Devils Team Discussion (team/player news and notes) ‎2015 offseason IX

[Devilsfan992]

well, it certainly is an improved lineup from last year. We will see how tc shapes up

never mind. I agree it's slightly improved.

 

[New Jack City]

tc? *

training camp

 

[ghdi]

So with today's developments, here's the update lineup for me:

Cammy - Zajac - Palmieri
Elias - Henrique - Tlusty
Matteau - Josefson - Stepniak
Ruutu - O'Brian - Tootoo

Don't see any of Zacha, Blandisi, Coleman, etc in this lineup unless there are injuries. Maybe Coleman as a 4th liner.

You're assuming that Stempniak and O'Brien are automatically locks to make the Newark roster. O'Brien is on a two way deal for a reason and I wouldnt pencil him in to anything. We also have at least 1 offensive scratch to account for as its unclear yet if we're going to carry 7 or 8 defenders. Kennedy is also here on a PTO. Id wager its more likely that only one of those two (Stempniak/Kennedy) make the team and Gionta is still here as well. Blandisi and Coleman are almost surely not going to make it. They're longer shots than Zacha or Q.

Don't rule Zacha out making the team. I'm not advocating for it unless his play shows otherwise, but no one should be surprised if he does. I think its 50/50 for Zacha and longer odds for any other kid.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Old, but interesting nonetheless. Never saw this before.

As for Shero being active, Id like a trade as long as it doesnt involve Larsson.

Kuja as legit skill (which is why people putting him in a bottom 6 role is odd. He is a skill player, not a grinder). He just needs to put it all together consistently.

He started to show signs of that after he was traded. Hopefully he has an excellent season in Albany.

 

[Devilsfan992]

You're assuming that Stempniak and O'Brien are automatically locks to make the Newark roster. O'Brien is on a two way deal for a reason and I wouldnt pencil him in to anything. We also have at least 1 offensive scratch to account for as its unclear yet if we're going to carry 7 or 8 defenders. Kennedy is also here on a PTO. Id wager its more likely that only one of those two (Stempniak/Kennedy) make the team and Gionta is still here as well. Blandisi and Coleman are almost surely not going to make it. They're longer shots than Zacha or Q.

Don't rule Zacha out making the team. I'm not advocating for it unless his play shows otherwise, but no one should be surprised if he does. I think its 50/50 for Zacha and longer odds for any other kid.

Forgot about Kennedy, but he's been nothing the last 2 years. I don't know if he makes this roster.

Here's the roster from last year. I would say Jagr > Palmeiri, Tlusty > Ryder. While Zubrus, Havlat and Brunner sucked, Josefson/Matteau/Stemp is not great either. I think if you include Bernier/Gomez then it's once again not that much better than last year.

I hope Blandisi, Coleman, Boucher etc get shots.


Mike Cammalleri - Travis Zajac - Jaromir Jagr

Patrik Elias - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder

Marty Havlat - Dainius Zubrus - Damien Brunner

Ryane Clowe - Stephen Gionta - Tuomo Ruutu

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

So with today's developments, here's the update lineup for me:

Cammy - Zajac - Palmieri
Elias - Henrique - Tlusty
Matteau - Josefson - Stepniak
Ruutu - O'Brian - Tootoo

Don't see any of Zacha, Blandisi, Coleman, etc in this lineup unless there are injuries. Maybe Coleman as a 4th liner.

Glad I'm not the only one that forgot Kalinin exists.

 

[Devilsfan992]

Glad I'm not the only one that forgot Kalinin exists.

Logjam of Bottom 6'ers

 

[Bleedred]

I like Kennedy on a tryout. Wouldn't mind him on our 4th line.

You know what? Kennedy on the 4th line wouldn't be so bad. It's just that in the past (and I don't wanna single out Lou or even Lou/Pete because a lot of other GM's and head coaches still feel this way, let's hope the Shero and Hynes combo do not) we couldn't really get a player like Kennedy on the 4th line because they always wanted some kind of a sandpaper or plumber playing the 4th line, it's why Gomez wasn't signed last year out of camp and Tootoo was. Because they had an opening for a 4th liner and they didn't in the top 9 (thanks Brunner). Even though Gomez had been played on the 4th line the past few years in other cities, Lou didn't seem to want him around in a 4th line role. That's just one example.

And Kennedy is probably a lot more of a 4th line player than Gomez is, his game translates more to the 4th line than Gomez. There's just some coaches and guys in management that won't play these guys in 4th line roles, or at least not to start out. They'll demote a player there when he's not playing good enough, or start a young player that's not your prototypical 4th liner there, like DeBoer was doing with Boucher a couple years ago in his first call up, or demoting Ryder or Sykora to the 4th line when they got cold. This also all goes back to what we were discussing about Whitney earlier and why trash Sestito got all these call ups when Whitney didn't. They didn't want Whitney in the 4th line role, they wanted some sandpaper/plumber type like Sestito on the 4th line.

And I'm kind of an old school guy myself, but I hate that way of thinking or at least find it to be a little bit dated and old fashion now. I also feel the same way about having a one dimensional goon in the lineup or on the roster period. I think it's time to evolve out of that way of utilizing an NHL 4th line.

This also goes back to why I didn't want Zubrus on the team this year. Even though the new guys have no loyalty to him like the old guard, I was still afraid they might not feel like he's a 4th line player if he's on the roster. Not even in his current form.

I really want a SKILLED 4th line. I'm not of the mindset that you need a ''Grinding 4th line that just takes some shifts and is responsible'' or at least not anymore. I'd rather have skill guys on the 4th line if we can. No need to waste roster spots on the flotsam and jetsam sandpaper types or the one dimensional goons. Or horrible and crappy hockey players like Rod Pelley, who got way more time with us at the NHL level than he ever deserved. Let's get some skill guys on our 4th line if we can help it. Kennedy isn't exactly a skill guy, but it's better than the plumber or sandpaper type who chips in 5-10 points a year and just grinds out a few shifts.

Ruutu might have been the most non prototypical 4th liner that we've had in years, or at least since the crash line days. McKay and Holik were very skilled players and spent a lot of their career not playing on 4th lines, outside of those couple seasons together. And Ruutu was only on the 4th line because we had a logjam of players at that point and a logjam of top 9 talent, albeit not much ''Talent'' in that top 9. Just an overabundance of players, where someone who wasn't a traditional 4th liner needed to play on the 4th line.

 

[MichaelJ]

Kuja as legit skill (which is why people putting him in a bottom 6 role is odd. He is a skill player, not a grinder). He just needs to put it all together consistently.

He started to show signs of that after he was traded. Hopefully he has an excellent season in Albany.

A player doesn't have to be a 'grinder' to play on the 3rd, especially on a deep team. Kujawinski is physical, drives the net, and defensively responsible. IMO he'd be a big plus if he develops and can play on the 3rd - someone physical who can also put the puck in the net. I wouldn't pencil him into any top6 role at this point.

I've always been a fan and I think he has a lot of skill. I'm just expecting/wanting Shero to take the opportunity of a rebuild to put together a deep forward group and that will push some of the guys we have down. Overall, it would be great for the team.

A guy like Beau Bennett is miscast on the 3rd because he's all skill and has little in the way of toughness and defense. I don't think Kujawinski would have that problem.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

You're assuming that Stempniak and O'Brien are automatically locks to make the Newark roster. O'Brien is on a two way deal for a reason and I wouldnt pencil him in to anything. We also have at least 1 offensive scratch to account for as its unclear yet if we're going to carry 7 or 8 defenders. Kennedy is also here on a PTO. Id wager its more likely that only one of those two (Stempniak/Kennedy) make the team and Gionta is still here as well. Blandisi and Coleman are almost surely not going to make it. They're longer shots than Zacha or Q.

Don't rule Zacha out making the team. I'm not advocating for it unless his play shows otherwise, but no one should be surprised if he does. I think its 50/50 for Zacha and longer odds for any other kid.

He's not assuming anything... he's making a guess based on his personal opinions. I think Coleman is gonna make a strong push for a full time spot out of camp, but that doesn't mean I think he's an "automatic lock."

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

 

[NJDevs26]

Glad I'm not the only one that forgot Kalinin exists.

Recency bias...he's like the first guy Shero signed so we forget about that with the several other signings/tryouts/draft picks since then. And we've seen most of the draft picks in development camp and/or this weekend.

 

[Devilsfan992]

Stemp and Kennedy are both Shero guys, correct? By this I mean they were under him in Pitt.

 

[tr83]

I don't know if I'm going to be able to deal with these high numbers on players

 

[NJDevs26]

Stemp and Kennedy are both Shero guys, correct? By this I mean they were under him in Pitt.

Kennedy was there for six years, Stempniak for six minutes but yeah.

 

[OmNomNom]

I don't know if I'm going to be able to deal with these high numbers on players

don't worry, it's not bad (yet). I wonder if stemp getting 20 means anything though. i still see as kennedy having 48 (below bouch and freakin pelley) means he's def a pto though. gelly is the only one to screw with the numbers so far

 

[Devil X]

don't worry, it's not bad (yet). I wonder if stemp getting 20 means anything though. i still see as kennedy having 48 (below bouch and freakin pelley) means he's def a pto though. gelly is the only one to screw with the numbers so far

Isnt Kennedys number 48? Isnt that the number he always is?

Correction he was 48 in Pitt, 81 in San Jose, and 26 with the Islanders.

Leads me to believe if he makes the roster he stays with his 48.

 

[I Hate Tie DOMI]

don't worry, it's not bad (yet). I wonder if stemp getting 20 means anything though. i still see as kennedy having 48 (below bouch and freakin pelley) means he's def a pto though. gelly is the only one to screw with the numbers so far

#48 was Kennedy's number in Pittsburgh, switched to #81 when he went to San Jose, so I'm not so sure.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

Piss, I really wanted Zacha to take #9.

 

[HenriquesJawLine]

My dream is to trade for a young top 6 guy and sign Boedker next summer. Have to think we'd be willing to break the bank for him.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

My dream is to trade for a young top 6 guy and sign Boedker next summer. Have to think we'd be willing to break the bank for him.

I'd give Boedker $6M, pretty easily.

I'd also expect that trade sooner rather than later. If nothing happens between now and Opening Night, you've got to think Shero presses harder during the season when teams have new gems, certain players become expendable, etc.

 

[Burner Account]

I would be cautious on Boedker. I understand he's been with the Coyotes for his entire career, but his career high is 51 points. I'm not saying that's his ceiling, but that is his body of work to date.

 

[CerebralGenesis]

we are in trouble if kennedy and stemp make this team.

Means either more cronyism or that the rookies suck.

 

[Zippy316]

Piss, I really wanted Zacha to take #9.

Thought Moore would get 17.

Looks like they're saving it for Zacha.... or maybe

 

[SeidoN]