What exactly is Lou's plan?

[Marshal Rochambeau]

Now that the team has nothing to play for they tank. They need to win 35 of next 50 to make the playoffs.

 

[Vic Hatfield]

When Scott Gomez is your best forward you know you have problems. His career has not been stellar in the last couple of years.

 

[HankNDank]

Or maybe it means those teams making it to the finals were flukes and in reality those rosters were deeply flawed.

Thanks for proving my point.

 

[Baemon Severson*]

Thanks for proving my point.

Too bad the Devils never got another shot with the 2012 roster

 

[Oneiro]

Devils are building from the net out. I don't think things are all that bleak (though there is cause for concern).

I believe Schneider is better than this.

I believe that we have a lot of talented young D learning to be reliable in their own end, with more on the way. Even the most irresponsible young guy, Gelinas, has made strides in cleaning up his game.

I also believe we have a lot of solid complementary middle 6 guys. Zajac, Elias, Cammalleri and Henrique are being asked to be number 1 options when, in reality, they should be the two-way depth on a contending team.

And, as much as DeBoer drives me crazy with some roster decisions and poor in-game adjustments, I still think he is a good possession coach when his team is healthy and responsible. Right now, he's saddled with a ton of injury-prone players and a ton of soft, perimeter scorers who do nothing when they don't score.

There's no question: we need an offensive star. Probably two, in reality. A McDavid or Eichel would be the best thing to happen to the organization in a long-time.

I can see why someone would challenge any of my points. But the good news is that Lou is anything if not patient. And before he leaves, he might have the most Devils-like foundation in place.

 

[Andrei79]

He's done some very good GM moves when alls said and done. But that he hasn't fixed the teams problems with the draft is incredible to me. That's what made the Devils depth. That usually takes 5 years before getting results too so the chances he does anything with good with the team in the upcoming years is slim to none.

 

[PromNite]

Really? I thought he had a policy of not negotiating until the year was up.

I thought that was the case as well.

 

[Uli Hiemer]

Sather has been 100x better than him since 2006.

facts are facts

guy is stale and needs to retire.

 

[Scouter]

When is NJ going to fire Lou?

When will the new Devils owner fire Lou, I mean the team is almost as old as he is, Lou goes through coaches so fast now, Jagr said not to fire him and he did, it's obvious Lou doesn't know what he's doing anymore, it's time for a new younger GM to take the reigns and get this team back on track, cause Lou has run it into the ground.

 

[WarriorofTime]

When he croaks.

 

[Oneiro]

I think the ingredients to a successful NJ Devils team are more particular than Devils fans would like to admit, but when it all comes together, the results are usually worth it.

Patience is needed and luckily Lou is more patient than you.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Seems like it's been a while since they churned out a slew of prospects like they used to when they drafted and developed so many pros.

Just look at their draft history from the late 90s and onwards, they've had more misses than hits and have had quite a few 1st round busts. That has set the organization back by many years.

They've had to dip aggressively in free agency due to their lack of NHL ready prospects, hell, they had to resort to bringing Scott Gomez back. That's how bad things have gotten for the Devils when it comes to player development.

And a team with so many free agent additions to its roster isn't bound to succeed.

 

[Trainmman]

When Lou decides to leave..

Compare to the Giants in the NFL and Tom Coughlin.. he's a hall of fame coach there, and they have been poor the last two seasons. I don't think Lou gets fired over a few bad seasons after having so many good ones.

Like Coach Coughlin, I do believe he comes back next year, but this is his last. I think Lou could be in the same boat, but he will not be fired.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Coughlin has won two Super Bowls. Lou hasn't won anything since before the 2005 lockout. And he has chased away all of his stars since then, except for Elias and Brodeur.

 

[kudymen]

At first I thought the question was when will the GM Lou fire the HC Lou

 

[SquiddFX]

At first I thought the question was when will the GM Lou fire the HC Lou

HC lou will be fired before GM Lou. GM Lou will die before he is fired.

 

[Scouter]

Coughlin has won two Super Bowls. Lou hasn't won anything since before the 2005 lockout. And he has chased away all of his stars since then, except for Elias and Brodeur.

He "chased out" Brodeur too.

 

[Trainmman]

Coughlin has won two Super Bowls. Lou hasn't won anything since before the 2005 lockout. And he has chased away all of his stars since then, except for Elias and Brodeur.

Lou has orchestrated three Stanley Cups in five tries, multiple playoff appearances. Coughlin has either been miss the playoffs bad or win it all. But they are both Hall of Famers in their respective sports.

If you want to say Lou has made questionable decisions recently, go right ahead and I would agree. But to say he's chased away all his stars is a bit strong. If you are talking in regards to Kovy and Parise, I didn't know signing Kovy to a large deal and giving Parise a competitive offer to stay in NJ was chasing away.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Never, lmao. Only way hes gone is either if he dies or steps down.

 

[Combat Koala]

Lou will more than likely step down on his own terms than be fired. I'm thankful of what he has done to this organization over his tenure as a general manager but it really would be time for him to step down and give the his job to someone else... preferably someone not named Chris Lamoriello. I think it will happen in a few years. Yes, you read that right. Not happy about it but that is the reality.

Thankfully this thread has only one page so far so it's worth a read.

 

[Tekneek]

I've never been a Devils fan, but Lou is one of the best hockey executives of all time. The shenanigans with Kovalchuk put a tiny bit of tarnish on it, but I can't fault him for trying to do whatever it takes to make Ilya happy and convince him to lead a team.

He has earned the right to go on his own terms and I wouldn't count the guy out just yet.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Lou cannot be fired. Either he dies in function or he retires.

He was a great GM in his younger days. Now the team is too old, and that includes him.

 

[njdevil26]

The best thing we have going for us is defense/goaltending.

Schneider/Kinkaid is a solid tandem.

Severson, Merrill, Gelinas, Larsson, Helgeson, Santini is an awesome group of defensive prospects.

We just have absolutely nothing at forward.

I am not ready to fire Lou yet. The ownership situation hindered his ability to do his job for a few years. With owners that have pretty much bottomless pockets, I would like to see how Lou does for another year or two.

 

[Blue Shakehead]

Top scorer is Adam Henrique (24) with 26 points on the year. Their next ten scoring leaders are:

Jagr (42), Cammalleri (32), Elias (38), Zidlicky (37), Ryder (34), Gomez (34), Zajac (29), Bernier (29), Havlat (33).

They basically have no A level prospects in the system.

Severson (20) is an excellent young defenseman and Larrson (21) has been great as well. They are solid at goal with Corey Scheider (28).

I realize they lost Parise to UFA and Kovalchuk to the KHL, but....those aren't great excuses for running a roster full of guys in their mid 30s with no prospects.

What's the plan here?

 

[Devilsfan992]

Top scorer is Adam Henrique (24) with 26 points on the year. Their next ten scoring leaders are:

Jagr (42), Cammalleri (32), Elias (38), Zidlicky (37), Ryder (34), Gomez (34), Zajac (29), Bernier (29), Havlat (33).

They basically have no A level prospects in the system.

Severson (20) is an excellent young defenseman and Larrson (21) has been great as well. They are solid at goal with Corey Scheider (28).

I realize they lost Parise to UFA and Kovalchuk to the KHL, but....those aren't great excuses for running a roster full of guys in their mid 30s with no prospects.

What's the plan here?

Build from goalie up. The defense is already there, developing. Fill the forward group through the draft in the next two-three years. Hopefully trade for a top six forward if available.

Edit: And a bit of luck, ala the original Kovalchuk trade.