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

[minibrodeur]

I really don't understand the pages and pages of complaints. We desperately needed a goalie and got the one who best fits our current needs without hamstringing us on the cap short or long term and without giving up the 10 OA. We had to give up a (protected) first which was pretty much expected based on the market, you have to give to get and I can't find 1 insider that claims we overpaid in this deal. Bahl is a bit underrated here, I do think he has potential to be a decent top 4 d but he's far from irreplaceable. He's due for a raise next year and we're basically guaranteed to address our LHD situation before the season. Fitz is not done I'm personally really excited to see what else he can do to finish up this roster. We know we need a LHD (prob 2), mid 6 and bottom 6 fwd (with some snarl). Fitz knows what we need, said he's gonna go get em, and he will. Let's wait and see how we fill out the roster before we start crying about the holes we're clearly going to address.

 

[Forge]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803860238770282535

PDOcast had Kevin Woodley on today to talk about the fit. He spoke to it a little bit earlier this year around the trade deadline, but its a good listen.

Woodley does a ton of goalie tracking and likes to look at how goalies fit with teams and what they give up or do well, so it's a good listen.

I recommend listening to PDOcast in general (best hockey podcast there is imo), but obviously today's episode is kind of pertinent.

 

[devilsfan950003]

Id take him back.

Not with that 6-year, $27,000,000 contract. Certainly not with his history of injuries.

 

[JimEIV]

What is bad about it lmao, seriously where's your problem? What specifically about those pairs don't work?

And yeah we could use some more depth to go with Hatakka and Misyul, that's easy enough to find. It's a 7D, they're everywhere. We acquired one two years ago. We acquired another last year. I promise you we'll get one this year, too.

Nemec as a primary PKer is not a good solution right now. And there would absolutely nothing behind him should he falter.

We didn't acquire anything last year.... unless you mean Miller who doesn't kill penalties and averaged 15:55. I suppose that's depth...but is depth with little utility really depth?

Mentioning Misyul as a depth is a stretch....the guy has played 44 games in North America and he's on our depth chart? Maybe he's capable of making an appearance like Hatakka did but this isn't real depth... that's more of a "Oh shit" plan if you ever "have to" usr those players...as opposed to bringing them up leisurely.

 

[JimEIV]

I really don't understand the pages and pages of complaints. We desperately needed a goalie and got the one who best fits our current needs without hamstringing us on the cap short or long term and without giving up the 10 OA. We had to give up a (protected) first which was pretty much expected based on the market, you have to give to get and I can't find 1 insider that claims we overpaid in this deal. Bahl is a bit underrated here, I do think he has potential to be a decent top 4 d but he's far from irreplaceable. He's due for a raise next year and we're basically guaranteed to address our LHD situation before the season. Fitz is not done I'm personally really excited to see what else he can do to finish up this roster. We know we need a LHD (prob 2), mid 6 and bottom 6 fwd (with some snarl). Fitz knows what we need, said he's gonna go get em, and he will. Let's wait and see how we fill out the roster before we start crying about the holes we're clearly going to address.

The last thing we needed was a goalie at the expense of Defensemen. Even if that Dman was slated for depth.

Our defense was worse than our goaltending.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I always just wonder how this same schpiel doesn't get tiring after awhile.

 

[devilsblood]

The last thing we needed was a goalie at the expense of Defensemen. Even if that Dman was slated for depth.

Our defense was worse than our goaltending.

Nah Fish.

 

[Call Me Al]

i’m sorry but it’s f***ing june, maybe we should wait until free agency starts before crying about the d?

it doesn’t take any special insight to point out that the team picking 10th overall had some issues last year

 

[Ripshot 43]

Cant wait for the final act of this thread

View attachment 884911

You think it’s almost over?

 

[JimEIV]

Nah Fish.

It really was. And I have a suspicion we'll continue to see a lot of that again this season....the primary defenders and forwards are locked in and new found help isn't going to make those existing players better defensively.

We just don't have a lot of responsible players...maybe Keefe can change things? I don't know... I hear a lot people say he made the irresponsible more responsible in Toronto

But we are bad defensively.

 

[ScottyK]

It really was. And I have a suspicion we'll continue to see a lot of that again this season....the primary defenders and forwards are locked in and new found help isn't going to make those existing players better defensively.

We just don't have a lot of responsible players...maybe Keefe can change things? I don't know... I hear a lot people say he made the irresponsible more responsible in Toronto

But we are bad defensively.

He def over preformed with that D and goaltending he had in Toronto, and a lot of Tor fans complained about how he reigned in the forwards too much come playoff time and it sacrificed the offense.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Nemec as a primary PKer is not a good solution right now. And there would absolutely nothing behind him should he falter.

We didn't acquire anything last year.... unless you mean Miller who doesn't kill penalties and averaged 15:55. I suppose that's depth...but is depth with little utility really depth?

Mentioning Misyul as a depth is a stretch....the guy has played 44 games in North America and he's on our depth chart? Maybe he's capable of making an appearance like Hatakka did but this isn't real depth... that's more of a "Oh shit" plan if you ever "have to" usr those players...as opposed to bringing them up leisurely.

The right handed dmen will be Marino, Nemec, Hamilton. That’s how it is. Nemec will PK. Get used to it.

 

[devilsblood]

It really was. And I have a suspicion we'll continue to see a lot of that again this season....the primary defenders and forwards are locked in and new found help isn't going to make those existing players better defensively.

We just don't have a lot of responsible players...maybe Keefe can change things? I don't know... I hear a lot people say he made the irresponsible more responsible in Toronto

But we are bad defensively.

Early on our defensive metrics were pretty good. Through Jan we allowed the 4th least shots attempts against. The 11th least sog's against. You want to say they were deceiving and the breakdowns led to high quality chances the numbers don't pick up? I actually agree with that. But the difference between the numbers and the reality isn't so stark that we go from pretty good to god awful.

The goalies were god awful.

 

[devilsblood]

Nemec as a primary PKer is not a good solution right now. And there would absolutely nothing behind him should he falter.

We didn't acquire anything last year.... unless you mean Miller who doesn't kill penalties and averaged 15:55. I suppose that's depth...but is depth with little utility really depth?

Mentioning Misyul as a depth is a stretch....the guy has played 44 games in North America and he's on our depth chart? Maybe he's capable of making an appearance like Hatakka did but this isn't real depth... that's more of a "Oh shit" plan if you ever "have to" usr those players...as opposed to bringing them up leisurely.

No team has quality NHL players chilling out in the AHL in case of injury.

Hataaka is 23, has played NHL games in 2 different seasons, and performed quite well in the NHL last year. He is at the point where he should be getting NHL games. Misyul will be 24, and has played 200 professional games. He too should is at the point where he should be getting looks.

Vilen, if he was the top option, at 21, and one AHL season would be an "oh shit" plan. These other guys look ready.

Casey? As the top righty option looks sketchy. Maybe that means our 7th, who will be on the NHL roster, will be a righty.

 

[NJDevs26]

You think it’s almost over?

At this rate yes

 

[theoptimist]

It was a desperate move. Not sure if anyone would say different.

The point is that everyone recognized the Devils were in a desperate place. Fitz knew he was dealing from weakness but didn't let that stop him. He still got the best deal he could.

The obvious desperation is one of the reasons many observers were thinking the Devils would have to trade #10OA. Ottawa is looking for a goalie. Detroit would like a goalie. Toronto wants a goalie. Maybe Colorado too. Fitz moved early - maybe he paid a bit too much, but he made sure he filled the need and certainly didn't wildly overpay.

Overall, I agree with Cory's assessment. The move has risks. But, it had to be done, and Fitz deserves credit for bringing the deal home.

(That said, I think everyone is under-rating Bahl's upside. He's 6'6". Thompson didn't start to break out until his age 24 season. Chara didn't have 20+ points until his age 24 season. Big guys can take a while. Not saying Bahl is going to be a superstar, just that he's not a finished product yet.)

You are right about Bahl. Look at what happened to Sharangovich. This could be the Toffoli trade all over again

 

[theoptimist]

So we use,

New guy-Marino
Siegs-Nemec

if we want balanced pairs or if we want to overload one pair:

Siegs-Marino
New Guy-Nemec

There you go, f***ing problem solved.

For the 3 pairs:

Siegs-Hamilton (Known quality pair, bit of a roll of the dice given the injuries, but I don't expect them to have that much 5v5 ice time because they'll get heavy minutes on special teams)

Let it go.

 

[NJDevs26]

You are right about Bahl. Look at what happened to Sharangovich. This could be the Toffoli trade all over again

Honestly if Calgary continues to develop our players better than us serious questions need to be asked about Fitz and his player development team.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

 

[Devs3cups]

Nemec will simply PK. He's not going to be on either PP unit (probably) so he'll have plenty of time.

He has PKed in the minors. He is a smart and mobile defenseman with enough size to be effective.

So we use,

New guy-Marino
Siegs-Nemec

if we want balanced pairs or if we want to overload one pair:

Siegs-Marino
New Guy-Nemec

There you go, f***ing problem solved.

For the 3 pairs:

Siegs-Hamilton (Known quality pair, bit of a roll of the dice given the injuries, but I don't expect them to have that much 5v5 ice time because they'll get heavy minutes on special teams)
Hughes-Marino (Marino covers for Luke, Luke makes Magic. This should be the workhorse 5on5 pair)
New guy-Nemec (Same as pairing 2, but New Guy is probably a defensive guy since he'll be a PKer, and hopefully can cover for Nemec's roaming)
Hatakka/Misyul/Casey/New 7D

Can't imagine saying "Nothing can possibly work!" when literally just getting a lefty who can PK solves all the issues in one go, lmao

I like these, but I sure hope Nemec gets power play time. I liked him on it last year. He will in the future though for sure, and he’s PK’d in the minors so you’re probably right. Wouldn’t be opposed to using 2 D-men on PP2 with Luke and Nemec.

 

[theoptimist]

Honestly if Calgary continues to develop our players better than us serious questions need to be asked about Fitz and his player development team.

Could be a compound effect. So, I think it might be hard to isolate. Mercer is non top 5 draft pick we've developed but the other cast were just good to begin with. Of course, there's Bratt.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Nemec as a primary PKer is not a good solution right now. And there would absolutely nothing behind him should he falter.

We didn't acquire anything last year.... unless you mean Miller who doesn't kill penalties and averaged 15:55. I suppose that's depth...but is depth with little utility really depth?

Mentioning Misyul as a depth is a stretch....the guy has played 44 games in North America and he's on our depth chart? Maybe he's capable of making an appearance like Hatakka did but this isn't real depth... that's more of a "Oh shit" plan if you ever "have to" usr those players...as opposed to bringing them up leisurely.

Why not? He's a very good defenseman who has PKed in the minors and he's likely to be our 4th guy. That's totally fine by any reasonable standard.

We acquired depth. You want depth. Maybe the depth could have been better, but I just pointed out we acquired a guy. Just like we will this year. Maybe wait to see him before you bitch.

He's played over 220 games in the (in some order) 2nd and 3rd best leagues in the world and he's about to turn 24. I'm not exactly incredibly concerned he's going to be 8th or 9th on the depth chart, lol. When multiple defenseman go down, you play suboptimal guys. That's the cap world, look at any other team in the NHL!

 

[Bcap88]

Honestly if Calgary continues to develop our players better than us serious questions need to be asked about Fitz and his player development team.

You have to weigh different situations.

New Jersey is pretty compact in the top 6 and power play.

Calgary not so much.

I thinks it’s a feasible thought that sharangovich would never have developed because he wasn’t going to out play some of the forwards

 

[Forge]

Interesting that on the athletic they said that they would prefer holtz + second round pick over Bahl + protected first for Calgary

 

[Triumph]

Depth outside the NHL generally matters considerably less than depth in the NHL because it is way more important that your 3rd and 4th D can theoretically play top pair minutes if your top pair guys get hurt than that you have a decent 8th or 9th option. Yeah, your 8th and 9th D will get minutes, but if your top guys can also handle more minutes, those players getting 10-12 minutes a game against the softest competition will not kill you. The Devils had lots of teams with incredible depth but they also had lots of great teams with no depth outside the NHL.