GDT: Senators @ Devils - 1:00 P.M. - MSGSN, NHLN

[Bleedred]

Pathetic that in the tougher stretch (Tampa, Florida, Toronto) we walk away with 4 points.

Then the cream of the crap humpty loser team comes in, followed by the decent team but humpty loser goalie in net, and we get zero points in two games.

We’re doomed with these next 6 games if we’re gonna collect points at the rate we’ve collected them over humpty teams lately. I’d almost rather play the good teams.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Pathetic that in the tougher stretch (Tampa, Florida, Toronto) we walk away with 4 points.

Then the cream of the crap humpty loser team comes in, followed by the decent team but humpty loser goalie in net, and we get zero points in two games.

We’re doomed with these next 6 games if we’re gonna collect points at the rate we’ve collected them over humpty teams lately. I’d almost rather play the good teams.

its why strength of schedule in hockey is meaningless. there are way too many variables.

 

[devilsblood]

In totality, no. The defense has improved tremendously under him, the top 6 has gotten better than what it was under Shero but the bottom 6 has gotten worse every year under Fitz. I also don't like how he swings the complete opposite one way after a bad year or bad stretch. Fitz has done a good job overall but there's some warts. And I constantly have to repeat myself with Boqvist, the point I make him about him is that they had no reason not to bring him back at the price unless Boqvist himself said he wanted out. They're paying a dude who goes out every 5th game, does nothing and plays 5 mins a game which is a strain on our forwards nightly at 1M for 3 years, there's no reason that can't be a player of Boqvist's ilk or Boqvist himself. It seems him/management want to go more physical/slower in the bottom 6 which is a shame because 22/23 blueprint was right there to copy for years.

Boq making $775K this season.

And granted, without looking, I'm sure the goal scoring this year is on the back of a sky high shooting percentage, but he does create chances and score goals thanks to having good skating.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Yeah, looking at games is the worst thing in hockey quite honestly. It's the most random sport besides baseball, in my opinion. This team also plays better v better teams, it might just be a core thing at this point even though I gave Lindy a ton of shit for it the past few years

Boq making $775K this season.

And granted, without looking, I'm sure the goal scoring this year is on the back of a sky high shooting percentage, but he does create chances and score goals thanks to having good skating.

The goal scoring is gravy for a guy like Boqvist. He's gonna score as a depth piece which is all this team needed. Again, I don't have an issue that the Devils walked even though he's a good player but not replacing him with someone similar in play style is the issue.

 

[Bleedred]

I’m really at the point where I just can’t stand Mercer anymore.

Maybe the one guy you should be able to expect any real production out of in the bottom 6 and he’s giving us very little. And I was defending him for playing with a bunch of guys who were next to pointless about 10 games ago, but f*** that anymore.

You can pretty much pencil him in as part of a deal going the other way for someone like JT Miller.

Regarding JT Miller, I don’t think we’re actually in on him and I’ve never even heard of that guy tweeting that we are. Maybe he is a prominent writer out of Vancouver, I’m just saying I’ve never heard of him. And I don’t want JT Miller.

But anyone we’re kicking tires on of that stature will almost assuredly send Mercer the other way IMO.

 

[Bleedred]

@ZachaFlockaFlame

You’ve been saying for over a year now that Fitz overcorrected after losing to Carolina in the playoffs and I have to say that I definitely think that’s turning out to be right. I’d definitely be inclined to agree now, not that I ever disagreed.

It’s sad how bad things are getting when we haven’t had a single injury to anyone that really matters. Haula was on like a 22 game pointless drought at the time he left the lineup.

22 games isn’t enough of a sample size yet to declare that he’s no better than Justin Dowling by any means, but he wasn’t contributing much of anything before he left the lineup. Even his PIMs were down considerably.

 

[Devs3cups]

It’s sad how bad things are getting when we haven’t had a single injury to anyone that really matters. Haula was on like a 22 game pointless drought at the time he left the lineup.

22 games isn’t enough of a sample size yet to declare that he’s no better than Justin Dowling by any means, but he wasn’t contributing much of anything before he left the lineup. Even his PIMs were down considerably.

Haula was injured for a while before being taken out of the lineup. He might be cooked, but I’d wait to see him healthy before making any judgements on that.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

@ZachaFlockaFlame

You’ve been saying for over a year now that Fitz overcorrected after losing to Carolina in the playoffs and I have to say that I definitely think that’s turning out to be right. I’d definitely be inclined to agree now, not that I ever disagreed.

It’s sad how bad things are getting when we haven’t had a single injury to anyone that really matters. Haula was on like a 22 game pointless drought at the time he left the lineup.

22 games isn’t enough of a sample size yet to declare that he’s no better than Justin Dowling by any means, but he wasn’t contributing much of anything before he left the lineup. Even his PIMs were down considerably.

Some of the stuff in the bottom 6 has been injuries but I think that's just his GM nature to be honest. I wouldn't be surprised if it tilts the other way after this year, it's a blessing and a curse for Fitz to be proactive as he is but it's an issue when the team was probably set in 2023 besides in net. If there's one move they probably highly regret is keeping Dawson Mercer instead of shipping him off to Winnipeg for Hellebuyck in a trade. You make the Timo and Toffoli trades + Fitz kept the players in the bottom 6 and they're probably looking in great shape. I still think they'll be ok but I'm not sure how they'll address this summer.

 

[devilsblood]

The goal scoring is gravy for a guy like Boqvist. He's gonna score as a depth piece which is all this team needed. Again, I don't have an issue that the Devils walked even though he's a good player but not replacing him with someone similar in play style is the issue.

I feel the goal scoring is essential. Otherwise we wouldn't be talking about him. And sure enough he is shooting 20% this season 5v5. He's had a 15% season before, and he has been in the double digits every year of his career, but still 20% is a heater.

Interestingly Boq has become more physical since leaving NJ. His last year in NJ he averaged 3.88 hits/60. Last year he was at 8.38. This year he is at 11.4

I bet if he was playing a similar style his last year in NJ they wouldn't have let him walk.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I feel the goal scoring is essential. Otherwise we wouldn't be talking about him. And sure enough he is shooting 20% this season 5v5. He's had a 15% season before, and he has been double digits every year of his career, but still 20% is a heater.

Interestingly Boq has become more physical since leaving NJ. His last year in NJ he averaged 3.88 hits/60. Last year he was at 8.38. This year he is at 11.4

I bet if he was playing a similar style his last year in NJ they wouldn't have let him walk.

I meant it more in the sense that he's doing stuff away from the puck now that makes him a good player regardless if he's on the scoresheet. He's done well in getting better after leaving NJ, full marks to him. The Devils probably want a mulligan on him but it is what it is. They could've signed guys like Danton Heinen after his stint in Pittsburgh in 2023 or after he left Boston last year. Losing Boqvist was dumb, losing Boqvist and replacing him with slow bums/hasbeens is what has led to this situation in the bottom 6. Also Zetterlund's loss will be a massive loss for a while until they replace him properly via the draft or trade or if they get very lucky via free agency

 

[NjDevsRR]

Defense structure is still there

The forward group simply needs a shot in the arm and play with pace again. Once that happens, things will stabilize. No team is winning when their top 4 forwards go cold for weeks.


Oh, and I am once again asking for a 3C

And again, Boq was a perfect depth player for this team. Played with pace, was smart, great skater, and chipped in some offense occasionally. Also league minimum. Zero reason not to retain him. It can’t be argued

 

[guitarguyvic]

Oh stop. Half this board wanted them all jettisoned to the moon at some point, and now suddenly they were so important?

People wanted Zetterlund gone? That's news to me.

I don't recall people really wanting to get rid of Boq, more like they were indifferent about him.

What people didn't want was to trade Mercer. Myself included. We were wrong, flat out. Hindsight is obvious of course, but doesn't change that we were in fact wrong and it should have been Dawson going instead of Zetterlund.

 

[JimEIV]

People wanted Zetterlund gone? That's news to me.

What people didn't want was to trade Mercer. Myself included. We were wrong, flat out. Hindsight is obvious of course, but doesn't change that we were in fact wrong.

In hindsight we were wrong?

That's nutty. Mercer is 10x the player Zetterlund is.

Zetterlund is playing a 1st line role and has 1 goal in his last 14...get out of here with that bullshit

Edit: I suppose absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Zetterlund is playing a 1st line role.

Zetterlund doesn't kill penalties at all. Dawson is our #2 forward PKer 1:56 only seconds average behind Nico 2:05.

Zetterlund is San Jose's #3 forward in power play ATOI 1:59 - Dawson is our #6 for New Jersey 1:17

And that gets Zetterlund 2 more goals and 7 more points this season than Dawson who's predominantly in a 3rd line PK role playing with absolute shit players .who couldn't score in a whorehouse with a fist full of hundreds.

 

[MadDevil]

People wanted Zetterlund gone? That's news to me.

I don't recall people really wanting to get rid of Boq, more like they were indifferent about him.

What people didn't want was to trade Mercer. Myself included. We were wrong, flat out. Hindsight is obvious of course, but doesn't change that we were in fact wrong and it should have been Dawson going instead of Zetterlund.

Zetterlund had 1 goal in his last like 25 games with us and I remember people saying maybe he wasn't very good. Of those guys he's actually the one I miss the most, but you move that type of player for a Timo Meier without hesitation. And oh, he's also in the midst of a 1 goal in 14 games stretch with San Jose, which I'm sure if he was still with us we'd all be perfectly calm and rational about, right?

Sharangovich had frustrating cold streaks that people suddenly develop amnesia about when talking about trading him being a mistake. By the way, the guy we traded him for scored more goals than Sharangovich last year.

Yes, it would be nice to have those guys right now, but moving them made sense at the time and there's no point in crying about spilled milk. If you want to get on Fitz for not properly replacing those players, that's fair.

 

[JimEIV]

Sharangovich was purely a bad move and many here said exactly that the day the deal was done without the benefit of hindsight.

It never made sense bringing in Cecil Turtle to this team regardless of the assets we gave up.

 

[devilsblood]

I meant it more in the sense that he's doing stuff away from the puck now that makes him a good player regardless if he's on the scoresheet. He's done well in getting better after leaving NJ, full marks to him. The Devils probably want a mulligan on him but it is what it is. They could've signed guys like Danton Heinen after his stint in Pittsburgh in 2023 or after he left Boston last year. Losing Boqvist was dumb, losing Boqvist and replacing him with slow bums/hasbeens is what has led to this situation in the bottom 6. Also Zetterlund's loss will be a massive loss for a while until they replace him properly via the draft or trade or if they get very lucky via free agency

Our bottom 6 currently includes Cotter and Mercer. Both of whom have similar stat lines to Boq.

We also have to consider that McLeod was coming off a big playoffs when we let Boq go. Should Fitz have factored in that McLeod was potentially going to be kicked out the league? That seems like the real critique.

But Lazar is the Boq replacement, and I think he's fine as such, but he's missed games. I actually think Bastian is fine as a 4th line winger, but he too has missed games. As has Haula. Of course the injuries, and the McLeod situation does speak to having quality depth players around, but again Boq's game does seem to have become more physical since he left, and if he displayed that physicality when he was here, he may not have been let go.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Sharangovich is a liability at this point for Calgary so that trade is not a loss

 

[MadDevil]

Sharangovich was purely a bad move and many here said exactly that the day the deal was done without the benefit of hindsight.

It never made sense bringing in Cecil Turtle to this team regardless of the assets we gave up.

I'm gonna call bullshit on this.

In fact, your quote from the Toffoli trade thread...

"The only good thing that came out of Shero is that he brought Fitzgerald with him...Fitz is awesome."

 

[JimEIV]

I'm gonna call bullshit on this.

I'm not going to search for what I said back then, it's too cumbersome. I was commenting on his fit and slow footedness from day one and others were also but you believe whatever you want.

Edit:
Wait, is the search feature gone? I'm not seeing it?

 

[jkrdevil]

People are mad at the Boqvist stuff because he was let go over a player where it was entirely foreseeable wasn’t going to be here for much longer off ice reasons.

Edit (adding to post): Center depth is really critical to the team. If you look at last year despite all the other problems they were still hanging around until the McLeod arrest. This year injuries hit Lazar (who I don’t think is back healthy) and now Haula and suddenly the offense has dried up. Contributions from the depth go a long way.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

People are mad at the Boqvist stuff because he was let go over a player where it was entirely foreseeable wasn’t going to be here for much longer off ice reasons.

That + there was no risk of keeping Boqvist. They panicked after the Canes series getting pushed around and didn't realize the actual issue was the defensemen not being able to break back out effectively or the goalies being mediocre. Management, including some of us, got baited by Schmid's heroics v NYR as opposed to getting better in net until a year later.

I'd do the Timo trade still but Zetterlund was a piece I wish we didn't have to add, it hurts more again because like the Boqvist move Fitz didn't get better in the bottom 6.

Anyone who complaining about Shara is out to lunch lol

 

[JimEIV]

Anyone who complaining about Shara is out to lunch lol

I'm thinking the same about the poor man's Jacob Josefson.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Sharangovich was purely a bad move and many here said exactly that the day the deal was done without the benefit of hindsight.

It never made sense bringing in Cecil Turtle to this team regardless of the assets we gave up.

No, Toffoli was a perfect add. When you bring bums like Tomas Nosek + etc to make the entire team slow then yeah Toffoli is gonna stand out more. Toffoli, funny enough, would be a good add to this team. It's maddening how many players we have too early as opposed to when our roster is good. Hall, Schneider, Toffoli, lol