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

[nugg]

Wow, the east is so divided the top 8 are all 100+ points. 20 points over the 9th seed.

The West is also, mostly locked up (Vegas would need to win out to even have a chance).

So much for parity!? Are we finally going to get an expanded playoffs?

Wyshynski: Why the NHL must expand the Stanley Cup playoffs

When I first started following hockey (1985) Only 5 teams missed, 5! It was always talked about as a joke, how everyone made the playoffs (except the Devils of course). Yeah, I think going from 21 to 32 teams and no increase in teams, it's time.

 

[FooteBahl]

Careful there, my friend....

I hear Elon is buying HF boards too

 

[StevenToddIves]

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

In a vacuum where the Devils can't sign or trade for a 3-RD, I guess that could be your emergency valve. But it's probably far from an ideal one.

 

[None Shall Pass]

I wish we could keep PK for the 3rd RD spot for cheap. He's a perfectly fine 3rd pairing guy, plays hard, has some snarl, and has a booming shot. Pair him with a more defensive guy and he'll be fine.

 

[Triumph]

I wish we could keep PK for the 3rd RD spot for cheap. He's a perfectly fine 3rd pairing guy, plays hard, has some snarl, and has a booming shot. Pair him with a more defensive guy and he'll be fine.

There's a ton of 3rd pairing RHDs available. Schultz, Miller, Gudbranson, Braun, Lyubushkin, Rutta, Benning, Pysyk. Some of these guys are more like 7th D, vet AHLers probably, but the market has lots of options.

Subban has handled his demotion without complaint, in a way a lot of players would not have. I really like his energy. I don't think he should be here next year.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

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.

If you just let made the 3 on 3 OT a continous OT instead of only 5 mins, I'd wager the game would likely end sooner than the time is takes for a 3+ round shootout ...

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

No coach could possibly succeed with the goaltending we’ve gotten and I’ve liked what Lindy has done with the young guys, but we should move on. I’d much rather start fresh.

 

[Oneiro]

 

[Billdo]

Well, that's unfortunate but not unexpected nor is it wrong. No coach would've been able to handle this with the injuries and goaltending.

 

[My3Sons]

Thanks for sharing all that. I hate to say it, but that just screams the team letting him coach out his last year as a lame duck since it's cheap and easy for the team and he has the built in excuses of covid seasons and bad goaltending. I imagine that Ruff is likable which will help him in the exit interviews as well.

 

[Saugus]

Thanks for sharing all that. I hate to say it, but that just screams the team letting him coach out his last year as a lame duck since it's cheap and easy for the team and he has the built in excuses of covid seasons and bad goaltending. I imagine that Ruff is likable which will help him in the exit interviews as well.

I'd rather cashier the whole coaching staff this summer and start fresh as we hopefully open our window to contend. But failing that, letting Ruff coach out his contract and then declining to extend him upon its conclusion is the next best option.

I doubt he is the long term answer behind the bench.

 

[Blender]

No coach could deal with the goaltending we have received, but it's time to move on. It's especially time to move on because I don't think enough has been done to address other problems like our power play. It's embarrassing that our top players barely impact the game more 5on4 than they do 5on5.

 

[Emperoreddy]

If he has sources saying Ruff is cooked then he is cooked. Rest is him speculating.

 

[Billdo]

Regardless of what happens with Ruff, there is absolutely no way Recchi can be back. His track record now across two teams is horrific.

 

[Devils731]

If Ruff gets credit for Hughes and Bratt being great, which likely is due to Bratt and Hughes themselves, but takes little flack for running an awful defensive system then I would question the entire organizations ability to evaluate on-ice play.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Geoff Ward
Phil Housley
Joe Sacco
Kirk Muller
Marc Crawford
John Stevens
Glenn Gulutzan
Trent Yawney
Todd Richards
Alain Nasreddine
Jack Capuano
Davis Payne
John Torchetti
Todd Reirden
John MacLean
Jim Montgomery
Brad Shaw
Scott Arniel

Missing three.

 

[Bleedred]

Coaches (not named Blashill) typically don't survive two consecutive seasons like this, UNLESS it's early in the rebuild (it's really not for us) like the beginning of it or they're very poorly run and don't know what the hell they're doing like Ottawa.

And I'm only using Ottawa because this is DJ Smith's third full season there and I'm not sure if he'll be back or not and Ottawa doesn't exactly have a reputation for keeping coaches too long. They actually went through more than most teams in the 10 year span before DJ Smith, but I could see them staying the course, but they're so poorly run you can't take them seriously.

It's actually VERY RARE for a head coach in the NHL to survive three straight non-playoffs years, no matter what the status of the team is. Ruff has only had 2 so far though.

Outside of TRASH in Detroit, I don't think there is another currently going for a fourth season after 3 consecutive playoff misses.

And honestly, I don't wanna hear about Yzerman. Yzerman (as of this second, maybe not a in a few years from) is considered a good GM because of what he did in Tampa. It's too early to really say he's not doing a good job in Detroit, but the Blashill extension last year (like, he actually extended him, not just kept him leftover from Holland) was a bit suspect.

 

[Blender]

I also generally dislike the "NHL head coaching experience" standard for hires. There are 32 NHL head coaches at any one time, and thousands of coaches at other levels. I don't believe for a second that NHL head coaches are selected on merit, it's often personal connections, so that there's a bunch of retreads kicking around should be irrelevant.

 

[My3Sons]

I'd rather cashier the whole coaching staff this summer and start fresh as we hopefully open our window to contend. But failing that, letting Ruff coach out his contract and then declining to extend him upon its conclusion is the next best option.

I doubt he is the long term answer behind the bench.

I agree. It's more an issue of it allows them to kick the can down the road one more year to see how things play out if they can get stable goaltending. If Ruff had the team at NHL .500 this season after last season's debacle he'd be seen as stabilizing and providing paternal leadership to young players on a developing team. The narrative would be totally different. If I can see that I expect Fitz can as well. Does that mean they should keep him? Probably not, but if Jack and Nico lobby for him that will matter, as will the cost savings on not paying a staff not to coach while paying another staff to coach. We will see and I expect it will be a close decision either way.

Edit: I noted that others have cited the inept power play as a reason to can Ruff. That's probably a more glaring issue than the defensive system to me, since the goaltending might or might not be influencing the team defense. I wonder if the compromise is they bring back Ruff as a lame duck and "reassign" Recchi and bring in a PP guy? I bet Fitz trusts Nas and has or will ask Nas if the defensive problem is the system or the goalies.

 

[OmNomNom]

ty better watch out

if walsh ends up being better all around (esp as a PP QB), then Ty is absolutely expendable

 

[Emperoreddy]

ty better watch out

if walsh ends up being better all around (esp as a PP QB), then Ty is absolutely expendable

Odds of that are quite low. Walsh has plenty of his own issues with his game.

 

[Bleedred]

I also generally dislike the "NHL head coaching experience" standard for hires. There are 32 NHL head coaches at any one time, and thousands of coaches at other levels. I don't believe for a second that NHL head coaches are selected on merit, it's often personal connections, so that there's a bunch of retreads kicking around should be irrelevant.

John MacLean is a very good example of this.

He sucked as an assistant for us for 7 years of whatever he was an assistant here for. Our power play was pathetic some of the years he was running it and never above average in any of those years. And he had guys like Niedermayer, Rafalski, Elias, I guess you could say Parise too, these are good power play guys.

Lou makes him the head coach (guess who was NEVER behind that and dead against that move from day one? I'm still taking a victory lap on that one) and he winds up being arguably the worst coach in the history of hockey. His buddy Kirk Muller hires him to be an assistant when he gets the head coaching gig in Carolina. He sits out unemployed from coaching for a few years (working on our broadcast crew) and it looks like it's gonna be for good until Rick Tocchet gets hired to be the head coach in Arizona and plucks him for his staff. Another BUDDY of his.

He don't even have to sit out an entire season before Sharks assistant coach Rocky Thompson has to step down because he had a medical exemption that didn't allow him to become vaccinated and John MacLean gets brought in with just about or week or two left before training camp starts. He played with the Sharks for less than an entire season. And the Sharks got to see just how good of a power play coach John MacLean was this year. I think when the new GM clears out Boughner, Johnny Mac will once again be unemployed.

I wonder if Lou will then hire him for Bridgeport?

 

[My3Sons]

When I first started following hockey (1985) Only 5 teams missed, 5! It was always talked about as a joke, how everyone made the playoffs (except the Devils of course). Yeah, I think going from 21 to 32 teams and no increase in teams, it's time.

Man, you are old. 1985? What are you, like, 40? Time for the glue factory.

 

[OmNomNom]

Odds of that are quite low. Walsh has plenty of his own issues with his game.

he's made strides this season, defensively, hasn't he?