GDT: Spidey Says, "Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack Mr. Ducksworth!" Devils @ Ducks, 9 PM, MSG+

[JimEIV]

Not yet. I think we are a big FA signing (one of Tavares/JVR/Carlson) and a trade for a top 4 LHD away from truly competing. I mean we're already giving elite teams fits, consistency will theoretically be less of an issue as the young players get more experience.

That's a tall order. I mean success typically comes when draft the top line forwards and top 4 Defensemen...thens sign and trade for supplemental pieces. Trying to sign or trade for Key pieces is tough.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Back to back vs a rested team is a steep challenge

 

[JimEIV]

You have to also keep in mind the Devils seem to be slowly getting to the point where they could be able to cash out NHL players for assets and keep chugging along.

Devils when healthy have 5 forward lines that could all be decent third lines. We might even trade a guy like Coleman in the off-season and hang onto a Gibbons. Or trade Boyle with the way Coleman/Gibbons/Noesen have broken out this year.

Kinkaid might have also played himself into a trade chip like Darling, Raanta, Kuemper, and Talbot did before him.

Not really. Guys like Stafford, Hayes, Grabner, Maroon, Moore will highly likely be gone next year and there is very little to replace them internally.
Johansson injury can be a lingering one also. That's a lot of replacing to potentially do.

Similarly there is nothing dependable behind Kinkaid on the depth chart either. Hell, we don't even have a dependable starter at this point in time.

I say we are much more likely to face shortages next season than 5 line surpluses.

 

[My3Sons]

Honest question, you think our prospect pool is in great shape? Cause I don't, not even a little. In fact, I am worried about it.

There is not a single draft pick in the pipe that can make an NHL jump other than Quenneville. The development of both Zacha and Mcleod concern me. I think our goaltending prospects are an issue as well. There is not a single legit defensive prospect in the system that is less than two or 3 years away. Guys like Boqvist, Studenic, or Zetterlund have long way to go...and can go either way.

I don’t disagree with you that their are major question marks about the prospect pool but there are also players to be encouraged about. It’s not like McLeod is trending away from playing in the NHL even if his hockey sense and shot leave a lot to be desired. He may never be the player NJ thought they were drafting but he’s a pretty safe bet to at least make the jump to a bottom six center in the next couple of years. At least the prospects have some skill and it’s more a function of which ones can apply that skill in the NHL. NJ isn’t that far from having scrubs and thugs as its prospects so the turnaround has been significant. I’m not sure that second and third round picks produce a great number of blue chip prospects. I get the volume argument and there is truth to it but other than the Mueller trade which seemed a reach at the time to a number of posters I don’t recall people suggesting the picks for MarJo or the extra pick for Vats were bad decisions. I’d have preferred to get Grabner without throwing in Rykov but I trust the pro scouts and Shero to have done their due diligence with him. The pathetic end of the Lou era has put some pressure on the franchise to return to respectability. If the price for that is a second and a third in rentals it’s not the end of the world.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Not really. Guys like Stafford, Hayes, Grabner, Maroon, Moore will highly likely be gone next year and there is very little to replace them internally.
Johansson injury can be a lingering one also. That's a lot of replacing to potentially do.

Similarly there is nothing dependable behind Kinkaid on the depth chart either. Hell, we don't even have a dependable starter at this point in time.

I say we are much more likely to face shortages next season than 5 line surpluses.

I’d like to give 3 year contracts to Maroon and Grabner if they want to stay. Those are good depth players to have and would give us more time to draft and develop players.

 

[Sir Fenwick Corsi]

I expect a monster game from Cory tonight. I’d like to think the extra practice time and push that Kinkaid is making will bring out the best in him. Hoping at least.

 

[HenriquesJawLine]

I’d like to give 3 year contracts to Maroon and Grabner if they want to stay. Those are good depth players to have and would give us more time to draft and develop players.

I thought the same about Maroon but then figured if we are willing to go to 3 years for Maroon then why not go 5 or 6 for JVR instead.

 

[RememberTheName]

Not sure anyone realized this but today is Cory's b-day. Maybe he's feeling good today and has even more motivation than before to do well

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Good luck tonight, excited to see vatanen back in town(and palmeiri, noessen lovejoy, not maroon tho). Sucks both team needs the points cause I hope both teams make it to the playoffs this year. Hopefully hall/hisch don't light us up, their speed should give us trouble Id think.

As for our defense bieska is out, so youll likely see Holzer or Pettersson.

 

[JimEIV]

If I ever persue a career as clown and I've thought about it once or twice, I am going to use the name GetzLafs. GetzLafs the Ghetto clown. He would definitely be bald too.

One has to have dreams you know

 

[Maine Fan]

Not sure anyone realized this but today is Cory's b-day. Maybe he's feeling good today and has even more motivation than before to do well

I certainly hope so if he starts.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Your argument conveniently involves goals, which is a pretty stupid comparison between a forward and a defenseman.

He's not good admitting when he's wrong, thus the tweezer required cherry-picking. He'll go down with the ship on this one, all while saluting from the deck. Anytime you have a Dman equaling a forward in point production, the Dman wins. Period.

But when that same Dman also leads all players in ice time, and plays on the PP, and plays on the PK, well.....

So yes, anyone who thinks the Devils haven't received the better of the Henrique/Vatanen trade thus far is delusional. There's no explanation other than willful denial.

 

[JimEIV]

I don’t disagree with you that their are major question marks about the prospect pool but there are also players to be encouraged about. It’s not like McLeod is trending away from playing in the NHL even if his hockey sense and shot leave a lot to be desired. He may never be the player NJ thought they were drafting but he’s a pretty safe bet to at least make the jump to a bottom six center in the next couple of years. At least the prospects have some skill and it’s more a function of which ones can apply that skill in the NHL. NJ isn’t that far from having scrubs and thugs as its prospects so the turnaround has been significant. I’m not sure that second and third round picks produce a great number of blue chip prospects. I get the volume argument and there is truth to it but other than the Mueller trade which seemed a reach at the time to a number of posters I don’t recall people suggesting the picks for MarJo or the extra pick for Vats were bad decisions. I’d have preferred to get Grabner without throwing in Rykov but I trust the pro scouts and Shero to have done their due diligence with him. The pathetic end of the Lou era has put some pressure on the franchise to return to respectability. If the price for that is a second and a third in rentals it’s not the end of the world.

Why even go there when this is demonstrably false?

Lou left this team cleaned of veterans, a tremndous amount of cap space, a bunch of picks traded for Zidlicky and Jagr as well a lot of very good group prospects.

I find it funny that 4 or 5 years ago many considered our prospect pool the worst in the league and now we celebrate those very players who were a part of that group in Coleman, Wood, Santini, Severson, Quenneville as a part of something special happening here.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Lou left the team in the worst shape in the NHL.

 

[My3Sons]

Why even go there when this is demonstrably false?

Lou left this team cleaned of veterans, a tremndous amount of cap space, a bunch of picks traded for Zidlicky and Jagr as well a lot of very good group prospects.

I find it funny that 4 or 5 years ago many considered our prospect pool the worst in the league and now we celebrate those very players who were a part of that group in Coleman, Wood, Santini, Severson, Quenneville as a part of something special happening here.

I wasn’t talking about prospects under Lou. I was taking about missed playoff seasons. Having said that, I’m thinking NJ missed out on a top pick or two with the Matteau scenario and the desperate need to try to contend those last few years. It’s hard to respond to phrases like demonstrably false when discussing opinions. There’s room to disagree without being rude to each other.

 

[PWiz30]

Still no word on Cory or Keith tonight?

On a semi-related note, if you search Keith Kinkaid on Twitter right now and look at the latest tweets, it's filled with people apologizing for saying mean things and asking him to unblock them.

 

[JimEIV]

He's not good admitting when he's wrong, thus the tweezer required cherry-picking. He'll go down with the ship on this one, all while saluting from the deck. Anytime you have a Dman equaling a forward in point production, the Dman wins. Period.

But when that same Dman also leads all players in ice time, and plays on the PP, and plays on the PK, well.....

So yes, anyone who thinks the Devils haven't received the better of the Henrique/Vatanen trade thus far is delusional. There's no explanation other than willful denial.

We should trade Nico for Gostisbehere lots more points bro.

 

[glenwo2]

The worst case scenario is he craps the bed early and doesn't get a chance to see it through and come out the other side and then Kinkaid goes in after a LOT of work yesterday and also craps his bed leaving both shaken for SJ.

The more likely scenario Cory gives up an early one and we play behind by 1 goal all game and don't manage to get a win AGAIN losing 3-2.

My best case scenario tempered with the team's attitude right now is Cory closes the door and we win 3-1 with an ENG and Hall opens the scoring to begin his next 20 game hot streak and Cory starts his resurgence.

In other words, it's CRUCIAL that the Devils score FIRST tonight.

 

[glenwo2]

Can't argue with the results, though.

 

[hayen]

i wish Cory's numbers were more convincing but we need him to be ready and to perform if the devils are going to have a chance so he needs to get back in. We see this all the time with successful teams in the stretch. Lean on the hot guy but support is key. When one goes cold you need the other and back again. Fleury and Murray are an example among a history of others.
Cory Schneider stopped 21 of 24 shots in the win and is 6-4-1 with a .905 SV% and 2.46 GAA in his career against the Ducks.

 

[Blender]

Lou left the team in the worst shape in the NHL.

Yup, if not the worst pretty close to it. He left the organization when we had one of the worst prospect pools in the league, one of the worst rosters in the league, little in the way of value within the organization, and a few years of complete failure behind us. About the only thing positive he left was a lot of cap space and the fact that he hadn't traded all of our picks away.

 

[JimEIV]

i wish Cory's numbers were more convincing but we need him to be ready and to perform if the devils are going to have a chance so he needs to get back in. We see this all the time with successful teams in the stretch. Lean on the hot guy but support is key. When one goes cold you need the other and back again. Fleury and Murray are an example among a history of others.
Cory Schneider stopped 21 of 24 shots in the win and is 6-4-1 with a .905 SV% and 2.46 GAA in his career against the Ducks.

McFluery got shipped out because he went cold and Murray was capable of doing the job saving Pittsburgh about 5million in cap space...you know what I am saying?

 

[glenwo2]

i wish Cory's numbers were more convincing but we need him to be ready and to perform if the devils are going to have a chance so he needs to get back in. We see this all the time with successful teams in the stretch. Lean on the hot guy but support is key. When one goes cold you need the other and back again. Fleury and Murray are an example among a history of others.
Cory Schneider stopped 21 of 24 shots in the win and is 6-4-1 with a .905 SV% and 2.46 GAA in his career against the Ducks.

Hence, why Cory needs to start tonight and not Keith.

 

[JimEIV]

Yup, if not the worst pretty close to it. He left the organization when we had one of the worst prospect pools in the league, one of the worst rosters in the league, little in the way of value within the organization, and a few years of complete failure behind us. About the only thing positive he left was a lot of cap space and the fact that he hadn't traded all of our picks away.

3 years after a final appearance...something about this narrative doesn't quite add up?

 

[hayen]

Hence, why Cory needs to start tonight and not Keith.

Tough call but my post is saying ultimately the same thing. We need him in whatever role. We need both.