Speculation: New Jersey Offseason VIII - Summer Heat Edition

[SteveCangialosi123]

I'm just assuming Bennett will miss 20+ games this season, so I expect DSP to get top 6 minutes at some point. Same goes for Cammalleri. He'll likely miss at least 15-20 games, but we have some pretty good LW depth to absorb his loss now. Boucher-Zacha-Blandisi is a solid group of skilled players that can pick up the slack if(when) Cammy goes down. Having Hall ahead of him feels good too.

 

[Devil X]

This is true. I just don't think DSP is the IDEAL top 6 RW. I mean he averaged like 12 minutes per game and still managed 25 pts for the whole season. When he played in the top 6 here he had 13 pts in 18 games with 8 goals. Obviously he's not going to continue that pace(36 goals!) but he can still be productive. I'm not really sure where he's going to fit. He gets to the dirty areas and finishes a lot of plays. He played 4th line minutes in Montreal.

Might be a solid partner for the Hall - Henrique line. Hall is a play driver having somoene on the right side thats going to create some space and crash the net might not be a bad idea at all.

Im sure ill get killed for this, but if Lappin has a good camp he is another guy i can see on that line. He gets a lot I MEAN A LOT of shots off and on net, if he can do that at the pro level and be physical and show some touch that could be very valuble with Hall and Henrique. Of course he needs to earn the time but he looked very good with Albany in the playoffs.

 

[Billdo]

I think if Scarlett ever got a chance he might turn some heads. He's not going to change the world or anything but I'd rather give him a shot over the Warsofskys, MAGs, and Harrolds of the world.

 

[Davegarri]

I think if Scarlett ever got a chance he might turn some heads. He's not going to change the world or anything but I'd rather give him a shot over the Warsofskys, MAGs, and Harrolds of the world.

I like Scarlett a lot. I agree, he'd potentially turn some heads. I hope he gets a shot this year if someone goes down

 

[Devil X]

I think if Scarlett ever got a chance he might turn some heads. He's not going to change the world or anything but I'd rather give him a shot over the Warsofskys, MAGs, and Harrolds of the world.

He should, i remember in the pre-season last year he seemed very slow to me. Its part of the reason i havent been that high on him at all.

 

[Darkauron]

I like Scarlett a lot. I agree, he'd potentially turn some heads. I hope he gets a shot this year if someone goes down

I would too, but it seems like they would much rather play Helg over him every time.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I completely forgot about Seth Helgeson lmao...I guess he'll be our extra dman or will he be in Albany? Maybe sub him in for Merrill/Moore for games where we need a little more beef?

 

[Bleedred]

I completely forgot about Seth Helgeson lmao...I guess he'll be our extra dman or will he be in Albany? Maybe sub him in for Merrill/Moore for games where we need a little more beef?

Meh.

I'd never prefer him over a healthy Merrill or Moore.

Unless they were literally ground up into beef.

 

[Darkauron]

Meh.

I'd never prefer him over a healthy Merrill or Moore.

Unless they were literally ground up into beef.

I think he was better than Merrill at times, which isn't saying much. I think if Merrill steps it up this year to be pretty average, then that would be amazing.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I thought Helgeson was only marginally better than the absolute abomination that was Warsofsky. I prefer both Merrill and Moore to him.

 

[ghdi]

Helgeson lacks skills to be a full time player at least as it stands now. For spot starts/injury filling, yeah sure. He's not reliable for full time duty even as a #7.

If we count Severson, Lovejoy, Moore, Greene, Merrill, and Santini as our 6 (no order, just naming them), theres better options for a regular #7 already on the roster/in the organization. If Santini is not ready, that will obviously give Helgeson more of a chance at playing, but even in that case theres still possibilities.

We have Jacobs, Auvitu, and Mozik all candidates for being on the main roster at some point this coming season as it stands today. I'd also not be surprised whatsoever to see a couple of D-Men invited to camp and its also possible we sign someone thats still UFA, or even make a trade. There's just too many options to consider Helgeson for anything more than an occasional call up when needed right now. Even with his limited time in NJ, I know I'd rather see Mozik as the #7 than Helgeson.

 

[Bleedred]

Helgeson lacks skills to be a full time player at least as it stands now. For spot starts/injury filling, yeah sure. He's not reliable for full time duty even as a #7.

If we count Severson, Lovejoy, Moore, Greene, Merrill, and Santini as our 6 (no order, just naming them), theres better options for a regular #7 already on the roster/in the organization. If Santini is not ready, that will obviously give Helgeson more of a chance at playing, but even in that case theres still possibilities.

We have Jacobs, Auvitu, and Mozik all candidates for being on the main roster at some point this coming season as it stands today. I'd also not be surprised whatsoever to see a couple of D-Men invited to camp and its also possible we sign someone thats still UFA, or even make a trade. There's just too many options to consider Helgeson for anything more than an occasional call up when needed right now. Even with his limited time in NJ, I know I'd rather see Mozik as the #7 than Helgeson.

Bingo! Helgeson also just has no upside at all. He's your run of the mill non top 6 NHL caliber grenade handler. He's probably not much worse than most teams call ups or #7's, though I can confidently say that there's probably damn near close to 180 NHL defenseman that are better than him, if not 200 that are are better.

And people think he looks better than Merrill because he wasn't as prone to some of the mind numbingly terrible gaffes we sometimes see from Merrill. But when Helgeson is out there, you can rest assured that we're most likely stuck in our D zone for the majority of that time and almost unable to get out for long periods of that time. He also can't move the puck and really makes no plays at all with it, offense is terrible, etc.

He's also an almost 26 year old that's gonna be a fourth year pro, so I wouldn't exactly say he's a legit prospect anymore.

 

[Billdo]

The fact that some viewed Helgeson as better than Merrill makes me think I was watching a different team. Merrill wasnt good, but c'mon he wasn't THAT bad.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Helgeson struggled in the ahl playoffs.

 

[NJDevils17]

Merrill needs to stay healthy. He just needs to consistently be in games. He keeps missing time and that hurts his development a ton.

 

[Bleedred]

The fact that some viewed Helgeson as better than Merrill makes me think I was watching a different team. Merrill wasnt good, but c'mon he wasn't THAT bad.

I'm more surprised that so many people view Helgeson as being good. It may not be most people, but it still shocks me that even a handful of people view him as good. We've definitely had worse defensemen over the last few years. Fraser and the last couple years of Salvador, Harrold wasn't much better. But at least Fraser only played a half season for us, not including 5+ years ago during his first stint. And Harrold was used more than he should have been, but still a little less than a #6. I don't think he has what it takes to be a #6. I'm not even young and I think we should adapt from these old school type of physical defensemen. I think it won't be long before they're out of the league, along with the goons that have all been purged in the last 5 years.

Helgeson struggled in the ahl playoffs.

I'm not concerned with that, though I feel he absolutely struggled in the NHL. Too much time in our end when he's out there. And his play with the puck is highly suspect. Like I said, there's no upside to this players game at all at the NHL level. Absolutely none whatsoever.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I'm with Bleed here. My main memory of Helgeson is him being trapped in his own zone for prolonged periods. He's definitely worse than Merrill in my opinion. Only defenseman Helgeson was better than was Warsofsky, who blessedly is gone back to Pittsburg.

 

[Chessarmy]

I'm not trying to be "that guy" but some people are acting like NJD gave up some type of cornerstone on defense in the Hall trade when the reality is #5 was a solid defensive player who excelled on the PK and had a crisp outlet pass. That's it.

For a fourth overall you'd think he would bring more to the table. I thought we were getting a Drew Doughty or a Victor Hedman - what we got is a less mobile Paul Martin.

Lars might grow into a bonafide number 1 D with the Oil and I might end up eating my words, but to me he wasn't exactly a special player and he doesn't project to be anything we can't replace from within the organization.

 

[Bleedred]

I'm with Bleed here. My main memory of Helgeson is him being trapped in his own zone for prolonged periods. He's definitely worse than Merrill in my opinion. Only defenseman Helgeson was better than was Warsofsky, who blessedly is gone back to Pittsburg.

I'd agree Helgeson didn't look as bad as Warsofsky when both were up, although I do believe Warsofsky had a higher upside/ceiling overall. I think Warsofsky is probably better than him, despite not looking like when we had him. Though I too, am VERY happy with him going back to Pittsburgh and hope he makes their team, so Shero doesn't bite again if he's on waivers after camp.

My good friend is the one who pointed out how bad Helgeson was in his own end. He also pointed out how much we got pinned in with Tootoo, as did Zippy on this board. I remember he would text me and blow up my phone during games to say ''See what I mean? Look who's out there! #39!'' and multiple times did this happen on shift after shift in different games. He told me before this ''I want you to watch Helgeson next time he's out there, Just watch only him, it's criminal how much he gets trapped in his own end. Even when it's against a line full of the other team's complete bums''

Funny enough, he was in LA for the weekend that we played there this past year and caught that game we played there. The one where Helgeson and Warsofsky were trapped in their end for over 3.5 minutes and were unable to get a change and we got scored on. He was sitting on the end zone on that same side too. I figured he must have been loving that one.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I'd agree Helgeson didn't look as bad as Warsofsky when both were up, although I do believe Warsofsky had a higher upside/ceiling overall. I think Warsofsky is probably better than him, despite not looking like when we had him. Though I too, am VERY happy with him going back to Pittsburgh and hope he makes their team, so Shero doesn't bite again if he's on waivers after camp.

My good friend is the one who pointed out how bad Helgeson was in his own end. He also pointed out how much we got pinned in with Tootoo, as did Zippy on this board. I remember he would text me and blow up my phone during games to say ''See what I mean? Look who's out there! #39!'' and multiple times did this happen on shift after shift in different games. He told me before this ''I want you to watch Helgeson next time he's out there, Just watch only him, it's criminal how much he gets trapped in his own end. Even when it's against a line full of the other team's complete bums''

Funny enough, he was in LA for the weekend that we played there this past year and caught that game we played there. The one where Helgeson and Warsofsky were trapped in their end for over 3.5 minutes and were unable to get a change and we got scored on. He was sitting on the end zone on that same side too. I figured he must have been loving that one.

You're probably right that Warsofsky has a higher ceiling than Helgeson, although probably neither will ever be more than NHL call-ups.

And our whole fourth line was terrible about getting trapped in our zone. I hope I never have to see that gross inability to exit the zone again as a Devils fan. What a bleak period in franchise history this era was, especially in terms of forwards, but I think we are hitting the light at the end of the tunnel finally.

 

[Bleedred]

I'm not trying to be "that guy" but some people are acting like NJD gave up some type of cornerstone on defense in the Hall trade when the reality is #5 was a solid defensive player who excelled on the PK and had a crisp outlet pass. That's it.

For a fourth overall you'd think he would bring more to the table. I thought we were getting a Drew Doughty or a Victor Hedman - what we got is a less mobile Paul Martin.

Lars might grow into a bonafide number 1 D with the Oil and I might end up eating my words, but to me he wasn't exactly a special player and he doesn't project to be anything we can't replace from within the organization.

I think it's because people expected a Doughty or a Hedman instead, which made people expect more out of him. But it's not all bad, Erik Gudbranson was picked 3rd overall just the year before and isn't anywhere near as good. His offense wasn't even as good as Larsson's either, nevermind anything else in his game.

I think of him as better than Paul Martin though. I made this comparison a while ago and not many agreed, but Larsson seems more like a Marc-Edouard Vlasic to me. He'll never be as good of a skater as Vlasic, but Vlasic is a damn good shutdown defenseman that flies under the radar because of Brent Burns also being on the Sharks. Vlasic is of the best shutdown defensemen in the league, for my money.

And just like Larsson, Vlasic has had many years where he's been nothing great at offense, and he's also had a couple years where he's been really good at offense. At 28 and in his 10th season in the league, Vlasic just hit a career high in offense of 39 points in 69 games played. His previous career high was 36 points in 82 games all the way back in 08-09. Aside from those two seasons, Vlasic has never hit more than 26 points.

 

[HenriquesJawLine]

All the Warsofsky hate is pure groupthink. He was a more than capable depth defenseman that can move the puck and retain possession. Helgeson doesn't even come close to Warsofsky. Helgeson stinks.

 

[Bleedred]

You're probably right that Warsofsky has a higher ceiling than Helgeson, although probably neither will ever be more than NHL call-ups.

And our whole fourth line was terrible about getting trapped in our zone. I hope I never have to see that gross inability to exit the zone again as a Devils fan. What a bleak period in franchise history this era was, especially in terms of forwards, but I think we are hitting the light at the end of the tunnel finally.

Yeah I agree, neither will be full time NHL defensemen. At least nothing better than #7 guys on a full time basis. I just think Warsofsky can handle the puck better than Helgeson, he's more mobile and can provide offense. Helgeson has been worse at offense than Mark Fraser. While he's not nearly as bad as Fraser at anything else (who the hell is?), he's even worse at offense. He can't pass well at all at the NHL level, pure grenade handler that's good for a few hits and blocking a few shots. That's it.

And I think management felt similarly to us about the kinds of players we had on the 4th line last year, none of them were brought back. Nor did anyone else sign them. I don't think anyone else will sign them to NHL contracts, maybe two way contracts to start in the AHL. Maybe if they have a former coach working with a team, that will push to have them signed. Like Pete did with Zubrus on the Sharks last year.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

All the Warsofsky hate is pure groupthink. He was a more than capable depth defenseman that can move the puck and retain possession. Helgeson doesn't even come close to Warsofsky. Helgeson stinks.

Agree to disagree about that. Warsofsky was always trapped in his own zone or making dumb mistakes. I'll be trying to forget he was ever a Devil, personally...

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Yeah I agree, neither will be full time NHL defensemen. At least nothing better than #7 guys on a full time basis. I just think Warsofsky can handle the puck better than Helgeson, he's more mobile and can provide offense. Helgeson has been worse at offense than Mark Fraser. While he's not nearly as bad as Fraser at anything else (who the hell is?), he's even worse at offense. He can't pass well at all at the NHL level, pure grenade handler that's good for a few hits and blocking a few shots. That's it.

And I think management felt similarly to us about the kinds of players we had on the 4th line last year, none of them were brought back. Nor did anyone else sign them. I don't think anyone else will sign them to NHL contracts, maybe two way contracts to start in the AHL. Maybe if they have a former coach working with a team, that will push to have them signed. Like Pete did with Zubrus on the Sharks last year.

I don't see anyone wanting any of our fourth liners, but maybe I'll be surprised. At any rate, if they aren't on this team, I'll be glad!