Coach John Hynes Discussion

[Bleedred]

the thing that irks me about Hynes is his deployment

Santini was on the top pairing for weeks and then is sent down never to be heard from again (this season at least)

Mueller was playing well then got injured and now cant get into a game

these things make no sense

Lovejoy is a healthy scratch on the first day of the regular season, which is something I don't think any of us would have ever predicted. He only plays in 17 of the team's first 38 games and was literally a healthy scratch for however many games it was between December 9th and January 2nd, and ever since then, he's been a permanent fixture in the lineup and hasn't been a healthy scratch all calendar year of 2018. At least I don't think he was injured for any of this time? I don't recall him ever missing time/practice due to injury.

My only rationale for this is when the season started it was looked at as a ''Development'' year, and we wanted to see what we had in other guys and Lovejoy had no importance. Now we're well into win-now mode on the season and he's sticking around, with no healthy scratching in sight.

 

[Bleedred]

The one thing I will say about the Lovejoy usage is that he's only played over 20 minutes twice this season (November 20th and November 5th) and he's actually only played over 19 minutes two other times. February 10th and January 18th.

 

[glenwo2]

Still never understood why Santini was sent down.....

 

[NJDevs26]

Still never understood why Santini was sent down.....

Roster flexibility's a ***** when you're a young player.

 

[tr83]

Still never understood why Santini was sent down.....

His advance stats were also horrible

 

[MadDevil]

Still never understood why Santini was sent down.....

Because him sitting in the press box every night was an even worse option? Plus Mueller came back, meaning we had 6 guys who were waiver eligible, plus Butcher and Santini who weren't. Butcher deserved to stay up, so Santini just ended up being the odd man out. Hopefully we move a body or two this summer so he can be in the NHL full time next year.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

And the Vatanen trade didn't help his cause cause he bumped everyone down a pairing.

 

[hidek91]

the thing that irks me about Hynes is his deployment

Santini was on the top pairing for weeks and then is sent down never to be heard from again (this season at least)

Mueller was playing well then got injured and now cant get into a game

these things make no sense

Santini was the only d-man that was exempt from waivers, after Vatanen trade, keeping him would do more harm than good.

Mueller isn't better than any of the 6 d-men that are currently in the lineup, he gambles way too much (even more than Severson). If I was the coach, I'd keep him scratched as well.

I think those two moves were the optimal ones but it's not like Santini and Mueller are bad NHL players, they're just victims of the roster situation right now.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Santini was the only d-man that was exempt from waivers, after Vatanen trade, keeping him would do more harm than good.

Mueller isn't better than any of the 6 d-men that are currently in the lineup, he gambles way too much (even more than Severson). If I was the coach, I'd keep him scratched as well.

I think those two moves were the optimal ones but it's not like Santini and Mueller are bad NHL players, they're just victims of the roster situation right now.

I disagree with nearly every word of this, sheesh.

there is no planet in which Lovejoy is better than either of those 2 guys.

Mueller can't even get a chance? He hasnt played in weeks and its not like we're over here playing stellar D....

 

[Triumph]

I disagree with nearly every word of this, sheesh.

there is no planet in which Lovejoy is better than either of those 2 guys.

Mueller can't even get a chance? He hasnt played in weeks and its not like we're over here playing stellar D....

There's almost no way that Mueller on the right side is better than Lovejoy. If Lovejoy were an LHD playing this way, you'd have an argument, but I don't think Mueller is better than any of the LHD the Devils are currently using.

As for Santini, I suspect the reason why the Devils' Corsi jumped so much after the Vatanen deal isn't just Vatanen being good but it also meant less Santini.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

There's almost no way that Mueller on the right side is better than Lovejoy. If Lovejoy were an LHD playing this way, you'd have an argument, but I don't think Mueller is better than any of the LHD the Devils are currently using.

As for Santini, I suspect the reason why the Devils' Corsi jumped so much after the Vatanen deal isn't just Vatanen being good but it also meant less Santini.

Butcher can play both sides...IIRC he played RD in college I thought I saw?

Santini should not have been given the role he was given with Greene, but he should certainly be playing over Lovejoy IMO.

 

[Triumph]

Butcher can play both sides...IIRC he played RD in college I thought I saw?

Santini should not have been given the role he was given with Greene, but he should certainly be playing over Lovejoy IMO.

It's one thing to play both sides in college, quite another to do so in the NHL. It's a decided disadvantage - some players are able to mitigate it, but I don't know how many guys thrive with it. Butcher's been quite good on the left side, I see no reason to move him.

Santini was bad with everyone. He didn't play a ton with Butcher but when he did they got crushed. People thinking Santini is better than Lovejoy is a classic example of confirmation bias - people want to think Lovejoy is terrible, and they want to think Santini is good, and so that's what they see. I didn't see a whole lot of difference between last season's Lovejoy and this season's Santini, and the numbers bear that out.

 

[glenwo2]

It's one thing to play both sides in college, quite another to do so in the NHL. It's a decided disadvantage - some players are able to mitigate it, but I don't know how many guys thrive with it. Butcher's been quite good on the left side, I see no reason to move him.

Santini was bad with everyone. He didn't play a ton with Butcher but when he did they got crushed. People thinking Santini is better than Lovejoy is a classic example of confirmation bias - people want to think Lovejoy is terrible, and they want to think Santini is good, and so that's what they see. I didn't see a whole lot of difference between last season's Lovejoy and this season's Santini, and the numbers bear that out.

Santini is not pleased with you :

 

[135ace]

We need to fire Hynes. He's a complete joke. I never thought I'd miss DeBoer, but I would take him any day over Hynes.

 

[Devilsfan92]

I just wish he’d mix up the lines/pairing when it’s just not working, like there is a difference in having patience with a line and just trying to force something that isn’t there.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Every coach seems to make lineup decisions that make no sense to fans. The problem with Hynes is that he is incredibly slow to react or make (sometimes obvious) changes. This has occurred repeatedly in every season he's been here. Defensively, there doesn't seem to be much there in terms of structure. It's like they have a strategy for breaking out and attacking (fast, attacking I guess?) but that's pretty much it. Also the powerplay...is there any team that has a worse set up 5 on 3? And this is an area where the slow reaction/changes has come into play heavily multiple times - they just keep trotting out the same units with the same strategy even when it's clearly not working for dozens of games at a time.

It's just very amateurish coaching overall. No idea why he got an extension before this season is up. If they miss the playoffs it looks kind of foolish because then next season (first season of the new contract) becomes make it or break it.

 

[MadDevil]

They didn't extend him, they had an option for a 4th year that they picked up.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

I just wish he’d mix up the lines/pairing when it’s just not working, like there is a difference in having patience with a line and just trying to force something that isn’t there.

Hynes does mixes up the forward lines on occasions. Somewhat a little frustrating because he intends to put Zajac with Hall which I absolutely hate.

Something needs to be done with the D pairings.

Suggest to put Moore with Vatanen and Greene with Mueller. Severson sits. Butcher and Lovejoy probably have to stay together because Hynes doesn't trust Butcher to play big minutes.

 

[guitarguyvic]

They didn't extend him, they had an option for a 4th year that they picked up.

Oh really? I could have sworn it was reported to be a 3 year extension.

If that's the case it's not so bad then I guess. Although the optics would still be better to wait until season's end, especially if they falter and miss the playoffs.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

The dipshit thinks the forward lines are the problem. Not the defensive pairings.

We wouldn't need to be a high scoring team every night if the defense wasnt a f***ing shit show and that wasn't made worse by inconsistent to shit goaltending.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

He stinks

 

[Bleedred]

I don't think he's good, I never really have. I don't think he's quite as bad as I used to think either, but I don't think he's who we want when we're ready to compete.

Goaltending makes him look a little worse these last two years, it also made him look like a genius his rookie year as a head coach.

Still too many AV and Carlyle similarities for me.

He has been making the right decisions with goaltending for the most part, so I'm absolving him of blame.

I never gave him better than a C grade for this season, and I also never gave him lower than a D grade for last season, just because of goaltending preventing it from being an F.

 

[Bleedred]

If we had a GREAT roster (like one that doesn't have current Andy Greene playing #2 minutes on D) and good goaltending, do I think he's bad enough to make us miss the playoffa? Probably not.

Do I think he's good enough to get us to acquire more points than most of the random coaches in the league? Definitely not.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Something needs to be done with the D pairings.

Suggest to put Moore with Vatanen and Greene with Mueller. Severson sits.

I cant cosign this enough.

Severson being benched would be one of the best things that could happen to this hockey team right now.

Severson's completely irresponsible behaviour is costing this team points, at a time when even a single point cannot be conceded.

 

[Emperoreddy]

They need to take a long hard look at their PP scheme in the offseason because this current scheme is a joke.

If I see another drop pass to enter the zone it will be too soon