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

SteveCangialosi123

Registered User
Feb 17, 2012
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Because he's not here to score points when you have Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes.

Plenty of defensemen go through pointless stretches while playing solid hockey.
Dougie himself started the year with 0 points in 6 games. Now he’s racking them up..though it feels like half of them are just phantom assists that he didn’t do much on. Points for D are very subject to randomness.
 

My3Sons

Nobody told me there'd be days like these...
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So 20 games in the books.

12-6-2 with 26 points. Good for a .650 point percentage. +20 GD.

How we feeling?

Standings obviously tough to judge because we played so many more games but we are 1st in the conference right now
What’s crazy is they’ve only been soundly defeated in a handful of games. Most of their losses have been close. I’m sure they would all love to have that San Jose game back and I’m sure Bratt wants to have that open net against Carolina back. I’m sure they’d also like to have that PK against Detroit back. If NJ continues to play with confidence those ugly moments will be less noticeable.
 

NJDevs26

Once upon a time...
Mar 21, 2007
68,529
34,084
Why is everyone so hung up on Nemec being in the AHL? He's still green, needs to ripen. I'm sure he'll be up again as soon as a D-man goes down with an injury, if he's deserving of a promotion.
Because people look at it once you’ve played nearly a full season in the NHL, going back to the AHL is a clear step backwards
 

Triumph

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Oct 2, 2007
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It is weird that Pesce has no points, but it's just a function of his pairing never being on the ice for goals for. It's more a reflection about how points for defensemen (and points in general) are usually bullshit.
 

Jersey Fresh

Video Et Taceo
Feb 23, 2004
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Dougie himself started the year with 0 points in 6 games. Now he’s racking them up..though it feels like half of them are just phantom assists that he didn’t do much on. Points for D are very subject to randomness.
If there’s one concern that remains from their early season indifferent play, it’s Dougie. His shot is still nowhere near where it was and watching him in that foot race with Boqvist last night was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.
 

guitarguyvic

Registered User
Mar 31, 2010
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If there’s one concern that remains from their early season indifferent play, it’s Dougie. His shot is still nowhere near where it was and watching him in that foot race with Boqvist last night was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.
Yep…we need Nemec to take the next step asap because Dougie could be fully cooked as soon as next season.
 

guitarguyvic

Registered User
Mar 31, 2010
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Dougie Hamilton is 5th in points and T-4th in PP points among defensemen lol. The hate boner some people have for him is ridiculous.
I don’t hate the guy. The vast majority of his assists have been secondary and the result of being on the ice when our best forwards are working their magic. We are 20 games in and his shot is still not looking lethal like it used to and he’s even slower now than before and he was already dismally slow.

Without the goals and primary assists he’s just a JAG at best, but with diminishing skating ability he could be an absolute anchor at worst. I don’t think we’re there yet but it’s not exactly crazy to see it going that way soon…a player like this who loses his biggest strength can fall off a cliff very quickly.
 

Whaddagoal

The Sheldon Keefe Era Begins
Nov 28, 2005
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If there’s one concern that remains from their early season indifferent play, it’s Dougie. His shot is still nowhere near where it was and watching him in that foot race with Boqvist last night was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.

Since when would Dougie ever win a footrace against Boqvist? He was never in that league of speed....:)

On the Boqvist goal got a bit lucky the puck going through the legs without much of a deflect and Boqvist was able to get around, but it wasn't a massive footrace, Boqvist already had his speed, and angled in, Dougie was covering the zone area from prior play development.

There probably was another instance I am not remembering that you are referring to about a footrace.

I'm more concerned about his "seeing eye shot" is not seeing eye anymore, and maaaaybe he has lost some power in both his wrist and slapshot. would need to check the edge metrics.

His passing is still fine, just look at the bank lead pass to Hughes for the OT goal. And he had some great rush lead passes to Nico / Mercer, not that long ago on goals they scored in some prior games.
 

Triumph

Registered User
Oct 2, 2007
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I'll be very surprised if Hamilton is here next season, so he just has to keep up some decent level of play. He's playing well on PP1, he's not scoring there but also they are not really setting him up for shots either.
 

Jersey Fresh

Video Et Taceo
Feb 23, 2004
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Since when would Dougie ever win a footrace against Boqvist? He was never in that league of speed....:)

On the Boqvist goal got a bit lucky the puck going through the legs without much of a deflect and Boqvist was able to get around, but it wasn't a massive footrace, Boqvist already had his speed, and angled in, Dougie was covering the zone area from prior play development.

There probably was another instance I am not remembering that you are referring to about a footrace.

I'm more concerned about his "seeing eye shot" is not seeing eye anymore, and maaaaybe he has lost some power in both his wrist and slapshot. would need to check the edge metrics.

His passing is still fine, just look at the bank lead pass to Hughes for the OT goal. And he had some great rush lead passes to Nico / Mercer, not that long ago on goals they scored in some prior games.
Different play. Dougie had a 15 foot head start on him chasing a puck into the zone and Boqvist dusted him. And yeah, no version of Dougie is keeping up with Boqvist, but it does seem more pronounced early in the season.

Agree his shot is a way bigger concern.
 
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Whaddagoal

The Sheldon Keefe Era Begins
Nov 28, 2005
12,258
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New Jersey
Different play. Dougie had a 15 foot head start on him chasing a puck into the zone and Boqvist dusted him. And yeah, no version of Dougie is keeping up with Boqvist, but it does seem more pronounced early in the season.

Agree his shot is a way bigger concern.

Got it, yeah I was in and out so (bday) I didn't see all.

I can easy see Dougie looking like cement skates with Boq.

It's so fun to talk about my boy Boqvist again.
 

TheBeerNerd

Registered User
Nov 13, 2024
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NY side of the Hudson River
Cotter has some skating and underrated puck protection / hands. I see some VGK watchers did say that in the mainboard thread where both he and Noesen are highlighted this start of season.

Why they let him go is interesting to me.
Didn't fit in with Cassidy, apparently. I was pretty angry when that trade went down but I don't think Holtz has a goal yet. That's one way to soothe me.
 

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