Kovalchuk, Parise, Elias, Henrique...far from an average roster.
If the rumor is true with him and developing young players, then I don't want him near this team.
Reid Boucher, Jon Merill, Mattias Tedenby, Adam Henrique, Adam Larsson all have played a fair amount of games for the Devils over past 2 seasons while DeBoer has been their coach. I don't think he's a bad coach for development as long as the players are cut out to succeed. Their defence has always been supreme with the trap system and it requires vets to play that style. Lucky for them they had players more competent than Larsson to fill in the roles and thus his playing time fluttered. NJ doesn't really have the luxury of having many offensively gifted speedy d-men who can lead the offence. DeBoer catered his playing style to fit his roster.
I know Phaneuf isn't the smartest cookie in the jar but if we played a trap style of hockey he'd look much better out there. Phaneuf can be a premier shutdown guy if that is all he focused on. I think if we can keep Gunnar, Phaneuf, Rielly, Gardiner, Granberg/ Gleason, Ranger etc, under an organized hybrid trap system we can have 3 solid pairings where we can trap on D but turn it right back around with our dynamic skating defensemen (easier said than done).
Phaneuf - Granberg (pure shutdown)
Rielly - Gunnarsson (OFD - TWD)
Gardiner - Ranger (OFD - OFD/TWD) I guess Gleason would better suit the role as he can be a true stay at home d-man that can let Gards venture on Offence at will.
Playing a highly organized defensive system though, we need to have dedicated forwards (which as we saw this year...we don't really have). We need more two way high energy guys who can play a dump and chase game. Thankfully we have a boat load of prospects in the minors who fit the playing style (thanks to Spott) that can slot in.
Forwards:
Kessel - TWC (ROR?) - JVR - Top scoring line with two game breaking wingers and a highly responsible defence first center. Bozak fits the bill but if we can upgrade on him to even a player like ROR, it would help tremendously.
Holland - Kadri - Lupul - This would be the key forward line. If they put in 100% effort every shift, they are clutch enough to capitalize on their chances and not be defensive liabilities.
Clarkson - Bozak - Ashton - This would be our shutdown line. Holland and Ashton can be interchanged. Ashton is one of the best two way forward prospects we have in the system (I'd say him and D'Amigo are neck to neck) and he's strong, big and fast. Bozak can focus on shadowing players and he can be a shooter on this line (doesn't have to worry about feeding Kessel anymore)
D'Amigo - Carrick - Broll - The marlies kids who I've personally been thoroughly impressed with (other then Leivo, Abbot and McKegg). We're not going to be a run and gun team and so team speed won't be a big point of focus. Broll and d'Amigo are fast as hell though and Carrick is adequate but their hockey IQ, hustle and will to win is phenomenal.
Overall, the line up would look a lot different than it did this last game of the season but we'd infuse a ton of youth and energy and homegrown talent on to the roster. These kids all have something to prove and they have a solid pedigree in the AHL and juniors of delivering as the go-to guys on their teams. They all have a ton of pride and come from a winning tradition in the AHL. Much like the boost the Wings got and Lightning got thanks to their minor league kids delivering, we have potential to do the same. Worse case scenario Holland, Ashton don't put up flashy numbers, they are still very reliable defensively and extremely versatile. Our offence still runs primarily through the likes of Kessel, JVR, 1st line center, Kadri, Lupul, Bozak, Gards, Rielly, Phaneuf.
We are just adding a shot of youth into positions where they can play without much pressure and succeed. Plus we still have the likes of Leivo, Brown, this years pick, Gauthier, Finn, Percy coming up through the system. We need to take risks, we can't keep playing it safe and overpaying for current players and UFAs, at some point we have to look in our own backyard.
