Proposal: The Devils desperately need goaltending, and are willing to overpay

[The Crypto Guy]

I know it’s early in the season but that’s a weird flex considering Winnipeg has lost 3 games out of 4 already and the Devils don’t even have a losing record.


What has an elite goaltender ever gotten the Rangers?

We never have enough forward peices.

If you put the devils roster, with a prime Lundqvist in 2014, they are winning the cup, hands down this year or the next.

And c'on, you can even say that, Marty helped you guys win quite a few cups

 

[Forge]

Who saw this coming? Me. I had a Hellebuyck trade thread going on this offseason. Basically, every Devil fan was too cheap in wanting to upgrade to elite goaltending and here we are… with Devils goaltending already taking a dump.

But don’t worry… Buffalo fans were equally arrogant trumpeting that Levi was the Chosen One and he too is sucking out. Sabres look like they are going to waste another year as are the Oilers.

Apparently, “goaltending doesn’t matter” and that the Vegas model will work for you all. Good luck with that lol.

Elite goaltending model has certainly worked for Winnipeg, rangers and the Islanders with all those cups for helle, sorokin and Igor.

There are many ways to skin a cat. Doesn't mean they always work.

Devils fans knew if they didn't trade for helle they could struggle with goaltending. They also knew helle didn't guarantee shit.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

We never have enough forward peices.

If you put the devils roster, with a prime Lundqvist in 2014, they are winning the cup, hands down this year or the next.

And c'on, you can even say that, Marty helped you guys win quite a few cups

You’re not wrong and I do think the Devils still need to upgrade their goaltending but there’s still a good chance the Devils can outscore their problems.

I’d be more comfortable with better goaltending but Mercer is considered part of the Devils core by most of us. A package of Holtz, a 1st and a prospect was more than enough for Helly especially when you consider what Fitz had just given up for Meier. There’s no way Mercer was going the other way for Helly.

Not sure 7-8 years Helly at 8.5 would have been smart anyway. It’s probably more of a risk for the Devils to lock up an older goalie long term as opposed to rolling with two mediocre goalies you hope get hot at the right time. Something goes wrong with that older goalie and the cap is messed up. Still have Mercer, Luke, and Nemec who will sill probably be getting decent contracts.

 

[Forge]

At this point in time, I’m not worried about G. I’m worried about D and getting Brendan Smith off the ice. My vote would be to trade for Nikita Zadorov and fill out that 6th spot next to Luke.

This is the other thing too. Right now, the defense is a hot mess. Lots of growing pains going on right now. May not matter who is in net if they don't start getting better

 

[dirtydanglez]

i assume they'll probably do nothing. there were many good goalies allegedly available this offseason and nj didn't make a move.

I know it’s early in the season but that’s a weird flex considering Winnipeg has lost 3 games out of 4 already and the Devils don’t even have a losing record.


What has an elite goaltender ever gotten the Rangers?

an eastern conference finals appearance. it got tampa back to back cups.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

recognition and respect around the league.

i assume they'll probably do nothing. there were many good goalies allegedly available this offseason and nj didn't make a move.


an eastern conference finals appearance. it got tampa back to back cups.

 

[Xirik]

recognition and respect around the league.

You forgot the sarcasm emote.

 

[Play]

You forgot the sarcasm emote.

you’re god dang right. Edited

 

[Tripod]

What happened to that goalie who was better than Carter Hart and had a chance of making Team Canada in the next Olympics?

Name escapes me.

 

[Jared Dunn]

At this point in time, I’m not worried about G. I’m worried about D and getting Brendan Smith off the ice. My vote would be to trade for Nikita Zadorov and fill out that 6th spot next to Luke.

Healthy Colin Miller helps no?

What happened to that goalie who was better than Carter Hart and had a chance of making Team Canada in the next Olympics?

Name escapes me.

Blackwood, struggled the last couple years and got shipped to San Jose

 

[FSL KINGS]

We never have enough forward peices.

If you put the devils roster, with a prime Lundqvist in 2014, they are winning the cup, hands down this year or the next.

And c'on, you can even say that, Marty helped you guys win quite a few cups

Yeah, Nah

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Yeah, Nah

Sorry, you guys are getting swept with this devils forwards.

 

[mfilipo3]

How far away is Daws from being ready?

 

[Forge]

How far away is Daws from being ready?

He's out for the year just about, I think... So probably multiple years from reliable NHL contribution. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets passed up by Malek organizationally

Healthy Colin Miller helps no?

He's been healthy all year until two days ago. He just got beat out for the spot

 

[My3Sons]

Devils didn't want to trade away the golden boy Mercer and their fans attacked anyone who proposed trading him for a legit goalie (Helly). They would probably just waltz right into the finals and cup with him. Oh well, that ship has sailed.

Meh. It’s shrill and forced with you at this point. Anything Devils you spin negatively. We get it. It was funny while the Devils sucked but they are better than your Rangers now.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Healthy Colin Miller helps no?


Blackwood, struggled the last couple years and got shipped to San Jose

Any goalie that gets injured as much as Blackwood did would struggle. A goalie has to be healthy to play and get into a rhythm. Blackwood is on a new team now, so from just a general goalie standpoint I hope he is able to stay healthy and play well.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Right now this looks like the curse of Martin Brodeur. Devils never really drafted heir apparent after Martin Brodeur moved on/retired. Schmid showed some promise in the playoffs, but he's still young and can grow into the role to be the Devils #1. As a Caps fan, I laughed at the Devils for trading for Vanecek. He's a platoon goalie at best as long as he has strong team playing in front of him. In no way should he be playing any playoff games for the Devils, as he has already proven how bad he is in the playoffs(both with Caps and Devils). I think they might be stuck with Schmid developing and Vanecek just not being good enough when it really matters. A harder option to execute, is keep developing Schmid and trading for another goalie which will most certainly cost the Devils(Vanecek would need to be part the deal going out)!

 

[Bleedred]

There’s too many BAD goalies in the league right now. Much of the league is in a goalie crisis. This is why we have things like stupid contracts given to guys like Korpisalo, who’s sucked more years in his career than not. This is why 28 year old career AHL goalies that have bounced around on the waiver wire but failed to stick anywhere (Johansson, Martin) have full time NHL jobs. Teams are giving late 20s AHL goalies (Daccord) jobs as their full time backup, both because they’re capped out and because of the scarcity of good goalies anymore. You got 30-something year old (mostly) AHL lifers like Lindgren and Copley signed to NHL deals.

My point being that I don’t think we can do any better than Vanecek/Schmid right now. There’s only like 5 or so really good goalies in the league and none of them are for sale. Two of them play a short car drive (or long because of traffic lol) away from us.

Even the good but not great goalies get jocked and overrated (Oettinger, Demko) because of the scarcity of good goalies.

 

[Guffman]

Monstrous 38 save, .950 save % by Hellebuyck against the Oilers offensive juggernaut. Gotta say it’s real nice having elite goaltending. It must be frustrating to have a high end team that gets dragged down by mediocre goaltending anchors.

 

[Bleedred]

Monstrous 38 save, .950 save % by Hellebuyck against the Oilers offensive juggernaut. Gotta say it’s real nice having elite goaltending. It must be frustrating to have a high end team that gets dragged down by mediocre goaltending anchors.

I don’t think the Devils are quite a team that’s getting dragged down by mediocre goaltending. At least not at the moment. The goalies not named Blackwood performed fine (not exactly great) last year for us. Schmid was great, but the sample size was extremely limited. Vanecek was solid, but peaked around early February and then slid off, which continued into the playoffs.

The teams that are really getting dragged down by mediocre goaltending are definitely the Kings. I feel like I’m looking at an AHL game card when I see a tandem of Cam Talbot and Pheonix Copley.

Edmonton is kind of another, although Skinner has performed decently or at least average (not this year, but sample size is very small) but Campbell fell off a cliff even before his arrival into Edmonton.

Minnesota is another, but that’s self-inflicted. They still play Fleury too many games and fail to either realize or acknowledge that Fleury is a bad and old, washed up goalie in the year 2023.

Obviously Tampa is really suffering right now with Vasilevskiy out and having nothing but s career minor leaguer to cover, but they’ve also been low key bad this year. The shot disparity in some of their games is pretty bad against them.

 

[Forge]

Monstrous 38 save, .950 save % by Hellebuyck against the Oilers offensive juggernaut. Gotta say it’s real nice having elite goaltending. It must be frustrating to have a high end team that gets dragged down by mediocre goaltending anchors.

Congrats on having him for 8 years. Hope it works for you. Since you're concerned, I'll let you know that I'm perfectly content with how the devils have handled the situation.

 

[biturbo19]

How much of this is even really about the goaltending taking a step back, vs just getting very "average" goaltending like last year, but having taken a noticeable step back with the defence corps? On top of a small sample size inflation to the struggles?


Seemed like almost an inevitability that there'd be a little bit of regression from the Devils goaltending performance when losing two guys from the blueline who played significant minutes for them last year. Neither of Vanacek/Smid has proven to be the sort of goaltender who is going to really make up for a team defensively.

 

[TBF1972]

Monstrous 38 save, .950 save % by Hellebuyck against the Oilers offensive juggernaut. Gotta say it’s real nice having elite goaltending. It must be frustrating to have a high end team that gets dragged down by mediocre goaltending anchors.

it's actually preferable to anchor contracts.

devils are just fresh out ou a rebuild and the contention window is opening. there is hardly any frustration on the devils board. we have to contain our excitement about the team.

happy sunday

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Congrats on having him for 8 years. Hope it works for you. Since you're concerned, I'll let you know that I'm perfectly content with how the devils have handled the situation.

There's only 1 goalie I'd move earth for right now and it's the guy in Nashville but with how Trotz had Sorokin + Rinne + Holtby in his coaching career, he knows how important it is and probably to a fault with how Nashville's roster construction isn't good to capitalize on Saros's prime. Also, I did see something that said Fitz is a size king when it comes to his goalies. Someone will stick for this team in goal, it's just who it is. It's sad that the Devils are being attacked for this when Carolina ran it back with the same 3 goalies and look at who just got hurt again in a regular season (Anderson) leaving them Raanta/Kotchekov

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Who saw this coming? Me. I had a Hellebuyck trade thread going on this offseason. Basically, every Devil fan was too cheap in wanting to upgrade to elite goaltending and here we are… with Devils goaltending already taking a dump.

But don’t worry… Buffalo fans were equally arrogant trumpeting that Levi was the Chosen One and he too is sucking out. Sabres look like they are going to waste another year as are the Oilers.

Apparently, “goaltending doesn’t matter” and that the Vegas model will work for you all. Good luck with that lol.

After 4 games, you prophet!