Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - season begins!
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SteveCangialosi123
Registered User
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.
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
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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
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
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- Mar 31, 2010
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Yep…we need Nemec to take the next step asap because Dougie could be fully cooked as soon as next season.
AfroThunder396
[citation needed]
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.
guitarguyvic
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- Mar 31, 2010
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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.
theoptimist
Keep Siegenthaler
- Apr 22, 2014
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Whaddagoal
The Sheldon Keefe Era Begins
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.
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.
Whaddagoal
The Sheldon Keefe Era Begins
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.
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.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.
Agree his shot is a way bigger concern.
Ripshot 43
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- Jul 21, 2010
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…. and Cotter is signed for another year at under a million!
Whaddagoal
The Sheldon Keefe Era Begins
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
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 (EDIT: he has only one). That's one way to soothe me.
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theoptimist
Keep Siegenthaler
- Apr 22, 2014
- 5,095
- 2,805
theoptimist
Keep Siegenthaler
- Apr 22, 2014
- 5,095
- 2,805
He holds onto the puck a little longer than I like, but for now, not a big deal
Because we burned his slide year calling him up last year, and now if he's in the AHL all year this year that's 2 of his 3 ELC years gone. Those cheap years are incredibly valuable for teams trying to win.
SteveCangialosi123
Registered User
Kovacevic makes 766K and has been amazing so that doesn’t matter. We’re getting massive value in that spot.
That's not how dougie drives play.
Dougie isn't going to make a crazy deke at the blueline. He makes good, quality, simple plays in the ozone, and forces other teams to respect him which opens up for his forwards.
Dougie over the last 3 years (including this year), is on the ice for 37 shots/60 5v5.
That is the best mark in the league among dmen.
If you go back and include 21-22 he's 2nd behind Bouchard.
And I would like to potentially turn that Kovacevic value into value that replaces the limited to non existent Dowling and Macdermid value, while allowing us to get the benefit of Nemec's value.
Devils731
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- Jun 23, 2008
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On the flip side, his second contract may end up being a bargain because you may get an even higher level of play for good value.
Defenseman suffer from not getting paid enough unless they put up points and it’s looking like Nemec won’t have a history of garnering NHL points when that first contract renewal happens.
So it’ll likely either be a fairly cheap short deal or a value laden long term deal, assuming Nemec develops as we hope.
In the long run it’s still quite possible burning his ELC years asap was beneficial to the team and the cap.
Edit: As an example, imagine Jack Hughes’ contract if he hadn’t burned his ELC at 18. He’d probably be getting $2-3 million more per year. The Devils took some risk on the uncertainty but it’s paying dividends for years now.
That is something to think about for sure. I would be offering Nemec a contract the second he's eligible to try and secure a bargain. Nemec's agent likely doesn't go for it as a 2nd overall pick tho and I expect him to play himself into a big contract next year regardless.
