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

[TheBeerNerd]

The vibe sense this season compared to last is like night and day. Even early on last season, things felt off. It felt like they played with an air of entitlement, a sense of "we have the talent to take it back in any game." I know the goaltending was hot ass, but that was only part of the story, because it was half of the negative feedback loop. Once they couldn't play with any confidence that they could hold on, things went south.

Now, they're playing with a sense of purpose and plenty of confidence. They're a team, not just a collection of talent. The physicality helps a lot, but so does keeping it simple on defense.

 

[Devs3cups]

I would also add that the Devils are winning playing a simple, straight forward brand of hockey. Being healthy, this is letting the Devils win games because of their talent and effort.

Last year, I don’t think players believe in the team’s concept and would freestyle constantly to try and improve the play. This year the team appears to have really bought in, which you can see by players all generally making the same choices when in the same situations.

I don’t think this is the final form of this team though. I think by seasons end we will see wrinkles to the simple play that hopefully emphasizes the talent rather than just not getting in the way.

The vibe sense this season compared to last is like night and day. Even early on last season, things felt off. It felt like they played with an air of entitlement, a sense of "we have the talent to take it back in any game." I know the goaltending was hot ass, but that was only part of the story, because it was half of the negative feedback loop. Once they couldn't play with any confidence that they could hold on, things went south.

Now, they're playing with a sense of purpose and plenty of confidence. They're a team, not just a collection of talent. The physicality helps a lot, but so does keeping it simple on defense.

Absolutely agree with both those posts. The regards are sort of similar, but the team is playing a way more cohesive, disciplined and focused brand of hockey, as opposed to last year.

The long home stretch in a few weeks will do wonders for this group, rest and practice wise.

 

[dgibb10]

Mercer has been disappointing again this year tbh.

I'd try and potentially switch him and Tatar, especially if we acquire a 4C

Tatar-Nico-Meier
Palat-Jack-Bratt
Noesen-Haula-Cotter
Lazar (when healthy)-4C-Mercer

 

[Better Call Sal]

Mercer has been disappointing again this year tbh.

I'd try and potentially switch him and Tatar, especially if we acquire a 4C

Tatar-Nico-Meier
Palat-Jack-Bratt
Noesen-Haula-Cotter
Lazar (when healthy)-4C-Mercer

Mercer got moved down last game to play with Cotter and Haula and just had one of his stronger games of the season. Let that ride for a bit and see how Noesen does with Nico and Timo.

 

[dgibb10]

Mercer got moved down last game to play with Cotter and Haula and just had one of his stronger games of the season. Let that ride for a bit and see how Noesen does with Nico and Timo.

Inject this into my veins come playoff time.

4 studs to pull weight in the top 6 with imo quality complimentary top 6 guys, and then a rock solid bottom 6 that can win their matchups too

 

[My3Sons]

Mercer has been disappointing again this year tbh.

I'd try and potentially switch him and Tatar, especially if we acquire a 4C

Tatar-Nico-Meier
Palat-Jack-Bratt
Noesen-Haula-Cotter
Lazar (when healthy)-4C-Mercer

I have a tough time seeing Tatar that high in thr lineup. The smarts are still there and he’s decently mobile but the hands are falling off and he’s been off on passes and shooting thus far. He’s not so old he can’t get it together but we will see.

 

[dgibb10]

I have a tough time seeing Tatar that high in thr lineup. The smarts are still there and he’s decently mobile but the hands are falling off and he’s been off on passes and shooting thus far. He’s not so old he can’t get it together but we will see.

Those 4 lines would be rolled fairly evenly tbh.

You'd probably replace a palat/tatar shift or 2 with an extra shift for one of the big 4, and they wouldn't be a part of our main special teams

If we can afford a Vatrano 50% retained for example instead of Tatar you can plug him in, but then you're probably throwing away most of our draft capital this year. Maybe Grits comes from Russia.

 

[Zacha37]

View attachment 930546
Inject this into my veins come playoff time.

4 studs to pull weight in the top 6 with imo quality complimentary top 6 guys, and then a rock solid bottom 6 that can win their matchups too

Tatar cannot be in the lineup come playoff time, especially not the first line. We’ve seen enough proof that his play totally craters in the playoffs.

 

[Goptor]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857046352292622673

Evidently, Fitz is making the podcast rounds this week. Here's a clip from a completely separate podcast that got shared by Amanda. Nice stuff to hear about making Nico captain at a young age and his view on how Jack sees Nico.

I've said it before, but its pretty obvious.

Jack is unusual for how early he dedicated his game to defense as a super skilled 1st overall pick. Its 100% because Nico pushed that mindset on him early and he accepts it since it comes from another 1st overall pick.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

I've said it before, but its pretty obvious.

Jack is unusual for how early he dedicated his game to defense as a super skilled 1st overall pick. Its 100% because Nico pushed that mindset on him early and he accepts it since it comes from another 1st overall pick.

The best players have that mentality of always improving some aspect of their game in the offseason. McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby. Jack has that too. He's always had that spark of defensive brilliance, but it's really shined so far.

 

[JrFischer54]

The vibe sense this season compared to last is like night and day. Even early on last season, things felt off. It felt like they played with an air of entitlement, a sense of "we have the talent to take it back in any game." I know the goaltending was hot ass, but that was only part of the story, because it was half of the negative feedback loop. Once they couldn't play with any confidence that they could hold on, things went south.

Now, they're playing with a sense of purpose and plenty of confidence. They're a team, not just a collection of talent. The physicality helps a lot, but so does keeping it simple on defense.

starts from the goal out for me. giving up weak goal after weak goal team just mentally would quit and go through the motions after that. getting decent goalie work this season helps a ton when down a goal

 

[Better Call Sal]

Haven’t had a chance to listen to this, but it came up on my YouTube feed and wanted to share.

As far as this little interview goes with Fitz:

Appears he was in Toronto for the Hall of Fame induction, I presume for David Poile since they talk about him and the final trade on draft day.

Jokes that he isn't sure how great it is for his team to be in Florida for a whole week . This took place before the win on Tuesday, said we're going through the gauntlet right now with the most games played and the week we have ahead, so we'll see what we're made of.

Says both goalies have helped give them more confidence. Asked about Allen specifically, he lauded him for being a great professional and for his constant communication with the D.

Pierre asked about Kovacevic and if Fitz had any prior inkling about him from his college days in Merrimack. Said he got a snapshot of him while his boys were at BC, and that Mark Dennehy was his coach who is now their chief pro scout and he spoke highly of him.

Talked about Prague and that it helped accelerate the process into the season. Laughed about how you experiment quite a bit in the preseason and that we went right to our lines and d-pairings in the preseason and went 0-4.

Heaps of praise for Jack when asked about him and how his game is coming along, especially in a 200 foot sense.

Asked about any new addition they made that surprised him with how well he played. First answer was Kovacevic, but he really touched on every addition and the checklist they had for the offseason.

Asked about Keefe, he appreciates and emphasizes his attention to details. Clear and direct about his expectations and standards being high.

Asked about Bastian, he said he's doing good and skating but has to eat through a straw with the broken jaw. Be evaluated in another couple of weeks.

Asked lastly about the Devils-Rangers rivalry and whether he enjoys it. He said he gets anxiety with it honestly. Said he was groomed to hate them while he was an Islander and admitted that it sucks to be in the building and half of it be blue shirts. Also said he felt bad for the young guys experiencing their first playoff in 2023 and not getting a sea of red in the building. Said they keep us on our toes, and they're the standard for us to chase.

 

[Nocashstyle]

I think Mercer has looked much better this year so far

 

[Better Call Sal]

A completely out of left field question, does anyone know what is the Bruce song that is played at the Rock after a loss? Glory Days is the obvious one for the win, but I'm usually too angry about the result to focus on it when we lose.

 

[Guttersniped]

I don't have the Athletic so not sure what is shown in the link, but according to NST Sieg's did not have a high giveaway rate last year. Much higher this year. Is that different then turnovers?

And this is not to question the main point which is Sieg's has been much better this year, but I'm not sure the turnovers and the rush chances(which I think might be more a fwd problem then a d-man problem) are the main reasons.

Giveaway stats are broken this year, particularly for defensemen. The guess is they’re accidentally tracking when they chip the puck up.

There’s no corresponding pick-up in Takeaways.

Rasmus Andersson had 60 Giveaways in 78 GP last season and has 27 GvA in 17 GP this year. That’s 1.93 vs 3.87 GvA/60.

Brodin:
23-24 62 GP 21 GvA 0.86 GvA/60
24-25 15 GP 16 GvA 2.90 GvA/60

Burns:
23-24 82 GP 56 GvA 1.90 GvA/60
24-25 19 GP 24 GvA 4.50 GvA/60

Etc

So ignore that.

 

[devilsblood]

I think Mercer has looked much better this year so far

I do as well, moreso defensively, but he's still just a hair over 5 sog's/60 overall. 6.2/60 with Nico. Never been a big assist guy either. On pace for 17ish goals and 42ish points. I think we probably want more from Nico's winger.

Giveaway stats are broken this year, particularly for defensemen. The guess is they’re accidentally tracking when they chip the puck up.

There’s no corresponding pick-up in Takeaways.

Rasmus Andersson had 60 Giveaways in 78 GP last season and has 27 GvA in 17 GP this year. That’s 1.93 vs 3.87 GvA/60.

Brodin:
23-24 62 GP 21 GvA 0.86 GvA/60
24-25 15 GP 16 GvA 2.90 GvA/60

Burns:
23-24 82 GP 56 GvA 1.90 GvA/60
24-25 19 GP 24 GvA 4.50 GvA/60

Etc

So ignore that.

That would explain this years.

But his giveaways weren't especially high last year.

 

[Incharge1976]

I think Mercer has looked much better this year so far

He doesn't shoot enough and when he does, they say goalies like Knight made the save by using his explosive lateral movement when in reality Knight was a statue, didnt move an inch, and Mercer shot it into his glove.

 

[Devs3cups]

 

[Triumph]

Dom isn't using giveaways, he's using Corey Sznajder's tracking data. Giveaways are a horrid stat, full of home scorer bias.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Glad the points are coming for Slugie, though would love if he could start scoring some goals more. Feel like we don't have much of a threat from the defense in terms of goal scoring.

 

[Devs3cups]

Glad the points are coming for Slugie, though would love if he could start scoring some goals more. Feel like we don't have much of a threat from the defense in terms of goal scoring.

He’s at 3.28 iXG on the year, and he’s shooting at 1.6%, his average is around 6-7%. That 1 goal won’t stand for long, I’m sure!

 

[dgibb10]

Glad the points are coming for Slugie, though would love if he could start scoring some goals more. Feel like we don't have much of a threat from the defense in terms of goal scoring.

19 games of bad shooting luck isn't going to make teams stop worrying about dougie at the point.

The threat is still there.

I wish that was the case, as that would allow dougie to generate chances even more than the ridiculous amount he does now. But they don't.

 

[DerekDevils30]

I do as well, moreso defensively, but he's still just a hair over 5 sog's/60 overall. 6.2/60 with Nico. Never been a big assist guy either. On pace for 17ish goals and 42ish points. I think we probably want more from Nico's winger.


That would explain this years.

But his giveaways weren't especially high last year.

Mercer’s attention to detail has impressed me. He has a motor and he’s using it. Playmaker at heart and he passes up too many opportunities to drive the net and take shots in my opinion. He will be at his best once he starts doing those things more consistently. Pretty happy with his start but he definitely has more to give

 

[My3Sons]

The best players have that mentality of always improving some aspect of their game in the offseason. McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby. Jack has that too. He's always had that spark of defensive brilliance, but it's really shined so far.

He shines on like a crazy diamond

 

[Smitty426]

A completely out of left field question, does anyone know what is the Bruce song that is played at the Rock after a loss? Glory Days is the obvious one for the win, but I'm usually too angry about the result to focus on it when we lose.

Anything from Nebraska!