General Discussion (Team/Player/Trade Rumors/Speculation/News), Part II

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Zajac is so damn lazy.

thats one of the most baseless things said on this board.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

It's easier to waive poor performing players closer to the minimum as opposed to jettisoning a player with an albatross contract.

what has his contract hindered the team doing?

 

[Jersey Fresh]

All of this discussion is moot with that egghead behind the bench.

KaossKing's line combination above is exactly what we should be seeing, which is also exactly why we won't.

 

[Tundra]

Travis would shoot. Travis just can't be the primary playmaker on a line. Travis would get into position, Jagr would make a nice pass and Travis would shoot. I can show you countless examples of Travis burying great passes by guys who take advantage of Travis's perfect positioning.

Seriously, I think Travis is too smart and disciplined for his own good sometimes. He isn't going to change, so take advantage of it. We might see more of this:



Any time Trav saw an opening he shot it.

Now look at that goal. Who made it possible? Parise. But Travis was bold enough back then to rush up the right side. When he's not the primary puck carrier he plays a lot better. Jagr could be that guy for him. I think Jagr could be a poor man's Zach for Travis.

Zach was technically the center on that line distributing the puck. Travis is definitely an oddball player in that he's not really a traditional center offensively speaking.

 

[glenwo2]

Funny how much blame Zajac gets while our best center Andrei Loktionov with his awesome playmaking ability (1 assist) and solid defense (-3) hasn't been mentioned.

Well if Loki was paid the same amount that Travis is, I'd be bashing him just as much.....

So what you're saying is since they don't make a lot of money, they're allowed to be detrimental to the team?

I'll see myself out.

No, don't leave. We still haven't argued enough about Travis making ENORMOUS amounts of coin for doing nothing yet...

 

[ThePSEGPowerPoster]

what has his contract hindered the team doing?

We have no idea what Travis's contract prevented us from doing. Considering Lou was running up against the cap, we have no idea if he had any guys in mind he couldn't sign.

Any way you slice it Travis's contract, should he continue playing as such offensively, is a bad contract. Whether it's a burden on the Devils is something we won't know until Lou says publicly that he's trying to do something but he can't do it.

Semantics aside, it's just a bad contract right now.

Here's to hoping Travis produces offensively and we never have to hear the words "Travis" and "bad contract" in the same sentence.

 

[ThePSEGPowerPoster]

More reason to split up Elias and Jagr

"“Most of the time, me and Patrik play the same spot, so one of us has to be somewhere else,” Jagr said. “I think we should shoot it more. The problem is when we’re shooting we don’t get the rebounds. We’ve got to go for the rebounds. When we are always trying to make plays and we’re not in front of the net, it’s tough to shoot. We should simplify things.”

Jagr said both he and Elias “feel more comfortable” on the right half boards. With Jagr there, Elias has been playing on the goal line to the right of the net instead.

“I don’t know if we got set up that much to be in those spots yet,” Elias pointed out. “Most of the time during the game, I’m on the goal line now, so it’s a little bit different, but it’s fine.”

- See more at: http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/comments/devils_head_back_to_canada_still_looking_for_first_win_of_season_power_play_looking_for_more_shots/#sthash.2AN8psej.dpuf"

 

[Traitor Zach]

There's no justification for keeping Gionta. He's been atrociously bad since the middle of last season. He had a nice run here, but you need to accept the magic has disappeared and the chemistry he, Bernier, and Carter had. Bernier really was the only one who produced at a high level with any sort of consistency last year. Would not surprise me if none of the three were here next year.

4th Lines are meant to be recycled and recreated year in year out and on the fly if need be. It's by nature. They are an energy and change of pace line.

Zajac's production was always going to drop once Parise left. We just have to accept it as a bit more of a norm now. But, he's still an incredibly valuable player and people bashing him are just shortchanging what he does out there on the ice.

Already am concerned by Clowe with being injured, moreso because we have 4 more years of him after this. He looked like he was skating with cement blocks on the first few games. Brunner and Ryder are going to have to play key roles at forward and score with some regularity.

Overall, I think we have a solid but not spectacular group of forwards. It's got some age for sure, it does have talent, but it is lacking in a few areas where you need that speed/skill combo to be present.

The defense thus far has been atrocious. Salvador and Volchenkov are playing far too much and well are actually not good at all. Zidlicky is tolerable, but his gaffes will cost us a few games for sure. He should not be brought back however after this season and if we're out of it, should be dealt off for picks at the deadline. Larsson right now is bamboozling with what appears to be a failure to develop and be more aggressive and the non-stop benching of Fayne is making me furious. No chance Fayne stays here now next year, none whatsoever.

As for the coaching, I'm fine with firing them all if they don't win a game this week. As for Lou, he might need to consider taking a ride into the sunset if we miss the playoffs for the third time here in the last four seasons.

 

[glenwo2]

Zajac's production was always going to drop once Parise left. We just have to accept it as a bit more of a norm now. But, he's still an incredibly valuable player and people bashing him are just shortchanging what he does out there on the ice.

People are bashing him because he's not doing what he's being PAID to do : Contribute Offensively.

The only "shortchanging" being done here is by Travis on the ice and that needs to change ASAP.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Henrique being in the same boat as Travis.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

offense isn't any of my concern right now, quite honestly.

 

[yakitate304]

There's no justification for keeping Gionta. He's been atrociously bad since the middle of last season. He had a nice run here, but you need to accept the magic has disappeared and the chemistry he, Bernier, and Carter had. Bernier really was the only one who produced at a high level with any sort of consistency last year. Would not surprise me if none of the three were here next year.

4th Lines are meant to be recycled and recreated year in year out and on the fly if need be. It's by nature. They are an energy and change of pace line.

Zajac's production was always going to drop once Parise left. We just have to accept it as a bit more of a norm now. But, he's still an incredibly valuable player and people bashing him are just shortchanging what he does out there on the ice.

Already am concerned by Clowe with being injured, moreso because we have 4 more years of him after this. He looked like he was skating with cement blocks on the first few games. Brunner and Ryder are going to have to play key roles at forward and score with some regularity.

Overall, I think we have a solid but not spectacular group of forwards. It's got some age for sure, it does have talent, but it is lacking in a few areas where you need that speed/skill combo to be present.

The defense thus far has been atrocious. Salvador and Volchenkov are playing far too much and well are actually not good at all. Zidlicky is tolerable, but his gaffes will cost us a few games for sure. He should not be brought back however after this season and if we're out of it, should be dealt off for picks at the deadline. Larsson right now is bamboozling with what appears to be a failure to develop and be more aggressive and the non-stop benching of Fayne is making me furious. No chance Fayne stays here now next year, none whatsoever.

As for the coaching, I'm fine with firing them all if they don't win a game this week. As for Lou, he might need to consider taking a ride into the sunset if we miss the playoffs for the third time here in the last four seasons.

Carter wasn't producing last season, but I still thought he was a very good bottom six forward for us. He shouldn't be getting regular 3rd line minutes, however, he's a high end 4th liner and a competent role player on the 3rd line. His PK ability, competence with the puck, center/wing versatility, physicality and willingness to drop the gloves make him more valuable than some might think.

 

[Wingman77]

Carter wasn't producing last season, but I still thought he was a very good bottom six forward for us. He shouldn't be getting regular 3rd line minutes, however, he's a high end 4th liner and a competent role player on the 3rd line. His PK ability, competence with the puck, center/wing versatility, physicality and willingness to drop the gloves make him more valuable than some might think.

He had the best offensive season of his career last season

 

[glenwo2]

offense isn't any of my concern right now, quite honestly.

No you're right.

The devils thankfully have BRUNNER and RYDER to chip in along with Elias, Jagr, and Zubie to make up for Travis's offensive shortcomings thus far.

But this team can be so much better if Zajac was putting the puck in the net(awful defense, notwithstanding....thanks, Pete).

 

[AfroThunder396]

People are bashing him because he's not doing what he's being PAID to do : Contribute Offensively.

The only "shortchanging" being done here is by Travis on the ice and that needs to change ASAP.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Henrique being in the same boat as Travis.

Zajac is paid equally as much for his offense as he is for his Selke-caliber defensive play.

 

[glenwo2]

Zajac is paid equally as much for his offense as he is for his Selke-caliber defensive play.

Except that instead of being a Two-Way player, he's currently playing One-way and that's Defensively which is fine and all.....BUT if he actually contributed on the offensive end more often than not(which the "not" is more often), the team would be in a much better position.

And he's being paid to contribute offensively which he's not doing right now. He's basically stealing(in a figurative sense) half the money he's making right now... I really hope he can get it together, though. This team needs him at BOTH ends.

 

[Tundra]

Zajac is paid equally as much for his offense as he is for his Selke-caliber defensive play.

The problem being that he shouldn't being paid like David Backes and Patrice Bergeron if he's going to be an offensive blackhole. Those two are a tier or two above Travis offensively, while providing top notch defense.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Has a team ever made the playoffs after nor winning their first 6 games?

 

[aboriginal]

thats one of the most baseless things said on this board.

come on now, weve all seen the "everything on the internet is true" commercial.

bonjour *****

 

[hockeyr5]

I really thought Zajac was good enough to produce without Zach but at this point I think it is evident that he isn't.

Good thing we let Brunner tryout though, eh.

 

[MartysBetterThanYou]

If Travis is better at taking advantage of opportunities than creating them, what if we converted him to a wing?

 

[Khione]

you kehn!

Nice one!

 

[Khione]

Tomas Hertl is going to break Teemu Selanne's rookie goal record. On pace for 96 goals. WOW

Is this guy for real? Calm down. Zajac need to score. Thats what people are saying.

 

[MadDevil]

If Travis is better at taking advantage of opportunities than creating them, what if we converted him to a wing?

He's the only center we have who is worth a damn on faceoffs, so I don't really see the point.

 

[Just Win]

If Travis is better at taking advantage of opportunities than creating them, what if we converted him to a wing?

Moving the only center that can win faceoffs on a constant basis sounds like a really smart plan.

 

[SeidoN]

take what you will from that