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

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Since NJ missed out on Labanc should they claim someone? Maybe Pelletier?

They should have claimed Geertsen and play him with McDermid. Imagine McDermid-X-Geertsen line. That would have been magic!

 

[HersheyBob27]

Since NJ missed out on Labanc should they claim someone? Maybe Pelletier?

Why would we want someone who couldn’t make a crappy calgary team?

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Why would we want someone who couldn’t make a crappy calgary team?

Cause not all players are good fits in every organization and maybe he has skills the team could utilize? He's 23 and had 12 points in 18 AHL games last year fwiw.

I agree though that a center should be the priority if the goal is to improve the forward depth, just don't know what names that would be.

 

[Brodeur]

Since NJ missed out on Labanc should they claim someone? Maybe Pelletier?

Our roster spots are pretty much spoken for. Claiming Pelletier would mean waiving somebody like Foote which seems like a lateral move. For better or worse, MacDermid has a spot to get dressed in certain games. Sounded like the Devils offered Labanc the same deal that he signed with Columbus, but Fitz indicated to Labanc that he would start the season in the AHL.

Not sure if you meant to claim Pelletier and then try to sneak him down to the AHL like Vegas did with Grigori Denisenko last year.

Edit: off the top of my head, waiver priority for October is based on last year’s standings. So the Devils would be 10th. After November it’s based on points percentage. Also it’s not like a fantasy league where if you put in a claim and then you’re now at the end of the line for priority.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

So Casey's issue with a fully healthy lineup is that Luke probably takes his PP time and then he is now only getting ES minutes.

They aren't going to sit one of their left handed PKers over him.

So then it becomes whether you sit Nemec and do you put Casey on the PK? Dougie? Or just make Pesce play an absurd amount?

Now if he somehow just takes PP2 and runs with it that they somehow can't put Luke back in that spot (or run two D) the calculus changes

Just run 2 D. The D is now a massive strength of this team. That pp2 is crap outside of Casey.

 

[HBK27]

Can't see the Devils claiming anyone. If we had a roster spot open or were willing to waive Foote, then they would've just handed it to Lebanc. Maybe Fitz could've offered a bit more than league minimum to entice him, but even then he would've had to clear through waivers to go to Utica and Columbus could've snagged him anyway.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the opponent when we win, but we’ve seen plenty of evidence over the years that any team can beat their opponent on any given night in this league. It’s more important to see how the team played to earn that win, and honestly, both of these games were impressive for different reasons.

It’s felt like a night and day difference from last year so far, which is exactly what you want to feel like with a new coach at the helm.

Normally I'd agree, but Buffalo made it really easy. If it wasn't for Levi, and this team actually shot high more, it probably would've been a lot uglier.

They played super passively in the d-zone and on the breakout, they didn't have very good support. The same exact issues this team suffered last year

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Oh ok, well that's a good reason to be out

Thanks! I assume Mac drew in and played like, no minutes?

Yea, didn't play much. I think he got like 2 or 3 shifts and did absolutely nothing except be 10 seconds behind the play

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1842988325680115825

The Devils have announced several transactions on Sunday.

The following players have been waived with the intention to loan to the Utica Comets (AHL):

• Forward Shane Bowers
• Defenseman Nick DeSimone
• Forward Nolan Foote
• Defenseman Colton White.

New Jersey has loaded goaltender Nico Daws to Utica.

 

[Hisch13r]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1842988325680115825

The Devils have announced several transactions on Sunday.

The following players have been waived with the intention to loan to the Utica Comets (AHL):

• Forward Shane Bowers
• Defenseman Nick DeSimone
• Forward Nolan Foote
• Defenseman Colton White.

New Jersey has loaded goaltender Nico Daws to Utica.

13F/8D incoming with Pesce back

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

The 3-1 goal yesterday is such a good example of our new breakout.

Look at Bratt below the goal line helping out Hamilton and Dillon and Hughes getting into position for a quick option

View attachment 912931

Bratt gets it to Jack albeit with some help from a bit of a weird bounce off the boards. Bratt sees things are good and burns the zone. Hamilton is a quick pass option for Jack here if he wants it. That would then open up a pass to Meier.

View attachment 912932

But Jack being the magician he is decides to fake out #20 of Buffalo and buy time for Bratt to burn the Sabres D with his elite speed. And of course Jack finds Bratt in stride which results in the Meier goal.

View attachment 912933

Fun to watch this in the highlights. A big change to our breakout. Requires everyone to chip in to make it work. No more dmen getting screwed by having little nearby support and resulting in egregious turnovers.

Yup, last year in that 1st screen shot, you wouldn't even see 63, 86, and 28 on the screenshot because they were already out of the defensive zone. I really wish it was an exaggeration. Same crap is happening with Buffalo under Ruff.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Keeping all of their D is the correct decision, but I really don't like putting Foote on waivers. It's not the end of the world if we lose him, but I rally hope we don't.

 

[Darkauron]

Foote is useless at this point.

 

[HBK27]

If they were just gonna waive Foote anyway, I'm surprised they didn't give Lebanc a roster spot.

Guess they keep Casey around a bit longer, but if Pesce is ready to go on Thursday I'm not sure where they slot him in.

Submitting a 23-man roster with 13/8/2 plus Hatakka on IR would leave the Devils $26K under the cap.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I’d like to have Foote down there just in case, but I doubt there’s a whole lot of separation between him and someone like Halonen at this point.

 

[Devil X]

If they were just gonna waive Foote anyway, I'm surprised they didn't give Lebanc a roster spot.

Guess they keep Casey around a bit longer, but if Pesce is ready to go on Thursday I'm not sure where they slot him in.

Submitting a 23-man roster with 13/8/2 plus Hatakka on IR would leave the Devils $26K under the cap.

They offered Labanc the same contract he got with Columbus supposedly. He choose Columbus.

 

[theoptimist]

How shocked are you at how good Siegs has looked so far

I am very shocked the Siegs-Kovacevic pairing has looked this good. I'd like to see Siegs against other competition, but still pleased with his play during this Sabres series.

I think having Dillon helps him with ES and PK minutes.

 

[HBK27]

They offered Labanc the same contract he got with Columbus supposedly. He choose Columbus.

Yes, but the speculation is that he chose Columbus in part because he was not offered a spot in NJ and would've been sent to Utica.

 

[Triumph]

Foote missed a year to injury, if someone wants to take him that is perfectly fine with me. You can find Foote level players on waivers all the time.

Labanc has nothing to do with Foote.

Yes, but the speculation is that he chose Columbus in part because he was not offered a spot in NJ and would've been sent to Utica.

Which is almost certainly true, and even if it isn't true, he would not have played on Friday even if he did make the roster. It's not even clear he would've played over MacDermid on Saturday because he's typically been an RW only in the NHL.

 

[HBK27]

Foote missed a year to injury, if someone wants to take him that is perfectly fine with me. You can find Foote level players on waivers all the time.

Labanc has nothing to do with Foote.

Which is almost certainly true, and even if it isn't true, he would not have played on Friday even if he did make the roster. It's not even clear he would've played over MacDermid on Saturday because he's typically been an RW only in the NHL.

Lebanc and Foote were theoretically competing for the same 14th forward spot.

Columbus was certainly a preferable option though, as he should get plenty of playing time there versus at the very least being a healthy scratch here and/or sent to Utica.

One other minor point is that I just thought of as well - with the Devils having already played 2 games, Lebanc also probably earns more on the same contract with Columbus as he (I believe, but could be wrong) would've gotten paid out a a pro-rated 80/82 rate here versus a full season in Columbus (not to mention probably more favorable taxes there as well).

 

[Saugus]

I am very shocked the Siegs-Kovacevic pairing has looked this good. I'd like to see Siegs against other competition, but still pleased with his play during this Sabres series.

I think having Dillon helps him with ES and PK minutes.

And I think having Pesce back will reduce Siegenthaler's hard minutes further. They're not the same handedness, but having another top 4 level defenseman will help spread the burden around more.

Siegenthaler might end up with the situation that Severson had a couple seasons ago: a top 4 caliber defenseman feasting on lesser competition in third pairing minutes.

 

[Triumph]

Lebanc and Foote were theoretically competing for the same 14th forward spot.

Columbus was certainly a preferable option though, as he should get plenty of playing time there versus at the very least being a healthy scratch here and/or sent to Utica.

One other minor point is that I just thought of as well - with the Devils having already played 2 games, Lebanc also probably earns more on the same contract with Columbus as he (I believe, but could be wrong) would've gotten paid out a a pro-rated 80/82 rate here versus a full season in Columbus (not to mention probably more favorable taxes there as well).

Lebanc was not competing with anybody because he is, to my knowledge, not an NHL player. Hockeydb doesn't have a listing for any Lebanc.

Players are not paid per game, they are paid for the length of the NHL season. That said, my guess is that in order to fudge things, the Devils were paid NHL salaries on Friday and Saturday, and those count as days 1 and 2 in their NHL season, and they will not be counted on Tuesday and Wednesday to make up for that.

 

[Bleedred]

I was more surprised Foote was on the trip to Prague in the first place. I'm not at all surprised he's on waivers.

 

[Comparison Ford]

i would be shocked if Foote got claimed. he’s been in the league long enough for teams to know that he’s a big guy who plays Charmin soft and has an ok shot.

if he started playing more aggressively and actually used his frame, he could easily be a Noesen type player. tale as old as time.

 

[Bleedred]

I liked Foote when he's been called up, but there's no future for him here.