Devils 2017-18 team discussion (player news and notes) VIII - Postseason Edition

[AfroThunder396]

last 5 games

staff- 0g 3a +3
grab- 0g 1a -3

back to you- what is grabner providing?

Not that I want to defend Grabner, but he's very good on the PK and Stafford is completely out of his element on the PP.

 

[MartyOwns]

Not that I want to defend Grabner, but he's very good on the PK and Stafford is completely out of his element on the PP.

that would be nice if it were true, but our PK was running at 25% (i think) with grabner on it. not saying it's all his fault, but still. he brings absolutely nothing to the table, and i'd be happy to never see him play another game for us

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

that would be nice if it were true, but our PK was running at 25% (i think) with grabner on it. not saying it's all his fault, but still. he brings absolutely nothing to the table, and i'd be happy to never see him play another game for us

You’re honestly basing his PK ability on 2 games? Good lord. He was very good on the PK down the stretch for us. I don’t care if he comes back in because he’s been bad, but he’s a good penalty killer.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

that would be nice if it were true, but our PK was running at 25% (i think) with grabner on it. not saying it's all his fault, but still. he brings absolutely nothing to the table, and i'd be happy to never see him play another game for us

wait, what? the PK improved once they got Grabner. Down the stretch it was very good.

the PK right now in this series is running at 28.5%. They need to try something different.

 

[MartyOwns]

You’re honestly basing his PK ability on 2 games? Good lord. He was very good on the PK down the stretch for us. I don’t care if he comes back in because he’s been bad, but he’s a good penalty killer.

the goal posts some of you are moving are going to get frequent flier miles soon. ‘the trade was a psychological win!’ ‘he’s very very fast!’ ‘offensive depth!’ ‘he’s a brilliant penalty killer….no no, not in the playoffs, but in the regular season!’ lol. our PK looked no worse tonight than it did with grabner in it in the first 2 games. actually, the penalty kill where we had multiple shorthanded opportunities (right before hall’s goal) turned the game around for us, while grabner was off eating cookies and ice cream in the stands.

he’s a black hole of shit and provides almost nothing of value, and he shouldn’t play for us again.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

the goal posts some of you are moving are going to get frequent flier miles soon. ‘the trade was a psychological win!’ ‘he’s very very fast!’ ‘offensive depth!’ ‘he’s a brilliant penalty killer….no no, not in the playoffs, but in the regular season!’ lol. our PK looked no worse tonight than it did with grabner in it in the first 2 games. actually, the penalty kill where we had multiple shorthanded opportunities (right before hall’s goal) turned the game around for us, while grabner was off eating cookies and ice cream in the stands.

he’s a black hole of **** and provides almost nothing of value, and he shouldn’t play for us again.

You're literally not making any sense whatsoever. Not even a little bit. And you're arguing with yourself.

 

[Billdo]

You're literally not making any sense whatsoever. Not even a little bit. And you're arguing with yourself.

Par for the course I suppose, even when we win people still whine

 

[MartyOwns]

You're literally not making any sense whatsoever. Not even a little bit. And you're arguing with yourself.

so you’d dress him for game 4 then?

Par for the course I suppose, even when we win people still whine

not whining at all. i’m glad he wasn’t playing, we somehow won without his speed and elite PK skills. i just don’t want him back in the lineup. and if anyone can make a case for playing him, i’d (still) love to hear it

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

so you’d dress him for game 4 then?

I don't really care if Stafford, Grabner, Gibbons, or Bratt is in the final spot. None have been very good and none will log many minutes. But you keep trying to relitigate the trade. Like if Grabner keeps playing bad that makes it a moronic trade. It doesn't. The trade obviously hasn't worked, but that doesn't make it a bad move on paper or the wrong decision at the time. It just didn't work, oh well. I'm gonna enjoy the playoff run, I don't give half a **** about a 2nd round pick or some Russian.

 

[MartyOwns]

I don't really care if Stafford, Grabner, Gibbons, or Bratt is in the final spot. None have been very good and none will log many minutes. But you keep trying to relitigate the trade. Like if Grabner keeps playing bad that makes it a moronic trade. It doesn't. The trade obviously hasn't worked, but that doesn't make it a bad move on paper or the wrong decision at the time. It just didn't work, oh well. I'm gonna enjoy the playoff run, I don't give half a **** about a 2nd round pick or some Russian.

i dont even care about the trade, it's over and done with. i don't agree with the logic behind it, but if you do then bully for you. what i care about is how we go forward. hynes earned a lot of my respect for benching his worthless ass, and now that mojo is back (and assuming the team stays helathy) i don't want to see him again. that's all

 

[OmNomNom]

Is the PK problem a personnel issue or a systems one though? I mean yeah, certain players are better at PK than others, but there are still 4 other players on the ice (including the goalie) that PK also

 

[Cheddabombs]

Our PK has a personnel issue on defense more than anything but there's really no other options. When John Moore is getting regular PK time, and I can't honestly see an argument for someone else which is sad, we're going to be in trouble.

I still can't get over Lovejoy's pathing on that first goal. A guy right in front of the net and he decides the best route is to go behind the net first. I don't even know if he would've made it in time but at least give yourself a chance

 

[Burner Account]

I'm glad they scratched him because he's earned it, but how can you say a guy who's pretty much a lock for a breakaway every 1-2 games brings absolutely nothing to the table?

 

[Billdo]

so you’d dress him for game 4 then?



not whining at all. i’m glad he wasn’t playing, we somehow won without his speed and elite PK skills. i just don’t want him back in the lineup. and if anyone can make a case for playing him, i’d (still) love to hear it

I don’t even know who you’re talking about, I wasn’t really saying what I said about you but more of a general statement.

 

[135ace]

Is the PK problem a personnel issue or a systems one though? I mean yeah, certain players are better at PK than others, but there are still 4 other players on the ice (including the goalie) that PK also

Our PK against Tampa has not been aggressive enough, especially on Kuch. We just give him so much time that it's easy for him to find an open guy or make a pass for a tip or redirection, especially when our D is hot garbage.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I notice that the one Tampa forward slides across the face of the net and our DMan always follows him, leaving the opposite side wide open. This happened explicitly on the Stamkos goal last night. Lovejoy followed Miller even though Greene was already on that side and left the backdoor wide open

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

Lovejoy has been awful. There's just no way you can watch the games and conclude otherwise. He's a stagnant, skill-less liability. No other way to phrase it, really.

He can't be anything more than a 7D next year that rotates in for injury/rest. He just isn't capable of playing a more significant NHL role anymore.

 

[Triumph]

Our PK has a personnel issue on defense more than anything but there's really no other options. When John Moore is getting regular PK time, and I can't honestly see an argument for someone else which is sad, we're going to be in trouble.

I still can't get over Lovejoy's pathing on that first goal. A guy right in front of the net and he decides the best route is to go behind the net first. I don't even know if he would've made it in time but at least give yourself a chance

Because Greene was in the box, the Devils went RHD-RHD on that 1st PK unit and I think both guys got confused. Lovejoy would not have made it to the front in time anyway.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Because Greene was in the box, the Devils went RHD-RHD on that 1st PK unit and I think both guys got confused. Lovejoy would not have made it to the front in time anyway.

Yea I don't think he would've anyway but like I said, at least give yourself a chance there. I don't buy the confusion in that scenario though. There's a guy wide open in front, it should just be instinct to go directly to him. Oh well

Another side note, sorry I'm all over the place this morning lol. But getting a full season (hopefully) of MoJo next year is going to be huge. When he's played so few games for us this year it's easy to forgot how good he is. He's a legit too 6 winger that plays exactly our style. Man I love the direction we're going in!!

 

[Call Me Al]

lovejoy and coleman both f'd up on that pk. coleman started drifting towards the point when there was no one even there, and he was the most able to get in front and break up that pass. lovejoy should have never drifted that far from the net anyway though, and then to go behind when there were to open men in front was just dumb

 

[Oneiro]

I think the bigger thing is that the team doesn't take way the second passing option in the neutral zone.

What you'll see Tampa do is the puck carrier will fake or lean towards one (more obvious) passing option, our defender will close that gap off but in doing so has left enough space to give the second option an easy entry into setting up in our d-zone. The support from the other checkers coming back needs to be a bit smarter.

 

[Nico the Draft Riser]

Hall, Hischier, Butcher, Vatanen, Coleman, Noesen all scored . They won at home.

Playoffs could end with us losing the next two and itd still be a wildly succesful year for NJ.

 

[Nico the Draft Riser]

lovejoy and coleman both f'd up on that pk. coleman started drifting towards the point when there was no one even there, and he was the most able to get in front and break up that pass. lovejoy should have never drifted that far from the net anyway though, and then to go behind when there were to open men in front was just dumb

There was someone on the point - Just not in a spot to slide to from the middle. Lovejot was at fault too

 

[AfroThunder396]

that would be nice if it were true, but our PK was running at 25% (i think) with grabner on it. not saying it's all his fault, but still. he brings absolutely nothing to the table, and i'd be happy to never see him play another game for us

Yeah this is a really dumb take. The PK is also at 25% with Zajac on it, should we scratch him too? Should we scratch Coleman? A 2 game sample size is worthless.

I have no issue with him getting scratched a game here or there to wake him up but he should be playing. With how tightly TB has been checking the top line we need lower line players that can make something out of nothing and Grabner does that.

 

[Billdo]

Is the PK problem a personnel issue or a systems one though? I mean yeah, certain players are better at PK than others, but there are still 4 other players on the ice (including the goalie) that PK also

The PK just has these mental lapses where players aren’t where they’re supposed to be or they’re chasing when they have no business doing so. Case in point is Lovejoy last night going behind the net chasing when he unequivocally should’ve went to the front of the net.