Devils 2016-17 team discussion (player news and notes) - Part XII

[Tundra]

Don't know if this is the right place for this post but just FYI, Taylor Hall was on Spittin Chiclets this week. Link here: http://www.podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=976&pid=1714668

For a guy that got a lot of heat on a personal level in Edmonton, he comes off as a decent guy in the interview. Worth listening to. It's one of the few shows where players actually act normal instead of robotic.

Hall probably reads this board. He's a cerebral guy.

I like when Hall stated how Cody Eakin, Braydon Schenn and Matt Duchesne were better players in junior.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Hall probably reads this board. He's a cerebral guy.

I like when Hall stated how Cody Eakin, Braydon Schenn and Matt Duchesne were better players in junior.

Duchesne is prob still a little better than him today and Schenn leads the league in PP goals.

 

[Kurt Cobain]

Duchesne is prob still a little better than him today and Schenn leads the league in PP goals.

Halls better than Schenn and Duchene is hard to compare being a center. Funny that's he's the player I want more than anyone as out top line center. As for Eakin he's having a down year but he's really good and I wonder if we could get him similar to how we got Palmieri. He would be cheaper than Palmieri and he fits the style this team is going for. Eakin can absolutely fly out there. Great penalty killer too.

 

[Oneiro]

Hall reading this board would make him the exact opposite of a cerebral guy.

The common thread among all these players is that none of them can lead a team the way the very best in the league can. All guys who produce away their flaws. Until they don't.

 

[Desert Devil]

I highly doubt Hall reads these boards.

 

[Zippy316]

Kind of sucks that Wedgewood is out for the year.

With more than a few teams looking for goalie depth, Wedgewood could've likely pulled in a decent asset right now. Maybe even Kinkaid with Wedgewood as a short-term insurance. Washington is looking to add a third goalie and so is LAK. Galiev -- who Washington is shopping -- would be a reasonable option in a Wedgewood swap. Maybe a similar forward from LAK.

It's likely a guy like Galiev doesn't amount to much, but it would at the very least be some depth after we trade a guy like Parenteau. And if they fit in, then we give them another chance next year.

 

[Triumph]

Kind of sucks that Wedgewood is out for the year.

With more than a few teams looking for goalie depth, Wedgewood could've likely pulled in a decent asset right now. Maybe even Kinkaid with Wedgewood as a short-term insurance. Washington is looking to add a third goalie and so is LAK. Galiev -- who Washington is shopping -- would be a reasonable option in a Wedgewood swap. Maybe a similar forward from LAK.

It's likely a guy like Galiev doesn't amount to much, but it would at the very least be some depth after we trade a guy like Parenteau. And if they fit in, then we give them another chance next year.

The Devils need Wedgewood to expose him to the expansion draft, so none of these deals would've happened anyway.

 

[Zippy316]

The Devils need Wedgewood to expose him to the expansion draft, so none of these deals would've happened anyway.

Kinkaid could certainly have been traded as extra depth for a playoff team.

LA and/or Washington might've been willing to part with a depth forward or mid-round pick for Kinkaid. It could've opened up a spot for Wedgewood to get a bit of NHL playing time to end the season.

 

[Tundra]

Hall reading this board would make him the exact opposite of a cerebral guy.

The common thread among all these players is that none of them can lead a team the way the very best in the league can. All guys who produce away their flaws. Until they don't.

Sheer curiosity on his part?

 

[MadDevil]

Sheer curiosity on his part?

One look at a GDT and he'd probably decide half of us belong in a mental institution.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I would want off this team if I read HF. Fan base is god awful right now.

 

[Triumph]

Kinkaid could certainly have been traded as extra depth for a playoff team.

LA and/or Washington might've been willing to part with a depth forward or mid-round pick for Kinkaid. It could've opened up a spot for Wedgewood to get a bit of NHL playing time to end the season.

I mean, I guess, but Kinkaid is 27, UFA, and has played 60 NHL games. LA might pay for it, but Washington certainly should not.

 

[Bleedred]

Quick just returned today, I don't think they'd want Kinkaid. They'll ride Budaj as the backup the rest of the year, and he probably won't get many starts, barring Quick re-aggravating something.

I don't really think there's a market for goalies at all for this deadline. If Dallas or Philly were in the playoffs, maybe they'd take a shot at Bishop. I only say Philly because them going after Bishop looks too obvious at this point, with both of their goalies being UFA's. St Louis seems content to ride Allen and Hutton into a (likely) first round playoff exit. Miller is in the same position, not sure who would want him now either. Maybe Calgary could be interested in one of them? All the playoff teams other than St Louis and maybe Calgary, seem to be set in goal.

 

[Devils Dominion]

I was never a LJ fan when on other teams but I never thought he would be this terrible.

I like what Ray is doing here but this signing was a gaffe.

 

[Bleedred]

I was never a LJ fan when on other teams but I never thought he would be this terrible.

I like what Ray is doing here but this signing was a gaffe.

I think this signing was only a gaffe if the intention all along was to play him in the exact role that Larsson was in last year.

And in the beginning, it didn't seem like that was the intention. It certainly feels like that's the intention now though.

If it was made with the intention of using him like he was Larsson, then I guess it was a mistake. I never thought of it that way at the beginning though.

He either needs to be exposed and taken by Vegas next year or used as a middle (preferrably bottom) or bottom pairing guy going forward.

 

[Devils Dominion]

I think this signing was only a gaffe if the intention all along was to play him in the exact role that Larsson was in last year.

And in the beginning, it didn't seem like that was the intention. It certainly feels like that's the intention now though.

If it was made with the intention of using him like he was Larsson, then I guess it was a mistake. I never thought of it that way at the beginning though.

He either needs to be exposed and taken by Vegas next year or used as a middle (preferrably bottom) or bottom pairing guy going forward.

Traded/exposed/waived by next camp is what I'm hoping for-Ray should never have given him a 3-yr deal.
He's, not good.

 

[MadDevil]

The Lovejoy hate is just as dumb as the hate every other defensive defenseman who has been overplayed has taken over the years.

 

[Bleedred]

The Lovejoy hate is just as dumb as the hate every other defensive defenseman who has been overplayed has taken over the years.

I don't think it is

Most of the metrics say he's had a poor year, this isn't just mindless and made up bias here.

I still maintain the signing was needed and a necessary evil, to keep us from playing someone like Helgeson or Gormley (forgot we even had him in Albany) regularly this year and I still stand by it.

I don't stand by the way he's been used though.

 

[MadDevil]

The defense, as a whole, is flawed. Lovejoy sucks at making a pass to exit the zone, so he needs somebody who can. The only option on the left side that really fits is Greene. Quincey has similar issues to Lovejoy, and they're compounded by his lack of speed. The best option on the right side for him is Severson. Merrill and Santini have been good together for the most part, so it makes sense to keep them together.

If we swapped Severson and Lovejoy maybe the top pairing would be better, but a pairing of Quincey and Lovejoy would be a complete disaster. To me it seems like the coaching staff is trying to balance the pairings as much as possible. It's certainly not an optimal situation, but given the personnel we have it's probably about the best we can do.

 

[NJDevs26]

How did the Lovejoy signing hurt the team? They're way under the cap, and don't have other RHD options in the system that he's blocking from being in the NHL. If you want to take issue with how much he's playing vis-a-vis Sevs and Santini that's a coaching decision but I'm honestly glad they're trying not to subscribe to the too much, too soon approach that arguably hurt us the last few years.

 

[MadDevil]

I think Lovejoy was always meant to be a stopgap until Severson and Santini were ready for full-time top 4 roles. Plus we needed somebody on the right side who could kill penalties, which Lovejoy has been fine at for the most part this year. I think eventually Santini will take some of those minutes and Lovejoy will get dropped to the third pairing, where he belongs. There's really no reason, other than making certain fans happy, to just dump him this summer. If he's playing 20+ minutes again at this time next year, then we're probably in deep ****.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

One of the biggest problems I see is that since being out of the playoffs, we've been drafting B prospects in the first round, we have yet to come close to drafting a major building block at forward or defense. Granted, they don't come around every year but that's what we need. For this reason I can't blame Shero. He did add Hall and Palimieri. This will take a few more years or more. A type prospects are JT, Stammer, Doughty, McD, Matthews, Marner, Eichel and Laine. We need that type of pick.

 

[RSeen]

I think we definitely need someone who can drive his own line. Hall is obviously one guy, but I feel we need another. Not sure if Zacha is going to be, we will have to see down the line. Maybe we get lucky with this pick this year.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Zajac is what he is and has some years left. He's been in my view everything we could have wished this year. Great effort, you have to appreciate his two way play more and more. There isn't a playoff club around currently that wouldn't want him as a third line, maybe second line guy.

Cammalleri's swift decline was not anticipated. Though he did miss the entire second half of last year.

Yes we need another couple of major players - Hall caliber - at forward, and especially another couple of strong players at defense in order to contend at top tier.

We are a work in progress.

We are part of that second tier, essentially at parity with each other, scrambling for the last couple of playoff spots, not really contenders. What's above is what we'd need really to contend.

 

[Billdo]

One of the biggest problems I see is that since being out of the playoffs, we've been drafting B prospects in the first round, we have yet to come close to drafting a major building block at forward or defense. Granted, they don't come around every year but that's what we need. For this reason I can't blame Shero. He did add Hall and Palimieri. This will take a few more years or more. A type prospects are JT, Stammer, Doughty, McD, Matthews, Marner, Eichel and Laine. We need that type of pick.

Not for nothing but we haven't been in the top slots to pick these "type A" prospects. When we were we got Larsson which turned into Hall.