GDT: Ducks @ Devils - 7:00 PM - MSG

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Can somebody give us a Photoshopped Nico with Matthews hairline?

Boom?

 

[Incharge1976]

Boom?
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OMG...Hilarious

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Boom?
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Scariest thing I've seen today and I watched Jets football

 

[MadDevil]

That's...horrifying. Looks like the mugshot of a serial killer from the 70's.

 

[britdevil]

My wife hasn’t carted me off to a home yet.

 

[Hisch13r]

 

[Ripshot 43]

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You hear that music?

 

[Whaddagoal]

Boom?
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Da fuk!?

 

[Whaddagoal]

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This is the year of the Jonas.

 

[devilsfan950003]

Who replaces Lazar's center position on the 4th line? Bowers? Could Stillman play center?

Do they play Nemec as the 7th defender?

 

[Whaddagoal]

Devils are 2-0-1 with MacDermid in.

Preach. Kurtis has that mojo going. I saw him hovering around the slot in the 3rd period. Even he was feeling it.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Who replaces Lazar's center position on the 4th line? Bowers? Could Stillman play center?

Do they play Nemec as the 7th defender?

Tyler Johnson IMO

 

[Better Call Sal]

The SiegenBaller renaissance.

 

[JrFischer54]

how many more west coast teams do we get on the second end of a b2b after a visit against the rangers! 2-0 so far baby!

 

[TheUnseenHand]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1850720744797249537

f*** that blows.

I guess we can't have nice things...

 

[HischierSeDgewOrk]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1850727858043584750

How about Cotter vs Holtz.

 

[Better Call Sal]

How about Cotter vs Holtz.

 

[Hisch13r]

I wouldn’t mind getting Mercer some center reps with Lazar out. He’s been showing some more offense recently but if the offense doesn’t end up coming back then he’ll need to be the 3C of the future to really be important.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I wouldn’t mind getting Mercer some center reps with Lazar out. He’s been showing some more offense recently but if the offense doesn’t end up coming back then he’ll need to be the 3C of the future to really be important.

I don't mind that in testing him for a potential future role, but it would not be good for our current condition, especially if we have playoff aspirations. A long term Lazar injury would be very difficult to deal with.

 

[Devils731]

I wouldn’t mind getting Mercer some center reps with Lazar out. He’s been showing some more offense recently but if the offense doesn’t end up coming back then he’ll need to be the 3C of the future to really be important.

I’m fine with trying Mercer at center but it’s almost for the opposite of your reason.

I think Mercer has really struggled to be effective all season, and I don’t think it’s much better recently. He’s had Nico’s monster start next to him and he’s struggled to even get dragged along with it. He hasn’t been great at recovering pucks, skating with pucks, shooting, or dangling.

Dangling and finishing are 2 things I expect to be his strengths so the fact the he hasn’t been strong there yet shows he struggling, to me.

So I’d be fine trying him at center but it would be more to try and shake his game up. He’s always been bad at center so I’d expect it not to work but the future move back to wing may let his brain reset and get him back in a groove.

 

[Hisch13r]

I don't mind that in testing him for a potential future role, but it would not be good for our current condition, especially if we have playoff aspirations. A long term Lazar injury would be very difficult to deal with.

I mean we don’t have any other centers to play as is without adding a guy. People bring up Cotter but he’s literally never played center at the NHL level

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

It’s probably best to just go 11-7 with Lazar out for a bit. And get Bastian back in for MacDermid. Maybe we can pluck a decent forward off waivers.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Don't get me wrong, I love Lazar. But we are talking about replacing the 4C position and his PK minutes. While there aren't any ideal options in Utica, Lazar has averaged the least amount of TOI of any regular forward on the team so far this year. You can probably put a Dowling, Bowers or Willman in there and at least manage in the short-term. Hopefully you can find a worthwhile option on waivers or even by trade for a low-round pick if he will be out a significant amount of time.

With the way Keefe has rode Nico so far, I imagine we'll see him and Jack pick up a few extra minutes/shifts in that spot for now depending on the nature of the game.

Hope Curtis is alright and will mend quickly. Watching the slow-mo replay of that and seeing his knee buckle was scary.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Last night was a fun game to watch the opposing broadcast. I was not prepared for how bad the Ducks would look defensively and you could tell the broadcast crew was trying hard not to harp on it all game.

As far as Lazar, as much as we love him, i still don’t think he’s that good and usage-wise he shouldn’t be hard to replace. But i also expect it’s gonna expose our lack of depth after jettisoning so many forwards over the last 3 years.

Wouldn’t mind seeing Cotter or Mercer get a chance to show what they can do at C.

 

[tailfins]

It’s probably best to just go 11-7 with Lazar out for a bit. And get Bastian back in for MacDermid. Maybe we can pluck a decent forward off waivers.

The current situation is one of the few in which I'd support 7 D.

Going with 7D doesn't actually address Lazar's absence. You're basically saying you'd rather double shift one of our centers (or perhaps trying Cotter or Mercer at the 4C while keeping their spots on the wing) than call someone up. That's fine. Those guys are probably a better bet for 4C than whoever we have in Utica.

Meanwhile the 7D is generally awful becasue it means reduced TOI for the other D. In this case, though, Nemec is clearly struggling, and getting him sheltered minutes might be useful. It'll take time from the RDs. But, I think it's not the end of the world if Hamilton, Pesce, and Kovy each see a two minute haircut and Nemec get 6 minutes of sheltered ice.

All of this said, the lack of center depth in the organization was obvious all summer. The inaction of Fitz and MacKinnon on this is irritating. It's small potatoes in the scheme of things (an AHL center would not have been a long term solution), but at least there would have been some thinking done.

Tyler Johnson IMO

We'll see. Rumor out of Boston is that waiving Tufte was to open space for Johnson.