Confirmed with Link: (G) J. Markstrom (30% retention) traded to NJ for (D) Kevin Bahl, 2025 1st rd pick (Top 10 protected)

[Dylan9z9]

He used up 8 lives in one year?


usually the way it happens.

Just a figure of speech of course Fitz doesn't have 9 lives he has one ..... he may have used it up

 

[Guadana]

I think any starting defender cable of taking a regular shift is a "premium asset".

Even more so than the center position....run of the mill bottom 6 centers aren't nearly as valuable in my opinion as a 5/6 defender capable of playing 17+ minutes for 82 games and PK or PP. A starting Dman is a premium asset.

Cmon, move on. Fitz already said he wants to find better defenseman. Graves isn’t better. Playing Luke and Nemec with protection in Bahl wasn’t a recipe for success. Bahl was good in third pair role but wasn’t good in second pair role. His limitations in skating, starting speed and movement are making him no favor against stronger competition. We need better defensemen in lesser role. Not the opposite. May be we will se Skjei sign may be some other trade. Hope it will be Pettersen or Orlov if it’s trade. Or some other mobile defenseman who can play pk and can be solid defensive D.

First round pick wasn’t the great in this trade, I would prefer to use this asset for younger player with longer term potential. And find some prime addition on the deadline to make this team even better, not trying to fill the hole for one two years.
But we still saved 10OA, Gritsyuk, Casey and Holtz. So we can make our team better for free still, or trade them for really good younger players with more control and potential.

Am I like this trade? No. I think adding solid defenseman for second pair and couple of good forwards would make more for this team. But it’s not that bad how it could be.

 

[Ripshot 43]

I spoke to my shrink yesterday.

I am a premium asset.

 

[HBK27]

I do wonder how Bahl got included in the deal. It sounds like he was a player that Calgary had their eye on, so they may have pushed/insisted that he be part of the deal. However, it's also fair to question what role Bahl was going to have in NJ for this upcoming season.

Fitz has said that he was looking for help on defense. Presumably, Bahl would've been the odd man out given Hamilton, Siegenthaler, Marino, Hughes & Nemec are all ahead of him in the pecking order and seemingly have top 5 spots locked down. Maybe Bahl would've been penciled in as the 7th defenseman, a role I'm sure he would not have been thrilled with after playing all 82 games last season. So, it's probably fair to ask just what type of role (if any) they envisioned for Bahl next season or if the plan was to move him regardless?

If they did want to hold onto him, what type of a replacement prospect would've been adequate in Bahl's place - if they swapped out Bahl for Vilen, would that have been a better/worse deal for the Devils. I'm thinking I'd rather still have the potential upside in Vilen than Bahl for this organization. With Casey being off the table, I'm not sure if there are any other defensive prospects the Flames would've had much interest in.

Devils clearly need to go after a veteran LD that can play the PK. It really does hamstring this team that Hamilton seemingly can't play on the PK. Has a big frame and is supposed to be (and paid to be) one of the top defensemen in the league. His final two seasons in Carolina he averaged 2:19 & 1:25 per game on the PK so it's not out of the question for him - maybe Keefe will utilize him there. But between him and Luke (who maybe gets there at some point), it puts the team in a tough spot. Regardless, it will be interesting to see who Fitz acquires and how much of the cap space he is able to utilize, considering I'm sure we paid a bit of a premium for Calgary to retain on Markstrom along with Montreal to retain on Allen - so he's got to use that space.

I do hope they bring back DeSimone as he played well done the stretch and gives us some depth at RD while allowing Casey to marinate in Utica. DeSimone shouldn't make much more than league minimum, but should be given as big a minor league salary as possible to get him to stay along with maybe a 2 year deal. I also like what I saw out of Hatakka and he should be given every opportunity to make the team as a 7th/8th defenseman. Given that both have to clear waivers, I'm not sure it's unreasonable that they carry 8D to start the season. Though, Clarke and Foote will also have to pass through waivers and we already have MacDermid as an extra forward, so it would be tough to carry 8D. Have to hope that DeSimone just doesn't get claimed.

 

[Rhodes 81]

One thing to remember is that adding a goalie that is almost sure to prevent Allen from playing more than he should saves us on the conditional pick. Part of any goalie trade is factoring in giving up a 3rd round pick instead of a 2nd in that trade, which is not nothing.

I would agree with Jim on Bahl if there was reason to fear we won't replace him, but that is quite unlikely as it stands. I like Bahl but my ideal scenario was for him to be the 7thD heading into the year. Is some combination of Hatakka/MacDermid in that role worse? Yes, but not by that much.

It's the 2025 first that annoys me more. Ignoring the value comparison, that's another year now where we're heading into the season without one of the most valuable trade chips for contenders to add at the deadline. It ended up not mattering this year, but if it doesn't matter again next year that means we weren't in playoff contention at the deadline and therefore it's a disaster of a trade.

I'm probably neutral on this deal at the end of the day. I see enough positives but we really have to actually perform this time. Fitz has more to do to make that happen.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I think any starting defender cable of taking a regular shift is a "premium asset".

Even more so than the center position....run of the mill bottom 6 centers aren't nearly as valuable in my opinion as a 5/6 defender capable of playing 17+ minutes for 82 games and PK or PP. A starting Dman is a premium asset.

so Brendan Smith was a premium asset last year? Jonas Siegenthaler?

 

[JimEIV]

I understand and don’t disagree in the abstract that a more experienced predictable stable of left defenders is going to have success coneoared to a young and unpredictable set of defenders. But I think that in a cap league you have to be very careful who you give that big ticket contract to. There are only so many you can hand out and NJ is already having to overpay in trades for retention. They gave out a retirement contract to Hamilton that has been fine so far but he’s going to be coming of a significant injury and they gave one to Palat with mixed results. As you’ve noted before the roster came together with forwards first which has complicated things but the team was always gong to prioritize Nemec and Luke over any other defenders. You can talk about Siegs and Marino needing to bounce back and yes they need to replace Bahl but the cap has a lot to do with the roster.

I agree that the cap is a major determining factor for these decisions...but it also highlights the organizations priorities.

And for the last 9 seasons the organization has been skimping on defense and goaltending ...Cheap, quick and most of time temporary solutions. Markstrom is no different.

But it also puts the focus on the guys who are getting the money....if your philosophy is skimp on blue line back and stack the forwards they better be among the leagues best if you are capped out.

Do you think it's ok to cheap out on defense while finishing 14th in scoring and not having a single 30 goal scorer in league that had 47 30 or more goal scores?

If the savings is on defense the offense, where the resources are, were the bigger failure.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Graves got f***ing benched at points last year for being too dogshit to play on the Penguins POWERHOUSE blue line, lmao. He f***ing sucks.

Nothing more Jim than an insane fascination with a guy the Devils were objectively correct to move on from.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I'd rather have five 25 goal scorers than one 30 goal scorer

 

[My3Sons]

I agree that the cap is a major determining factor for these decisions...but it also highlights the organizations priorities.

And for the last 9 seasons the organization has been skimping on defense and goaltending ...Cheap, quick and most of time temporary solutions. Markstrom is no different.

But it also puts the focus on the guys who are getting the money....if your philosophy is skimp on blue line back and stack the forwards they better be among the leagues best if you are capped out.

Do you think it's ok to cheap out on defense while finishing 14th in scoring and not having a single 30 goal scorer in league that had 47 30 or more goal scores?

If the savings is on defense the offense, where the resources are, were the bigger failure.

It sort of doesn’t matter. Thr team chose its approach and it isn’t going to be able to revamp completely. It’s just not realistic. Palat Haula and Hamilton are Devils for quite some time. Like Nemec Jack Bratt Meier and Nico are also Devils for the foreseeable future. There just isn’t much wiggle room with the cap where it is. It’s less about priorities than it is priorities under the cap. You just have to hope your role players do well. Last year that didn’t work out so well. We will see how next season unfolds.

 

[Clam Jensen]

I'd rather have five 25 goal scorers than one 30 goal scorer

The George Carlin method.

 

[Devilsfan118]

And it really is all just an admission that moving on from Graves was a huge mistake.

Honest question - are you somehow related to Ryan? Penguins fans want to fire this guy into the sun only a year into his contract.

Moving on from Graves was the right move. Banking on Bahl taking a major step forward in his development was, in hindsight, misguided.

 

[JimEIV]

Graves got f***ing benched at points last year for being too dogshit to play on the Penguins POWERHOUSE blue line, lmao. He f***ing sucks.

Nothing more Jim than an insane fascination with a guy the Devils were objectively correct to move on from.

I think you and many other are truly missing the point ..fixating on the player is missing the point

We have downgraded the defensive depth chart in each of the last two off seasons.... you and others can keep yelling "Graves sucks" but it doesn't address the fact that the depth chart and and the left side got significantly worse....and it fell even more since the Bahl trade...now we are just looking to get back to par of two years ago... that's the issue.

So keep yelling Graves sucks but our defense hasn't been at the same level since the hole he left was created.

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Good video on YouTube with Markstrom handled himself well...

 

[Billdo]

I think you and many other are truly missing the point ..fixating on the player is missing the point

We have downgraded the defensive depth chart in each of the last two off seasons.... you and others can keep yelling "Graves sucks" but it doesn't address the fact that the depth chart and and the left side got significantly worse....and it fell even more since the Bahl trade...now we are just looking to get back to par of two years ago... that's the issue.

So keep yelling Graves sucks but our defense hasn't been at the same level since the hole he left was created.

I get what you're saying.

 

[OmNomNom]

i can only assume fitz is going to go out and make a move for a good LD somewhere - jury is still out AFAIK

if he doesn't do anything this offseason, i'll gladly rip on him too

 

[MasterofGrond]

I think you and many other are truly missing the point ..fixating on the player is missing the point

We have downgraded the defensive depth chart in each of the last two off seasons.... you and others can keep yelling "Graves sucks" but it doesn't address the fact that the depth chart and and the left side got significantly worse....and it fell even more since the Bahl trade...now we are just looking to get back to par of two years ago... that's the issue.

So keep yelling Graves sucks but our defense hasn't been at the same level since the hole he left was created.

Then just say "We need more defensive depth" or "We need a good LD," something which I think 99% of the board agrees with (and which I have been saying for months), instead of bringing up Ryan f***ing Graves. We agree Graves himself is a red herring, but he's one you brought up.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I think you and many other are truly missing the point ..fixating on the player is missing the point

We have downgraded the defensive depth chart in each of the last two off seasons.... you and others can keep yelling "Graves sucks" but it doesn't address the fact that the depth chart and and the left side got significantly worse....and it fell even more since the Bahl trade...now we are just looking to get back to par of two years ago... that's the issue.

So keep yelling Graves sucks but our defense hasn't been at the same level since the hole he left was created.

No it's because we understand that Luke is still a work in progress but the ceiling with Luke is why the mistakes are bearable as opposed to having a veteran consistently bumbling around. They also have the goalie now hopefully to where their youth D's mistakes don't end up in the net every bad turnover or breakdown they have. What exactly does an anchor contract in Graves exactly achieve? The 1-2 years that Luke isn't a stud?

 

[JimEIV]

Then just say "We need more defensive depth" or "We need a good LD," something which I think 99% of the board agrees with (and which I have been saying for months), instead of bringing up Ryan f***ing Graves. We agree Graves himself is a red herring, but he's one you brought up.

From my perspective it's not just we need more depth or another good LHD...how we got here is the important part

It's the decision making process that led someone to believe that Bahl would replace Graves and now they are both gone.

This is a pure admission of the mistake from my perspective.

But beyond that our Left side depth is atrocious and in complete shambles.. Siegenthaler and Luke then??? Hatakka?

And what is the solution going to be? Get a Graves level player for about the same cost as Graves is getting right now....does the stupidity not scream out very loudly?

 

[My3Sons]

From my perspective it's not just we need more depth or another good LHD...how we got here is the important part

It's the decision making process that led someone to believe that Bahl would replace Graves and now they are both gone.

This is a pure admission of the mistake from my perspective.

But beyond that our Left side depth is atrocious and in complete shambles.. Siegenthaler and Luke then??? Hatakka?

And what is the solution going to be? Get a Graves level player for about the same cost as Graves is getting right now....does the stupidity not scream out very loudly?

NJ isn’t that far from being in an open rebuild. You have to let your players play to see what you have in them. Not all will develop to their full potential. I’m not sure including a player in a trade is some sort of indictment of thr player if thr other team wants that player. Bahl may take a few more years to achieve full stability and NJ has better long term projects to invest in.

 

[Emperoreddy]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803774805277044839

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I really think the Devils are going to go after Zadorov, give him a contract that we all complain about like the Palat deal, but if he does his job well this team is a contender.

 

[R8Devs]

I basically thought Bahl was on his way outs anyway so I’m good with the trade with the 1st round pick hopefully being a late first. Hatakka should be able to fill the 7D role and shouldn’t be too hard to find a competent vet for bottom 4 dman role. Glad they kept the 10 pick in a goalie trade and hope Devils make the pick this year though, don’t know how many opportunities there will be in the future for heavy contributors on their elc and this is a prime chance at it.

 

[megajake]

I really think the Devils are going to go after Zadorov, give him a contract that we all complain about like the Palat deal, but if he does his job well this team is a contender.

We need alot more then just Zadorov to be a contender. Have you seen our forwards?

 

[JimEIV]

NJ isn’t that far from being in an open rebuild. You have to let your players play to see what you have in them. Not all will develop to their full potential. I’m not sure including a player in a trade is some sort of indictment of thr player if thr other team wants that player. Bahl may take a few more years to achieve full stability and NJ has better long term projects to invest in.

So now we are going to come full circle...

If you are in a phase of seeing what key components your defense are capable of....you absolutely aren't ready to compete for a cup...

Now full circle time...then why the hell are you trading a young defender and a first round pick for a 35 year old goaltender?

The stupidity is compounding more that my 401k has this year.