Post-Game Talk: The Gimmick Sucks (Your 3 Stars of the Game, though)

[Buck Dancer]

If you can't back your claims up, then stop making declarative statements. You can have an opinion, but if you are going going try to pass it off as undisputed fact you need to back it up.

What?

His poor play on the ice in the offensive zone is all I need to back up what I’m saying. Maybe his 3 pts in 7 games, which includes an assist on an empty net goal, is enough of an indication that our 1st line center isn’t performing at the standards of a 1st line center?

Pavel Zacha has been paired with Nico since day #1 and he has twice the points he does. At some point, we have to call a spade a spade but at the same time, I understand the reasoning of a fanbase trying to protect their captain.

Lindy Ruff called out our top line that consisted of Pavel Zacha-Nico Hischier-Jesper Bratt at the time. Zacha has been playing solid hockey since the start of the season, Bratt responded the second he changed lines and Nico is still MIA. The guy is our captain and highest paid forward, I’m expecting more out of him then just average performances.

 

[RememberTheName]

The Nico line hasn’t been good enough. Pavel Zacha is not better than Nico. He isn’t even better than Tatar.

That's just ridiculous as well. It's not 2018. Zacha is a damn good hockey player. To say he isn't better than at the bare minimum Tatar is just absurd. At least through the 7 games we have played this year, Zacha has been much better than both of these players. He was our best player last season and has been our best forward this season (it probably would be Jack for this year but I won't count him because of injury). I think that's a big enough sample size for people to realize that Zacha is actually a legitimate top 6 winger. Do people still think he is going to regress?

EDIT: I'd also like to add in the point that Zacha being better than these two is not a bad thing. I am not slandering Nico and Tatar by saying that Zacha is better than them (although I do think that they should be better this season than they have been). Zacha has just proven to me that he is that good of a hockey player.

 

[Buck Dancer]

That's just ridiculous as well. It's not 2018. Zacha is a damn good hockey player. To say he isn't better than at the bare minimum Tatar is just absurd. At least through the 7 games we have played this year, Zacha has been much better than both of these players. He was our best player last season and has been our best forward this season (it probably would be Jack for this year but I won't count him because of injury). I think that's a big enough sample size for people to realize that Zacha is actually a legitimate top 6 winger. Do people still think he is going to regress?

This notion that Pavel Zacha might actually be useful is not settling in for some. The fact that he has been our best forward, taking out Hughes from this equation, is nerve wracking for many who still view him as a potential flop.

The bottom line is that Pavel Zacha has been our best forward for what is now a year and several weeks now and that’s perfect because he’s actually living up to the hype of his draft status whereas some have regressed and admitting that the tables have turned would be declaring defeat.

 

[Triumph]

This notion that Pavel Zacha might actually be useful is not settling in for some. The fact that he has been our best forward, taking out Hughes from this equation, is nerve wracking for many who still view him as a potential flop.

The bottom line is that Pavel Zacha has been our best forward for what is now a year and several weeks now and that’s perfect because he’s actually living up to the hype of his draft status whereas some have regressed and admitting that the tables have turned would be declaring defeat.

This, of course, is totally ridiculous - Pavel Zacha has played 7 games this year and has 8 shots at 5v5 even strength. He's the same guy he always was at evens so far - just not enough there. He's just a very good 3v3, 4v4, and probably 5v4 player. That will keep him in the NHL, but they don't play 3v3 in the playoffs, so that's a bit of a negative. He will never be a star, and he is not living up to the hype of his draft status, not that that even matters at this stage.

Zacha's a guy on a 60 game shooting bender. It happens. Plenty of examples of it. If you're betting on him to score 21 goals in his next 56 games, I think you'll be quite disappointed.

 

[hidek91]

Happy with the way we played, obviously would have been more happy if we won. Happy to see Mercer playing well, I think if Nico wants to remain top six center on this team come January or February, he has to improve his game but the last game was actually quite solid (but Mercer's has been better) and if he wasn't 0.1 sec too late, he would actually have respectable 4 points in 7 games.

Regarding Wedgewood, I think with the way league works (including waiver wire and the fact that 3rd string goalies are very rarely waiver exempt), once you are forced to use your 3rd goalie, it can lose you a lot of games. This sucks but it applies to all 32 teams because you can realistically have only two NHL-level goalies.

 

[JimEIV]

This notion that Pavel Zacha might actually be useful is not settling in for some. The fact that he has been our best forward, taking out Hughes from this equation, is nerve wracking for many who still view him as a potential flop.

The bottom line is that Pavel Zacha has been our best forward for what is now a year and several weeks now and that’s perfect because he’s actually living up to the hype of his draft status whereas some have regressed and admitting that the tables have turned would be declaring defeat.

Longer...Two years and several weeks

NHL Stats

Old tropes die hard...how many announcers or fans over the last several years have you seen talk about the trap or clogging the neutral zone when referring to the Devils? It's funny because it's used as a slight but I always think "I wish"

 

[NJDevs26]

Yeah I'm not gonna go as far as saying Nico's struggling 'since he got the C and the contract', especially since that's combining two things that happened far apart, he got the latter quite a bit before the former. THAT is hating, attributing the lack of production to motivation or pressure - not just calling him out for a lack of production. It would take a lot for me to question Nico's motivation (think a Langs-type meltdown in 2010).

His skill OTOH, right now he looks like a not-as-durable version of Zajac, that's what bugs me and that's where the so-called hate comes from. It would be fine if he was drafted #18 overall, a la Mercer or where Zajac himself was actually drafted, but I'd still hope for more offense than that from a #1OA.

 

[TBF1972]

Is it too much to ask for ONE save out of either the first goal, the third goal or on Voracek in the shootout? The first two shooters missed.

At least I'm back in my element again and back to normal. I haven't bitched this much about a hockey or a goalie in like 2 years or more.

luxury problem, if the only thing to lament about i getting third string goaltending from a third string goaltender.

the alternative to low salary wedgewood probably would have been cory. i know you are the biggest schneider supporter ( ), but still ....

 

[Buck Dancer]

This, of course, is totally ridiculous - Pavel Zacha has played 7 games this year and has 8 shots at 5v5 even strength. He's the same guy he always was at evens so far - just not enough there. He's just a very good 3v3, 4v4, and probably 5v4 player. That will keep him in the NHL, but they don't play 3v3 in the playoffs, so that's a bit of a negative. He will never be a star, and he is not living up to the hype of his draft status, not that that even matters at this stage.

Zacha's a guy on a 60 game shooting bender. It happens. Plenty of examples of it. If you're betting on him to score 21 goals in his next 56 games, I think you'll be quite disappointed.

You can pull out all the stats you want to diminish Zacha but the stat line you should be paying attention to is his point total because you win games by scoring more goals then the opposing team. Shooting the puck more often then the other team never gave a W when all was said and done.

If that was the case, we would’ve won yesterday since we outshot the BlueJackets, right?

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

That's just ridiculous as well. It's not 2018. Zacha is a damn good hockey player. To say he isn't better than at the bare minimum Tatar is just absurd. At least through the 7 games we have played this year, Zacha has been much better than both of these players. He was our best player last season and has been our best forward this season (it probably would be Jack for this year but I won't count him because of injury). I think that's a big enough sample size for people to realize that Zacha is actually a legitimate top 6 winger. Do people still think he is going to regress?

EDIT: I'd also like to add in the point that Zacha being better than these two is not a bad thing. I am not slandering Nico and Tatar by saying that Zacha is better than them (although I do think that they should be better this season than they have been). Zacha has just proven to me that he is that good of a hockey player.

You think it’s absurd to say the Tomas Tatar is better than Pavel Zacha? Have you even glanced at his career stats? And I’m not calling him a legitimate top 6 winger when he’s still very meh at actual 5 on 5. He is a good scorer of non 5 on 5 goals though (OT, PP).

I’m not about to let someone tell me he’s carrying Nico though. Zacha doesn’t carry anyone and he’s not carrying someone that is much better than him.

 

[Buck Dancer]

You think it’s absurd to say the Tomas Tatar is better than Pavel Zacha? Have you even glanced at his career stats? And I’m not calling him a legitimate top 6 winger when he’s still very meh at actual 5 on 5. He is a good scorer of non 5 on 5 goals though (OT, PP).

I’m not about to let someone tell me he’s carrying Nico though. Zacha doesn’t carry anyone and he’s not carrying someone that is much better than him.

Who said he was carrying Nico? He’s carrying himself and if his linemates would finish his setups, we would be a better team. He gave a superb pass to Nico yesterday that sent him alone and he didn’t burry it.

Nico should be doing the carrying but when you can’t even generate chances for yourself, you’re not going to do it for others. Dawson Mercer has been carrying whoever’s been on his line and that’s the type of performance I’m expecting from our captain.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I missed much of this one taking my son on his first Halloween. Anyone be so kind to summarize the good and the bad here?

 

[JimEIV]

You can pull out all the stats you want to diminish Zacha but the stat line you should be paying attention to is his point total because you win games by scoring more goals then the opposing team. Shooting the puck more often then the other team never gave a W when all was said and done.

If that was the case, we would’ve won yesterday since we outshot the BlueJackets, right?

2018-19 the last full season played Jack Eichel took 303 shots, was 5th in the league in that category...He scored 28 goals and had 82 points.


Alex DeBrincat in the same year took 220 shots and was 49th in the league in that category ( -83 from Eichel). Alex scored 41 goals and 76 points.

I'm not sure what 28 goals on 303 shots vs 41 goals on 220 tells us?

Perhaps that it's not repeatable? Maybe but I am not sure how much that matters after the fact? I'm sure if you did an analysis you'd find some players just score on fewer shots/ more efficiently... before advanced stats we called them "natural goal scorers".

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Who said he was carrying Nico? He’s carrying himself and if his linemates would finish his setups, we would be a better team. He gave a superb pass to Nico yesterday that sent him alone and he didn’t burry it.

Nico should be doing the carrying but when you can’t even generate chances for yourself, you’re not going to do it for others. Dawson Mercer has been carrying whoever’s been on his line and that’s the type of performance I’m expecting from our captain.

“Nico Hischier is dragging down our best forward, Pavel Zacha…” - You

 

[Buck Dancer]

“Nico Hischier is dragging down our best forward, Pavel Zacha…” - You

His awful play isn’t helping, that’s for damn sure. Like I said, Nico has had several grade-A chances that were setup by Pavel and didn’t burry any of them.

Maybe "dragging down" is a little harsh but he’s not living up to expectations whereas Zacha has pulled his weight and then some since the start of the year.

I just don’t know how you can say he’s been playing fine with his mediocre stat line and the god awful play we saw out of Bratt when they were playing together. It’s not a coincidence that Bratt looks like a bull in a china shop the second he got put alongside Mercer. Dawson Mercer is playing with a fire that Nico lost, for whatever reason and it’s fairly evident that he isn’t the same player he once was when he was dominating in all 3 zones.

 

[JimEIV]

“Nico Hischier is dragging down our best forward, Pavel Zacha…” - You

I mean as soon as Bratt got away from that line he sort of woke up....

We've seen Bratt and Zacha look awesome together in a couple of different scenarios...one with Gusev...

Hischier seems to be suck link in the equation, admittedly purely anecdotal though.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Bratt woke up because he literally got benched for unmotivated play….

Not because he was moved from a line.

 

[Better Call Sal]

So let me guess. We lost and Nico only got an assist, therefore he's getting called out?

He's the scapegoat from last night?

 

[Buck Dancer]

Bratt woke up because he literally got benched for unmotivated play….

Not because he was moved from a line.

I doubt that very much but if that’s the case, then Ruff should bench Hischier if it’ll give the same result it did with Bratt.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I doubt that very much but if that’s the case, then Ruff should bench Hischier if it’ll give the same result it did with Bratt.

I mean, it's exactly what happened. Bratt looked downright horrid and made a couple of direct giveaways in the Calgary game and got benched for the 2nd period and then moved down the lineup. Both he and another forward got sat for an extended period of time in that game, I want to say the other was Sharangovich or Kuokkanen.

 

[Buck Dancer]

So let me guess. We lost and Nico only got an assist, therefore he's getting called out?

He's the scapegoat from last night?

He’s getting called out because he’s not playing the way he should be playing, not because he didn’t get a hat trick. He used to play like Dawson Mercer and for whatever reason, he took his foot off the pedal.

 

[Cheddabombs]

You think it’s absurd to say the Tomas Tatar is better than Pavel Zacha? Have you even glanced at his career stats? And I’m not calling him a legitimate top 6 winger when he’s still very meh at actual 5 on 5. He is a good scorer of non 5 on 5 goals though (OT, PP).

I’m not about to let someone tell me he’s carrying Nico though. Zacha doesn’t carry anyone and he’s not carrying someone that is much better than him.

I don't know if anyone was arguing career-wise, but so far this season absolutely Zacha has been better than Tatar.

 

[Buck Dancer]

I mean, it's exactly what happened. Bratt looked downright horrid and made a couple of direct giveaways in the Calgary game and got benched for the 2nd period and then moved down the lineup. Both he and another forward got sat for an extended period of time in that game, I want to say the other was Sharangovich or Kuokkanen.

I know he got benched but playing alongside Mercer revived his game. Saying he’s playing lights out because he got benched and not giving any credit to Mercer isn’t a fair statement imo.

 

[Better Call Sal]

He’s getting called out because he’s not playing the way he should be playing, not because he didn’t get a hat trick. He used to play like Dawson Mercer and for whatever reason, he took his foot off the pedal.

See, I think this is a gross exaggeration in attempting to analyze Nico's game. And this is my problem with the mentality of this board in general. We lost a 4-3 game in a shootout. I didn't get to watch this game, yet magically after a loss, we're onto the same old story and will likely be until Tuesday.

To say he "used to play like Dawson Mercer", what are we calling that? Is this questioning his effort? Because that's the last thing I think that can be questioned on Nico's part. Of course we all expect him to score more than he is, but somehow I feel like he has now shouldered the whipping boy label with the captaincy and that expectation that he needs to take over games.

I don't know, I simply find it funny that I knew coming on here today the talk would be about how Nico ain't doing enough given we lost. Is that really the takeaway from last night? I really want to know if he was that awful. He lead our forwards in TOI, had a primary assist and 4 SOG, he couldn't have been that bad.

This board ALWAYS needs someone to go after. It's just the nature of the beast. I'm sure there are plenty here whose heads are bordering on exploding with Johnsson leading the team in goals and points.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

just a reminder, Nico's ranks among NJ forwards:

Total CF- 1st
CF%- 3rd
xGF%- 2nd
Total HDCF- 1st
HDCF%- 2nd