What team is having a better off-season than the New Jersey Devils?

[thestonedkoala]

For a team without a GM, the Hurricanes did pretty good:

Traded for Erik Haula, who should have a bounce back year.
Signed Ryan Dzingal to a pretty good contract
Got a free 1st round draft pick for Patrick Marleau
Got a decent back up in Jason Reimer
Traded for Kyle Wood

 

[Blackjack]

He scored at a 0.82 PPG pace including 16 pts in 17 playoff games for a team that was 2nd to last in scoring. The 08/09 team was particularly f***ing horrible. He was good for the Rangers

You're rolling his two seasons together to make it sound better. He had 58 points in 77 games in his second year in New York, and 5 points in 7 playoff games. That's not good enough for his contract, and and with five years to go it was looking like a disaster. No one could believe that Montreal bailed them out.

 

[Uncle Dru]

You're rolling his two seasons together to make it sound better. He had 58 points in 77 games in his second year in New York, and 5 points in 7 playoff games. That's not good enough for his contract, and and with five years to go it was looking like a disaster. No one could believe that Montreal bailed them out.

Why would I exclude his first year? Plus, he lead the Rangers in scoring his 2nd year. That team was horrendous.

Gotta be honest though Black, it's been like a decade since I've talked about Gomez and we're kinda derailing this thread...

 

[Blackjack]

Why would I exclude his first year? Plus, he lead the Rangers in scoring his 2nd year. That team was horrendous.

Gotta be honest though Black, it's been like a decade since I've talked about Gomez and we're kinda derailing this thread...

So it will be good if Panarin scores 70 points this year and 58 next year? You'd be fine with that?

 

[TopG]

Lol, losing leadership fans on here can’t see cause they’re not in the room it goes a long way in Marleau and hainsey. They’ve given up six guys who have scored twenty goals or
More in the last year in bozak jvr konorov brown Marleau kadri not to mention a high offensive defensemen in Gardiner.

They lost the sandpaper they had in kadri as well as a guy who could score thirty goals in the fight setting and the best two way center they had.

They also got rid of a ton of depth defensemen, replaces a broken down ennis with a broken down spezza (probably a slight upgrade), Dubas continues to overpay his players and become terrible in negotiations, while Babcock has lost the trust of the fanbase and the Players.

Yeah borgman, Rosen, Zaitsev hainsey and Gardiner weren’t the best but it’s a lot of moves and changes to take time to adding Barrie and ceci.

Then there’s kerfoot. And the ongoing Marner thing.

Taking into account everything I’m not even sure this team is any better on paper or the ice, and I didn’t even get into throwing away some pucks and a legit back up in mciilehney and now even sparks.

So you saying the leafs off-season has been a dream is quuuuite the stretch my man.

Did you mean you dreamt about the leafs off season being better? Because that would make more sense

What a god awful post lol

 

[Dolemite]

The St Louis Blues. Duhh

 

[HBK27]

That contract will be moved in the 5th year, its designed that way. It was a position of need, and it solidifies that spot for well into the 20s, with Knight eventually taking over.

You realize how unrealistic it is that Florida will ever move that contract, unless Bobrovsky really wants out?

The first 5 seasons are a pure NMC.

The last two seasons (when he's 36 & 37 years old), he has a 16-team no trade list. That, in effect, is just as good as a NMC when you're a goalie. You know how easy it is to rattle off 16 teams that are either (a) more than set in goal, with a better goalie than 36+ year old Bobrovsky (b) don't have the cap space to absorb a minimum $5MM cap hit for a goalie or (c) are nowhere close to sniffing the playoffs and thus have zero desire to trade for a veteran goalie. Hell, probably more than 25 teams would meet that criteria by then. Bobrovsky is absolutely calling the shots on if he leaves and where he goes for the duration of this contract - and given the 0% state income tax in Florida, there would have to be a hell of a reason for him to want to leave.

I get why Florida signed Bobrovsky and overpaid in annual cap hit and term, as this should be a playoff caliber team that's hitting it's window that's been getting sunk by poor goaltending. They are in win-now mode and Bobrovsky gives them by far the best chance out of any goalie that was on the market. Perhaps signing Lehner to a 3-4 year deal at half the cost (bridging the gap to when Knight is ready) would've been a more prudent move, but we won't know that for a few years. But when you're already looking at ways to get out of a contract down the line right after the ink was dry, there's a good chance the end of the contract (maybe years 5-7) could hurt the franchise down the line.

 

[TGWL]

You're right, McDonagh was a great defenseman, and congratulations on redirecting the conversation from Gomez, who was a terrible FA signing, to the guy The Rangers turned him into because of the idiocy of Montreal's front office. That's like saying the Devils drafting Larsson 4th overall (terrible) worked out great because Edmonton traded an elite forward for him. That doesn't make the pick itself any better.

1) Gomez wasnt horrible for us.
2) it was just a joke about how it did work out eventually, until a response brought up how Mcdonagh didn't work out. So shifting about how McDonagh worked out was because of the response it got and less about how signing Gomez was great .

 

[ColbyChaos]

Youd think Simmonds is fresh off of a 30 goal 70 point season with how Devil fans are talking him up as if he isnt just a hollowed out husk that many fanbases were terrified of their GM offering a multi year contract too

 

[ColbyChaos]

wow, it's almost as if we can say the exact same thing since shero came in.

1 winning season under Shero...

 

[HBK27]

Youd think Simmonds is fresh off of a 30 goal 70 point season with how Devil fans are talking him up as if he isnt just a hollowed out husk that many fanbases were terrified of their GM offering a multi year contract too

Show me where Devils fans are talking up Simmonds to that level. A vast majority of the fanbase is skeptical of what he can bring and are penciling him into the bottom 6 of the lineup.

Every fan base was terrified of their GM signing Simmonds to a multi year contract as he may be shot. However, for a one-year deal when you have cap space to burn? Yeah, why not - they've got nothing to lose (except the owner's money, which isn't an issue).

Injuries have seemingly played a large role in his statistical decline the past two seasons, so there's some optimism that he can rebound. He'll be 31 this season (so it's a bit early for a rapid age-related decline) and is on a "show me" contract. He fills a number of voids on NJ - lack of true RW depth, net front presence on the PP & additional toughness. Who knows how much he'll actually rebound, but there's not much risk in seeing on a one-year deal. It was a good signing.

 

[ColbyChaos]

um, yes? i acknowledged this.

not impressed with how it turned out.

my most vivid memory of mcdonagh as a ranger ultimately is this:

The fact that you cant think of a good reply and have to reach all the way back to 2012 for a comeback is hilarious and sad at the same time, and it really speaks volumes of the sad state of affairs the Devils have been in for what is essentially a decade of being at the bottom. Little brother complex is real with some NJ fans ITT

 

[HBK27]

1 winning season under Shero...

He inherited the oldest team in the league and one of the worst farm systems and transformed it into one of the youngest teams with one of the better group of prospects. Devils had some great drafts in the 90's that led to their 3 Cups, but the 2000's were not good under Lamoriello. Shero didn't have a lot to work with when he came on board.

The plan for Shero has been to build a contender, which was always going to take several years to get going, not to try to win right away.

 

[ColbyChaos]

He inherited the oldest team in the league and one of the worst farm systems and transformed it into one of the youngest teams with one of the better group of prospects. Devils had some great drafts in the 90's that led to their 3 Cups, but the 2000's were not good under Lamoriello. Shero didn't have a lot to work with when he came on board.

The plan for Shero has been to build a contender, which was always going to take several years to get going, not to try to win right away.

The Oilers way of building maybe. Normally teams stop finishing in the bottom 3 after having a 1st overall pick a season or two prior.

Can you imagine how salty you'd be if your team had one cup since the advent of network television?

Imagine having 3 and not even the most popular team in your own state.

 

[HBK27]

The Oilers way of building maybe. Normally teams stop finishing in the bottom 3 after having a 1st overall pick a season or two prior.

Huh?

Team got decimated by injuries (2nd most man games lost, including 49 games for reigning league MVP) and poor goaltending in the 1H of the season. Shit happens, but they were still rebuilding so it worked out for the best (see: Hughes, Jack).

Imagine having 3 and not even the most popular team in your own state.

It does suck losing the popularity contest to the Rangers and Flyers in some parts of the state.

What doesn't suck is being able to get Devils tickets at a fraction of the cost of Rangers or Flyers tickets, while still having a (smaller) rabid fanbase and wealthy owners that are willing to spend to the cap and invest heavily in team management and the arena. Not a bad tradeoff for just having to deal with snide comments like yours.

 

[Nocashstyle]

The Oilers way of building maybe. Normally teams stop finishing in the bottom 3 after having a 1st overall pick a season or two prior.



Imagine having 3 and not even the most popular team in your own state.

I love posts like this. Very obvious you only started watching hockey in the past 10 years or so if you’re a Chicago fan and throwing stones.

 

[Fixxer]

Their best offseason since they signed Kovalchuk to that 100 million dollar contract.......

 

[Nocashstyle]

Their best offseason since they signed Kovalchuk to that 100 million dollar contract.......

And he led them to a SCF?

 

[Nordiques1979]

Since the 2019 NHL entry draft, where the team selected Jack Hughes first overall, they have shaped their team into a young, fast and better all around team to hopefully battle for a playoff spot next season.

The Devils have a bright future with a one-two punch of Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier up front at center. Both of them add tremendous amounts of skill and speed to this Devils forward group that will be great for the future.

The trade for P.K Subban will make the whole defensive core even better for the Devils. They finished 26th in the NHL in Goals against and 21st in Power-play percentage; Subban will help a lot especially with his dynamic skating and his big slap shot from the blue line.

Not to mention former MVP Taylor Hall....

theBRKDWN Sports — Dealing with the Devil(s)

Plus Boqvist and Smith!

 

[Blackjack]

Imagine having 3 and not even the most popular team in your own state.

Yeah.

Gonna provide a link or quote to Devils fans talking about Simmonds like a 30 goal scorer?

 

[Fixxer]

And he led them to a SCF?

a few years after and it was not all on him (Brodeur was still rockin').. Can't you tell I was kidding. lol
Getting Hall for Larsson was genius work, although the first year Schneider struggled without Larsson (and quite a bit since) and Hall was not MVP yet.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Yeah.

Gonna provide a link or quote to Devils fans talking about Simmonds like a 30 goal scorer?

When there is talk on the first few pages about how great of an addition he is by Devil fans youd think Simmonds is still good... In reality however he sucks now (openly being scratched for Nashville) and has been declining for a while, he just took money from an overly desperate team that is scared of losing yet another star player to free agency due to having less zero success since 2012.

 

[Uncle Dru]

So it will be good if Panarin scores 70 points this year and 58 next year? You'd be fine with that?

Nah, but scoring league wide is up since then and the Rangers aren't the black hole of offense they were then (even last year). So that would put Panarin around a point per game. If he's doing that and leading the team in scoring, I'm cool with that.

I'd hope for more but far from disastrous

 

[NJ DevLolz]

Panthers, Rangers, Canucks.

The Devils defense and goaltending is putrid. Adding Gusev and "skating on stilts" Simmonds isn't gonna help that.

Are you more sore over 2000, 2012, or last season when the Devils edged the Panthers to get into the 'yoffs?

 

[TT1]

Subban is gonna help w/ NJ's goals against? That's news to me...