Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - season begins!

[njdevils1982]

i was pumped for most of the afternoon for tonight's game vs montreal only to sit down right now and realize it's still wednesday

 

[StevenToddIves]

I'd be interested to hear about your successes here!

I predicted Adam Fox would be a perennial Norris contender before he set foot in the NHL, so I consider myself to be pretty good in this area as well. I also had Seider over Broberg which I think was pretty unusual at the time.

I don't disagree, I think he could be a low end #1, but I think he'll be the type of guy who would probably be a #2 on a cup contender. Which is why I referred to him as a top pairing dman - he could be a 1B or a 2A IMO.


It's not just the opening 9 games of this season. His struggles began at the mid-point of last season:

View attachment 927137


How am I underselling Nemec when I essentially project him to have the same ceiling as you?

I had Adam Fox as a 1st rounder in 2016. Had Seider as a top 10 pick and Broberg as a 2nd rounder in 2019. So, agreed on all those counts. I undersold Fox, if I recall I had him #32 overall, but considering his consensus ranking was probably low 2nd/early 3rd I'm pretty happy with my assessment.

I'm not worried about Nemec's struggles. He's shown flashes of being a very good player, and most of his mistakes have been attributable to being a 19-20 year old D in the best league in the world. It's tough for 2-way defensemen to acclimate, there's just so much to learn.

Again, I agree that Seamus Casey should not be a trade candidate. Though I would not consider him to have greater ability than an Adam Fox, I'd rank him ahead of Lane Hutson, to name three young D with similar attributes and limitations.

 

[My3Sons]

I had Adam Fox as a 1st rounder in 2016. Had Seider as a top 10 pick and Broberg as a 2nd rounder in 2019. So, agreed on all those counts. I undersold Fox, if I recall I had him #32 overall, but considering his consensus ranking was probably low 2nd/early 3rd I'm pretty happy with my assessment.

I'm not worried about Nemec's struggles. He's shown flashes of being a very good player, and most of his mistakes have been attributable to being a 19-20 year old D in the best league in the world. It's tough for 2-way defensemen to acclimate, there's just so much to learn.

Again, I agree that Seamus Casey should not be a trade candidate. Though I would not consider him to have greater ability than an Adam Fox, I'd rank him ahead of Lane Hutson, to name three young D with similar attributes and limitations.

You’ve had more hits than that. You knew Samberg was a player and you’ve called some guys that were flawed also. @WhiskeyYerTheDevils i will vouch for STI’s evaluation of defenders. Especially thr unheralded guys who have more to their game than may meet the eye.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

I wish @WhiskeyYerTheDevils would post in our sub a bit more. I always look forward to reading his posts. Same for @StevenToddIves prospect analysis , @Brodeur and his awesome hockey travel/draft stories & @Jason MacIsaac whom I belive is/was a real hockey scout.

 

[glenwo2]

We need more @WhiskeyYerTheDevils and less Jack Daniels.

 

[devilsfan950003]

Utica is bad because they're not willing to spend big on UFA AHLers and they don't have any big-time prospects there besides Casey. As I said in the AHL thread, they should have a good defense there, though - they have decent AHLers + Vilen + Casey.



Foote has played 202 games in the 5+ seasons since he has been drafted. That is a ridiculously small number but because of COVID and injuries it's what he's done. He could use a good run of games down there playing big minutes instead of playing 7 minutes with a nothing 4th line.

Foote should be sent up to play left wing on that 4th line, nice shot, slow as hell. He would have to pass through waivers I think if he was sent down again. Not sure what to do about Tatar? How about Chase Stillman? He's a fast skater, endless motor, plays mostly right wing but has played center before. Could they give Stillman a try at center?

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

You guys are actually crazy wanting to move Nemec or Casey and keeping Dougie

 

[NJDevs26]

While I'm not really in the trade Nemec or Casey camp at this time I think it's foolish to assume we're automatically going to get the worse of a trade just because we don't want to trade one of them, it's not like we're gonna trade them for Paul Cotter 2.0 and a third rounder. Or assume that it'll be easy to move Dougie when the time comes, who multiple teams have already moved on from when he was closer to his peak.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

You’ve had more hits than that. You knew Samberg was a player and you’ve called some guys that were flawed also. @WhiskeyYerTheDevils i will vouch for STI’s evaluation of defenders. Especially thr unheralded guys who have more to their game than may meet the eye.

yea idk who this @WhiskeyYerTheDevils guy is. Name change? Didn't see that name till this year. Seeing these claims about getting prospect predictions right when Idk the guy is pretty funny to me since I've been following that area for a while on this board.

Or assume that it'll be easy to move Dougie when the time comes, who multiple teams have already moved on from when he was closer to his peak.

I don't necessarily think it'll be easy, but it's something they probably have to do

 

[Darkauron]

Whiskey doesn't even show up to our fourms most of the time. He is nothing compared to STI

 

[Xirik]

yea idk who this @WhiskeyYerTheDevils guy is. Name change? Didn't see that name till this year. Seeing these claims about getting prospect predictions right when Idk the guy is pretty funny to me since I've been following that area for a while on this board.



I don't necessarily think it'll be easy, but it's something they probably have to do

Whiskey doesn't even show up to our fourms most of the time. He is nothing compared to STI

He's posts on the mainboards and draft/prospect boards for years and before I started being around here. He is knowledgeable even though I don't agree on all his takes.

 

[Bad Goalie]

If they end up sending Nemec down then an AHL D of Casey/Misyul/White/Nemec/Vilen is pretty crazy. The forward group is so bad though

Foote should be sent up to play left wing on that 4th line, nice shot, slow as hell. He would have to pass through waivers I think if he was sent down again. Not sure what to do about Tatar? How about Chase Stillman? He's a fast skater, endless motor, plays mostly right wing but has played center before. Could they give Stillman a try at center?

Foote has been playing mostly RW in Utica.

 

[dgibb10]

You’ve had more hits than that. You knew Samberg was a player and you’ve called some guys that were flawed also. @WhiskeyYerTheDevils i will vouch for STI’s evaluation of defenders. Especially thr unheralded guys who have more to their game than may meet the eye.

Just wanna pop in and say referring to a man as "STI" even if that's his initials is crazy work

 

[Guttersniped]

He got results last year with no talent. I think they came a few points away from the playoffs.

At some point when you have nothing to work with, the dam just breaks and you can't do anything about it.

23 AHL teams make the playoffs and 9 teams miss it.

The extra loser is in the West because they have more teams. The AHL Eastern Conference has 15 teams with 11 playoff teams.

So missing the playoffs by 5 points isn’t exactly a badge of honor.

A weak team got worse though, that roster was a pathetic joke going into this season. They lost several veteran defensemen. Needed to add offense and instead had losses there too.

 

[Brovalchuk]

What did they do to my boy Brenden? Ran into this on my ESPN fantasy league this morning.

 

[Better Call Sal]

What did they do to my boy Brenden? Ran into this on my ESPN fantasy league this morning.

Don’t know how you cross Dillon and Shane Bowers up, but ESPN would be my first guess on who would do it.

 

[devilsblood]

You guys are actually crazy wanting to move Nemec or Casey and keeping Dougie

Well one of those guys is a proven high level NHL player.

The other 2, in extremely protected minutes, put up some absolutely brutal on ice numbers.

I know in the big picture it's not as simple as that, but for this year(and maybe next year) it's definitely as simple as that.

 

[devilsblood]

While I'm not really in the trade Nemec or Casey camp at this time I think it's foolish to assume we're automatically going to get the worse of a trade just because we don't want to trade one of them, it's not like we're gonna trade them for Paul Cotter 2.0 and a third rounder. Or assume that it'll be easy to move Dougie when the time comes, who multiple teams have already moved on from when he was closer to his peak.

Yeah trading Nemec or Casey should bring back a good young center or maybe a goalie.

On the other hand trading Hamilton probably costs us assets.

 

[Xirik]

Where GDT @My3Sons

 

[Mgd31]

23 AHL teams make the playoffs and 9 teams miss it.

The extra loser is in the West because they have more teams. The AHL Eastern Conference has 15 teams with 11 playoff teams.

So missing the playoffs by 5 points isn’t exactly a badge of honor.

A weak team got worse though, that roster was a pathetic joke going into this season. They lost several veteran defensemen. Needed to add offense and instead had losses there too.

So you are saying there is a chance for an amazing turnaround and playoff berth??? Nice.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Where GDT @My3Sons

He’s still doing his morning stretches to loosen up his old bones

 

[My3Sons]

He’s still doing his morning stretches to loosen up his old bones

Quit your bellyaching
I put one up

Now where are my depends? I need a fresh one.

 

[Tiredswede]

Any news on nemec? He wasn’t in the morning skate, are they finally sending him down to get some playingtime?

 

[TrufleShufle]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1854584258590867724

 

[StevenToddIves]

You’ve had more hits than that. You knew Samberg was a player and you’ve called some guys that were flawed also. @WhiskeyYerTheDevils i will vouch for STI’s evaluation of defenders. Especially thr unheralded guys who have more to their game than may meet the eye.

I think I'm as proud of the Brock Faber call as any. I was shocked he wasn't universally considered a 1st rounder and said it often -- his consensus ranking was weirdly 2nd/3rd round. He had every imaginable box checked off except for stats, and that's strictly due his deployment on the US-NTDP as a shut-down guy. But anyone could see his puck skills were excellent. I'm not sure if it was a hit by myself (and Cam Robinson, the only other analyst who ranked him in the 1st) as a miss by everyone else, but I'll take it.

Whiskey doesn't even show up to our fourms most of the time. He is nothing compared to STI

If he had Seider top 15 and Fox in the 1st round, he's certainly worth listening to. These were very gutsy calls which turned out to be right on the money.