Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2023-24 season part III

[JrFischer54]

Got bullied into trading for toughness, fanf***ingtastic

Only on this board could a trade for meh And giving up even more meh could be met with such drama

 

[Emperoreddy]

Yeah, if they win tonight and Sunday, I'll fully prepared for them to trade for Markstrom at no retention by next Friday

Markstrom is the guy Fitz wants. It's most likely happening by the offseason the latest and I'm not convinced the price will be all that different compared to now.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Were there issues with the team not working hard?

Usually thats why you get a goon. Tell the players slacking:"We'll replace you with someone that doesn't even know how to skate, as long as they put in the work."

Fitz took it a step further. Not only saying we will replace you with a useless goon, but we will spend assets to aquire said goons and further hurt the team.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

This is exactly why I am foregoing watching games. If we lose, we lose. If we win, we lose.

Yep, I 100% get that. I'm kinda indifferent how they end the year and Fitz is definitely scaring me a bit with this trade.

Markstrom is the guy Fitz wants. It's most likely happening by the offseason the latest and I'm not convinced the price will be all that different compared to now.

Chances are it'll be lower in the offseason with Markstrom's comments. He basically just blasted his GM/owner in the media saying he thought he was gone but the retention point kept him in Calgary. Gonna be an awkward week there when the players know he waived to go to NJ (most likely) and he isn't 100% in with their group

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Yep, I 100% get that. I'm kinda indifferent how they end the year and Fitz is definitely scaring me a bit with this trade.

I mean, I wouldn't even care about getting him for a 7th, but also having to chip in a prospect of any kind of potential for a washed up goon that was on waivers is just poor judgement. We are totally trading a first and or Holtz for Markstrom with no retention.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I mean, I wouldn't even care about getting him for a 7th, but also having to chip in a prospect of any kind of potential for a washed up goon that was on waivers is just poor judgement. We are totally trading a first and or Holtz for Markstrom with no retention.

Probably don't think he's coming over but yeah fair I guess

 

[Emperoreddy]

 

[TheUnseenHand]

 

[Bone Density]

 

[MacKaRant]

Avalanche fan here. For what it's worth, the narrative after we lost to Vegas in the 2021 was that the team got physically intimidated out of the series. Avs front office picked up MacDermid following off-season, and many players said in the press that his presence made them all "feel bigger" on the ice.

As a fan, I don't see how that makes sense, but hockey players seem to buy the influence of having one of 2 or 3 toughest dudes in the league on your bench (for 57-58 minutes per game in MacDermid's case).

Of course, the ending is that the Avs with their increased feeling of collective toughness won the Cup in MacDermid's first season, but on the other hand, he didn't dress for a single game in the playoffs, so maybe nothing his presence was ultimately immaterial.

One thing we can say for certain is that he did scare the hell out of Jacob Trouba in a game two years ago.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Only on this board could a trade for meh And giving up even more meh could be met with such drama

Or the mentality that trading anything for garbage goons is bad, but sure

 

[MakoSlade]

Only on this board could a trade for meh And giving up even more meh could be met with such drama

I'm shocked at the negativity. Seriously shocked, even knowing the negativity around here from time to time.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Avalanche fan here. For what it's worth, the narrative after we lost to Vegas in the 2021 was that the team got physically intimidated out of the series. Avs front office picked up MacDermid following off-season, and many players said in the press that his presence made them all "feel bigger" on the ice.

As a fan, I don't see how that makes sense, but hockey players seem to buy the influence of having one of 2 or 3 toughest dudes in the league on your bench (for 57-58 minutes per game in MacDermid's case).

Of course, the ending is that the Avs with their increased feeling of collective toughness won the Cup in MacDermid's first season, but on the other hand, he didn't dress for a single game in the playoffs, so maybe nothing his presence was ultimately immaterial.

One thing we can say for certain is that he did scare the hell out of Jacob Trouba in a game two years ago.

This team has 2 guys in their top 6 that came from two of the most winning teams in the 2010's in Palat/Meier that also play a heavy game, there should be no reason they aren't a tough team to play against in general. It all stems from the HC being so lax with his damn players. Appreciate the write up but it still doesn't make me feel any better about this trade as meaningless as it is

 

[Lindys Lazy Eye]

One thing we can say for certain is that he did scare the hell out of Jacob Trouba in a game two years ago.

He's perfect!

 

[Devs3cups]

 

[MadDevil]

LOL this is the definition of a Who Gives A Shit trade.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

The funniest part of all the hand wringing about this is people acting like Bardakhov is a worthwhile prospect.

Fitzgerald knows this team is soft as shit. Do I think Macdermid is the answer? No, not really. But at least he senses the issue.

The part I don’t like is Macdermid being a UFA at the end of the season tells me Fitz is buying at the deadline. And that is just horrifically stupid with where they’re at.

 

[NJDevs26]

Mildly disappointed you boys haven't made a thread heralding MacDermid's arrival

The Avalanche's defence isn't an easy place to play but he's not played defence for us, he only ever got played at forward for ~3 minutes a night. If you put him on defence opposing players would simply skate around him, probably.

He can dangle, though

Yeah I assumed they would be playing him at forward, putting him on D made no sense even as a Smith replacement

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

The funniest part of all the hand wringing about this is people acting like Bardakhov is a worthwhile prospect.

Fitzgerald knows this team is soft as shit. Do I think Macdermid is the answer? No, not really. But at least he senses the issue.

The part I don’t like is Macdermid being a UFA at the end of the season tells me Fitz is buying at the deadline. And that is just horrifically stupid with where they’re at.

Right, I don't have an issue in admitting the team is soft but there's nothing MacDermid does that changes that by just sitting on the bench lol. We've seen this same shtick play with Reaves multiple times already

 

[longislanddevil]

By acquiescing on the retention ask, I wonder how much that affects what we have to send back to Calgary. I think Markstrom is a talented goalie and would be a great fit for us but it comes down to cost of acquisition. Perhaps Markstrom voicing his discontent with Calgary brass has a positive effect for us here.

Is a first round pick alone enough? I really do not want Holtz dealt and would much prefer a pick(s). This is still a 34 year old netminder and maybe the Flames are realizing they aren’t getting a haul (hopefully the case…it would be foolish).

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Right, I don't have an issue in admitting the team is soft but there's nothing MacDermid does that changes that by just sitting on the bench lol. We've seen this same shtick play with Reaves multiple times already

If we had what I would call a good fourth line I’d be more uneasy about it. But are we losing THAT much dressing MacDermid over Bastian for example? I doubt this guys suits up for many games either.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

If we had what I would call a good fourth line I’d be more uneasy about it. But are we losing THAT much dressing MacDermid over Bastian for example? I doubt this guys suits up for many games either.

I think we’d be losing a considerable amount. Bastian hasn’t had a great year, but he’s definitely been one of the better 4th liners around over the last few years. His defensive metrics have been mostly very good in his career plus he can PK. The other guy seems bad at everything.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

If we had what I would call a good fourth line I’d be more uneasy about it. But are we losing THAT much dressing MacDermid over Bastian for example? I doubt this guys suits up for many games either.

Well that's an issue in itself, we shouldn't be rostering these guys to be tough. Tough teams to play against have that in their lineup throughout. We complain about Carolina, Florida, etc and how they annoy the Devils consistently. It's not because they have a guy sitting on their bench to intimate to our stars lol

 

[MadDevil]

I'm not gonna lie, that old knuckle dragger part of me that loves hockey fights is looking forward to MacDermid vs Rempe in like 10 days.

 

[Saugus]

Well Rupp approves

Sounds like we just traded for Ogie Oglethorpe.

Now we can really be the toughest team in the Federal League.