Devils 2018-19 team discussion (news and notes) - part XIX

[tr83]

Yeah, I'd probably give Zajac an A, Coleman probably an A-. Hischier probably gets a B+, Blackwood gets a B+. I'd have to think about Bratt, but it would be no lower than a B+, maybe even an A-. Zacha probably gets a B-. I'd give Severson a B. Palmieri gets a B. Butcher probably gets a B-. Everyone else probably gets lower than that. I can't think of anybody else that deserves higher than a C+. Wood is maybe borderline between C+ and B-, same with Vatanen. Agostino gets an A, but he wasn't here all season. Hall probably gets a B, but he hasn't played in what already feels like a year ago.

I'd give Greene a C+. If he were in his prime, he'd probably get lower than that, but I'm grading on a bell curve.

Schneider gets a D. He was completely unplayable before February and why we had to go with Kinkaid for months, which was a massive failure.

Kinkaid gets a D- and not an F because Kinkaid is not a starting goaltender and he was asked to be one. If he really were a starting goaltender and performed like that, he'd get a huge F.

Too many generous grades for a team that had the third worst record in the league and one of the worst even before anyone got hurt.

 

[Bleedred]

Too many generous grades for a team that had the third worst record in the league and one of the worst even before anyone got hurt.

Everyone I didn’t name got a C or a D.

This team wasn’t as bad as the season we had.

Outside of the injuries, which happened later, the Schneidkaid tandem sunk us early. By the time Cory started playing well, the team was injury depleted and we were icing half an AHL lineup.

And I only gave the goalies (other than Blackwood) generous grades due to ability. I think Kinkaid was the second worst goalie in the league this year out of goalies that played at least 21 games, but since we know he isn’t a starter or capable of consistently playing 41 games a year, it’s best to not give him a F, so I gave him a D-. I might have even given him a D or D+ if not for his Fukushima meets Chernobyl meltdown the last three or four weeks he was here, where he was letting in super softies against the Rangers, whiffing on clean shots from the blue line and even giving pucks away.

 

[Blender]

Everyone I didn’t name got a C or a D.

This team wasn’t as bad as the season we had.

Outside of the injuries, which happened later, the Schneidkaid tandem sunk us early. By the time Cory started playing well, the team was injury depleted and we were icing half an AHL lineup.

And I only gave the goalies (other than Blackwood) generous grades due to ability. I think Kinkaid was the second worst goalie in the league this year out of goalies that played at least 21 games, but since we know he isn’t a starter or capable of consistently playing 41 games a year, it’s best to not give him a F, so I gave him a D-. I might have even given him a D or D+ if not for his Fukushima meets Chernobyl meltdown the last three or four weeks he was here, where he was letting in super softies against the Rangers, whiffing on clean shots from the blue line and even giving pucks away.

I agree, the team isn't as bad as we performed. We lost tons of man-games to injuries, including a lot of our top players. We also had a PDO of 987 which is one of the worst in the league, so the team definitely under performed.

 

[Bleedred]

I agree, the team isn't as bad as he performed. We lost tons of man-games to injuries, including a lot of our top players. We also had a PDO of 987 which is one of the worst in the league, so the team definitely under performed.

We were even top-15 in goals scored when Hall got injured.

I’m pretty sure we were even 17th at the trade deadline. Or maybe it was 19th. That’s still not bad for Hall having been injured and not playing a game for two months by that point.

We were 15th in scoring and Zacha hardly even had any of his points at that time.

 

[My3Sons]

We were even top-15 in goals scored when Hall got injured.

I’m pretty sure we were even 17th at the trade deadline. Or maybe it was 19th. That’s still not bad for Hall having been injured and not playing a game for two months by that point.

We were 15th in scoring and Zacha hardly even had any of his points at that time.

Blackwood was a 500 goalie with a 918 save percentage and rebounded from his clunkers. For a goalie his age who some wrote off completely after last season on a team this bad I see that as an A performance. You are tough on the goalies. I agree KK just never got it going this season and too much was asked of him. I’m not sure how to view Cory since most of this season was on the job rehab. That’s not his fault. He probably shouldn’t have played at all until February. I don’t think he was close to truly healthy until after his abdominal muscle rehab. Hopefully he can stay healthy and play about 45 games next season and we can judge him fairly.

 

[Bleedred]

Blackwood was a 500 goalie with a 918 save percentage and rebounded from his clunkers. For a goalie his age who some wrote off completely after last season on a team this bad I see that as an A performance. You are tough on the goalies. I agree KK just never got it going this season and too much was asked of him. I’m not sure how to view Cory since most of this season was on the job rehab. That’s not his fault. He probably shouldn’t have played at all until February. I don’t think he was close to truly healthy until after his abdominal muscle rehab. Hopefully he can stay healthy and play about 45 games next season and we can judge him fairly.

I think a B+ is fine for Blackwood. Still a few things he can work on, but a B+ is like an HOF induction on this team, with the junk we saw most of the year.

 

[My3Sons]

I think a B+ is fine for Blackwood. Still a few things he can work on, but a B+ is like an HOF induction on this team, with the junk we saw most of the year.

Just think how much he grew after last season. Really remarkable.

 

[devilsblood]

Grades are relative to expectations. Greene is definitely an A.

I think we can appreciate the good things Greene has done this year and still be reasonable enough to think he is not worthy of an A grade.

 

[I Hate Tie DOMI]

Not looking forward to the next 6 months of arguing about defenseman before next season starts.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Not looking forward to the next 6 months of arguing about defenseman before next season starts.

It will definitely be interesting if we draft Byram.

Vatanen
Severson
Butcher
Greene
Smith
Davies
Byram
Mueller
Santini
Carrick*
Yakolev*

 

[Team Concept]

Just some early thoughts as we head into the offseason:

1. Do not tender Stefan Noesen and Connor Carrick. Noesen was a huge disappointment.

2. Let Stafford, Agostino, Pietila, Tangradi, Gabriel, and Yakovlev walk as UFAs.

3. Erik Karlsson, Matt Duchene, Artemi Panarin, Jeff Skinner, Tyler Myers, Kevin Hayes, Gustav Nyquist, Matt Zuccarello, Brock Nelson, Anders Lee, and Ryan Dzingel are some of the huge UFAs I would be interested in, but why would they sign with NJ unless we were a cup contender? At the end of the season we were next to last in cap spending and it would be nice if we opened up the checkbook a bit more this offseason. Last summer was one of worst offseasons in our history in that there was no big acquisition to at least get the juices flowing into the new season. Wait I forgot. We signed Eric Gryba on July 1st last year. So I would love if we spent a bit more, but not sure we are attractive to a UFA at this point.

4. Obviously, Hall either signs and extension with us or we have to trade him. However, coming off an injury I am not sure we would get the most value back in return. If he isn't showing signs of a commitment to sign an extension do we trade him during the summer or trade him close to the deadline in 2020?

5. I think we tend to get too excited an overly optimistic with some of our prospects. To be honest the only ones I am confident can make a significant impact moving forward at this point are Boqvist and Smith. Walsh put up a lot of points, but I am concerned with his defensive game and Davies was great, but he put up just 1 point more from last season.

 

[devilsblood]

Yeah, I'd probably give Zajac an A, Coleman probably an A-. Hischier probably gets a B+, Blackwood gets a B+. I'd have to think about Bratt, but it would be no lower than a B+, maybe even an A-. Zacha probably gets a B-. I'd give Severson a B. Palmieri gets a B. Butcher probably gets a B-. Everyone else probably gets lower than that. I can't think of anybody else that deserves higher than a C+. Wood is maybe borderline between C+ and B-, same with Vatanen. Agostino gets an A, but he wasn't here all season. Hall probably gets a B, but he hasn't played in what already feels like a year ago.

I'd give Greene a C+. If he were in his prime, he'd probably get lower than that, but I'm grading on a bell curve.

Schneider gets a D. He was completely unplayable before February and why we had to go with Kinkaid for months, which was a massive failure.

Kinkaid gets a D- and not an F because Kinkaid is not a starting goaltender and he was asked to be one. If he really were a starting goaltender and performed like that, he'd get a huge F.

I think injuries need to be factored into grades here. Like Bratt can not get a B+.

Zacha is C imo. Part injuries, part uneven play.

And if we are going bell curve I think Nico is a B. Good season. Not really good though. And again, a bit of injuries.

Injuries were culprit 1b as to why this season spun out of control. Can't ignore it in the post season grading. (conversely guys like Greene and Sev's do get some bonus points for playing every game).

 

[NjDevsRR]

Only 3 players get an A from me post trade deadline

Blackwood and Schneider (only reason why the Devils won some games)

Zacha

 

[My3Sons]

It will definitely be interesting if we draft Byram.

Vatanen
Severson
Butcher
Greene
Smith
Davies
Byram
Mueller
Santini
Carrick*
Yakolev*

You are forgetting the obvious Lovejoy re-signing.

 

[My3Sons]

I think injuries need to be factored into grades here. Like Bratt can not get a B+.

Zacha is C imo. Part injuries, part uneven play.

And if we are going bell curve I think Nico is a B. Good season. Not really good though. And again, a bit of injuries.

Injuries were culprit 1b as to why this season spun out of control. Can't ignore it in the post season grading. (conversely guys like Greene and Sev's do get some bonus points for playing every game).

So if a student gets the flu and misses a test he just gets a 0 on it rather than getting a chance to take it when he is healthy?

 

[devilsblood]

Agostino is a guy I would 100% bring back.

No I am not advocating bringing back every bottom 6 guy. (though Noesen or even Stafford as a 13th fwd is OK by me). But Agostino put up 13 points in 27 games. In Mtl he put up a fairly respectable 11 in 36. So on the season he was 24 in 63 games. And Agostino is a guy who has had big AHL point production, so no reason to think this was a flash in the pan.

His on ice %'s were good with us as well, 48.86% corsi, 49.4% shots for, 53.9 goals for.

Turns 27 at the end of the month, so in his prime, and a guy who doesn't appear to miss many games(hard to tell in that he often shuttles back between the AHL team and NHL team).

And of course an NJ guy.

 

[devilsblood]

So if a student gets the flu and misses a test he just gets a 0 on it rather than getting a chance to take it when he is healthy?

NHL is not school. Games are not rescheduled.

 

[Blender]

Yea I definitely sign Agostino if he's reasonable in his demands. Seemed like a good fit here.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

I'm on board with retaining Agostino.

Keep him, and let Noesen go.

 

[Billdo]

I think if it comes down to choosing between Agostino and Noesen you lean towards Agostino.

 

[My3Sons]

NHL is not school. Games are not rescheduled.[/QUOTE

So your evaluation includes a games played quotient? That’s fair. I just think that games played may or may not be injury related.

 

[devilsblood]

I'm on board with retaining Agostino.

Keep him, and let Noesen go.

My tepid support for resigning a guy like Noesen is that you pencil him in as a 13th fwd. It's hard to find good players willing to sit and wait. And you don't want your young guys in that spot. Would Noesen be willing to sign on as a likely extra fwd? Well I don't think he is going to find much interest elsewhere so maybe.

Now Q, as Bleed pointed out, is out of waiver eligibility, so maybe he is a guy you keep as a 13th? I'd be fine with it.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Two unlikely scenarios:

Hall - Hughes - Palmieri
Zacha - Hischier - Bratt
Coleman - Zajac - Wood
Agostino - Rooney - Boqvist

Butcher - Vatanen
Greene - Severson
Smith - Carrick
Mueller

Schneider/Blackwood

Hall - Hischier - Palmieri
Bratt - Zacha - Kakko
Coleman - Zajac - Wood
Agostino - Rooney - Boqvist

Butcher - Vatanen
Greene - Severson
Smith - Carrick
Mueller

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[devilsblood]

So did Bastian's 2 goal game yesterday sway anyone to think maybe he starts the year in NJ next season?

Too bad he missed as many games as he did, cause I would have liked more of a look then just the 7 games he played, but I think I may have seen enough to say he might be ready.

Funny that this guy was completely off the prospect radar to start the year.