and scored 1 5v5 goal with 43 shots.

The former is but lucky but the later is close to Jack Hughes’ rookie year futility there. And Vesey will be 29 in May. He might shoot better next season but I don’t know if we need to test that hypothesis.

 

[njdevils1982]

A friend of mine recently asked me what I liked about Jimmy Vesey. I answered: "whenever he's on the ice at LW, it means Johnsson or Zacha are not on the ice at LW." But I couldn't really think of anything else.

hear! hear! i concur good sir!

 

[glenwo2]

How about each team picks one guy to sing with a mask on and if Ken Jeong can guess which player is singing that team gets the OT point.

Careful there, my friend....

 

[glenwo2]

Players union would never approve it. They don't want the players playing super long regular season games.

It's either the shootout or ties

Then bring back "ties".

The shootout actually extends the game more than "ties" if we're going by the league wanting to send fans and players "home" at a semi-reasonable hour.

 

[Eggtimer]

Any chance that the Devils even consider E Kane in UFA ? Or maybe if the Oilers sign him , Jesse Poolparty might become available due to cap restraints ?

 

[My3Sons]

Careful there, my friend....

I just googled him and the Masked Singer. I wasn’t aware of his walkout. I wasn’t trying to be political. I was just using that Masked Singer as a metaphor for the fact that television is completely out of good ideas when they run a show about B list celebrities singing in a goofy costume and a panel trying to guess how they are. The silly part is it spawned a couple of other masked or hidden contestant shows. Similarly the NHL is out of ideas if they think the shootout is the best they can do. Thanks for the heads up though.

 

[Alex NJD]

Any chance that the Devils even consider E Kane in UFA ? Or maybe if the Oilers sign him , Jesse Poolparty might become available due to cap restraints ?

I think Poolparty, and their other notable RFAs all probably get bridge deals. If they do end up re-signing E Kane I think they would move fellow RFA Yammamoto, or pay someone to dump Kassian or Foegele on, before they would consider trading Poolparty.

But then again Edmonton managment has proven they're not exactly the most competent

 

[nugg]

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.

It might not mean much, but Ty played mostly RD in junior. Could he simply replace Subs there next season? Not ideal, I know.