GDT: Devils @ Maple Leafs, 7:00 PM

[NJDevs26]

I just don’t see a way Recchi gets whacked without Ruff also getting whacked.

I’ve read those quotes before, but they’re really cringy right now. I hope he isn’t kept around because he still has “Good leadership, communication abilities, and patience and that has presence has been very integral to the continued growth of our young core”.

I just threw up in my mouth.

We may cringe but they're gonna put the breakouts of Hughes, Bratt and Nico this year as a plus for Recchi overall.

 

[Bleedred]

We may cringe but they're gonna put the breakouts of Hughes, Bratt and Nico this year as a plus for Recchi overall.

I don't buy it. They were all gonna break out anyway and all were good players already before he got here.

If anything, I could understand giving Ruff credit for that, but I can't see whoever has the most say in this power play coming back whatsoever. I think Ruff has a lot to do with it. @Guttersniped has cited the article that would suggest heavily that Recchi is the man in full command of it. That's why I think I want a clean sweep of this staff.

I don't blame Ruff for the 60-something point seasons here and if we don't f***in fix the goaltending and think Blackwood can still be a good goalie if he's healthy and is the starter next year (all signs point to that not being the case, whether Blackwood is here or not) then the new staff won't have success here either.

But I really think it's probably time for a clean sweep.

If Fitzy thinks there's a GOOD chance that he's gonna have to fire Ruff before next season ends (And you know it's something that crosses every GM's mind in this position), then he may as well get it over with right at the end of the season. There will be more options in the offseason and if we wait until November, December, January of next season, we're getting (probably) interim Nas 2.0 again, some other assistant or Dineen. And I know a lot of people here like Dineen, but this year was the time to f*** around with a Dineen experiment.

I'd honestly rather roll the dice on the next version of John Hynes (rookie NHL head coach with absolutely no head coaching experience in the NHL) than one of these retreads that have had limited to no NHL success when they've been head coach.

Dineen would be fine as an interim, the problem is that if we have an interim next year, that's a bad thing and means we should have sacked these current guys in the offseason.

 

[Blender]

I don't buy it. They were all gonna break out anyway and all were good players already before he got here.

If anything, I could understand giving Ruff credit for that, but I can't see whoever has the most say in this power play coming back whatsoever. I think Ruff has a lot to do with it. @Guttersniped has cited the article that would suggest heavily that Recchi is the man in full command of it. That's why I think I want a clean sweep of this staff.

I don't blame Ruff for the 60-something point seasons here and if we don't f***in fix the goaltending and think Blackwood can still be a good goalie if he's healthy and is the starter next year (all signs point to that not being the case, whether Blackwood is here or not) then the new staff won't have success here either.

But I really think it's probably time for a clean sweep.

If Fitzy thinks there's a GOOD chance that he's gonna have to fire Ruff before next season ends (And you know it's something that crosses every GM's mind in this position), then he may as well get it over with right at the end of the season. There will be more options in the offseason and if we wait until November, December, January of next season, we're getting (probably) interim Nas 2.0 again, some other assistant or Dineen. And I know a lot of people here like Dineen, but this year was the time to f*** around with a Dineen experiment.

I'd honestly rather roll the dice on the next version of John Hynes (rookie NHL head coach with absolutely no head coaching experience in the NHL) than one of these retreads that have had limited to no NHL success when they've been head coach.

Dineen would be fine as an interim, the problem is that if we have an interim next year, that's a bad thing and means we should have sacked these current guys in the offseason.

The worst thing we could do is hire some dinosaur who will stifle our best players. Ruff is old but he's clearly adapted to the modern game and coaches like it, regardless of his faults. So if the option is Ruff or some retread that refused to change, you stick with Ruff.

Recchi needs to go 100% though, our power play is embarrassing.

 

[Devils731]

The worst thing we could do is hire some dinosaur who will stifle our best players. Ruff is old but he's clearly adapted to the modern game and coaches like it, regardless of his faults. So if the option is Ruff or some retread that refused to change, you stick with Ruff.

Recchi needs to go 100% though, our power play is embarrassing.

I’m not sure Ruff has adapted to the modern game as his teams stink defensively and his offense is carried by a few gifted players.

Maybe Ruff changed but I don’t think he runs a cohesive team system, modern or otherwise.

 

[Blender]

I’m not sure Ruff has adapted to the modern game as his teams stink defensively and his offense is carried by a few gifted players.

Maybe Ruff changed but I don’t think he runs a cohesive team system, modern or otherwise.

He's adapted to the modern game because we play an up-tempo attacking game that relies on speed and passing. We're one of the top teams in the league at generating quality scoring chances and we're middle of the league in preventing them.

The team does not stink defensively, it's mediocre and the egregious breakdowns that happen are a problem, but goaltending makes the team look far worse defensively than it actually is.

 

[Devils731]

He's adapted to the modern game because we play an up-tempo attacking game that relies on speed and passing. We're one of the top teams in the league at generating quality scoring chances and we're middle of the league in preventing them.

The team does not stink defensively, it's mediocre and the egregious breakdowns that happen are a problem, but goaltending makes the team look far worse defensively than it actually is.

There were old school teams that relied on speed and passing as well, that’s not a solely modern tactic. The Devils generate a lot of scoring chances because Bratt and Hughes are monsters at creating scoring chances, they don’t need a coach building a system to allow that.

The team has an atrocious defensive system. The breakdowns that constantly occur happen because the system is seemingly designed to lose structure in favor of aggressive puck pursuit.

Ruff’s team in Dallas was awful too. The goalies here haven’t been good but they’re also given little help on many nights.

 

[Blender]

There were old school teams that relied on speed and passing as well, that’s not a solely modern tactic. The Devils generate a lot of scoring chances because Bratt and Hughes are monsters at creating scoring chances, they don’t need a coach building a system to allow that.

The team has an atrocious defensive system. The breakdowns that constantly occur happen because the system is seemingly designed to lose structure in favor of aggressive puck pursuit.

Ruff’s team in Dallas was awful too. The goalies here haven’t been good but they’re also given little help on many nights.

Your point about old school teams makes no sense, the league has changed many times over many decades. Ruff came up during the dead puck era and again adapted post-2005. He's changed his approach multiple times over the decades he's been doing this.

His Dallas team was much worse at preventing chances than the Devils have been, it's not even close.

 

[Billdo]

If we had league average goaltending I think we'd be a bubble team, probably not good enough to actually make the playoffs but certainly closer than we've been. I don't like blaming it all on goaltending bc we have a plethora of other problems but we haven't had solid goaltending in years.

 

[Devils731]

Your point about old school teams makes no sense, the league has changed many times over many decades. Ruff came up during the dead puck era and again adapted post-2005. He's changed his approach multiple times over the decades he's been doing this.

His Dallas team was much worse at preventing chances than the Devils have been, it's not even close.

You said modern systems are attacking with speed and passing, as if older systems never had those.

This is the Devils team with probably the poorest defensive structure I’ve ever seen. They don’t get receive the benefit of their aggressive system, ending opponents possession early, but so suffer the weaknesses, difficulty exiting the zone and players being out of possession.

When Jack Han was making his systems book, my impression of how he felt about what the Devils were doing was “wtf?”

 

[Auto Pilot]

Slafkovski Jiricek Nemec. One of those three or trade down for Cutter . A stud power forward or stud RHD would make us scary good . As in Harlem Globetrotters good.

Those picks are fine, if we are out of that window trade the pick and try to grab debrincat from the hawks

 

[pulkit1989]

I’m wondering why everyone likes him so much.

I’m highly skeptical that he’s an NHL caliber head coach. At least not a good one.

The time to experiment with him was this year if we would have sacked Ruff. We did not do that. I think we can do better.

It’s too late for a Dineen experiment and if Ruff is sacked after this year (like he should be), I’m pretty sure Dineen we be promoted to head coach for the NHL team next year.

Now if we make the WRONG move and bring him back, we might be looking at Dineen as our next head coach…. Come approximately December of 2022….

I agree with you on Ruff and company. This team needs a new coach and more responsible playing structure. I am not sure whether Dineen is the answer or not but he has done well in Utica. Really well.
If not dineen, who would you want to see behind the bench?

 

[Bleedred]

I agree with you on Ruff and company. This team needs a new coach and more responsible playing structure. I am not sure whether Dineen is the answer or not but he has done well in Utica. Really well.
If not dineen, who would you want to see behind the bench?

I don't know who will be available, but I'd sooner take on the next John Hynes than a big name retread like Alain Vigneault or Claude Julien (he's not as good as he gets credit for) and keep Travis Green the f*** away from everyone unless one of our rivals wants to hire him. He's really looking like John MacLean-lite (nobody in the history of hockey is as bad as the real MacLean though) right now.

When I say the next John Hynes I mean someone coming into their first NHL head coaching job. Some guy ready to move up, not the same style of coach and systems as John Hynes.

I'd rather keep Ruff (Recchi needs to take a wrecking ball no matter what) than hire one of the dinosaur veteran coaches.

I'm not sold on Dineen at all, BUT if he were an interim and got an audition that way it wouldn't be the worst thing. Problem is if we're at a point where we need an interim next season then we're gonna regret not making a change in the offseason.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Agree. @StevenToddIves has completely sold me on Gauthier.

In 18 USHL games, Cutter has 18 goals. Second on the team is Nazar -- whom I also love -- with 14 goals in 21 USHL games.

 

[StevenToddIves]

^^^ Not to turn this conversation into the draft but I think this MIGHT be the draft where we trade down, if we end up with the #1 (or #2) pick.

If the Devils get the #1 pick, they likely trade down. If they get the #2 pick, I think NJ takes Slafkovsky.

 

[StevenToddIves]

What? No it isn't. It is not critical to draft top 5 at all this year.

If you want one of the big 2 RD of Jiricek/Nemec you're probably going to need a top 6 pick. Slafkovsky is close to a top 3 lock. But again, I'm perfectly fine if the Devils get hot and wind up with the #8 or #9 pick, because Cutter Gauthier will likely still be there and he's exactly what the doctor ordered. There's no better forward at creating screens or scoring off rebounds in the entire 2022 class.