Devils 2017-18 team discussion (player news and notes) - Offseason part IV

[NJDevs26]

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[njdevils1982]

cup.jpg?

 

[HBK27]

Hard to take TSN's expansion protection lists seriously when they have the Devils going 4-4-1 and protecting Lovejoy. I would be ecstatic if Vegas took him.

That being said, I firmly expect Shero to trade for a players prior to the expansion draft that NJ winds up protecting.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

So it looks like Eberle is definitely getting traded. Rumors are that a 3rd and 4th rounder may be enough to get it done. I'd do that in a millisecond with the amount of picks we have and the cap space/RW need.

 

[Blender]

So it looks like Eberle is definitely getting traded. Rumors are that a 3rd and 4th rounder may be enough to get it done. I'd do that in a millisecond with the amount of picks we have and the cap space/RW need.

A 3rd and 4th? Might as well.

 

[Billdo]

Hard to take TSN's expansion protection lists seriously when they have the Devils going 4-4-1 and protecting Lovejoy. I would be ecstatic if Vegas took him.

That being said, I firmly expect Shero to trade for a players prior to the expansion draft that NJ winds up protecting.

As much as I don't want Lovejoy on the team, it doesn't surprise me. I think going 4-4-1 allows them to try and get a trade done prior to the expansion draft and protect the defenseman we trade for.

Hall, Henrique, Palmieri, Zajac, Greene, Severson, Lovejoy, Merrill/Moore/Aquired D.

Vegas isn't taking Cammalleri. I can see them taking Bennett but I hope we manage to keep him. I really think Bennett should be here.

 

[Billdo]

A 3rd and 4th? Might as well.

If that's all the asking price is I'd imagine a lot of teams would be interested. I'd do it without even thinking about it.

 

[Zippy316]

Hard to take TSN's expansion protection lists seriously when they have the Devils going 4-4-1 and protecting Lovejoy. I would be ecstatic if Vegas took him.

That being said, I firmly expect Shero to trade for a players prior to the expansion draft that NJ winds up protecting.

As it stands now, Devils have to expose Cammalleri to meet the 40/70 requirement unless they extend one of Bennett, Noesen, or Josefson.

If they expose Cammalleri, they have to decide between protecting Josefson, Bennett, and Noesen OR another defender.

Given how much they used Lovejoy, I would be surprised if Shero/Hynes decided to protect him rather than protect 3LD (Greene, Moore, Merrill). Plus I would hope they are attempting to upgrade the LD position which would make protecting 3LD quite useless.

 

[RSeen]

Going to be an interesting off-season. I wouldn't mind adding a Sam Gagner or Kris Versteeg depending on the price and term. I am making these moves only if we manage to add two top four Dmen though. If we make moves like getting Shattenkirk and a Brodin/Vatenen, then definitely looking at adding a 2nd/3rd line RW.

 

[AfroThunder396]

A 3rd and a 4th seems silly. Even if you think Eberle is soft or whatever that's peanuts for a legitimate top-6 RW. I can't believe they value him the same as Yakupov, a guy who really never produced and was getting healthy scratched.

 

[RSeen]

A 3rd and a 4th seems silly. Even if you think Eberle is soft or whatever that's peanuts for a legitimate top-6 RW. I can't believe they value him the same as Yakupov, a guy who really never produced and was getting healthy scratched.

I'd definitely try to get Eberle, the guy gets too much hate. He had a down year and still had 51 points. He is definitely not getting traded for a 3rd or 4th. Having Eberle and Palmeri as our top 2 RW's gives us good depth at that position with BB as a fine bottom six guy. We could definitely be one of those teams with serious depth up front and create matchup problems for teams.

 

[None Shall Pass]

Lovejoy is Shero's guy. He'll be protected.

 

[HBK27]

As it stands now, Devils have to expose Cammalleri to meet the 40/70 requirement unless they extend one of Bennett, Noesen, or Josefson.

If they expose Cammalleri, they have to decide between protecting Josefson, Bennett, and Noesen OR another defender.

Given how much they used Lovejoy, I would be surprised if Shero/Hynes decided to protect him rather than protect 3LD (Greene, Moore, Merrill). Plus I would hope they are attempting to upgrade the LD position which would make protecting 3LD quite useless.

Extending one of those 3 is really simple, so that's really a non-issue.

I could see Cammalleri being exposed - not that the Devils don't want him for next season, but I'd be a bit surprised if Vegas took a 35 year old injury-prone player with a big contract that's coming off a disappointing season. He certainly doesn't figure into either team's long-term plans.

I guess the "good news" for the Devils is that they do have few offensive players beyond Hall, Henrique, Zajac and Palmieri worth protecting so they do have some flexibility to go 7-3-1 or 4-4-1. I just think it's a matter of who they acquire before the expansion draft that dictates which direction they go.

I'd actually be more shocked if they didn't make a trade prior to the expansion draft and just protected what they have now, that is almost makes it pointless to try to figure out who they will/won't protect. Though as of now, I'm hoping for:

Hall-Henrique-Zajac-Palmieri
Severson-Greene-Merrill-Defenseman picked up in trade
Schneider

A 3rd and a 4th seems silly. Even if you think Eberle is soft or whatever that's peanuts for a legitimate top-6 RW. I can't believe they value him the same as Yakupov, a guy who really never produced and was getting healthy scratched.

Does seem like a rather light asking price, though it's partially also a salary dump as well since they need to resign Dras and extend McDavid. His playoff performance didn't help at all either and any team trading for him also has to protect him in the expansion draft, which also hurts his value. So maybe a 3rd and 4th is not too far off.

 

[HBK27]

Lovejoy is Shero's guy. He'll be protected.

I've been a big fan of Shero's work so far, but if protects Lovejoy in the expansion draft I will have lost all faith in him.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Hall-Patrick-Eberle
Camm-Zajac-Palmieri
Zacha-Henrique-Blandisi
Wood-Quenneville-Bennett

Not too shabby.

 

[Nubmer6]

Put together a Camm-Patrick-Bennett line and and see who gets injured first

 

[R8Devs]

I've been a big fan of Shero's work so far, but if protects Lovejoy in the expansion draft I will have lost all faith in him.

what an overreaction. the team barely has enough players to protect (unless a trade happens) so it's not like protecting Lovejoy is going to make the Devils lose a prized defenseman.

 

[RSeen]

Hall-Patrick-Eberle
Camm-Zajac-Palmieri
Zacha-Henrique-Blandisi
Wood-Quenneville-Bennett

Not too shabby.

I think JQ is almost certainly a top 9 forward next season. I see him or Zacha in that 2nd line LW role. Cammalleri hopefully gone.

 

[HBK27]

what an overreaction. the team barely has enough players to protect (unless a trade happens) so it's not like protecting Lovejoy is going to make the Devils lose a prized defenseman.

It just would not make any sense to protect Lovejoy after the season he had last year, a contract on the higher side of what he should be making and having Merrill and Moore as significantly younger options.

Hopefully a moot point anyway if Shero picks up a d-man in a trade, but I don't see any reason Lovejoy should be protected.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

If we pick up Eberle and sign Shattenkirk...

Hall - Patrick - Palmieri
Zacha - Zajac - Eberle
JQ/Cam - Henrique - Blandisi/Noesen/Speers
Wood - McLeod - Bennett

Greene - Severson
Merrill - Shattenkirk
X - Santini

X = Moore/OV2/trade

That's a way better offense.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I think JQ is almost certainly a top 9 forward next season. I see him or Zacha in that 2nd line LW role. Cammalleri hopefully gone.

I agree with you and hope that is the case, but given the pieces in front of us I think it's between JQ and Blandisi for RW3 and C4, and I think Blandisi is a better fit at RW3 than he is at C4.

I think 4th line center gets a bad rap, if he's playing a regular shift with Wood and Bennett that's a legitimate line than can do stuff. Whether they're fourth in the rotation or not doesn't really bother me.

 

[Billdo]

I've been a big fan of Shero's work so far, but if protects Lovejoy in the expansion draft I will have lost all faith in him.

And immediately had a huge over reaction...

 

[Billdo]

Hall-Patrick-Eberle
Camm-Zajac-Palmieri
Zacha-Henrique-Blandisi
Wood-Quenneville-Bennett

Not too shabby.

I'd go

Hall-Patrick-Eberle
Zacha-Zajac-Palmieri
Blandisi-Henrique-Bennett
Wood-JQ-Noesen

 

[AfroThunder396]

On the surface there's a lot to like about Lovejoy. I'm talking about optics. He hits all the right buzzwords. "Veteran" "leader" "experience" "toughness" "physicality" "Cup winner" "steady". It makes sense why you would want a guy with all those qualifiers on your team.

The problem is that he is very bad at playing hockey, so the attributes don't really mean a lot. But if we can deal with three years of Volchenkov then we can deal with two more years of this guy.

 

[Bleedred]

On the surface there's a lot to like about Lovejoy. I'm talking about optics. He hits all the right buzzwords. "Veteran" "leader" "experience" "toughness" "physicality" "Cup winner" "steady". It makes sense why you would want a guy with all those qualifiers on your team.

The problem is that he is very bad at playing hockey, so the attributes don't really mean a lot. But if we can deal with three years of Volchenkov then we can deal with two more years of this guy.

I think the biggest difference between he and Volchenkov was that he averaged 5 more minutes of ice time per game last year than Volchenkov did in his Devils career. I think if he was playing Volchenkov minutes, we can probably deal with him. I don't think he'll be good as a bottom pairing defender, neither was Volchenkov. But playing him 5 minutes less would be a lot better for the team.

Even if we don't protect him, I think it's very unlikely Vegas takes him. Best case is hoping they take Moore or they take DSP or Prout, as both are wasted space. I don't see why they'd take either of them but I could see them taking Moore if he's available.