GDT: Basic GDT Edition: Devils @ Kings 4PM EST

[Devils Dominion]

The Bad: The whole team.
Real Bad: Rico, Palimeri, Greene and Severson.
Decent effort. Zajac, Lappin, Boosh, DSP & Quiency.

Yeah, agree, but as bad as we played yesterday it could have been a different outcome if Rico could lift the puck and score on his late 2nd period breakaway.

He missed, and the Kings scored seconds later.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

I'd reward Lappin and slide him with Zajac and PAP instead of Bennett. I just fell he's getting a free pass cause he's a known commodity to Shero and Hynes, from his Pittsburgh days.

I really like Lappin's game. He hustles, plays hard along the boards, isn't afraid to go to the net and he's actually generating some offense while playing bottom 6 minutes.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Lappin on the top line is unfair to him. He has done nicely in the bottom 6, but let's not pretend he's a top 6 player. At the very least, not yet.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

Lappin on the top line is unfair to him. He has done nicely in the bottom 6, but let's not pretend he's a top 6 player. At the very least, not yet.

So we continue to roll with Bennett when he hasn't earned the right to stick on our top line? I want to see some accountability and Lappin deserves a shot on our top unit over Bennett. ATM, we're lacking offense and with both Camm and Hall out of the lineup, we need some kind of spark. Hynes shuffled all the lines yesterday but still kept Bennett on our top unit for whatever reason.

I'm not saying to put Lappin on our top line for the remainder of the season, just saying that rewarding him for a game or two wouldn't hurt, especially if he's replacing someone who's struggling to generate anything offensively.

 

[VoidCreature]

Lappin on the top line is unfair to him. He has done nicely in the bottom 6, but let's not pretend he's a top 6 player. At the very least, not yet.

Based on what? Every shot he's gotten in the top six he's been fantastic. He deserves to be up there more than Rico and Palms right now.

 

[Zippy316]

Bennett - Zajac - Parenteau
Zacha - Henrique - Lappin
Boucher - Josefson - Palmieri
Kalinin - Fiddler - Pietila/DSP

Part of me wants them to bench Palmieri to send a message, but I'm not sure we have the depth to do that right now. However, they need to put Lappin with Henrique and give that a chance to brew. Possibly try Zacha - Zajac - Parenteau and Bennett - Henrique - Lappin as well.

 

[RememberTheName]

I still cannot believe that JJ is still on the 3rd line. I really want to seeJQ get called up. With all of the injuries, I think he should at least get 1 or 2 games

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I think Lappin in the top 6 is rushing him into a role he's not ready for. Let him build his confidence in the bottom 6 for a while.

 

[Zippy316]

I think Lappin in the top 6 is rushing him into a role he's not ready for. Let him build his confidence in the bottom 6 for a while.

He's built up his confidence. He's dominating in possession and carrying Kalinin/Fiddler right now. Every time he is moved up the line-up or played with any of skilled forwards he has made something happen. Give him a shot with line mates that can actually handle the puck and generate some offense.

Even better, it allows the Devils to move Palmieri down to another line to spread out the depth

I still cannot believe that JJ is still on the 3rd line. I really want to seeJQ get called up. With all of the injuries, I think he should at least get 1 or 2 games

He's the fifth best center we have. Every other center in the organization is young and inexperienced Zacha included. With Hall/Cammalleri hurt and the fact that Josefson is awful at LW, there isn't a better option.

Plus Quenneville is ~10 games into his pro career. Let him develop. Even if he is called up, Hynes would likely want to shelter him and we don't have the depth or the linemates to pair him with to do that.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

I still cannot believe that JJ is still on the 3rd line. I really want to seeJQ get called up. With all of the injuries, I think he should at least get 1 or 2 games

So you think a rookie at the pro game, in the AHL no less, would be a better option over Josefson? This place is really hilarious at times.

I think Lappin in the top 6 is rushing him into a role he's not ready for. Let him build his confidence in the bottom 6 for a while.

How is rewarding a player for his good work a negative? He's posting a average of a point every other game despite playing with our weakest offensive players with limited minutes. If Zacha was posting the same #'s, we'd be screaming for him to get moved to our top line ASAP.

 

[Bleedred]

So you think a rookie at the pro game, in the AHL no less, would be a better option over Josefson? This place is really hilarious at times.

So because he hasn't played in the NHL yet, automatically makes Josefson better?

That's even more hilarious.

 

[devsfan4life]

They need to move Lappin up a line and Zacha back to center. Pavel has been much less noticeable as a wing. It's hampering his creativity, skill, and speed in my opinion. Maybe even split up the Henrique/Palms duo.

Bennett-Zajac-PAP
Boucher-Henrique-DSP
Palmieri-Zacha-Lappin
Josefson-Fiddler-Kalinin

 

[Devils Dominion]

I don't like that first line combo together.

 

[devsfan4life]

I don't like that first line combo together.

Neither do I. But what else do they have at this point? That set up spreads everyone out... without hall and camm they definitely don't look as deep.

 

[Bleedred]

Neither do I. But what else do they have at this point? That set up spreads everyone out... without hall and camm they definitely don't look as deep.

I'll go with that lineup.

Or Pietila where Josefson is instead, as I don't think he's going to be out of lineup just yet.

But believe it or not, I prefer Josefson to Pietilla right now.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

So because he hasn't played in the NHL yet, automatically makes Josefson better?

That's even more hilarious.

Usually, when you're in the NHL instead of the AHL, yes you're automatically viewed as the better player. Is Quenneville going to surpass Josefson in time, possibly, but he's not there yet... regardless of your hatred towards Josefson.

I guess you'll just have to live with it or you can ramble on and on about something you have zero control over. My guess is you'll take the 2nd option but you might surprise us all, who knows.

 

[Bleedred]

Usually, when you're in the NHL instead of the AHL, yes you're automatically viewed as the better player. Is Quenneville going to surpass Josefson in time, possibly, but he's not there yet... regardless of your hatred towards Josefson.

I guess you'll just have to live with it or you can ramble on and on about something you have zero control over. My guess is you'll take the 2nd option but you might surprise us all, who knows.

You're the one rambling.

More than Half your posts in the last two days are defending a fringe player. Even going as far as to imply his offense has been terrible because he's a product of a bad offensive team over the last few years. As if it's not really that we've been so bad offensively because we're a product of Josefson and other terrible offensive players.

I do believe there's possibly a couple players in Albany that could do better than Josefson right now. I don't think Pietila is anywhere close to one of them.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

You're the one rambling.

Half your posts in the last two days are defending a fringe player.

I'm not defending, I'm bringing some stability in a bash fest you've been swirling about Josefson, period. Again, he's not a key part of our club but he's still useful, something you can't seem to comprehend for whatever reason.

 

[Bleedred]

I'm not defending, I'm bringing some stability in a bash fest you've been swirling about Josefson, period. Again, he's not a key part of our club but he's still useful, something you can't seem to comprehend for whatever reason.

He's useful as a 4th line player ONLY, which I've acknowledged more than once. And on the PK and he was pretty useful on the PP last year. The PP has been AIDS for the last 2 or 3 weeks, no matter who seems to play on it.

I'd also lump players like Kalinin, Fiddler and Pietila into that pile. None of them should be playing significant time above the 4th line.

You need more offense from your 3rd line than what these players are capable of providing, as we saw last year. Josefson being on pace for 20 points over 82 games was a big reason for our 3rd line providing virtually zero offense last year. Same goes for Kalinin having 15 or 16 points in 78 games played. You'll continue to be one of the worst offensive teams in the league when that cast is playing in your top 9.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

He's useful as a 4th line player ONLY, which I've acknowledged more than once. And on the PK and he was pretty useful on the PP last year. The PP has been AIDS for the last 2 or 3 weeks, no matter who seems to play on it.

I'd also lump players like Kalinin, Fiddler and Pietila into that pile. None of them should be playing significant time above the 4th line.

You need more offense from your 3rd line than what these players are capable of providing, as we saw last year. Josefson being on pace for 20 points over 82 games was a big reason for our 3rd line providing virtually zero offense last year. Same goes for Kalinin having 15 or 16 points in 78 games played. You'll continue to be one of the worst offensive teams in the league when that cast is playing in your top 9.

Several posters, excluding myself might I add, brought to your attention that Josefson was getting 4th line minutes, so I don't see your point at all. He's listed, on paper, to be on our 3rd line center but that's just it, it's on paper. The amount of icetime given is ultimately the real stat you should be looking at when evaluating who's playing on what line, not a random listing in our GDT.

If that's your issue with Yayo, then I guess I just solved it for you

 

[Bleedred]

Several posters, excluding myself might I add, brought to your attention that Josefson was getting 4th line minutes, so I don't see your point at all. He's listed, on paper, to be on our 3rd line center but that's just it, it's on paper. The amount of icetime given is ultimately the real stat you should be looking at when evaluating who's playing on what line, not a random listing in our GDT.

If that's your issue with Yayo, then I guess I just solved it for you

And when that's pointed out, I counter that with even if Josefson isn't a ''3rd liner'', it means that Fiddler and Kalinin have been 3rd liners.

And those players might be worse at offense than Josefson is, so we're right back where we started when Josefson was on the 3rd line. Kalinin is not even as good at offense as Josefson, Fiddler was in the past but not this year and he's 36 years old and in his twilight.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Can't break up Bennett Zajac PAP. They are the only, and I mean only line who are generating good puck possession in the offensive zone consistently.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

And when that's pointed out, I counter that with even if Josefson isn't a ''3rd liner'', it means that Fiddler and Kalinin have been 3rd liners.

And those players might be worse at offense than Josefson is, so we're right back where we started when Josefson was on the 3rd line. Kalinin is not even as good at offense as Josefson, Fiddler was in the past but not this year and he's 36 years old and in his twilight.

But that's all we have ATM, so just accept it and move on. Unless Shero makes another trade to bring a forward, we're stuck with the same group of guys you don't like in our bottom 6. Do you think the rest of this board loves the fact that our bottom 6 is borderline AHL material in terms of offensive production?

What should Hynes or Shero do since you seem to have all the answers? Two of our top forwards are injured and until then, we'll have to play guys in roles they're not supposed to be playing in and hope we can stay competitive in the time being.

I'm actually surprised and satisfied by our start to the season but for whatever reason, negativity seems to feed certain posters here on HF. If those same posters could turn all that negative energy into positive energy, this place would be a whole lot more interesting to visit from time to time.

 

[Zippy316]

I don't like that first line combo together.

There isn't a better option. Bennett is the possession driver on that line that carries the puck into the zone which is what Hall often does for those two. Parenteau adds a lot of creativity, reminds me a lot of Elias the way he moves the puck around the offensive zone. They both like to stretch out the defense and make it unpredictable to defend them. Zajac is just Zajac.

The only real option I would consider is placing Zacha there on that line. At the same time though, I'd rather spread out Bennett/Lappin as they are the best possession drivers on the team.

Zacha - Zajac - Parenteau
Bennett - Henrique - Lappin
Boucher - Josefson - Palmieri
Kalinin - Fiddler - DSP

Throw in Pietila at 4RW too, although DSP has played well of late.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

How is rewarding a player for his good work a negative? He's posting a average of a point every other game despite playing with our weakest offensive players with limited minutes. If Zacha was posting the same #'s, we'd be screaming for him to get moved to our top line ASAP.

It's not a bad thing. I just don't think it's the right time. We were screaming about Zacha being separated from Hall, pushed down the lineup, and moved from his natural center position to a wing position where he is much less effective. So what kind of message does it send when you take a young player who doesn't look half as good as Zacha looked and bump him up the lineup while continuing to shuffle Zacha down? And I like Lappin, but I guess I just don't see what you do. He's a hard worker and has a good motor. Everything else he does is average. He just doesn't look like a guy that can handle an extended period of time in the top 6 yet. Right now he is effective in his role. One of a very few guys who are. Let him continue to fill his role well and do something to snap the others out of their funk. Hynes has to find a way to motivate Henrique and Palmieri. Them getting going is what will allow this team to contend for a playoff spot, not taking a young guy out of a role where he is thriving and asking him to play a game he might not be ready for or able to.