Who's Better New Jersey Or Buffalo ?

[NJ DevLolz]

Brunette was the key to the 22-23 success. Not Lindy. Lindy’s one of the many mediocre coaches in the league. Last year was back to Lindy with no Brunette and they looked eerily similar to just being a more talent version of the 21-22 team. They were a f***ing mess.

The one thing I’ll say about Lindy is every important Devils forward took a big step under him. Between Hughes, Hischier, and Bratt , they all got significantly better. Obviously some of that is natural aging curve but I think he did help them individually in some respects.

 

[SeanAveryTheGreatOne]

NJD enter this season as Cup favorites

 

[DJN21]

On paper Jersey is playoff team, Sabres is not.

Sabres do have ok core and few hidden gems like Greenway and McLeod, but that's about it.

The hidden gems are Greenway and McLeod?
Im not only perplexed but now curious?? The hidden gems are 2 guys who should be on the 4th line of a Stanley cup winning team? Its not a healthy Quinn or healthy and bounce back cozens? A healthy Sammy or whatever we have in Byram? Its not if our goalie can replicate what he showed flashes of last year? Its not if tage can bounce back to a 50 goal scorer or if peterka can take another step forward?


Don't get me wrong I think both mentioned will be key cogs in a team game so in that sense you are right but neither will be what makes or breaks the team or will be the hidden gems. They are foot soldiers who if they do their jobs well we won't get embarrassed but they won't drive the team to anything other than a pick between 8 and 15.

 

[sabremike]

The hidden gems are Greenway and McLeod?
Im not only perplexed but now curious?? The hidden gems are 2 guys who should be on the 4th line of a Stanley cup winning team? Its not a healthy Quinn or healthy and bounce back cozens? A healthy Sammy or whatever we have in Byram? Its not if our goalie can replicate what he showed flashes of last year? Its not if tage can bounce back to a 50 goal scorer or if peterka can take another step forward?


Don't get me wrong I think both mentioned will be key cogs in a team game so in that sense you are right but neither will be what makes or breaks the team or will be the hidden gems. They are foot soldiers who if they do their jobs well we won't get embarrassed but they won't drive the team to anything other than a pick between 8 and 15.

The single biggest factor is the one behind our bench. Last season was as poorly prepared a team as I have ever seen in my life, I have absolutely no idea what Granato and his staff of bumbling incompetents were doing during training camp but they failed as bad as you can fail. They were simply not ready when the season started and it was all downhill from there. Granato was also as tactically inept a coach as you will see at this level and Matt Ellis was somehow even worse than that as an assistant.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

New Jersey is better, just getting rid of Lindy Ruff was a massive positive and lo and behold, Buffalo went and hired that crusty old wanker, lol.

 

[Aurinko]

NJD enter this season as Cup favorites

Absolutely not, but the team is above average with two goalies who have had exceptional stats in the past.

Team *should* get in, and if it does, it does have some playoff proven players including the goalies.

 

[Xirik]

Absolutely not, but the team is above average with two goalies who have had exceptional stats in the past.

Team *should* get in, and if it does, it does have some playoff proven players including the goalies.

he's just a Ranger fan trying to jinx a the Devils.

I don't think Lindy will be bad for buffalo, I think he will get the offense working pretty good. I just worry that he'll try and insert his defensive style onto the defense, It seems to be very brain heavy on understanding who is covering who and is prone to defensive lapses. Hopefully Lindy just leaves the defense to another coach.

 

[HugeInTheShire]

The Devils roster is better but they've only been able to stay relatively healthy once and that was the year they made the playoffs.
If injuries once again plague the Devils best players and Buffalo avoids injuries it'll likely be Buffalo.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

The Devils roster is better but they've only been able to stay relatively healthy once and that was the year they made the playoffs.
If injuries once again plague the Devils best players and Buffalo avoids injuries it'll likely be Buffalo.

The Devils were three points behind Buffalo after having their most man games missed since the early 00's - Buffalo isnt close lol

 

[HugeInTheShire]

The Devils were three points behind Buffalo after having their most man games missed since the early 00's - Buffalo isnt close lol

What part of my post did you not understand?

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

What part of my post did you not understand?

The part where you gave the Devils the credit they deserve; but i get it, youre hedging as to not sound full of yourself or your team

Buffalo isnt in the same stratosphere, injuries or not - not even at one position

 

[Chainshot]

he's just a Ranger fan trying to jinx a the Devils.

I don't think Lindy will be bad for buffalo, I think he will get the offense working pretty good. I just worry that he'll try and insert his defensive style onto the defense, It seems to be very brain heavy on understanding who is covering who and is prone to defensive lapses. Hopefully Lindy just leaves the defense to another coach.

It's more if they can get the forwards to buy in to playing a 200' game IMO and then play more than just rush offense. If he can get the sort of settle, in-zone time he had from the Devils - including the seasons without Brunette - then they should improve. Not saying better than NJ - seeing Fitzgerald actually try to fix his goaltending after needing that for what, three? years now should push them back to the top of the conference, especially with Keefe behind the bench and a reasonably healthy roster.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

It's more if they can get the forwards to buy in to playing a 200' game IMO and then play more than just rush offense. If he can get the sort of settle, in-zone time he had from the Devils - including the seasons without Brunette - then they should improve. Not saying better than NJ - seeing Fitzgerald actually try to fix his goaltending after needing that for what, three? years now should push them back to the top of the conference, especially with Keefe behind the bench and a reasonably healthy roster.

The Devils werent good under Ruff at zone possession time; their offense was very rush-heavy and PP-dependent

 

[Chainshot]

The Devils werent good under Ruff at zone possession time; their offense was very rush-heavy and PP-dependent

It was a lot better than Buffalo's though.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

It was a lot better than Buffalo's though.

Thats fair lol - hell do wonders for everyones confidence offensively, thats for sure

 

[HugeInTheShire]

The part where you gave the Devils the credit they deserve; but i get it, youre hedging as to not sound full of yourself or your team

Buffalo isnt in the same stratosphere, injuries or not - not even at one position

I'm saying it's NJ but if they are injured all season long again Buffalo will finish ahead of them just like the did last year.

I don't have the faith that the Devils will be able to stay healthy, on paper sure NJ is better, but unfortunately injuries are part of the equation and a lot of NJ's best players have been prone to missing games with significant injuries.

Jack, Nico and Dougie were all healthy for 1 season and NJ went to playoffs, If this happens again, NJ should finish ahead of Buffalo. If they once again are hurt, it gets a heck of a lot closer.

 

[My3Sons]

Buffalo needs a solid scheme and buy in and some repetition with it. Based on what NJ experienced with Ruff it might take a little time if he insists on using the swarm model. Buffalo has plenty of talented players but to date they have been focused primarily on offense as a unit. NJ's current core started off that way before starting to change that somewhat. It's the execution of the team game that will likely define the seasons for these teams. That and health as NJ experienced a particularly awful year for injuries last season.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

I'm saying it's NJ but if they are injured all season long again Buffalo will finish ahead of them just like the did last year.

I don't have the faith that the Devils will be able to stay healthy, on paper sure NJ is better, but unfortunately injuries are part of the equation and a lot of NJ's best players have been prone to missing games with significant injuries.

Jack, Nico and Dougie were all healthy for 1 season and NJ went to playoffs, If this happens again, NJ should finish ahead of Buffalo. If they once again are hurt, it gets a heck of a lot closer.

The odds injuries hit all of the Devils best players again, and for the length it did, is highly unlikely

 

[HugeInTheShire]

The odds injuries hit all of the Devils best players again, and for the length it did, is highly unlikely

In the 3 years that they've been teammates

21-22 Dougie missed 20 games, Jack missed 33 games and Nico missed 12 games. Total 65 games
22-23 Dougie missed 0 games, Jack missed 4 games and Nico missed 1 game. Total 5 games
23-24 Dougie missed 62 games, Jack missed 20 games and Nico missed 11 games. Total 93 games.

That is a total of 246 games and between just those 3 guys, they've missed 163 of them and played 83 games, 77 of which were in 22-23.

Why is so hard to think that maybe, just maybe they'll have injuries again?

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

In the 3 years that they've been teammates

21-22 Dougie missed 20 games, Jack missed 33 games and Nico missed 12 games. Total 65 games
22-23 Dougie missed 0 games, Jack missed 4 games and Nico missed 1 game. Total 5 games
23-24 Dougie missed 62 games, Jack missed 20 games and Nico missed 11 games. Total 93 games.

That is a total of 246 games and between just those 3 guys, they've missed 163 of them and played 83 games, 77 of which were in 22-23.

Why is so hard to think that maybe, just maybe they'll have injuries again?

Because those are just raw numbers that lack context when taken straight

Jack Hughes was 19-20-21 adjusting to a game where hes in the smallest of categories; a smaller, excellent forward whos bound to be targeted because of his impact on the game. Also, two of those times he missed 15+ it was for the same, now surgically-repaired shoulder. He is not Josh Norris, this isnt his third go of it

Nico has always shown he wears a bit too thin sometimes and doesn't know when to let certain plays go, so he can get banged up; there is strictly a case of a player getting older and smarter, or so youd hope. Nothing major with Nico in his past

Dougie was an ACL tear most recently, which we will have to hope he does wel after. I have nothing for that part. However the other sizeable bout for him was a puck to the face; about as freak an accident as they come

I dont think its insane to have them injured again. But unlikely and that if include the others as well, just for arguments sake

 

[HugeInTheShire]

Because those are just raw numbers that lack context when taken straight

Jack Hughes was 19-20-21 adjusting to a game where hes in the smallest of categories; a smaller, excellent forward whos bound to be targeted because of his impact on the game. Also, two of those times he missed 15+ it was for the same, now surgically-repaired shoulder. He is not Josh Norris, this isnt his third go of it

Nico has always shown he wears a bit too thin sometimes and doesn't know when to let certain plays go, so he can get banged up; there is strictly a case of a player getting older and smarter, or so youd hope. Nothing major with Nico in his past

Dougie was an ACL tear most recently, which we will have to hope he does wel after. I have nothing for that part. However the other sizeable bout for him was a puck to the face; about as freak an accident as they come

I dont think its insane to have them injured again. But unlikely and that if include the others as well, just for arguments sake

I don't share your optimism about their ability to stay healthy in two of the three seasons they've been together, each player has missed at least 11 games. This is simply a fact, they've had 2 seasons where they've been hurt and 1 season they were healthy. No idea why anyone would take the 33% and assume everything will be fine.

I'd absolutely love to be wrong and have them put their injury troubles behind them, but until it happens, I'll remain skeptical.

 

[Face Of Bear]

Buffalo is weak up front and unproven all over. NJD look like they've got the right guys in the right spots

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

I don't share your optimism about their ability to stay healthy in two of the three seasons they've been together, each player has missed at least 11 games. This is simply a fact, they've had 2 seasons where they've been hurt and 1 season they were healthy. No idea why anyone would take the 33% and assume everything will be fine.

I'd absolutely love to be wrong and have them put their injury troubles behind them, but until it happens, I'll remain skeptical.

I think there will be games missed but I think the large chunks of games were caused by freak accidents in context, so while Im not insinuating theyll be injury-free - I think theyll be healthier than last, yes

 

[tmg]

There are injury angles that aren’t entirely countable in games missed. The injuries Meier played though still went on the scoreboard as games played - but really they were contributors to the same ‘season brought down by player injury’ story.

 

[Hisch13r]

There are injury angles that aren’t entirely countable in games missed. The injuries Meier played though still went on the scoreboard as games played - but really they were contributors to the same ‘season brought down by player injury’ story.

Yeah he might’ve played 69 games but he really kind of sucked until the last like 2 months of the year where he looked like himself again. He had 33 pts with 19 goals in the final 32 games. I don’t think people realize just how much Jack kind of f***ing sucked from like December onward. He “only” had 44 pts in 45 games and visually looked bad. I imagine both will be way better