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

devilsblood

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Mar 10, 2010
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Jack is also coming off the shoulder surgery which some of us tend too forget.
Well is it "he is coming back from surgery" or "he has bad shoulders"?

Maybe that's a little bit of a dummified take, and at least last night I thought we saw a glimmer of ascending Jack, but it's been awhile since we've seen him be a truly dynamic player.

He definitely seems intent on avoiding contact along the boards. Which is smart I guess, but keeps him from winning loose pucks, and probably keeps him from skating the puck into traffic areas. Is this a long term thing, or just short term as he comes back from the injury? I'd say the latter is probably the more common theme with players returning from injury, but he still needs to prove it.

I like Casey's ability to draw defenders in and then either dish or pull it in for a wrister (we've seen that he won't hesitate to shoot the puck). Dougie doesn't have that ability, so he's not really creating time and space for the guys operating on the halfwall. I think Casey is even better at that than Luke, and is definitely more sure-handed with the puck. It's pretty remarkable how rarely Casey bobbles the puck considering how dynamic he is while moving with it - both Hughes brothers have dynamic hands but it seems like they mishandle it a ton.
This is definitely a thing, and I caught a glimpse of Jack's stick last night, and his toe curve is ridiculous. I wonder if that plays into the mishandles. Especially on the back hand.
 
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Triumph

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I don’t understand this. It feels to me like one has nothing to do with the other.

The 6D they are running now can handle 60 minutes. Why would they cut people’s ice time with a 7th D?

7D generally sucks. You’re reducing ice time for all the D and creating inconsistent pairings. 7D is what you want if a) you’ve got Brendan Smith as your 12th forward and PK specialist; or b) you’ve got someone on D to whom you want to give limited ice time (because they are injured, working back from injury, or inexperienced and you are sheltering them).

Because they want to get 7 D into the lineup and they don't have a forward worth playing. Pesce will be back soon, and that means scratching either Casey or Nemec, and they don't want either of those guys to sit much. They also don't really have a minutes-eating D worth playing 25 minutes a game.
 
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devilsblood

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Mar 10, 2010
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Because they want to get 7 D into the lineup and they don't have a forward worth playing. Pesce will be back soon, and that means scratching either Casey or Nemec, and they don't want either of those guys to sit much. They also don't really have a minutes-eating D worth playing 25 minutes a game.
Have to figure Casey goes down to Utica if he comes out of the lineup no?

It's an interesting call as he has been very impressive with the puck, but they definitely don't feel comfortable playing him significant or difficult minutes.
 

BostonDevil

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Jun 28, 2019
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Have to figure Casey goes down to Utica if he comes out of the lineup no?

It's an interesting call as he has been very impressive with the puck, but they definitely don't feel comfortable playing him significant or difficult minutes.
Do they need to though? The minutes shouldn't be spread evenly. Some guys play PP, some PK some when our goalie is pulled, some when theirs is, etc...We should be good enough to protect him/anyone when the situation calls for it.
 

devilsblood

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Mar 10, 2010
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Do they need to though? The minutes shouldn't be spread evenly. Some guys play PP, some PK some when our goalie is pulled, some when theirs is, etc...We should be good enough to protect him/anyone when the situation calls for it.
Casey is currently playing 13 minutes per game. If we go 7 D, that drops even lower. And eventually, when Luke get's back, Casey does go down to Utica.

I could see a small stretch of 7D, but I doubt it's much more then a couple games.

I could also see a Casey/Nemec 3rd pair/street clothes rotation for a small stretch. See how much the team values the internal competition between those 2.
 

Hockey Sports Fan

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do ya think Palat’s just not happy here? Maybe he’s sick of the regular season and misses coasting through the first 60 games being carried by a line full of superstars that don’t need him to skate hard? He’s looked noticeably worse to start this season and the ol’ “numbers” arent too kind to him.

 

MasterofGrond

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Yeah Palat is, uh, bad this year. I thought he was a good bit better than most last season, but this is f***ing undeniable. woof.

he's got plenty of runway to remember how to play f***ing hockey, but if he doesn't, he's gotta go
 

Bleedred

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do ya think Palat’s just not happy here? Maybe he’s sick of the regular season and misses coasting through the first 60 games being carried by a line full of superstars that don’t need him to skate hard? He’s looked noticeably worse to start this season and the ol’ “numbers” arent too kind to him.

He’s probably just cooked.

Yeah Palat is, uh, bad this year. I thought he was a good bit better than most last season, but this is f***ing undeniable. woof.

he's got plenty of runway to remember how to play f***ing hockey, but if he doesn't, he's gotta go
Yeah, it’s still early. He might not be nearly this bad all season, but he’s pretty bad right now.
 
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My3Sons

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do ya think Palat’s just not happy here? Maybe he’s sick of the regular season and misses coasting through the first 60 games being carried by a line full of superstars that don’t need him to skate hard? He’s looked noticeably worse to start this season and the ol’ “numbers” arent too kind to him.

Judging by ice time, I'm not sure Keefe trusts Tatar either.
 

Nubmer6

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A day late, but...

NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: Devils goaltender Jake Allen set an NHL record with his 3-0 win over Utah on Monday. He’s the first goaltender to secure a win against 33 NHL clubs in his career.
 

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