Speculation: New Jersey Offseason IX - The Summer of Shero Edition

[NJDevils17]

I'm not sure thats true at all. To start the year:

Greene
Larsson
Schlemko
Severson
Merrill
Moore

vs.

Greene
Severson
Lovejoy
Merrill
Moore
??

give me last year's D over this year's easily.

In a vacuum they're better players except I think Lovejoy>Schlemko defensively. Larsson is obviously better than Severson right now. I'm not going to debate that. I just think the system/role the top pairing played last year is replaceable and we saw that with Fayne. I'm only really concerned about PK situations.

The problem with Greene-Larsson was they didn't score any goals. Their GF% was straight up bad. Preventing goals is fine but we have to score at some point. Severson being better offensively should help that.

Moore-Lovejoy should be the same as last year if not better defensively.

Merrill-Santini? is the same than the crap we iced last year if not better.

 

[devilsblood]

I honestly think that we're one top #4 d-man away from being relevant. We're currently a bubble team, so stabilizing our top #4 would put us with teams like Detroit, Rangers, etc for a wildcard spot.

I agree, but is it better to sign that vet, be relevant on paper at the start of the season? or give Merrill another go and have it payoff more down the road.

And look I know Merrill is reaching the end of the rope, it's approaching now or never time for sure, but I'm still giving him the oppurtunity. He's signed, he's out of waivers, there is/was potential there. And for once it looks like hell have an oppurtunity to be paired with a solid veteran. I'm not squeezing him out for a borderline veteran mid pairing d-man, which is about all you could expect to bring in at this point.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

I think this is where I currently stand:

Hall-Henrique-Bennett (I am not crazy about this)
Cammalleri-Zajac-Palmieri
Boucher-Zacha-DSP
Josefson-Fiddler-Kalinin

Greene-Severson
Moore-Lovejoy (don't love this either)
Merrill-Santini


PP

Hall (front of net)
Palmieri-Henrique-Cammalleri
Severson

DSP (front of net)
Zacha-Zajac-Boucher
Moore/Greene

PK

Henrique-Zajac
Greene-Lovejoy

Josefson-Cammalleri
Merrill-Santini

1. I think Elias needs to be given a contract. 8 points in 16 games is solid production.

2. I think Cammalleri should be on line 3 for two reasons. Balance out scoring. and Boucher - Zajac - Palmieri line worked well. if it aint broke, don't fix it.

3. I like the PP units.

4. If no additional defenseman is signed, Merrill-Santini could be a real ugly pairing. Put Merrill with BL and Moore with SS.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

1. I think Elias needs to be given a contract. 8 points in 16 games is solid production.

2. I think Cammalleri should be on line 3 for two reasons. Balance out scoring. and Boucher - Zajac - Palmieri line worked well. if it aint broke, don't fix it.

3. I like the PP units.

4. If no additional defenseman is signed, Merrill-Santini could be a real ugly pairing. Put Merrill with BL and Moore with SS.

I'm not counting on anything for Elias. using a 16 game sample size when nearly half his points came in one game against the Toronto Marlies is foolish. He is my favorite Devil of all-time but I think his time is done

 

[devilsblood]

I like Santini more than most people I would say, but that still doesn't mean I have confidence in a rookie playing big minutes

There can always be another signing, of course. I am just not sure who that would be and how much that they'd actually help. I like Wisniewski but he is a righty and who the hell knows if he is healthy.

1)Santini won't be asked to play big minutes off the bat. If he forces our hand by demanding big minutes that's excellent, but he'll be a the 3rd pairing d-man.

2)I'm not seeing the point of bringing in another question mark of a player. We have question marks already. If it's a clear cut significant upgrade then sure, but otherwise I'd rather see if Merrill can finally make that jump. If he flops, then I think we can close the book on Merrill and look to make a move at that point.

 

[Burner Account]

1. I think Elias needs to be given a contract. 8 points in 16 games is solid production.

2. I think Cammalleri should be on line 3 for two reasons. Balance out scoring. and Boucher - Zajac - Palmieri line worked well. if it aint broke, don't fix it.

3. I like the PP units.

4. If no additional defenseman is signed, Merrill-Santini could be a real ugly pairing. Put Merrill with BL and Moore with SS.

13 of those 16 games were before a knee surgery. And he has had a second knee surgery since. He is also 40 years old. It is unrealistic to assume he will produce at that clip.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

The good thing is that we're in need of a 2nd pairing left hand d-man and those types of players are probably the easiest to find on the market.

 

[NJDevils17]

I guess .5 ppg is fine but it's still third line production in a really small sample size. I think Elias' time is up unfortunately. He just didn't really look the same which stinks. I don't want to bring him back because it'll be sentimental. What if he starts playing poorly? Are we going to sit him? I don't want him in that spot where it'll be awkward.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

If Patrik Elias were to play all 82 games next season, which I don't assume will be the case, he would probably get around 28-35 points which to me, is fine production for a 3rd line with PP time.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

1)Santini won't be asked to play big minutes off the bat. If he forces our hand by demanding big minutes that's excellent, but he'll be a the 3rd pairing d-man.

2)I'm not seeing the point of bringing in another question mark of a player. We have question marks already. If it's a clear cut significant upgrade then sure, but otherwise I'd rather see if Merrill can finally make that jump. If he flops, then I think we can close the book on Merrill and look to make a move at that point.

Merrill has had his share of chances and hasn't proved anything outside of being a bottom pairing/7th d-man. If Shero can get a upgrade, I think he'll pull the trigger. The d-men Shero got this summer aren't locks either so we're dealing with several question marks ATM.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

The good thing is that we're in need of a 2nd pairing left hand d-man and those types of players are probably the easiest to find on the market.

I'd argue we're in need of a young (under 26) 1st pairing LHD because I'm not convinced Andy Greene will be able to handle 22+ minutes a night for much longer.

Cam Fowler fits the bill so perfectly, I just have no idea the cost. I know they want a top 6 LW, but they may not be interested in Cammalleri due to age, injury history, and contract.

Would a package of:
Blandisi + Merrill + 2017 1st (top3 protected)
for
Fowler + Stoner/Bieksa (cap dump)

get it done? Idk. Detroit could beat that with Nyquist/Tatar.

Merrill would be their 3LHD behind Lindholm and Depres.

 

[Bleedred]

I guess .5 ppg is fine but it's still third line production in a really small sample size. I think Elias' time is up unfortunately. He just didn't really look the same which stinks. I don't want to bring him back because it'll be sentimental. What if he starts playing poorly? Are we going to sit him? I don't want him in that spot where it'll be awkward.

I think we can shelter him if that happens and he won't be playing the most position on the ice, as was the case with Marty.

I think he can be a good depth option if injuries start happening. I'd be shocked if he's worse than Josefson or Kalinin. And while it could be painful, watching guys like Josefson and Kalinin struggle just to hit the 15 or 20 point barrier last year was really painful and sad.

 

[devilsblood]

Merrill has had his share of chances and hasn't proved anything outside of being a bottom pairing/7th d-man. If Shero can get a upgrade, I think he'll pull the trigger. The d-men Shero got this summer aren't locks either so we're dealing with several question marks ATM.

He's never had that solid veteran presence.

But again, Greene, Sev's, Lovejoy and Moore are going to play. 3 of them are definite's in the top 4. A good portion of the defensive minutes are accounted for.

Personally I want to see Santini in the NHL at the start of the year, but if not at the start then at some point during the year. If you bring in another dependable rhd, you are saying Santini def won't start the year in the NHL, and may not get much of a chance at all during the year.

That's where camp comes in to play, and like last year you bring in a vet like Schlem to compete and be there if Santini is not ready, but I don't think you bring in a guy now and take the Santini option off the table.

 

[devilsblood]

I'd argue we're in need of a young (under 26) 1st pairing LHD because I'm not convinced Andy Greene will be able to handle 22+ minutes a night for much longer.
.

Agree, the move to make would be a legit top pairing guy, and ya a leftie, so as to take pressure off Greene.

Very difficult move to make though.

Edit: if you squeeze Merrill to make a move like that, then so be it. But if your talking about a Schlem type guy? Yeah nah.

 

[Cheddabombs]

I've mentioned it before but I'm very intrigued to see how the pairing of Greene and Severson will differ from Greene and Larsson. I think they'll be used to drive the play more instead of just holding the fort. Greene and especially Severson are pretty good skaters and I think they'll be able to create more offensive opportunities if given the green light. Especially after Shero dubbed Greene as one of our better offensive Dmen, I'm thinking we'll see a different playstyle come out of that top pair.

 

[Triumph]

by my quick math, we had 20 goals total from the DMen last year

that had to have been among the worst

That's not going to get better any time soon. The Devils don't play a system that focuses on the point man 5 on 5 and they don't use a defenseman as the primary shooter on the power play. They also do not have any defensemen in their system that score goals.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

I'm also an advocate for a Cammalleri-Zacha-DSP third line.

For some reason, Cammalleri seems to have good chemistry with 'clunky' players. We saw it a lot with Tootoo. DSP on his opposite wing would give him a higher-quality linemate, but with a similar hard-nosed play style.

I also think Zacha and DSP would benefit from having a productive veteran on their line, production-wise and development-wise. In a perfect world, that veteran is Patty, but I just don't think that's realistic.

It also balances out scoring very well.

 

[hockeyr5]

I guess .5 ppg is fine but it's still third line production in a really small sample size. I think Elias' time is up unfortunately. He just didn't really look the same which stinks. I don't want to bring him back because it'll be sentimental. What if he starts playing poorly? Are we going to sit him? I don't want him in that spot where it'll be awkward.

If we got .5 PPG from any third liners we should be ecstatic. The only players who were over that with a decent GP last year were Palmieri, Henrique, Zajac, and then Cam (half of a season), and Stempniak (three fourths of a season).

Elias, Zacha, and DSP broke .5 but in small sample sizes. Boucher was just under in half a season of GP.

 

[NJDevils17]

Cammalleri needs more time than 3rd line minutes. He was top 20 in ppg last season. He's a #1LW in the league, no way he's on the third line.

 

[Ripshot 43]

Our 2017 first would be near the top of my list of untouchable assets at this point in the offseason. I'm very happy with the direction this team is headed but a huge part of our turn around has been reloading the pipeline that last few years with decent picks.

 

[Smitty426]

Our 2017 first would be near the top of my list of untouchable assets at this point in the off0-season. I'm very happy with the direction this team is headed but a huge part of our turn around has been reloading the pipeline that last few years with decent picks.

But doesn't Fowler a huge part of that reload?
A 24 yo leftie PMD
He's not old so I consider him "post pipeline-ish" but exactly what we would hope our D men grow into
Fills a need right now

I think its a little too much but the '17 1st and some pieces are not outrageous. Fowler is a top 4 D playing in the west

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Cammalleri needs more time than 3rd line minutes. He was top 20 in ppg last season. He's a #1LW in the league, no way he's on the third line.

He would be getting 1st PP minutes. I agree he is definitely a #1LW in the league, but with his age and injury concerns, maybe keeping his minutes down will be beneficial.

Our 2017 first would be near the top of my list of untouchable assets at this point in the offseason. I'm very happy with the direction this team is headed but a huge part of our turn around has been reloading the pipeline that last few years with decent picks.

If it is the main piece in returning Fowler or Shattenkirk, it is 100% worth giving it up. We need good defensemen that contribute offensively

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Our 2017 first would be near the top of my list of untouchable assets at this point in the offseason. I'm very happy with the direction this team is headed but a huge part of our turn around has been reloading the pipeline that last few years with decent picks.

why?

if the pick is dealt in a deal for a young top 4 DMan or RW I wouldnt hate it at all

we finally have some good forward depth in the organization

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

Cammalleri needs more time than 3rd line minutes. He was top 20 in ppg last season. He's a #1LW in the league, no way he's on the third line.

I'd imagine Boucher-Zajac-Palmieri and Cammalleri-Zacha-DSP being 2a/2b lines. Don't look too far into where the line is positioned in the mock lineup.

And, now that I think about it, 'sheltering' Cammy with lesser 5v5 minutes and giving him loads of special teams time could help mitigate his tendency to get injured.

 

[217 Forever]

why?

if the pick is dealt in a deal for a young top 4 DMan or RW I wouldnt hate it at all

we finally have some good forward depth in the organization

Agree. We are at the point now where trading a high draft pick for, at the moment, what might be "the missing piece" shouldn't be a definite no-go especially when that piece is still young.