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

[Deviled]

The difference in scheduling is actually insane. Little practice, jam packed October, little days off for NJ. And now we have to prepare for a Panthers doubleheader road trip after this week.

Look at NYR schedule, about to play their 3rd gm against Detroit, after playing Isles and Buffalo, on three days rest…

Like WUT

Luckily itll flip eventually; theres no way for them
Not to have a similarly jam-packed schedule (minus going to Czechia)

 

[Deviled]

Its a long season

Devils have maintained a good record and good play, relatively speaking, during an insanely difficult stretch of hockey and travel. Make no mistake, they are taking the losses to heart the same they would if they had an easy schedule

Nemec should be sent down for DeSimone or a similar RHD. We should acquire a depth forward; playing MacDermaid every night is not acceptable

The team will be just fine and they'll easily make the playoffs once they start firing on all cylinders. Jack is middling for his expectation right now, as is Mercer. The defense will also pick it up offensively while remaining rock solid on the other end

All in all this team is showing a lot even if Id like more snarl and attitude in each game to mentally prepare for the long springs ahead. It wont be a Stanley Cup winning season, probably not even next year; but itll be a good few seasons to build the core's all-around talents and mentality toward the way the game needs to be played

Should be a fun rest of the year!

Lets Go Devils

 

[My3Sons]

Its a long season

Devils have maintained a good record and good play, relatively speaking, during an insanely difficult stretch of hockey and travel. Make no mistake, they are taking the losses to heart the same they would if they had an easy schedule

Nemec should be sent down for DeSimone or a similar RHD. We should acquire a depth forward; playing MacDermaid every night is not acceptable

The team will be just fine and they'll easily make the playoffs once they start firing on all cylinders. Jack is middling for his expectation right now, as is Mercer. The defense will also pick it up offensively while remaining rock solid on the other end

All in all this team is showing a lot even if Id like more snarl and attitude in each game to mentally prepare for the long springs ahead. It wont be a Stanley Cup winning season, probably not even next year; but itll be a good few seasons to build the core's all-around talents and mentality toward the way the game needs to be played

Should be a fun rest of the year!

Lets Go Devils

If MacDermid would actually brain guys who go over thr line it would be fine. The problem is he will only fight according to his code. He’s a tough guy but he’s no sociopath.

 

[Hisch13r]

Casey won't be a long term Devil. He'll be traded for similar style player in Quinn Hughes. There is no point in having those 2 players on the same team anyways.

Yeah that’s not happening. Unless Quinn gets a point where he outright wants out then Vancouver is not trading their captain who is a top 3 D in the world

 

[dzubrus8]

Detroit have Wallinder, Pellikka, plus Seider and Edvinsson. They dont need to trade Denielson for Casey.
San Jose is more interesting case. But I dont know who will win this trade. Of course we dont need to win every trade, we need to build good team with good depth. But still i would prefer to save Casey.

Trading Nemec is crazy.

Agreed on Nemec and good call on Detroit forgot about that pickup. Still teams that would give up a good F prospect for Casey if the Devils went that route

 

[CalamityX23]

Lil bummed we play 5 gms more than most in our division but only leading the way by 1 pt

Ughh April gonna suck lol

 

[devilsblood]

Lil bummed we play 5 gms more than most in our division but only leading the way by 1 pt

Ughh April gonna suck lol

Which teams have we played 5 more games then?

We have a decent record. We have a +11 goal differential. We have a west coast trip in our rear view.

I think we are in a decent spot to start the season.

 

[Billdo]

So when do we trade for a bottom 6 guy?

 

[Hisch13r]

So when do we trade for a bottom 6 guy?

And go back to scratching our lucky charm?

 

[devilsblood]

Kind of interesting.

Amongst the 6 NJ skaters who have played more then 20 minutes on the PP, Jack Hughes has the lowest shot rate of the group.

He is 4th in shot attempts so part of it is him just missing the net(while Bratt and especially Noesen are putting a high% of their attempts on goal) but he is less of a focus so far this year. Nico and Bratt both with pretty big jumps in shot attempts.

 

[Unknown Caller]

Which teams have we played 5 more games then?

We have a decent record. We have a +11 goal differential. We have a west coast trip in our rear view.

I think we are in a decent spot to start the season.

And that’s with like 3 teams in the division on an unsustainable 135 point pace. The Devils are fine right now.

 

[devilsblood]

And that’s with like 3 teams in the division on an unsustainable 135 point pace. The Devils are fine right now.

The Atlantic looks pretty weak so far too. And I expect that may not be a just early season noise as Boston and Tampa coming back to the pack makes sense, especially the Bruins.

So even if Washington is for real, and I assume Carolina and the Rags are, the competition for the wild card spots does not look to be especially tough.

 

[devilsblood]

6 NHL teams have a positive double digit goal differential.

4 of them in the East conf. All 4 of those are in the Metro.

(WPG is a +32, which is crazy. 12-1 record which I'm sure most of you know, but is news to me.)

 

[MasterofGrond]

3 very winnable games followed by a brutal 5 game stretch

would love to put together a nice lil win streak and put 6 points on the board...

 

[MasterofGrond]

6 NHL teams have a positive double digit goal differential.

4 of them in the East conf. All 4 of those are in the Metro.

(WPG is a +32, which is crazy. 12-1 record which I'm sure most of you know, but is news to me.)

yeah Winnipeg has Helle (who is great and playing like it) and is shooting at a 15% clip. You gotta try hard to lose games when both those things are happening for you

Their D has also been good though, even the immortal Eric Comrie is playing well for them

 

[Satans Hockey]

Would be nice if they can put together their first 2 game winning streak on home ice and win tomorrow and and make it 3 in a row on Sunday. Should be 4 straight overall with a win in at the Islanders Saturday too.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

How on earth are people actually considering trading Casey after what he's shown during his first year of professional hockey?

Move heaven and earth to get rid of Hamilton the moment his NTC goes to a modified 10 list NTC.

But if it's between Casey and Nemec, I think you move Nemec because (a) you probably get a better return because of his draft positioning and (b) Casey has the higher ceiling. Casey could legitimately be a top 5-10 defenseman in the league ala Quinn Hughes or Adam Fox - he is that caliber of talent. Nemec doesn't have that sort of upside IMO.

But we're better off keeping both and bribing the Sharks to take Hamilton off our hands this summer.

 

[StevenToddIves]

How on earth are people actually considering trading Casey after what he's shown during his first year of professional hockey?

Move heaven and earth to get rid of Hamilton the moment his NTC goes to a modified 10 list NTC.

But if it's between Casey and Nemec, I think you move Nemec because (a) you probably get a better return because of his draft positioning and (b) Casey has the higher ceiling. Casey could legitimately be a top 5-10 defenseman in the league ala Quinn Hughes or Adam Fox - he is that caliber of talent. Nemec doesn't have that sort of upside IMO.

But we're better off keeping both and bribing the Sharks to take Hamilton off our hands this summer.

Nemec has a higher ceiling than Casey. But I would not be looking to trade either of them.

 

[Hisch13r]

How on earth are people actually considering trading Casey after what he's shown during his first year of professional hockey?

Move heaven and earth to get rid of Hamilton the moment his NTC goes to a modified 10 list NTC.

But if it's between Casey and Nemec, I think you move Nemec because (a) you probably get a better return because of his draft positioning and (b) Casey has the higher ceiling. Casey could legitimately be a top 5-10 defenseman in the league ala Quinn Hughes or Adam Fox - he is that caliber of talent. Nemec doesn't have that sort of upside IMO.

But we're better off keeping both and bribing the Sharks to take Hamilton off our hands this summer.

Pretty sure Dougie is a 10 team trade instead of 10 team no trade which does complicate things a bit but yeah

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Pretty sure Dougie is a 10 team trade instead of 10 team no trade which does complicate things a bit but yeah

We just need to sell him on the virtues of California living.

Nemec has a higher ceiling than Casey. But I would not be looking to trade either of them.

Necas doesn't have an elite ceiling. If all goes well he could be a reliable top pairing guy who can play all situations and create a moderate amount of offense from the backend. But he's not a true shut down kind of guy, and his offensive game is pretty limited because of his skating.

Casey could legitimately challenge for a Norris if things go well.

 

[Aurinko]

There is no way of getting rid of Dougie without taking a serious beating. It's so expensive that it should not even be considered as things are.

Pesce is quickly starting to fire up... Maybe that will light up some of the other D as well.

 

[Deviled]

There is no way of getting rid of Dougie without taking a serious beating. It's so expensive that it should not even be considered as things are.

Pesce is quickly starting to fire up... Maybe that will light up some of the other D as well.

Moving Hamilton this season isnt happening. But this offseason into next season, it needs to be a consideration. Hes making the most money on the team and his play (and minutes) are diminishing, with viable replacements slowly coming up the ranks

And this really doesnt depend on Kovacevic either; Nemec will be playing top-4 minutes next season. So either they sign Kovacevic to a nicely-priced deal or they go elsewhere for cheap third pairing depth. This also doesnt include Casey possibly being available.

Dougie was great while he was needed; but after this season (technically this season, but its probably best to let Nemec marinate down in Utica for one more partial season) he will be an expensive complimentary piece

 

[Hisch13r]

We just need to sell him on the virtues of California living.


Necas doesn't have an elite ceiling. If all goes well he could be a reliable top pairing guy who can play all situations and create a moderate amount of offense from the backend. But he's not a true shut down kind of guy, and his offensive game is pretty limited because of his skating.

Casey could legitimately challenge for a Norris if things go well.

If Nemec does end developing his defensive game then I think we’re looking at a great compliment to Luke on a potential top pair down the line. We saw how successful they were together last year. His offensive game is far more suited to be a secondary piece than a primary one who can dominate the puck like Luke or Casey. Last year Nemec did a great job at identifying the right play as the play was developing and would have the puck on and off his stick right away. He doesn’t have the mindset or even really the tools with the puck to be a guy that can be super deceptive with the puck and dance around at the blue line activating and creating a lot of offense that way.

 

[Devs3cups]

Feels like Nemec is getting pretty underrated around these parts lately. Should be pretty funny in a few years.

Just goes to show how absurd our young talent on defense is. Abundance of riches there.

 

[Deviled]

Speaking of Nemec.. why has he not been sent down?