GDT: Buffalo Sabres (5-8-2) vs. Your New Jersey Devils (6-5-2), 7 PM, MSG+

[Edmonton East]

He isn’t in charge of the pk

Which is exactly why I said an assistant should be fired....

Yet it is still concerning Ruff teams have had terrible PKs over the last decade. Also, you are kidding yourself if you think the HC has zero role in this.

 

[Triumph]

Firing an assistant mid-season without removing the rest of the coaching staff is something that happens like once a season, it's bush-league stuff. Nasreddine has been here for 5+ years and the PK has been anywhere from average to great, he didn't just forget how to coach.

 

[Maine Fan]

Just a tough loss. Sabres' goaltending

Good night

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I'll be very happy when Subban and Goose are gone.

That's all I will say about that

 

[Jack Be Quick]

edit:

never heard of these people nor did i mention them……but looking them up i wouldnt call them techno


still, techno is last on my taste in music….right beside new country

This is what they tend to play at sporting events (edm):



This is techno:



I'm obviously not saying you have to enjoy either, but there is a difference.

 

[MadDevil]

On what planet isn’t it good that Zacha generates offense? He’s been struggling to create offense and if he can become a semi reliable source of offense that is a success. This season is about young players moving forward and Zacha is part of that. Sometimes folks get too personal about how the team has to succeed on specific terms.

As much of a Zacha critic as I am, I'm glad he's producing offense. I've just seen this movie before where he looks like he's about to take a step...and then Lucy pulls the football out from under us as we go to kick...and we do it all over again.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

It's time to get Boqvist back in

 

[My3Sons]

As much of a Zacha critic as I am, I'm glad he's producing offense. I've just seen this movie before where he looks like he's about to take a step...and then Lucy pulls the football out from under us as we go to kick...and we do it all over again.

maybe but has he ever produced 9 points in 10 games ever? That seems like progress for him?

 

[MadDevil]

maybe but has he ever produced 9 points in 10 games ever? That seems like progress for him?

Maybe it is, and if so great. But when you have 250+ games of not being particularly productive, you can understand why some people aren't buying tickets for the bandwagon just yet.

 

[Frank8]

Guys I'm totally sure that THIS is the year Zacha turns it around. Those other +270 games were bullshit, these 14 are the ones that REALLY show how good he is. He will definitely keep shooting at twice what he's been shooting at his whole career, and as long as he continues to get points on ENGs and in garbage time he'll easily prove he's a top-6 forward.

Bigger players tend to breakout around the 400 game threshold, he's progressing nicely.

 

[Bleedred]

Gusev is the Coke Zero of the NHL. No calories in any of his points

That’s an insult to coke zero. I like Coke Zero.

 

[Bleedred]

I'll be very happy when Subban and Goose are gone.

That's all I will say about that

At least the staff seems to be getting on board with the fact that Subban isn’t that good anymore, as they haven’t let him cross 20 minutes the last few games. His numbers on natural stat trick weren’t bad tonight, but he’s on pace for by far a career worst in that regard, although his point totals are up from last year.

 

[Emperoreddy]

He isn’t in charge of the pk

He is the HC. He is in charge of everything.

 

[Davegarri]

He is the HC. He is in charge of everything.

This. I'm definitely not a huge fan of Nas, but this is directly on Ruff's shoulders. He gets final say on personnel and scheme. Even if the assistants have total control, he should be giving them direction to make adjustments and switch personnel around.

Does that mean Nas is completely off the hook? Obviously not, but as head coach you're responsible for every decision and move your team makes. It comes with the job.

 

[NJ07102]

What an awful performance yet again. The PK is such a joke, so passive, so unbelievably slow to the puck. No urgency, probably the worst I have ever seen on any team. Miles Wood has been a non factor ever since they put him with this two plugs. That usage renders him useless, all of that while he is one of the few tough guys on the team. Nico is miles away from being in game shape. Understandably after the injury and the year long break, but he is no help whatsoever in that condition. And finally, why does nobody ever park in front of the goalie? Ullmark had a clear view on almost all the shots. What this all comes down to: This is a team with too many fair weather players. We need a couple of Blake Colemans, that guy is really a tough loss in so many ways. Should've never traded him.

 

[Nicomo Cosca]

What an awful performance yet again. The PK is such a joke, so passive, so unbelievably slow to the puck. No urgency, probably the worst I have ever seen on any team. Miles Wood has been a non factor ever since they put him with this two plugs. That usage renders him useless, all of that while he is one of the few tough guys on the team. Nico is miles away from being in game shape. Understandably after the injury and the year long break, but he is no help whatsoever in that condition. And finally, why does nobody ever park in front of the goalie? Ullmark had a clear view on almost all the shots. What this all comes down to: This is a team with too many fair weather players. We need a couple of Blake Colemans, that guy is really a tough loss in so many ways. Should've never traded him.

Completely disagree with this. I loved Coleman, but we weren’t going to be ready to compete this year anyway, and the best thing to do was get something for him. If either Foote or Mukhamadullin turn into anything it will have been well worth it.

 

[hidek91]

1) Can someone explain me, how after 3 games of Vatanen and Butcher, can you make a decision to play the former and scratch the latter?

2) While the idea of throwing million kids into the show, in order to figure if they're NHL material or not, may seem sexy on a surface, the reality is that if it turns out they're not ready, it can hurt you quite bad. Lack of players like Lovejoy, Boyle or Rooney is super visible, especially on PK. If we want to become a playoff team, there need to be some cheap and smart depth signings.

3) Other than that, I think it's a reverse problem that we had in Jagr era. Due to the youth, we are super quick but lack of experience causes our special teams to sink us. Funny that it was the opposite when we had 35+ core.

4) I think that our hot start cover the fact that our defence needs improvement. I think that if things don't improve, I'd actually give a try to Okhotyuk/Bahl, who IMO looked good in camp. I know that it contradicts points 2 and 3 but if we're giving an opportunity to dozens of forwards, then we could also give that to some d-men.

 

[Billdo]

but like, thats our entire point lol

just because a player has more goals (Goose vs Bratt) does not mean they have been better overall this season. You aren't actually suggesting that Goose has been better, are you?

No, not at all. I'm just suggesting that when someone who people complain about does something positive it's still spun as a negative. I didn't even mention Bratt so idk where that comes from.

 

[NJ07102]

1) Can someone explain me, how after 3 games of Vatanen and Butcher, can you make a decision to play the former and scratch the latter?

Asking myself the same question. Butcher has played really well imho, so he gets to sit again. Very strange.

 

[ninetyeight]

Yeah Goose hasn't been good, but AT LEAST he's scoring now. You can call them meaningless goals if you like, but I don't think any goal is meaningless. The team gets confidence that they can score with the empty net, maybe next time you only need that one goal. Gusev is getting confidence from the goal, PK and Zacha are getting confidence from the assist. Not trying to start something again, but I feel the response to these "meaningless goals" would have been way more positive had Nico, Bratt, Hughes or Smith been on the scoresheet instead of the top most hated Gusev, PK and Zacha.

 

[BurntToast]

Ironically, people jumping on Nico’s return, when you can easily say Vats’ return has been much worse.

I feel like the staff did this team a disservice. Those two (Nico/Vats) look like they needed some time. Nico can be electric but he looks slow and mundane. (Not his fault) Why give Dell a stint with Bing and not them? Additionally, they have a bunch of coaches, if you don’t want to send them down have a skills camp with the taxi squad. They have to get practices in somehow.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

1) Can someone explain me, how after 3 games of Vatanen and Butcher, can you make a decision to play the former and scratch the latter?

2) While the idea of throwing million kids into the show, in order to figure if they're NHL material or not, may seem sexy on a surface, the reality is that if it turns out they're not ready, it can hurt you quite bad. Lack of players like Lovejoy, Boyle or Rooney is super visible, especially on PK. If we want to become a playoff team, there need to be some cheap and smart depth signings.

3) Other than that, I think it's a reverse problem that we had in Jagr era. Due to the youth, we are super quick but lack of experience causes our special teams to sink us. Funny that it was the opposite when we had 35+ core.

4) I think that our hot start cover the fact that our defence needs improvement. I think that if things don't improve, I'd actually give a try to Okhotyuk/Bahl, who IMO looked good in camp. I know that it contradicts points 2 and 3 but if we're giving an opportunity to dozens of forwards, then we could also give that to some d-men.

With respect to Point#4, this is a "process" year. You do what is best for the players, not what might help the NHL team win an extra game. If the team thinks it is best for those players development only than should they get NHL time.

 

[NJDevs26]

I’m not a Nas fan at all but it’s hard to blame him for the PK when they’ve had good PK’s under him before, lost a lot of the players on said PK’s, had next to no camp and are never going to get practice time to rectify things.

That said it’s SO bad I wouldn’t say firing him is completely off the table. This isn’t just bad, this is historically awful.

 

[ninetyeight]

Does anyone actually know whose in charge of what? Recchi supposedly runs the PP, but is it Ruff's playbook and does Nas have a say in it too? Where have you guys heard/read that Nas is responsible of the PK? What does Nas even do? Don't assistant coaches usually just run drills and work on things (individually) the head coach asks.

While it's not unusual to want someone fired when things aren't going well, it's been less than 15 games with the new staff and we don't quite know who is responsible for what.

 

[Camille the Eel]

They just owned us last night. As good as we looked against Boston, that’s how good they looked against us last night as a team. It’s not sensible to blame any one or two guys or the PK. It was a team loss with a few exceptions. It should be interesting to see if we can adjust tomorrow and match up with them better. Right now they look like they are in a different league from us as to skating, puck possession, efficiency.