Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - season begins!
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Ok... There are exceptions. I'll allow attacks on Rogalski and @My3Sons. Not necessarily in that order.
CalamityX23
Registered User
- May 2, 2023
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Forge
Blissfully Mediocre
Are we pretending that Kevin Bahl is better than any of the 7 dman we currently have rostered?
He'd have been on waivers yesterday after Luke and Pesce got healthy.
Or more accurately we wouldn't have Kovacevic right now.
Is anyone actually upset we have Kovacevic instead of Bahl rn?
- May 1, 2011
- 132,848
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No
Bahl was gonna get squeezed out anyway. I said it early last year.
There’s 3 younger guys better than him (I even included Casey in that), Dougie is signed for 4 more years including this one. Siegs for 4 more years including this one.
And we were always gonna probably get a vet or upgrade on D, which we did in Pesce.
Bahl had no future here. I could see him having a full time role in the league for years like Jon Merrill has. Or I could also see him not being an NHL regular at all within a year.
Edmonton East
BUT the ADvaNCEd STatS...
- Nov 25, 2007
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I tried to warn you all that the value given up in the Markstrom trade made ZERO sense. Check post history. Also ranted this team has been horrific at evaluating goalies for a decade now. Called Crawford obviously being cooked at time of signing as well. Didn't understand value given in Allen trade. I don't get paid millions of dollars to run a hockey team, so it'd be nice if this overpaid front office would get its head out of its ass.
Nah, let's just excuse these moves away by scapegoating Rogalski. Sure, he probably sucks....but if folks actually watched other teams play, they'd realize Markstrom is an average goalie with poor fundamentals and terrible positioning. His talent is his size. Allen is cooked. No contender wanted him for goalie depth for a cup run, but the genius playoffless Devs gave up a potential 2nd in a lost season. INSANE.
Let's give up material assets for mediocrity (at best) so the org can't actually improve the roster. Wouldn't wanna package them for someone that might actually be good anyway....like Askarov.
Forge
Blissfully Mediocre
AfroThunder396
[citation needed]
I hope the DO SOMETHING crowd is happy with our new goaltending situation
McDuffz88
Smoke the Keefe
- Sep 18, 2019
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On the bright spot Nico is looking absolute lethal. Guy is playing like an absolute beast. He's quietly tied for most goals in the league. The way he's playing right now is him showing why he was picked #1. Keefe's system is fantastic for Nico. I think he secretly hated Ruff. Ruff's system catered to players like Hughes where it was a free for all with not much defense. Keefe's system is built for Nico. A system couldn't be designed better which is great. You win a cup with a player like Nico leading the charge.
Devilsfan118
Sing us a song, you're the Schiano man
I see we're in full on melt down mode.
Way too early to be panicking imo.
Way too early to be panicking imo.
ninetyeight
Registered User
Are you suggesting we should have stuck with Vanecek and Blackwood?
SteveCangialosi123
Registered User
We should’ve listened, you’ve never been wrong. Except for your insistence that Kakko was just as good as Hughes, I guess.
ZachaFlockaFlame
Registered User
- Aug 24, 2020
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- May 8, 2010
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Wouldn’t be surprised if at the end of the season everyone is pretty satisfied with the goaltending. Markstrom won’t always be as good as he was against the Sens, but he won’t always be as bad as he was last night. Answer is probably in the middle, slightly above average goaltender.
We shall see though.
We shall see though.
AfroThunder396
[citation needed]
Yes that's exactly what I wrote, good job with the analysis. You must be a professional reader.
NJDevils17
Going Up?
Markstrom was brutal, no sugarcoating but there’s some positives here.
Nico playing like a man possessed both ways and really coming into his own with the captaincy. He’s far more outspoken and you see his confidence, a really welcome development for a guy who leads by example.
Meier settling in and playing good hockey, continuing his end to last season. Want to see him scoring more goals but he’s been solid and shooting more, that’ll come.
Jack & Bratt playing better the last few. Shook me a little when I saw they were both at 9pts in 10 games given how poorly they started. Too talented not to get going as time goes on.
The team is only going as far as those four do so it’s good to see them playing much closer to their potential the last few games.
Nico playing like a man possessed both ways and really coming into his own with the captaincy. He’s far more outspoken and you see his confidence, a really welcome development for a guy who leads by example.
Meier settling in and playing good hockey, continuing his end to last season. Want to see him scoring more goals but he’s been solid and shooting more, that’ll come.
Jack & Bratt playing better the last few. Shook me a little when I saw they were both at 9pts in 10 games given how poorly they started. Too talented not to get going as time goes on.
The team is only going as far as those four do so it’s good to see them playing much closer to their potential the last few games.
I feel better about the way the team played last night. I don't feel better about our goaltending after last night, but, as much as some people hate hearing it, it's still early. It's entirely possible Markstrom will be fine in the long run. It's just really damn annoying to lose a game on that shitty of a goal after handily outplaying a team.
Better Call Sal
Salnalysis
I wouldn't be opposed to it, honestly. But I don't expect them to make any changes unless it's to give a new defender a rest for Nemec. Overall, the play was too strong that I think Keefe will keep the same lineup.
ZachaFlockaFlame
Registered User
- Aug 24, 2020
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I think if last night was a one off I'd agree with the sentiment but it's literally maddening that it feels like we're watching the same season on repeat for the past 3-4 years besides 22-23.
Yeah, that makes sense. I think the 11-7 is our best option tbh since it'll allow Jack to play more which this team might need anyway, shortens the forward bench + you need to find out who's going to be the 6 dmen you need to use going forward. We might also be more suited for an 11-7 lineup anyway too as demanding as it is on forwards usually
- Feb 5, 2010
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I do think it was funny that we kept saying "bring in any league average goalie and we will be fine" then when we bring in two league average goalies and the result is the same it's "bring in any league average goalie and we will be fine".
The only consistent thing over the last 5 years is this core that can't seem to figure out how to bring a consistent effort or pay any attention to the details of the game. Except Nico. He's perfect and gets a pass for everything.
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NJDevs26
Once upon a time...
- Mar 21, 2007
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I’m not sure it’s too early to panic about the goaltending - nineteen goals allowed in three games after they’ve been fully indoctrinated into our culture of goalie suck.
Cheddabombs
Status Quo
- Mar 13, 2012
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HoliksGhost
Registered User
- Oct 24, 2007
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Confucius say - Sometimes a goalie bales out your putrid D collapsing, sometimes the opposite needs to be true.
