Speculation: New Jersey Offseason VIII - Summer Heat Edition

[MichaelJ]

If we trade the 2017 1st for a roster player who can contribute now then we're going to pick higher and it won't be as bad. If we do it for a top 4 dman then we're going to be a playoff team more likely than not and I'd easily trade away a pick anywhere from 16 and beyond. It makes a lot of sense honestly.

I completely agree with this logic

 

[JBthree24]

Great job by Shero this week!

 

[JimEIV]

Opening night lineup 2015-16
Reid Boucher
Mike Cammalleri
Stephen Gionta
Andy Greene
Adam Henrique
Jacob Josefson
Sergey Kalinin
Adam Larsson
Jonathon Merrill
John Moore
Kyle Palmieri
Tuomo Ruutu
David Schlemko
Damon Severson
Lee Stempniak
Jiri Tlusty
Jordin Tootoo
Travis Zajac
Corey Schneider


Projected opening night lineup 2016-17
Taylor Hall
Adam Henrique
Beau Bennett
Mike Cammalleri
Travis Zajac
Kyle Palmieri
Reid Boucher
Pavel Zacha
Devante Smith-Pelly
Jacob Josefson
Vern Fiddler
Sergei Kalinin
Andy Greene
Damon Severson
Jon Merrill
Ben Lovejoy
John Moore
Steve Santini
Corey Schneider

 

[Triumph]

this year's team ALREADY has a **** ton more depth than last year's

Last year's team didn't need depth because Greene, Larsson, Palmieri, Stempniak/Smith-Pelly didn't miss a game, Henrique and Zajac barely missed any games, Schneider missed a few, and Cammalleri missed half the season. That was it. The fact that people like Tlusty and Ruutu and Josefson and Elias missed lots of time didn't really matter; they weren't very good.

the offense, even as it stands right now, is going to be MUCH better than last year. Plus, we DID have Schneider miss about a month last year.

Hall is a huge add, no doubt, but as composed I think this is still a bottom 5 offense without large contributions from young players.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Last year's team didn't need depth because Greene, Larsson, Palmieri, Stempniak/Smith-Pelly didn't miss a game, Henrique and Zajac barely missed any games, Schneider missed a few, and Cammalleri missed half the season. That was it. The fact that people like Tlusty and Ruutu and Josefson and Elias missed lots of time didn't really matter; they weren't very good.



Hall is a huge add, no doubt, but as composed I think this is still a bottom 5 offense without large contributions from young players.

I feel like this team is bottom third of the league, but near the top of the bottom third. Essentially like last years team. Except they are now trending in the right direction.

 

[Emperoreddy]

This isn't true. Other teams have depth. The Devils simply do not. Right now they have no depth at all at center. They have little depth at RW - if Palmieri were to get hurt, right now filling in for him would be DSP or Bennett. They have some depth at LW. They don't have some wunderkind goalie waiting if Schneider goes down. They have no depth at LHD (as of now). They have a tiny amount of depth at RHD in that they probably have above replacement level players down to their 5th RHD, but if Severson gets hurt, it's big trouble.

Last year's team rested on about 7 players, most of whom stayed healthy the entire season. This season won't be as stark, but they're still in trouble if certain guys get hurt.

You injure keys players on most teams and they will suffer a lot.

Very few teams have the kind of depth to prop them up through big injuries to their star talent.

Most teams are screwed if they lose their number one Dman and their starting goalie

 

[NJDevils17]

Kings season rides on Doughty
Rangers season rides on Lundqvist
Sharks season rides on Thornton
Penguins season rides on Crosby
Montreals season rides on Price


That's not even all of the teams I could say that about. It's not like Schneider is injury prone.

 

[RSeen]

Santini COULD become a good shut-down guy. Potential is far from a guaranteed thing, Larsson is a big loss. Lovejoy sure as heck is not a replacement. And Santini is a rookie.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Hall makes the top 6 a lot better, and it is nearly impossible for our bottom 6 to be as bad as it was last year, and it was insanely bad.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Kings season rides on Doughty
Rangers season rides on Lundqvist
Sharks season rides on Thornton
Penguins season rides on Crosby
Montreals season rides on Price


That's not even all of the teams I could say that about. It's not like Schneider is injury prone.

Neither is Greene. He is the opposite, he is an iron man. He almost never misses time.

 

[RSeen]

Hall makes the top 6 a lot better, and it is nearly impossible for our bottom 6 to be as bad as it was last year, and it was insanely bad.

Fidler was a good depth pick up (as long as he doesn't decline significantly). We have some talent coming up in JQ who could be ready for bottom 6 duties, and should provide an improvement whenever he is ready. Automatic improvement from moving on from Tootoo and Gionta.

 

[JimEIV]

Last year's team didn't need depth because Greene, Larsson, Palmieri, Stempniak/Smith-Pelly didn't miss a game, Henrique and Zajac barely missed any games, Schneider missed a few, and Cammalleri missed half the season. That was it. The fact that people like Tlusty and Ruutu and Josefson and Elias missed lots of time didn't really matter; they weren't very good.



Hall is a huge add, no doubt, but as composed I think this is still a bottom 5 offense without large contributions from young players.

We saw guys who played in the top 6 like Boucher, DSP and Kalinin who most likely will on the 3rd and 4th lines next season...Blandisi who also spent considerable time in the top 6 will probably be in Albany...no depth? Seriously?

And those guys performed well in their time in the top 6....Come on now. Sure this isn't the Chicago Blackhawks but the increase in depth is dramatic.

And on top of all that you most likely will have Quenneville, Blandisi, Wood, Pietila, Coleman, Helgeson, perhaps Santini or Jacobs looking for the first call up....we had nothing close to that last season...the increase in depth is astronomical.

 

[NJDevils17]

Zacha, Boucher, DSP and Fiddler are all better than the guys we had in the bottom 6 last year.

 

[Triumph]

Kings season rides on Doughty
Rangers season rides on Lundqvist
Sharks season rides on Thornton
Penguins season rides on Crosby
Montreals season rides on Price


That's not even all of the teams I could say that about. It's not like Schneider is injury prone.

This is ludicrous though. The Rangers lost Lundqvist for a long stretch in 2014-15 and won the President's Trophy. While I doubt that would happen now, it did happen then - he barely played half the games that year. The Penguins have played large stretches of seasons without Sidney Crosby and have made the playoffs in spite of it. These teams you're mentioning all have way more depth than NJ (besides Montreal, who do have more depth but have a horrendous coach).

If the Devils lost Schneider for a huge stretch like Lundqvist was lost, they would be likely be screwed. This team with .910 SV% goaltending is a losing team for sure. This team with .900 SV% is probably one of the worst teams in the league, if not the worst.

They shouldn't give up the 1st round pick. One player reasonably attainable in a deal with that 1st isn't likely to move the needle enough. They still have Henrique and Zajac as their top 2 centers with prayers besides.

 

[NJDevils17]

Devils were 2nd in man games lost last year with 405.

 

[JimEIV]

Devils were 2nd in man games lost last year with 405.

Seriously? I'm shocked? I thought they were relatively healthy last season. Is that counting Clowe?

 

[NJDevils17]

Seriously? I'm shocked? I thought they were relatively healthy last season. Is that counting Clowe?

Actually I think it does count Clowe. Even if you do count him we were only 4 games behind 7th.

 

[Rhodes 81]

If this is the defense we take into the season, we will be a bottom 5 team.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Hi guys, Sharks fan.

Anyone have the run-down on Schlemko? I'm only familiar with his play in Arizona, and I heard he had a pretty good year last year.

Also enjoy Hall!

 

[Triumph]

Devils were 2nd in man games lost last year with 405.

Yes, and this counts a bunch of guys who didn't do anything for the team. Cammalleri, Schneider, 8 games of Henrique, and a few games of Zajac, were the only big losses. I don't care that Clowe missed the season or that Ruutu missed 40+ games.

 

[NJDevils17]

Hi guys, Sharks fan.

Anyone have the run-down on Schlemko? I'm only familiar with his play in Arizona, and I heard he had a pretty good year last year.

Also enjoy Hall!

He was very good in the first half of the year. I think we were mostly impressed with how well his offense came along mostly. He played some PP time and looked good doing it. He was probably our best guy behind Larsson and Greene. Y'all got a steal at his cap hit.

 

[NJDevils17]

Yes, and this counts a bunch of guys who didn't do anything for the team. Cammalleri, Schneider, 8 games of Henrique, and a few games of Zajac, were the only big losses. I don't care that Clowe missed the season or that Ruutu missed 40+ games.

That only includes Clowe but even then we're 8th. Clowe's LTIR actually still hurts because he would be a good player on this team too.

Our top 6 had 30, 30, 14(in 42 from Cammy), 24(DSP+Stemp), and then random contributions from random right wingers. Top 6 scoring wasn't our problem. Depth scoring was. We missed depth guys from injury last year.

Kalinin-8
Farnham-8
Tootoo-4
Josefson-4
Kennedy-3
Gionta-1

 

[JimEIV]

Yes, and this counts a bunch of guys who didn't do anything for the team. Cammalleri, Schneider, 8 games of Henrique, and a few games of Zajac, were the only big losses. I don't care that Clowe missed the season or that Ruutu missed 40+ games.

Yeah Clowe and Ruutu skews that number big time...add 20 games for Josefson and nearly the whole season for Elias and those numbers get a bit meaningless quickly.

 

[AfroThunder396]

There's a lot of teams in the East that are just treading water. Looking at the rest of the "bubble" teams in the East and none of them have made as many improvements as we have.

I'd go so far as to say we're the only team in the East that is clearly going to be better next year than we were this year.

 

[OmNomNom]

He was very good in the first half of the year. I think we were mostly impressed with how well his offense came along mostly. He played some PP time and looked good doing it. He was probably our best guy behind Larsson and Greene. Y'all got a steal at his cap hit.

echoing this. i remember the first month or so he came here, we HATED his guts. he seemed to fumble the puck so much. but as time went on, we realized how well he could move the puck and skate through the neutral zone, and wasn't terribly bad defensively. he's def a good middle pairing D, and i mean that in a good way

at least thats my take on him