GDT: Your New Jersey Devils (18-29-5) vs. Vancouver Canucks (26-22-6), 7:30 PM, MSG+

[Better Call Sal]

Some would say this is similar to what watching our boys has been like much of the time this year

That said, take the pessimism and complaining outside

Your New Jersey Devils Projected Lineup:

#17 Yegor Sharangovich - #86 Jack Hughes - #18 Dawson Mercer
#37 Pavel Zacha - #13 Nico Hischier (C) - #63 Jesper Bratt
#11 Andreas Johnsson - #70 Jesper Boqvist - #90 Tomas Tatar
#16 Jimmy Vesey - #20 Michael McLeod - #14 Nathan Bastian

#71 Jonas Siegenthaler - #7 Dougie Hamilton (A)
#33 Ryan Graves - #28 Damon Severson (A)
#2 Colton White - #76 P.K. Subban

#50 Nico Daws
#32 Jon Gillies

Scratches/Injuries:

#12 Tyce Thompson (IR - Shoulder)
#24 Ty Smith (Healthy)
#29 Mackenzie Blackwood (IR - Heel)
#44 Miles Wood (IR - Hip)
#45 Jonathan Bernier (IR - Hip)
#55 Mason Geertsen (Healthy)
#59 Janne Kuokkanen (IR - Wrist)
#83 Christian Jaros (Healthy)



Vancouver Canucks

#92 Vasily Podkolzin - #53 Bo Horvat (C) - #6 Brock Boeser
#21 Nils Hoglander - #40 Elias Pettersson - #39 Alex Chiasson
#70 Tanner Pearson - #9 J.T. Miller (A) - #8 Conor Garland
#64 Tyler Motte - #91 Juho Lammikko - #15 Matthew Highmore

#23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson (A) - #57 Tyler Myers
#43 Quinn Hughes - #2 Luke Schenn
#77 Brad Hunt - #27 Travis Hamonic

#41 Jaroslav Halak
#35 Thatcher Demko

Scratches/Injuries:

#4 Madison Bowey (Healthy)
#5 Tucker Poolman (LTIR - Migraines)
#18 Jason Dickinson (Healthy)
#34 Phillip Di Giuseppe (Healthy)
#44 Kyle Burroughs (IR - Upper Body Injury)



LFGD





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[Jersey Fan 12]

Can't help thinking, that for all the Devils' fans that like to take potshots at Vancouver's GM, the Canucks look a lot closer to being relevant than the Devils do.

 

[Call Me Al]

their goalie’s heel didn’t fall off and they have a good coach, but i don’t envy their cap situation so is still rather be us

 

[Blackjack]

Can't help thinking, that for all the Devils' fans that like to take potshots at Vancouver's GM, the Canucks look a lot closer to being relevant than the Devils do.

Which GM? Their GM now, or the one that got fired in December?

 

[Buggsy]

Can't help thinking, that for all the Devils' fans that like to take potshots at Vancouver's GM, the Canucks look a lot closer to being relevant than the Devils do.

Big fan of being 19th in the league while being 6th in cap spent? Or having OEL and Myers accounting for 13 million in cap hit? Or having to figure out how to get rid of the plugs signed to bloated deals in order to resign your actual talented players?

The Canucks have the talent, but they are in a bind right now due to poor cap use.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Can't help thinking, that for all the Devils' fans that like to take potshots at Vancouver's GM, the Canucks look a lot closer to being relevant than the Devils do.

They fired their GM earlier this year along with the coach. They were 8-15-2 when they canned Benning and Green. Boudreau has gotten them to play better.

I don't necessarily envy them with their cap situation or their current defense. Rutherford has his work cut out for him a little bit this trade deadline and summer to undo Benning's mess.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

 

[Triumph]

Can't help thinking, that for all the Devils' fans that like to take potshots at Vancouver's GM, the Canucks look a lot closer to being relevant than the Devils do.

Devils drafted 5 times in the 1st round in the last 2 years and the Canucks drafted 0 times. That's why they look closer, but are actually farther away.

 

[Buck Dancer]

Devils drafted 5 times in the 1st round in the last 2 years and the Canucks drafted 0 times. That's why they look closer, but are actually farther away.

I don't know why you're saying they're actually farther? They have just about every piece we have plus an excellent young goaltender.

Drafting prospects doesn't make you a better team. It gives hope that the team will be better down the line but is by no means a guarantee of anything.

Their cap situation isn't ideal but like we've seen in the past from teams like the Rangers, Knights, Wild, etc... the cap can be easily manipulated if you want to.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Can't help thinking, that for all the Devils' fans that like to take potshots at Vancouver's GM, the Canucks look a lot closer to being relevant than the Devils do.

Who ever took a pot shot at Patrik Allvin?

 

[Clam Jensen]

Excited to see if the offense can keep it up. Also hope Daws builds off of his last game.

 

[Triumph]

I don't know why you're saying they're actually farther? They have just about every piece we have plus an excellent young goaltender.

Because this isn't true. They absolutely do have the goaltender. They are in a totally different situation than the Devils.

Drafting prospects doesn't make you a better team. It gives hope that the team will be better down the line but is by no means a guarantee of anything.

No shit - which players do you think are better in 3 years, the Devils draftees from 2020 and 2021 or the Canucks? A reminder that Dawson Mercer, a player you already jammed into the future 'top 6' of the Devils is one of these players. So the Canucks need to have a top 6 forward come out of those drafts to at least tie the Devils.

Their cap situation isn't ideal but like we've seen in the past from teams like the Rangers, Knights, Wild, etc... the cap can be easily manipulated if you want to.

Their cap situation is bad and their team is a mess. They've got a good bit of talent, so yeah, they can definitely be a playoff team next year. But with a middling talent team and not a lot on the horizon, they're by no means in a better position than the Devils.

 

[MartyOwns]

lousy smarch weather

 

[Better Call Sal]

 

[Kocur26]

Quick question- Are they checking for vaccination at the Rock?

Is it a requirement?
Are they following the order ?
Thx

 

[Better Call Sal]

Quick question- Are they checking for vaccination at the Rock?

Is it a requirement?
Are they following the order ?
Thx

I believe it is still in place, yes.

 

[Kocur26]

I believe it is still in place, yes.

Thx grr

 

[AfroThunder396]

Vancouver is on the downswing and we're on the upswing. They have some very nice individual players that should be the right age to compete, but no cap space and no prospects. Their veteran support is mediocre and overpaid. The team they have is all they're going to have for a while.

Miller is surely gone and Boeser is probably gone and they don't really have any options to replace them. Quinn is an excellent offensive player but he's not a true top pairing guy that can anchor a pairing. EP40 is great but has struggled with consistency. They don't have room to sign UFA's and are going to have to shape their roster via trade, which is difficult because they have zero cap flexibility.

Prior to this year I was going to say they would still be a playoff team because of how top-heavy that division is, going into this season I would have told you that CGY and VGK were the only good teams in that division. But with ANA and LA being far ahead of schedule with their rebuilds as well as the McDavid factor it's going to be tough to compete.

It's not an unmanageable situation, but Rutherford has a lot of work cut out for him. I think VAN will be stuck in 7-10th place limbo unless they make a radical move.

 

[MadDevil]

Can't help thinking, that for all the Devils' fans that like to take potshots at Vancouver's GM, the Canucks look a lot closer to being relevant than the Devils do.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Vancouver can definitely be interesting quickly with their EP / Hughes / Demko foundation and trade pieces they are dangling. Firing their coach and GM was solving their biggest problems it appears. 7-3-0 in the last ten with Boudreau and at a positive goal differential on the season.

I'd not be so sure to write them off, even though "this team won't win a cup anytime soon" is the easiest claim to make.

 

[Hisch13r]

They fired their GM earlier this year along with the coach. They were 8-15-2 when they canned Benning and Green. Boudreau has gotten them to play better.

I don't necessarily envy them with their cap situation or their current defense. Rutherford has his work cut out for him a little bit this trade deadline and summer to undo Benning's mess.

Also Thatcher Demko vs what we’ve been throwing out there

 

[Better Call Sal]

 

[My3Sons]

Vancouver can definitely be interesting quickly with their EP / Hughes / Demko foundation and trade pieces they are dangling. Firing their coach and GM was solving their biggest problems it appears. 7-3-0 in the last ten with Boudreau and at a positive goal differential on the season.

I'd not be so sure to write them off, even though "this team won't win a cup anytime soon" is the easiest claim to make.

I think Vancouver’s problem is that their window is essentially open now. They can lose Miller Boeser and Horvat in the next couple of years and Petterson in three years. Petterson has already hedged on signing long term with Vancouver. As others have noted the situation can be salvaged but this may be peak Canucks for this core this year and next year. That would make them more relevant than NJ in the short term but I don’t think that’s a great position for Vancouver either.

Edit: Dickinson appears to be a healthy scratch for Vancouver? Hard to see a guy like that as a trade target for anything more than a low round pick.

 

[Blender]

Hopefully Daws plays decent. Hughes, Bratt, and Hischier points please.

 

[Hisch13r]