GDT: Your New Jersey Devils (24-39-6) vs. New York Rangers, (44-20-6), 7 PM, MSG+2

[Bcap88]

Unlike when he first came up during this stretch, he’s slightly out of position on a lot of the goals he’s giving up now (Palmieri for example, against the isles and would have been had Strome beat him shorthanded tonight), and reacting late to many plays, sort of watching the play more and not reading and reacting decisively. He no longer looks so clearly like he belongs.

So I think he’s no longer learning much here. There was a big initial growth and benefit from playing against NHL players. Picking his game up to a higher level. But he got that bump and by leaving him here now burnt or burning out, you’re just reinforcing new bad habit mistakes and setting him back.

Time to return him to Utica and see where he is next October at training camp. Let him absorb the experience here and work on his positioning, technique and reads. He’s shown he’s got the raw skills to be an NHL goalie, if he can polish his game to that level. There a lot of work to be done.

I would guess his confidence is probably a little shot due to being thrown through the ringer. Some second guessing going on and that’s mostly Ruffs fault. It’s not like we were close to a playoff spot either so it’s really unacceptable

 

[Bcap88]

I don’t think fitz is an issue he has clearly tried/attempted to address needs that this team needs and some haven’t worked out. There’s only so much you can do

 

[Bcap88]

I think they'll be able get away with it considering their centers already. If they take him, at that point, start making trade proposals for Mercer for defensemen help.

Don’t think it would be a bad thing taking Wright either, this allows Mercer to play wing which he looks more comfortable.

You figure a combination of Mercer/holtz will fill spots left open by Johansson and zacha/Tatar

 

[MadDevil]

In the last year Fitz has added half of our defense, and has tried in back-to-back seasons to address our goaltending, only to have it blow up in his face because of circumstances out of his control. I think he understands what this team needs, it's just not as easy as pulling up the trade menu on NHL 22 and trading a bunch of shit to get a decent player.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Love this post. Agree with everything here. I'd honestly be pretty upset if we let Fitz go. I like his vision, I like his plan, and I trust he can bring us to the next level. He's been GM for under 2 years. That's not a long time. He's done some really good moves in less than 2 years and his vision/process looks good to me. Also not worried about Hamilton one bit to be honest.

I like Fitzgerald’s vision. He knows that the high draft picks are important to the teams future success but he is also aware that we need to start icing a winner. He has made moves for us to do that and it’s a shame it’s not working out right now. It’s been a really rough season when it comes to injuries , that’s a big reason our goaltending is a mess and has been as bad as it is. I have faith in Daws as a big future piece for us but he needs to be sent down ASAP.

im Interested to see what Fitzgerald does with Bratt and his contract this summer. We have Bratt for 2 more years as an RFA. I really hope Bratt is on board with an 6/7/8 year deal but my gut feeling is he wants something like a 4 or 5 year deal so he can get another big payday at age 28/29. What scares me a bit is seeing players like Makar take a 6 year deal and Matthews take a 5 year deal. Brat isn’t on that level but he is proving to be a top line player so it really comes down to what he wants to do. Mathews , Makar and Mariner took less years for their big raise for some reason. I guess players want to control their future faster than just making big bucks.

 

[glenwo2]

Need Bratt to step up tonight

So much for that.

Though it wasn't for a lack of trying.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

No he doesn't.

That not the point. Losing Studenic to the Stars while keeping Geertsen was ridiculous.

 

[Camille the Eel]

ah so that’s where Studenic went. More power to him. Nice place to land.

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

Any idea how long Vesey and Sharangovich are out for?

Sounds like Vesey might be out for a while?

 

[NJDevs26]

What was the point of Shara going after a guy who just delivered a clean hit? This is one of the stupidest trends in the league now. If you’re mad that a team mate got creamed on a legit check, go out and deliver some payback with a hard clean hit of your own.

What a stupid decision. Puts the team on the PK leading to a goal, completely kills any momentum they had from the goal you just score a few minutes earlier, takes a top 5 forward out of the game, and you wind up getting injured in the process. Epically dumb, but encapsulates the season quite nicely.

EDIT: maybe he learned it from PK who did something similar in the previous game. Way to teach those young guys how to play the game. This is what these guys think “toughness” is now…jumping opponents who laid out team mates with ordinary legal hits? Meanwhile they shy away from physical checks during the regular course of play, lose puck battles, and can’t figure out how to manage the puck intelligently in the D or neutral zone.

To be fair if you're a player on the ice you can't always tell if a hit is 'clean' or not, you don't have the benefit of replays. And we were killing these guys the last couple years for not going after guys who laid out our skill players or waiting till things got too out of hand to retaliate. Would I rather see guys have a little restraint to not get the extra penalties tacked on in normal circumstances, sure but this isn't Game 7 of a playoff series either. We can't even play spoiler to the Rangers in any meaningful way.

 

[glenwo2]

To be fair if you're a player on the ice you can't always tell if a hit is 'clean' or not, you don't have the benefit of replays. And we were killing these guys the last couple years for not going after guys who laid out our skill players or waiting till things got too out of hand to retaliate. Would I rather see guys have a little restraint to not get the extra penalties tacked on in normal circumstances, sure but this isn't Game 7 of a playoff series either. We can't even play spoiler to the Rangers in any meaningful way.

Spoiler? The Rags are making the playoffs regardless of whether they won or lost to the Devils.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Any idea how long Vesey and Sharangovich are out for?

Sounds like Vesey might be out for a while?

Vesey very likely tore his ACL. No idea what Sharangovich’s injury or timeline is.

 

[Call Me Al]

his injury is getting punched in the forehead lol. poor guy. of course it’s the guy the rangers jumped in front of us to draft too, just because

 

[Call Me Al]

not saying i would have wanted to draft him instead but having one guy who can lay a big hit is something i wish this team had

 

[Azathoth]

not saying i would have wanted to draft him instead but having one guy who can lay a big hit is something i wish this team had

They are probably too busy/confused trying to figure out where they are supposed to be in the d scheme to even think about hitting guys.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

That not the point. Losing Studenic to the Stars while keeping Geertsen was ridiculous.

Studenic wouldn't have needed waivers if he never played the 1/08 game and then not again until 2/15.

Ty Smith could have been sent down to Utica.

Blaming Geertsen is just lazy. Geertsen can't put himself on waivers.

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

yeah .. problem is with hughes and longevity is this guy has the puck all the time which is great but keeping him healthy may prove to be tricky

They need a true tough guy and those hits will disappear...Or he has to learn to protect himself better or take some lessons from Marchand....

 

[Buck Dancer]

not saying i would have wanted to draft him instead but having one guy who can lay a big hit is something i wish this team had

Yeah, our paper tissue soft lineup has to be solved this offseason. Having Subban pull his best "Slap Shot" impersonation for jumping a guy at the opposite side of the ice was embarassing and having Sharangovich get punched out for what was a clean hit on Vesey is laughable.

If attacking players who aren't aware we're coming after them or acting tought only to get KO'ed is our way to push back, it's a bad look for everyone and confirms that we're a super soft team.

 

[Triumph]

Studenic wouldn't have needed waivers if he never played the 1/08 game and then not again until 2/15.

Ty Smith could have been sent down to Utica.

Blaming Geertsen is just lazy. Geertsen can't put himself on waivers.

Yes, he would have. If they'd sent him down on 1/08 and recalled him on 2/15, he would've required waivers still.

 

[Camille the Eel]

I would guess his confidence is probably a little shot due to being thrown through the ringer. Some second guessing going on and that’s mostly Ruffs fault. It’s not like we were close to a playoff spot either so it’s really unacceptable

He’s getting that deer in the headlights look when odd man rushes bear down on him. Frozen and in between, hesitating. And our defensive play in those situations of course doesn’t help either. Like Hamilton going belly flop and skidding out of the play on the short handed game winner up in Toronto. Then, caught in between, the opposing forwards just score on him easily in those situations. Yes that is not confident play. It’s playing scared.

And then technically- besides bad angles and positioning - there’s keeping his arms close to his body so that pucks don’t leak through. That’s been a major issue.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Yes, he would have. If they'd sent him down on 1/08 and recalled him on 2/15, he would've required waivers still.

Who said anything about recalling him on 2/15?

 

[Triumph]

Who said anything about recalling him on 2/15?

It doesn't make any sense to operate around Marian Studenic's availability on waivers. If this isn't a player the team envisions as ever winning a permanent roster spot, and given the Devils roster I don't see how he would win a spot next season, then it's just about doing whatever's best for the team at a given time.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Schneider has stunk this year, he can keep hitting guys for all I care. He doesn’t make a positive impact on games. He was really tough punching a guy over and over before he could even get his gloves off.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

It doesn't make any sense to operate around Marian Studenic's availability on waivers. If this isn't a player the team envisions as ever winning a permanent roster spot, and given the Devils roster I don't see how he would win a spot next season, then it's just about doing whatever's best for the team at a given time.

Studenic became waivers eligible when he played 1/08. Then he was a healthy scratch until 2/13 (not 2/15 excuse me, that was his last game as a Devil).

He was healthy scratched again from after that 2/15 game until he was waived on 2/23. He could have played 18 games in Utica between 1/06 and 2/13. Why would you even recall him for two games at that point unless it was an emergency recall that doesn't affect waivers, if he's not in the NHL plan?

 

[Guttersniped]

Studenic wouldn't have needed waivers if he never played the 1/08 game and then not again until 2/15.

Ty Smith could have been sent down to Utica.

Blaming Geertsen is just lazy. Geertsen can't put himself on waivers.

No one is blaming Geertsen for the decision, Fitz is the GM. People are pointing out we kept this worse fringe guy while we willingly risked losing him.

And they could have waived a defenseman instead Geertsen? Ok. Smith was healthy scratched several times but he played 57 games out of the 70 GP, and at least the 3 first games and 3 games in January he missed were due to injury.

I like Studenic a lot, I’m guessing more than most here, but there’s zero point in debating his potential or crying over spilt milk since he’s gone. It was a dumb move to specifically chose Geertsen as the spare forward though and that’s what happened.

I don’t give a shit about a couple of staged fights.

There are two guys with size and “grit” and toughness that actually make a difference on the Rangers and its Trouba and now Schneider. One cost them a 1st and prospect and gets paid 8m and the other is a 1st round pick. Schneider was the only one who was physical with us in a way that mattered last night. If you want that, then you want someone like Jiricek.

Goodrow’s most noticeable moments were that he had a breakaway on the PK, but he’s so slow Hamilton easily corralled him halfway to our net, and he had a cheap slash on Subban he got away with. Amazing.