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

[TheUnseenHand]

Where GDT?

 

[NjDevsRR]

Where GDT?

Id make a Columbus Dano GDT but I may be banned for that one

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

At some point Keefe might have to put Haula back on a line with Jack to help "fix" him. That would put all the lines in a blender.

I don't think Haula is gunna be the one to "fix" him

A wonder if a team like Nashville would want Ondrej Palat.
They have his buddy in Stamkos, Trotz is going all in for postseason and actually have cap space to make the deal.

NJ just need a warm body in return like Tomasino or Parssinen

No, I'd rather keep him, considering the playoffs is when he shines. Unless you mean if they're out of the playoffs, then sure.

 

[Triumph]

I mean, Clarkson scored 30 with Elias....

He did not. The year Clarkson scored 30, he had a revolving door of linemates, one of which was Elias, but he only played about 20% of his time with Elias. It wasn't until 2013 that he started playing with Elias the majority of the time.

Nemec was in his second year after the draft. Its okay to make mistake. For now its okay for Casey to make mistake until Pesce is injured. Players in their age can learn something and start to be better. If Nemec will not run PP, it will be harder for him to learn how to run it.

I believe noone is talking about waiting until he will pop for 100+ min, but I don't see the tragedy to try him for 20-30 min.

From the talent point of view its not that far from "let's bury Jack in the bottom because he was bad in his first season". There are some metrics that will support it, there are some metrics that will not support it. Overall Nemec is talented enough but not as experienced. But team has enough talent and experience to give opportunity for guys like Nemec and Casey to try and learn. Until Pesce and Luke will be back.

If Nemec were playing like last season 5v5, I'd agree, get him back out there on the PP, but he is struggling at even strength. Giving him more responsibilities and more things to think about seems like the wrong move at this point, especially when playing the PP last season cannot have given him any confidence.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

What do our pairs look like when healthy?

Dillon-Hamilton
Luke-Pesce
Siegs-Kovacevic
Nemec

Nemec really going to be out? Based on the way Kovacevic is playing I think he would be. Can't have him as a #7 tho. Casey will likely spend all year in the minors unless we have multiple injuries.

I switch DIllon and Siegs

 

[britdevil]

He did not. The year Clarkson scored 30, he had a revolving door of linemates, one of which was Elias, but he only played about 20% of his time with Elias. It wasn't until 2013 that he started playing with Elias the majority of the time.

Whatever poindexter.

 

[Triumph]

Speaking of players who immediately turned into pumpkins when they left the Devils, Ryan Graves has been getting 14 minutes a game for Pittsburgh. Seem to remember some discourse about how much he is missed here.

 

[Saugus]

Speaking of players who immediately turned into pumpkins when they left the Devils, Ryan Graves has been getting 14 minutes a game for Pittsburgh. Seem to remember some discourse about how much he is missed here.

Jim's latest obsession =/= "discourse"

 

[tailfins]

Speaking of players who immediately turned into pumpkins when they left the Devils, Ryan Graves has been getting 14 minutes a game for Pittsburgh. Seem to remember some discourse about how much he is missed here.

I feel bad for Graves. It's clearly not working for him in Pittsburgh.

 

[Nubmer6]

I feel bad for Graves. It's clearly not working for him in Pittsburgh.

I blame those extended warranty commercials he did. It was the beginning of the end.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

You're just talking past me, which is usually what happens. Do you understand how bad it is to give up 2.57 xGA/60 with a man advantage? Do you understand what colossal errors have to be being made?

The Devils have 17 seasons in the Corsi era. No defenseman has even come close to having that bad an xGA on the power play. Johnny Oduya had a 2 xGA/60 on the PP in 2010, the year he was traded, that is the only player who has come close.

The second unit was absolutely not helped by Nemec last season, who struggled with zone entries, in-zone passing, and pretty much all aspects of the power play last season. He'll get there. I'm not sure the guy who's showed up for the last 4 games is ready for a power play, though.

I’m not talking past you. You’re missing/ignoring the point. It’s still a small sample on a horrible powerplay. The powerplay was horrible with and without him and it’s stupid to suggest the powerplay was bad because of him.


You keep quoting his xGA/60. That’s a stupid thing to draw conclusions from when the total sample is 76 minutes. All of which were with an already shitty powerplay that lacks the skill to succeed.

 

[Deviled]

Wow i am f***ed up sick and going through nicotine and weed withdrawal right now. Had no idea this game was on

And sick or not take care of your mental health Devils fans; it can compound other issues

Maybe a win or two would be nice? Im not greedy

Go Devils

 

[McDuffz88]

No one expected for Casey to come in and look this good. Having said that I think Fitz needs to start making some calls to move on from Hamilton. I love the guy but it's time for the new guys to shine. With Luke/Casey, Hamilton is going to have 0 PP time. Get rid of Hamilton and use his money to find a true 3C or top line winger. I doubt anyone wants Palat at his contract but I would make some calls for the hell of it to teams who want to reach a cap floor & instill some leadership into the locker room.

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

No one expected for Casey to come in and look this good. Having said that I think Fitz needs to start making some calls to move on from Hamilton. I love the guy but it's time for the new guys to shine. With Luke/Casey, Hamilton is going to have 0 PP time. Get rid of Hamilton and use his money to find a true 3C or top line winger. I doubt anyone wants Palat at his contract but I would make some calls for the hell of it to teams who want to reach a cap floor & instill some leadership into the locker room.

Easier said than done with Hamilton. With a year or two left you can do it, but right now I dunno. Either way I guess you'd have to hope he can have a close to PPG year this year and then trade him in the offseason with small retention a-la Erik Karlsson.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

No one expected for Casey to come in and look this good. Having said that I think Fitz needs to start making some calls to move on from Hamilton. I love the guy but it's time for the new guys to shine. With Luke/Casey, Hamilton is going to have 0 PP time. Get rid of Hamilton and use his money to find a true 3C or top line winger. I doubt anyone wants Palat at his contract but I would make some calls for the hell of it to teams who want to reach a cap floor & instill some leadership into the locker room.

I will never understand why some Devils fans are averse to having good depth, especially on defense.

Hamilton is still one of the best PP weapons in the sport. No shot he is going to not get PP time.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

At some point I think we should go 2 dmen on the powerplay. I would literally be happy with a 3 dmen power play of Hamilton-Nemec-Casey if they were all playing and Luke was on the top PP. I honestly think that would be better in zone than any of our current unit two forwards. Just might struggle to get in the zone.

 

[Devils731]

I will never understand why some Devils fans are averse to having good depth, especially on defense.

Hamilton is still one of the best PP weapons in the sport. No shot he is going to not get PP time.

Agreed. I’d like the Devils to be great this year and moving Hamilton when he’s still a top defenseman will hurt this years team.

 

[Forge]

Still early, but gonna say that it seems like Fitz clicked a lot of the right buttons this offseason. Team seems much harder to play against, even if it's not as aesthetically pleasing as we looked two years ago.

Very happy with what I see from the team under Keefe. Cotter and noesen are menaces, kovacevic really adds some bite

 

[Emperoreddy]

No one expected for Casey to come in and look this good. Having said that I think Fitz needs to start making some calls to move on from Hamilton. I love the guy but it's time for the new guys to shine. With Luke/Casey, Hamilton is going to have 0 PP time. Get rid of Hamilton and use his money to find a true 3C or top line winger. I doubt anyone wants Palat at his contract but I would make some calls for the hell of it to teams who want to reach a cap floor & instill some leadership into the locker room.

Dumping Palat and Dougie mid season in a year you are contending makes zero sense.

You add to the roster, you don't do wholesale changes.

And you see Casey as a blessing of depth that probably will have to tap into again because it's tough to see everyone staying healthy all year.

I thought last year's parade of injuries and no name AHLers having to fill those holes would have learned everyone this lesson

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Today's game was awesome. Glad Casey scored another big goal. He really looked good today from watching up in the 100 section view point. The stuff he was doing in Michigan he is pulling off somewhat at the NHL level. I'm impressed and I was pretty high on him to begin with. I want this team to stay healthy but don't want him out of the lineup at all unless he struggles really hard. Luke coming back will make things a bit interesting.

Also when I was heading home I ran into Steven Gionta a block or 2 away from MSG. I literally said "Holy shit, Steven Gionta". He looked at me somewhat suprised that someone noticed him. He smiled as he walked by and said "How are ya ?". I was thinking he probably work's for the Red Wings or Rangers since they play a few hours after I saw him but it turns out he is a Pro Scout for the Lightning.

 

[VoidCreature]

Today's game was awesome. Glad Casey scored another big goal. He really looked good today from watching up in the 100 section view point. The stuff he was doing in Michigan he is pulling off somewhat at the NHL level. I'm impressed and I was pretty high on him to begin with. I want this team to stay healthy but don't want him out of the lineup at all unless he struggles really hard. Luke coming back will make things a bit interesting.

Also when I was heading home I ran into Steven Gionta a block or 2 away from MSG. I literally said "Holy shit, Steven Gionta". He looked at me somewhat suprised that someone noticed him. He smiled as he walked by and said "How are ya ?". I was thinking he probably work's for the Red Wings or Rangers since they play a few hours after I saw him but it turns out he is a Pro Scout for the Lightning.

Also saw this one live and was very impressed by Casey. He was tremendous on both sides of the puck. I thought he struggled a bit in his own end against the Caps but today his box outs were on point, don't think he made a single mistake.

All together maybe the most complete win I've been to. Felt comfy with a two goal lead.

 

[Devs3cups]

Tomorrow is going to be a tough game that we might lose, especially on a B2B, with our wonky schedule, and the Canes with 4 days rest. Will be a good challenge for sure. I'll be very happy with a 4-2 start with out crazy schedule.

 

[My3Sons]

Tomorrow is going to be a tough game that we might lose, especially on a B2B, with our wonky schedule, and the Canes with 4 days rest. Will be a good challenge for sure. I'll be very happy with a 4-2 start with out crazy schedule.

If Markstrom shows up I think NJ has a decent shot. Of course I can't wait to watch Sasquatch bear hug Nico and then drag him to the ground on every single face-off and the refs not call any of it.

 

[DerekDevils30]

Tomorrow is going to be a tough game that we might lose, especially on a B2B, with our wonky schedule, and the Canes with 4 days rest. Will be a good challenge for sure. I'll be very happy with a 4-2 start with out crazy schedule.

I have a strange feeling they ride the momentum to another win tomorrow. They’ve gone through lots of game reps now while the Canes have only played one game. Plus I think they were able to reserve themselves today with a comfortable win. Might be able to catch the Canes still somewhat rusty.

 

[Triumph]

I’m not talking past you. You’re missing/ignoring the point. It’s still a small sample on a horrible powerplay. The powerplay was horrible with and without him and it’s stupid to suggest the powerplay was bad because of him.


You keep quoting his xGA/60. That’s a stupid thing to draw conclusions from when the total sample is 76 minutes. All of which were with an already shitty powerplay that lacks the skill to succeed.

You're right - the thing to draw conclusions from was watching him last season struggle with very basic things on the power play. That was 8 months ago, so no one but me remembers that. Now we just have the numbers.

The power play was not good without him, it was certainly worse having him on there. Remember, I went through every Devils power play since 2007-08, and it's not like the Devils have had great 2nd PP units in the last decade+. It's just impossible for him to be improving the Devils' PP relative to just a basic defenseman.

It's a small HORRIBLE sample. It's like a goaltender having a .750 save percentage in 4 games. Yeah, it's 4 games, but it's a .750 save percentage - the goaltender is probably getting unlucky, but he also must be failing to make some basic stops. Mike Matheson had a 2.57 xGA/60 in 2018-19 - that's the most recent time anyone had something like that, most years no one is going above 2. The Devils bled chances with Nemec on the ice, and the reason why xGA is Nemec's fault more than anyone else's on the unit is that he is the player most responsible for the breakout and keeping the blueline on the PP.

If Nemec plays like he did today in future games, I'll feel better about him on the PP.