Post-Game Talk: Devils 2 - Islanders 0: Wedgeout!!!

[regulahbread]

Barely noticed Subban yesterday, which is a good thing, IMO. Thought he played a solid game.

Can't say enough about how good Kulikov has been. I wasn't particularly thrilled about the signing and it's still early, but he's been a rock.

 

[billingtons ghost]

I don’t know if it’s been discussed yet, but look at Zajac using his stick on Pulock’s to keep the shooting lane open for Jack. Total pro move.

Thanks for pointing this out - I missed it. Brilliant little play.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Don’t think Vatanen ends up with Smith. They’re both not particularly smooth skaters and on the smaller side.

I’d be willing to bet Vatanen gets Kulikov or Murray and they pair Smith - Severson together with favorable matchups. Let those two dominate 5-on-5 and create offense while Kulikov, Murray, Vatanen, and Subban take on the tougher minutes.

I don't know man. I'd hesitate to take Kulikov away from Sevs, as I think they've both been pretty decent when paired -

I think we've seen a couple of times where Smith ended up on the ice with Subban or Sevs, and the story ends with the puck in our net.

 

[HBK27]

So, through 5 games here are how the board's top 3 players are looking.

Points = 3 points for 1st star, 2 points for 2nd star & 1 point for 3rd star.
Games = Games in which they were voted a top 3 player in the post-game thread.

Player	Points	Games
Blackwood	7​	3​
Hughes	7​	5​
Sharangovich	5​	2​
Smith	4​	2​
Wedgewood	3​	1​
Bastian	3​	1​
Wood	1​	1​

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Not surprisingly, Hughes and Blackwood have been voted top 3 stars in every game they played so far. Smith is the only defenseman to break the top 3 (though I personally voted Kulikov this past game). Bastian snuck in as 1st star in the team's ugliest game this season largely for scoring the only goal.

 

[JK3]

I don't know man. I'd hesitate to take Kulikov away from Sevs, as I think they've both been pretty decent when paired -

I think we've seen a couple of times where Smith ended up on the ice with Subban or Sevs, and the story ends with the puck in our net.

Smith been on the ice for only one goal against and that was with Subban.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Barely noticed Subban yesterday, which is a good thing, IMO. Thought he played a solid game.

Can't say enough about how good Kulikov has been. I wasn't particularly thrilled about the signing and it's still early, but he's been a rock.

Exactly, Subban didn’t stick out - in a good way. He just needs to keep his game simple. When he plays like he is out to prove he’s still got “it” as a Norris caliber defenseman by spinning around and making flashy high risk plays...more times than not he’s hurting the team. It’s clear he doesn’t still have “it.” But if he can change his game to accept he’s not going to be piling up points or Norris votes anymore - he can still be a bonafide trustworthy top 4 guy by making the “safe/smart” play.

 

[Blackjack]

So, through 5 games here are how the board's top 3 players are looking.

Points = 3 points for 1st star, 2 points for 2nd star & 1 point for 3rd star.
Games = Games in which they were voted a top 3 player in the post-game thread.

Player	Points	Games
Blackwood	7​	3​
Hughes	7​	5​
Sharangovich	5​	2​
Smith	4​	2​
Wedgewood	3​	1​
Bastian	3​	1​
Wood	1​	1​

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Not surprisingly, Hughes and Blackwood have been voted top 3 stars in every game they played so far. Smith is the only defenseman to break the top 3 (though I personally voted Kulikov this past game). Bastian snuck in as 1st star in the team's ugliest game this season largely for scoring the only goal.

I did too, those guys (defensive defensemen) never get any recognition and he had an outstanding game.

 

[MachoDiablo]

Exactly, Subban didn’t stick out - in a good way. He just needs to keep his game simple. When he plays like he is out to prove he’s still got “it” as a Norris caliber defenseman by spinning around and making flashy high risk plays...more times than not he’s hurting the team. It’s clear he doesn’t still have “it.” But if he can change his game to accept he’s not going to be piling up points or Norris votes anymore - he can still be a bonafide trustworthy top 4 guy by making the “safe/smart” play.

Even in some of the early games this year where he's made mistakes, he's had some nice stretches in each where he's done some smart, effective stuff, so he's clearly got that in him. I guess it's like a baseball pitcher who can't throw 99 mph anymore: sometimes you need to adjust and work on other parts of your game to adapt to the limits your body starts placing on you, and I think the good news with PK is that he's clearly got useful skills outside of the flashy stuff he was once known for.

 

[glenwo2]

Everyone says the problem was Hynes but I don't see a lot of mention of the goaltenders, which were the real issue, as we'll see moving forward here. Wedgewood played well last night but he played against a garbage offense and he got some breaks. The Devils played all right defensively but they didn't just discover Dmitri Kulikov.

Didn't that same garbage offense drop 4 goals on him in the first game?

 

[glenwo2]

Wow... that's coming from Glen.. the biggest Bratt fan around. High praise. I'm looking for some hidden emoji or white typeface.

Hey!

Even Unicorns recognize future greatness when they see it.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

So, through 5 games here are how the board's top 3 players are looking.

Points = 3 points for 1st star, 2 points for 2nd star & 1 point for 3rd star.
Games = Games in which they were voted a top 3 player in the post-game thread.

Player	Points	Games
Blackwood	7​	3​
Hughes	7​	5​
Sharangovich	5​	2​
Smith	4​	2​
Wedgewood	3​	1​
Bastian	3​	1​
Wood	1​	1​

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Not surprisingly, Hughes and Blackwood have been voted top 3 stars in every game they played so far. Smith is the only defenseman to break the top 3 (though I personally voted Kulikov this past game). Bastian snuck in as 1st star in the team's ugliest game this season largely for scoring the only goal.

It would be cool if this was a recurring leaderboard throughout the season.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Don’t think Vatanen ends up with Smith. They’re both not particularly smooth skaters and on the smaller side.

I’d be willing to bet Vatanen gets Kulikov or Murray and they pair Smith - Severson together with favorable matchups. Let those two dominate 5-on-5 and create offense while Kulikov, Murray, Vatanen, and Subban take on the tougher minutes.

I agree. Not a fan of having two 5-11 defenseman paired together.
I like the potential Kulikov-Vatanen pairing that would be a main stay on the PK.

I think Smith and Severson will be fine together. Already they have had some shifts together.

 

[NJDevs26]

Shero was a good GM. His eye for talent was solid. Just a little too loyal to Hynes and Pitt and never had the goaltending.. but he didn't kill us

Is it his eye for talent or Castron's? All credit to Shero for bringing him in to begin with but aside from the Palmieri and Hall trades, a lot of what we attribute as being the good of the Shero era comes from the draft table (and lotto wins).

 

[HBK27]

It would be cool if this was a recurring leaderboard throughout the season.

I'm keeping track throughout the season, so I will look to post the updated results every few games.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Is it his eye for talent or Castron's? All credit to Shero for bringing him in to begin with but aside from the Hall trade, a lot of what we attribute as being the good of the Shero era comes from the draft table (and lotto wins).

Did Palms stop existing?

 

[NJDevs26]

Did Palms stop existing?

He has this year

 

[glenwo2]

He has this year

The only thing that exists is the Bird Nest.

If he continues to struggle, he has to consider shaving that thing right off.

 

[Zippy316]

I agree. Not a fan of having two 5-11 defenseman paired together.
I like the potential Kulikov-Vatanen pairing that would be a main stay on the PK.

I think Smith and Severson will be fine together. Already they have had some shifts together.

It’s not so much the size but they’re both also not the quickest defenders either. I’d be too worried about how they deal with speed and obviously forwards with size and speed would be a huge issue.

Tennyson is on the smaller side, but at least he’s a good skater and is physical. Vatanen is physical but a little slow at times and it gets him into trouble.

Smith and Severson might not be the best defensively, but at least Severson has some size and skating ability to make up for what Smith lacks.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

I am not sure how this is turning into Fitz vs Shero. As I said before, Shero did fine but IMO it was time for a change Shero mistakenly thought the team could contend last year and is not longer here. All that matters to me is that I like where the team is at this time and I am confident in Fitz and the Analytics group/scouts, etc to keep it going moving forward.

What I don’t understand is that people seem to forget that Shero had to answer to his bosses and they probably wanted a winning team ASAP after being bottom feeders for half a decade... hence the acquisition of Subban, Gusev, Simmonds, etc

I’m certain that if he had carte blanche, he wouldn’t of pulled those trades. The owners had to give the green light to take on PK’s salary and they did cause he’s with us today.

When we went nowhere, I think they pulled a 180 and said "Ok, we can’t fix this by adding 2 or 3 players, so let’s though it out another 2 to 3 years with bandaids and keep adding legit prospects and 1st round picks".

When was the last time we had more then one pick in the 1st round? I think we had our best draft in decades with Holtz, Mercer and Shaq. Now we have to let our kids mature and wait.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

What I don’t understand is that people seem to forget that Shero had to answer to his bosses and they probably wanted a winning team ASAP after being bottom feeders for half a decade... hence the acquisition of Subban, Gusev, Simmonds, etc

I’m certain that if he had carte blanche, he wouldn’t of pulled those trades. The owners had to give the green light to take on PK’s salary and they did cause he’s with us today.

When we went nowhere, I think they pulled a 180 and said "Ok, we can’t fix this by adding 2 or 3 players, so let’s though it out another 2 to 3 years with bandaids and keep adding legit prospects and 1st round picks".

When was the last time we had more then one pick in the 1st round? I think we had our best draft in decades with Holtz, Mercer and Shaq. Now we have to let our kids mature and wait.

I doubt it. Nothing they have done since Shero left was "win now". Why did the hire the GM candidate that was saying this before he got hired?

“My plan, if I am to continue at this position, is to grow around Jack and Nico and that age frame, and have a group of kids around that same type of age group to grow together,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s simple.”

NJ Devils: General manager talks on return to competitiveness (northjersey.com)

 

[My3Sons]

I think Shero tried to burn the candle at both ends to try to improve the team in the last year of Hall's deal to get him to want to stay. Hence the acquisitions of Subban and Gusev rather than trying to add additional draft picks and younger players. As others have noted, Shero never really went full rebuild, only selling off soon to be UFA vets and sending out non-first round picks and secondary prospects fairly regularly when he saw a reason to add older players. I tend to agree with those that think Shero just didn't have a good feel for building an NHL defense, even if he had a good feel for generally getting value in trades. I'll give Castron credit and blame for the uneven drafting during Shero's tenure. I think Shero would have benefitted from the collaborative approach had he been open to it. He seems to be a good guy and was respected by players and agents and I liked his family approach to the younger players. He just needed help with his blind spot on building an NHL defense and be open to changing the coach without it being such drama. I think he was proven correct in not giving Hall a long term deal as no team did this offseason. Had Shero stuck it out and agreed to a rebuild and letting Hynes go and had ownership understood why Shero did what he did he might still be employed in NJ. Fingers crossed that Fitz can generate a decent rapport with the agents and families like Shero did. I think with Hughes that may come into play.