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

[Triumph]

I am not sure why everyone is acting like Foote is done here, or even that he played that bad on Wednesday. Who else comes up if a scoreline winger gets hurt? I agree he's done here long-term but that's been true for a while. I mean I guess they could move Tatar back up and then go with an all Utica 4th line with Halonen, that also makes some sense.

Bowers has played well enough to claim that 4th line spot for now and Meier's no longer serving the suspension.

 

[Devils731]

I am not sure why everyone is acting like Foote is done here, or even that he played that bad on Wednesday. Who else comes up if a scoreline winger gets hurt? I agree he's done here long-term but that's been true for a while. I mean I guess they could move Tatar back up and then go with an all Utica 4th line with Halonen, that also makes some sense.

Bowers has played well enough to claim that 4th line spot for now and Meier's no longer serving the suspension.

I don’t think Foote is done but I think he won’t get the next chance at a scoring call up or any call up.

I think they try to roll the dice on Halonen, Hardman, or Beckman before going back to Foote.

Basically I think they all get a small chance to impress and they all likely struggle to do so but you just try new guys and hope.

I’d be interested in seeing Parent get a look but with his size I think the team will look elsewhere unless he puts up an absurd amount of points in Utica.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Really bizarre for an offense ranked towards the top of the league to have four shutouts a quarter of the way through the season.

What’s the status of Bastian and Lazar?

 

[Hisch13r]

Paul Cotter is literally me

 

[forceten]

The Markstrom thing has me concerned. I didn't want him to begin with because of his age. We would have paid far more for Saros or Askarov from NSH or for one of Boston's goalies, but my god... both of those trade partners look like they'd have been better. Hellebuyck is looking solid in Winterpeg too.

I don't know that Daws is our future starter and right now he's the best of our bunch. Goaltending is a continued issue here, even if this year's tandem is marginally better than last year's.

Why we aren't scoring in these games is beyond me too... we either score 4 or 0 it seems. Luke Hughes is playing lights out defensively but his offense has vanished nearly completely. Even with Meier out we had a number of players who could have contributed to get 4 goals... Jack Hughes, Hischier, Bratt, Cotter, Noesen, Mercer, Haula, Luke Hughes, Hamilton any combo here ...

Sigh. Yet we're 6th in point percentage so that's a major positive, but I can't help feel like we should be even higher. I think watching the Hurricanes "get worse" in FA and end up far better and seem completely unable to lose (except to us ha ha) makes it more of a sense of urgency than perhaps it should be.

Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving yesterday!

 

[Bleedred]

I am not sure why everyone is acting like Foote is done here, or even that he played that bad on Wednesday. Who else comes up if a scoreline winger gets hurt? I agree he's done here long-term but that's been true for a while. I mean I guess they could move Tatar back up and then go with an all Utica 4th line with Halonen, that also makes some sense.

Bowers has played well enough to claim that 4th line spot for now and Meier's no longer serving the suspension.

When I say he's done here I mean long term. We're definitely in agreement on that. I think it's likely we see him again this year as a call up, if not real soon.

Actually, if he earns a role here this year that's full time by year's end, I think he COULD be here next year again. But if he doesn't do that then this is probably his last year in the organization.

 

[dgibb10]

The Markstrom thing has me concerned. I didn't want him to begin with because of his age. We would have paid far more for Saros or Askarov from NSH or for one of Boston's goalies, but my god... both of those trade partners look like they'd have been better. Hellebuyck is looking solid in Winterpeg too.

I don't know that Daws is our future starter and right now he's the best of our bunch. Goaltending is a continued issue here, even if this year's tandem is marginally better than last year's.

Why we aren't scoring in these games is beyond me too... we either score 4 or 0 it seems. Luke Hughes is playing lights out defensively but his offense has vanished nearly completely. Even with Meier out we had a number of players who could have contributed to get 4 goals... Jack Hughes, Hischier, Bratt, Cotter, Noesen, Mercer, Haula, Luke Hughes, Hamilton any combo here ...

Sigh. Yet we're 6th in point percentage so that's a major positive, but I can't help feel like we should be even higher. I think watching the Hurricanes "get worse" in FA and end up far better and seem completely unable to lose (except to us ha ha) makes it more of a sense of urgency than perhaps it should be.

Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving yesterday!

Ullmark has looked toast as well tbh

 

[Bleedred]

The Markstrom thing has me concerned. I didn't want him to begin with because of his age. We would have paid far more for Saros or Askarov from NSH or for one of Boston's goalies, but my god... both of those trade partners look like they'd have been better. Hellebuyck is looking solid in Winterpeg too.

I don't know that Daws is our future starter and right now he's the best of our bunch. Goaltending is a continued issue here, even if this year's tandem is marginally better than last year's.

Why we aren't scoring in these games is beyond me too... we either score 4 or 0 it seems. Luke Hughes is playing lights out defensively but his offense has vanished nearly completely. Even with Meier out we had a number of players who could have contributed to get 4 goals... Jack Hughes, Hischier, Bratt, Cotter, Noesen, Mercer, Haula, Luke Hughes, Hamilton any combo here ...

Sigh. Yet we're 6th in point percentage so that's a major positive, but I can't help feel like we should be even higher. I think watching the Hurricanes "get worse" in FA and end up far better and seem completely unable to lose (except to us ha ha) makes it more of a sense of urgency than perhaps it should be.

Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving yesterday!

What ''Markstrom thing'' are you referring to? Just his mediocre play? Or is there some new development that I'm not up to speed on?

If you're referring to his mediocre play, I'm concerned as well. Who knows if that's another Rogalski strikes again! Or if it's just father time strikes again. Markstrom did just have a bad season 2 years ago, but analytically it wasn't as bad as his raw numbers. Expected save percentages on that year's Calgary were lower, I'm sure due in no small part to everybody being completely done with playing for Sutter.

And conversely, his out of this world numbers the year before that got him a Vezina finalist, he did not play as good as his numbers would suggest. He played solid, but not out of this world. Expected save percentages were way up that year. I think he had an expected save percentage of like .915% or .916% that year. Probably because they were still buying into Sutter and the team wasn't that bad on paper.

He also had a mediocre 20-21 in his first season in Calgary.

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving as well!

 

[dgibb10]

I understand why we couldn't go after a goalie who struggled last year but at the same time.

 

[Bleedred]

Ullmark has looked toast as well tbh

I think there's a better chance Ullmark rebounds going forward. He's several years younger.

I do not want Ullmark for 5 more years (or is it 6?) at $8+ million though.

 

[dgibb10]

I think there's a better chance Ullmark rebounds going forward. He's several years younger.

I do not want Ullmark for 5 more years (or is it 6?) at $8+ million though.

I thought ullmark was gonna come in at 6 mill or something. I am very concerned for what the price of a goalie will be in 2 years when we need another one.

Forget all the tinkering with depth and what middle 6 winger do we buy to play alongside Jack

We need to at some point, whether with the guys in the system or an outside acquisition, get a long term goalie. Even after getting markstrom Askarov should have been a target if possible (Casey+something)

 

[Bleedred]

I thought ullmark was gonna come in at 6 mill or something. I am very concerned for what the price of a goalie will be in 2 years when we need another one.

Forget all the tinkering with depth and what middle 6 winger do we buy to play alongside Jack.

We need to at some point, whether with the guys in the system or an outside acquisition, get a long term goalie. Even after getting markstrom Askarov should have been a target if possible (Casey+something)

Joey Daccord getting a $5+ million dollar deal for 5 years after his rookie NHL season which came at 28 years old will no doubt also inflate salaries.

Good thing he's having another good season this year, so at least you're not looking at a scenario like ''Well Daccord is getting $5 million a year and he's worthless, look what I'm doing! I'm worth $8-$10!'' when a goalie starts negotiating.

 

[dgibb10]

Joey Daccord getting a $5+ million dollar deal for 5 years after his rookie NHL season which came at 28 years old will no doubt also inflate salaries.

Good thing he's having another good season this year, so at least you're not looking at a scenario like ''Well Daccord is getting $5 million a year and he's worthless, look what I'm doing! I'm worth $8-$10!'' when a goalie starts negotiating.

Yup. The peak hasn't gotten that high YET with Swayman Helle Saros Sorokin all staying below nine, but Shesty is about to blow that out of the water

 

[forceten]

What ''Markstrom thing'' are you referring to? Just his mediocre play? Or is there some new development that I'm not up to speed on?

If you're referring to his mediocre play, I'm concerned as well. Who knows if that's another Rogalski strikes again! Or if it's just father time strikes again. Markstrom did just have a bad season 2 years ago, but analytically it wasn't as bad as his raw numbers. Expected save percentages on that year's Calgary were lower, I'm sure due in no small part to everybody being completely done with playing for Sutter.

And conversely, his out of this world numbers the year before that got him a Vezina finalist, he did not play as good as his numbers would suggest. He played solid, but not out of this world. Expected save percentages were way up that year. I think he had an expected save percentage of like .915% or .916% that year. Probably because they were still buying into Sutter and the team wasn't that bad on paper.

He also had a mediocre 20-21 in his first season in Calgary.

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving as well!

Yes - his mediocre play. Not getting to .910. While we didn't give up TOO much, we did give up a first and a young 3rd pair D. I never bought that he was elite at this point, and he's not. He's better than Vanacek and Blackwood, but they were near the bottom of the league when here.

 

[Emperoreddy]

More concerned with Fitz needing to make a forward goal then an endless Marky discussion.

If Tatar misses time, we really need to go get someone

 

[New Jerseys Devil]

Huge and gutsy win today! Shame how unbelievably bad the Islanders are in third periods, blowing a two goal lead to Washington. That organization was bought and used for a new arena bump to their valuation... boo!!

Beat Washington and the dirty Rags, then we can breathe a bit!

 

[StevenToddIves]

Really bizarre for an offense ranked towards the top of the league to have four shutouts a quarter of the way through the season.

What’s the status of Bastian and Lazar?

Better to have your team be inconsistently bad (like NJ this year) than consistently bad (like NJ last year).

I think the Devils will continue to grow and alleviate an outlying penchant to deliver an absolute clunker on occasion. The elite teams still manage to grind out a few goals here and there even when they are not firing on all cylinders.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the NJ Devils season thus far.

 

[Nubmer6]

Better to have your team be inconsistently bad (like NJ this year) than consistently bad (like NJ last year).

I think the Devils will continue to grow and alleviate an outlying penchant to deliver an absolute clunker on occasion. The elite teams still manage to grind out a few goals here and there even when they are not firing on all cylinders.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the NJ Devils season thus far.

Getting shut out every 4th game is about as consistent as it gets.

 

[New Jerseys Devil]

Oh and maybe we should add a forward with the injuries we have right now. Dont know who or for what, though

 

[dgibb10]

Luke Hughes is now 3rd in the league in xGoals share among dmen with 100 minutes (carolina 3rd pair of Ghost and Walker)

 

[Emperoreddy]

Getting shut out every 4th game is about as consistent as it gets.

We score and we win. As consistent as you can be

 

[Emperoreddy]

Really bizarre for an offense ranked towards the top of the league to have four shutouts a quarter of the way through the season.

What’s the status of Bastian and Lazar?

Lazar we won't see until close to playoff time, if that.

Nate is skating, but Keefe said he wasn't close and he looks like he lost a lot of weight. Probably a month or so away as a pure guess.

The shutout stat would be far more concerning if there were lots of other Ls around them, but there hasn't been.

They have all been isolated and surrounded by a bunch of wins.

 

[Blackjack]

Luke Hughes is now 3rd in the league in xGoals share among dmen with 100 minutes (carolina 3rd pair of Ghost and Walker)

What level of competition is he playing? It’s still great even if he’s sheltered I’m just curious.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Lazar we won't see until close to playoff time, if that.

Nate is skating, but Keefe said he wasn't close and he looks like he lost a lot of weight. Probably a month or so away as a pure guess.

The shutout stat would be far more concerning if there were lots of other Ls around them, but there hasn't been.

They have all been isolated and surrounded by a bunch of wins.

Jeez I didn’t realize it was that bad with Lazar. That really sucks.

 

[Triumph]

I don’t think Foote is done but I think he won’t get the next chance at a scoring call up or any call up.

I think they try to roll the dice on Halonen, Hardman, or Beckman before going back to Foote.

Basically I think they all get a small chance to impress and they all likely struggle to do so but you just try new guys and hope.

I’d be interested in seeing Parent get a look but with his size I think the team will look elsewhere unless he puts up an absurd amount of points in Utica.

I could see Beckman getting the call if they need an LW, yeah. Parent isn't on an NHL contract. I typed this out this morning and now that Tatar might be injured, I wonder if they bring someone back up.

All in all, I think the rebuild was quite well done. There's been a lot of luck, but from having only Greene, Zajac, Lars, Sevo, Wood and Coleman to where we are now, I doubt you could've played it that much better.

I don't know of any rebuild that didn't have ugly bits. I don't know if I'd like to be a CHI fan during the early 00s and Wirtz. Maybe you can say Tampa had a better process, transitioning from St. Louis to Hedman, Kuch and Stamkos fairly quickly, but, from the ground-up? Looking at Ottawa, Buffalo, Detroit and Montreal, it's too easy to f*** it all up.

I thought of this post again and it's funny thinking back on all the little things that were argued about on this board - Merrill being lost to expansion, the trade for Beau Bennett, the trades for Grabner and Maroon, Subban, etc. and some of those things definitely hurt, but the thing that was the most impactful, quite simply, is that Nico, Jack, and Jesper have gotten better every single year since 2020-21, and they've added solid pieces around those guys. That's not the whole story, but it's a lot of it - those are 3 of the best players in the league now, and there's other players around them.