PTO: [NJD] G Michael Hutchinson, D Jakub Zboril, F Kevin Labanc, D Andy Welinski, 15 others invited to Devils camp

[BKarchitect]

He’s half Slovakian? Never knew that. Huh.

 

[Blackjack]

Kelvin?

Llabanc

 

[TBF1972]

Llabanc

half slovakian, half spaniard

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Jersey seems like an odd choice given their winger depth.

I get that they may have been the only team that offered him a PTO but I'm not seeing the upside for him.

 

[HBK27]

Jersey seems like an odd choice given their winger depth.

I get that they may have been the only team that offered him a PTO but I'm not seeing the upside for him.

Devils will have 2-3 games at the end of the pre-season schedule played purely by prospects, minor leaguers and guys on PTO's since they open the season in Prague.

The regular season opener is on Friday, October 4th. Devils have pre-season games that week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Depending on when the main squad takes off for Prague, there will be more opportunity than usual for guys like Lebanc to get a lot of playing time against probably close to opening night rosters on the other squads.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Remember the Devils are starting the season in Europe, their training camp and pre-season is going to be a little weird in terms of scheduling. They need some warm bodies to satisfy their veteran requirements to play in these games.

 

[banks]

I really believed in Labanc when he was getting 40-50 points. Was that a mirage, or did he fall off a cliff?

 

[MMC]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1835679072980009195

 

[oobga]

I really believed in Labanc when he was getting 40-50 points. Was that a mirage, or did he fall off a cliff?

I remember this guy doing that 1M 1 year deal, betting on himself (maybe helped out the team too), after he got 56 points. Pressure seems to have ruined him. Sharks still gave him a fat deal anyway and he just kept struggling.

Really strange career so far. Maybe a fresh start will help him get it together again.

 

[Brodeur]

I remember this guy doing that 1M 1 year deal, betting on himself (maybe helped out the team too), after he got 56 points. Pressure seems to have ruined him. Sharks still gave him a fat deal anyway and he just kept struggling.

As I understood it, Labanc wasn't so much betting on himself as it was a handshake deal to skirt the salary cap in Year 1. Instead of a 5 year deal for 19.9 million (3.98 mil cap hit), it was a 1 year deal x 1 million followed by a 4 year deal for 18.9 million (4.725 mil). Unfortunately for the Sharks, the cap went flat because of the pandemic and Labanc regressed.

I still chuckle that a few impatient Devils fans in the summer of 2019 were advocating an offer sheet on Labanc (and giving up an unprotected 1st). I guess they'll get the Labanc experience for a couple preseason games.

 

[Blackjack]

I still chuckle that a few impatient Devils fans in the summer of 2019 were advocating an offer sheet on Labanc (and giving up an unprotected 1st). I guess they'll get the Labanc experience for a couple preseason games.

No one was doing that, we were suggesting that NJ could offer sheet him at a far lower amount and SJ would struggle to match based on their cap at the time. Exactly what St. Louis just did to Edmonton.

That was before the wink-wink contract. It pissed me off that the hockey press didn’t call that out for what it was.

 

[Brodeur]

No one was doing that, we were suggesting that NJ could offer sheet him at a far lower amount and SJ would struggle to match based on their cap at the time. Exactly what St. Louis just did to Edmonton.

That was before the wink-wink contract. It pissed me off that the hockey press didn’t call that out for what it was.

Devils 2019 offseason team discussion (news and notes) XI

Paul castron. See my post from before about his picks in Columbus.

forums.hfboards.com

We had already given our 2020 2nd in the Subban trade, so that took out that bucket of hypothetical offer sheet.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Next time you think your prospect dominating juniors is going to translate to the NHL look up Kevin Labanc.

He looked promising stapled to 40 year old Joe Thornton for 1 year and then became a consistent healthy scratch on one of the worst teams in recent memory.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Devils will have 2-3 games at the end of the pre-season schedule played purely by prospects, minor leaguers and guys on PTO's since they open the season in Prague.

The regular season opener is on Friday, October 4th. Devils have pre-season games that week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Depending on when the main squad takes off for Prague, there will be more opportunity than usual for guys like Lebanc to get a lot of playing time against probably close to opening night rosters on the other squads.

Or he makes the trip to Europe as a healthy scratch in case an emergency injury situation occurs (haven't looked at the roster rules for these trips). If he signs with the Devils I can see him being another of the guys from the tri-state area in Utica along with Gambardella and some of the others.

 

[MMC]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1836446493374636278

Michael Hutchinson - (free agent)
Jakub Zboril - (free agent)
Kevin Labanc - (free agent)
Andy Welinski - (free agent)
Joe Gambardella - (signed with AHL Utica)
Jack Malone - (signed with AHL Utica)
Landon Sim - (free agent)
Xavier Parent - (signed with AHL Utica)
Jace Isley - (signed with AHL Utica)
Filip Engaras - (signed with AHL Utica)
Andre Ghantous - (signed with AHL Utica)
Kevin O'Neil - (signed with AHL Utica)
Tag Bertuzzi - (signed with AHL Utica)
Igor Mburanumwe - (free agent)
Will MacKinnon - (signed with AHL Utica)
Spencer Sova - (free agent)
Jackson van der Leest - (signed with AHL Utica)
Jeremy Brodeur - (signed with AHL Utica)
Zach Pelletier - (free agent)