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

[NjDevsRR]

Wedge at .908 in this day and age is very impressive.

 

[Guttersniped]

hammond isn't the waste. schnarr was the waste. if he would ever result in anything on the nhl level is in question. i don't mind the transaction, as long as the development of daws and not results is the focus of this trade.

if they still let daws get destroyed playing back to backs, it was really a bad decision.

Losing Schnarr was a big loss for Utica which had lousy center depth before losing arguably their best center. Schnarr might pop up as a 4C in the NHL at some point.

We needed Hammond (just as a warm body) though, you can’t play the entire post-TDL schedule with only three goalies in the entire organization with contracts that allow them to play in the NHL and only one goalie that the coach is willing to play. (And the third one was currently being overplayed in the AHL.) So if that was the price, that was the price.

 

[SKNJD9]

Yeah Utica went on a nice streak to start the season, historic even...they've been painfully average since then.. and even during that streak their possession numbers were trash. Excellent goaltending and timely scoring helped them, especially early.

I don't get the fascination with Dinnen...there is 100% nothing special there with him

 

[Guttersniped]

Just checked out how Wedge has fared this season, and he was pretty good in Arizona. 26 gp's, .911 save%.

I'm in on the "it's the goalies" narrative, but sometimes you wonder.

I also just noticed that Gillies has played on 6 different teams this year. That's impressive.

Wedge played 8 periods here in two starts and played the Caps, the Flames (for 2 periods) and the Blue Jackets. That’s not much to work with in figuring out how he would have played here.

The Coyotes played very low event hockey based around having not a ton of talent and having a bunch of veteran cap dumps. When we lost to them 4-1, in the game that got Blackwood shut down, they had 17 shots, giving Mac a .765 SV% for the game.

Also, again, take out Bernier’s last game and his SV% is .914. He only had 9 starts. Blackwood’s SV% in his first 13 games (out of 23) was .913.

Gillies was bad and the defense in front of him had gotten worse. Schmid was pretty obviously overwhelmed though he got shelled a bit in several games. Hammond seems like the worst of bunch, but that’s me.

What happened to each goalie is unique, they do blur together because there were seven of them and a bunch of losses.

 

[bigd]

lol He’s not going to move a top 5 pick for a goalie. Also that would quite literally be panic move. He’d be panicking about his job security and making a move to prevent being fired. That’s a panic move.

I guess your reading comprehension is off. I said I wouldn't trade a top 5 pick for a goalie either but I do see him trading that pick, not for a goalie. Unless it's the #1 pick then that's a keeper.

 

[Guttersniped]

Yeah Utica went on a nice streak to start the season, historic even...they've been painfully average since then.. and even during that streak their possession numbers were trash. Excellent goaltending and timely scoring helped them, especially early.

I don't get the fascination with Dinnen...there is 100% nothing special there with him

They still have the top win % in the East, it’s a very nice season for a team with very few vets.

The depth was a problem to begin with and injuries and call ups, which should be expected, have overtaxed that depth.

We came in with lousy center depth, the strength was at scoring winger, which won’t help you with possession.

The goalie tandem died early, Schmid was called up and Daws had a lengthy injury in the winter. They had one other goalie in the entire minors system, which sucked to start with. Losing Wedgewood was always a distinct possibility.

They should have had more depth down there and/or addressed the lack of it earlier than the Hammond trade, such as when Wedge was 1st lost. (Just in terms of a trade for the AHL club, other teams did that.)

The fascination with Dineen is it’s hard for fans to come up with good coaching candidates other than super famous ones. That’s something a GM has to do (hopefully well).

 

[Oneiro]

With Dineen, I'm anchoring more towards what he did at the NHL level with Florida than anything with Utica. That was a pesky team.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

AHL coaches don't usually run their own systems. They use the system the NHL team is running to prepare call ups and make the transition easier for the player to fit into the big club.

 

[Oneiro]

In 2011-12, Florida was in a weak division and the team was not strong analytically. But getting to the playoffs with Bergenheim as your best scorer is still no small feat.

Let's see what Utica does in the playoffs.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Yeah Wedgewood earned himself another NHL contract, would be surprised if he's below 2nd on a team's depth chart too.

 

[Zippy316]

Yeah Wedgewood earned himself another NHL contract, would be surprised if he's below 2nd on a team's depth chart too.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he returns to the Devils, unless he gets a backup gig elsewhere.

I would imagine Devils would like to get a veteran for that 3G spot to keep Daws/Schmid in the minors for a full year. I assume maybe they could consider Daws as the 3G too, but a vet would be ideal.

 

[NjDevsRR]

In 2011-12, Florida was in a weak division and the team was not strong analytically. But getting to the playoffs with Bergenheim as your best scorer is still no small feat.

Let's see what Utica does in the playoffs.

Wtf happened to Bergenheim, hardly remember anything about him after that season.

 

[Hisch13r]

I wouldn’t be surprised if he returns to the Devils, unless he gets a backup gig elsewhere.

I would imagine Devils would like to get a veteran for that 3G spot to keep Daws/Schmid in the minors for a full year. I assume maybe they could consider Daws as the 3G too, but a vet would be ideal.

I hope they’re not considering Daws as the 3G. He should not be an injury away from being a regular

 

[Zippy316]

Boudreau and Montgomery are the most interesting names for me. I hope the Flyers will hire Quinn so we dodge a bullet there. I think he is another Dave Hakstol or Mike Yeo, that is, a bad coach. I don't know what to think about Tocchet, Maurice, Julien and Hartley. No to Babcock. Dineen started hot with the Comets, but the team has been mediocre lately.

I really really like Boudreau as an option.

He’s had some disappointing playoff collapses, but one thing he consistently does is get his teams to the playoffs. He did it with offensively gifted and defensively flawed Washington teams, he then did it in Anaheim with a heavier lineup, and then did it in Minnesota with a very balanced roster.

Montgomery would also be my second choice. I would’ve liked Julien as an interim option like Lemaire did for the Devils back in the day, but not long term.

Seems like he’s content now, but I do wonder if Stevens would rejoin Boudreau if he were to become the Devils coach. They were together for a season in Minnesota before Stevens wanted to be closer to home.

 

[Triumph]

I hope they’re not considering Daws as the 3G. He should not be an injury away from being a regular

But also I'm not sure Akira Schmid should be in the ECHL if everyone's healthy, but that will have to be the way it starts, probably. The move that makes the most sense is using Bernier as the 3rd and signing a guy like Wedgewood to be the backup, and having them switch places if Bernier's somehow 100%.

 

[Hisch13r]

In 2011-12, Florida was in a weak division and the team was not strong analytically. But getting to the playoffs with Bergenheim as your best scorer is still no small feat.

Let's see what Utica does in the playoffs.

Wtf happened to Bergenheim, hardly remember anything about him after that season.

First off it wasn't Bergenheim as their leading scorer. It was Fleischmann with 61. Bergenheim was 11th with 23 in 62. Fun fact that's actually a higher leading scorer than our 03 Cup team lol

For Bergenheim it looks like he had another couple decent years in Florida but was traded to Minnesota mid year in 14-15 where he only had 1 pt in 17 games and that was it for him in the NHL

 

[Zippy316]

I hope they’re not considering Daws as the 3G. He should not be an injury away from being a regular

I don’t think so either. Would only happen in my opinion if they sign a college goalie or maybe a KHL goalie with some pro experience. Have them battle it out for the 3G spot, with Daws maybe having the inside edge.

As Triumph mentioned, you don’t really want to kick Schmid to the ECHL but Fitzgerald is likely taking no chances with goaltending next year. I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised to see him hang onto 3G at the NHL level, especially if Bernier returns with his hip injury.

 

[Hisch13r]

But also I'm not sure Akira Schmid should be in the ECHL if everyone's healthy, but that will have to be the way it starts, probably. The move that makes the most sense is using Bernier as the 3rd and signing a guy like Wedgewood to be the backup, and having them switch places if Bernier's somehow 100%.

That's not a good enough goalie situation to go into next year with. That puts the chances of next season getting tanked WAY too high. We need to aim higher than Wedgewood.

 

[Eggtimer]

I am hoping for a miracle like Sullivan getting canned if the Pens get whooped in the first round . He does an incredible job year after year . He always gets the most out if his teams . There was a point where Sid , Malkin , Letang , Rust all were hurt and they just kept on winning . I think for a period there even Carter was hurt along with all those guys . It’s insane how they kept chugging along
No clue who I’d want for a coach right now . Bruce, or Gronberg, or StLouis ( Marty might not yet be ready though ?)

 

[Hisch13r]

I don’t think so either. Would only happen in my opinion if they sign a college goalie or maybe a KHL goalie with some pro experience. Have them battle it out for the 3G spot, with Daws maybe having the inside edge.

As Triumph mentioned, you don’t really want to kick Schmid to the ECHL but Fitzgerald is likely taking no chances with goaltending next year. I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised to see him hang onto 3G at the NHL level, especially if Bernier returns with his hip injury.

Fitz said we’re back to the drawing board with the goalie situation. We’re adding some NHL goalie for sure. I imagine that pushes Bernier to 3G and Daws out of the picture. If Bernier gets hurt again and is done for then I’d hope they add another vet who can just be a warm body as the 3G instead of Daws. He shouldn’t be seeing the ice outside of like a game here or there if needed

 

[Eggtimer]

That's not a good enough goalie situation to go into next year with. That puts the chances of next season getting tanked WAY too high. We need to aim higher than Wedgewood.

Oh god yes . We need a legit #1 in top of Blackwood and Bernier . Way too risky to count on those two plus Wedgewood over an entire season

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

But also I'm not sure Akira Schmid should be in the ECHL if everyone's healthy, but that will have to be the way it starts, probably. The move that makes the most sense is using Bernier as the 3rd and signing a guy like Wedgewood to be the backup, and having them switch places if Bernier's somehow 100%.

This was the original plan for this season with a healthy Blackwood and Bernier. Daws and Schmid were supposed to alternate between Utica and Adirondack.

 

[Triumph]

That's not a good enough goalie situation to go into next year with. That puts the chances of next season getting tanked WAY too high. We need to aim higher than Wedgewood.

The Devils will start to have cap issues if they add another high salary goalie in addition to Bernier and Blackwood. LTIRing Bernier doesn't fix the problem because the Devils are never going to fully cap themselves out next year - they'll never start the year with $86.5M in cap commitments with the intention of LTIRing Bernier all year.

 

[Hisch13r]

Oh god yes . We need a legit #1 in top of Blackwood and Bernier . Way too risky to count on those two plus Wedgewood over an entire season

I think it’s going to be incredibly hard to get a legit #1 because I think the only guy out there who fits that is Kuemper. We’re likely going to have to add a question mark. It just needs to be a better question mark than Wedgewood. Like say Husso

 

[Eggtimer]

I think it’s going to be incredibly hard to get a legit #1 because I think the only guy out there who fits that is Kuemper. We’re likely going to have to add a question mark. It just needs to be a better question mark than Wedgewood. Like say Husso

I wonder if it makes any sense to overpay for a UFA rather than trade what will likely be a bunch of assets to get a goalie ? Not sure what we are better off doing