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

[OmNomNom]

I'll keep Zajac and Coleman together.

Hall-Hischier-Palmieri
Johansson-Seney-Bratt
Boyle-Zajac-Coleman
Wood-Zacha-Noesen

IDK if seney can carry a line.

But not bad lines, esp if you balance usage depending on how they're doing each night. Just because a line is listed 4th doesn't necessarily mean itll get the least amount of time

 

[Emperoreddy]

Honestly they might just let Big Mac and Cory go next year.

I just don’t think they want eat the buyout if they can help it

 

[Emperoreddy]

IDK if seney can carry a line.

But not bad lines, esp if you balance usage depending on how they're doing each night. Just because a line is listed 4th doesn't necessarily mean itll get the least amount of time

They make no sense. Seney can’t handle that role and Zacha is needlessly demoted.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

Man, I cant wait for Ty Smith to be on this team. Got player of the game tonight for Canada. Was looking like Duncan Keith out there tonight. Hunter was pissed off at him in the Denmark game for taking 1 minute shifts and not keeping it under 40 seconds.

Which is a weird thing to complain about. Him and Dobson IMO have been the best dmen on the team, yet they are used as a bottom pairing when they should be getting way more minutes.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

They make no sense. Seney can’t handle that role and Zacha is needlessly demoted.

Seney hasn’t been given a chance at 2C, so we don’t know yet if he can handle the role.

Zacha has already had been given a chance all season and he has failed as 2C. Playing with Wood and Noesen, he has finally found his spot in the lineup. He’s a bottom 6 forward, that may become the team’s 3rd line Center when Zajac retires.

I wouldn’t count on it. I think McLeod is a better prospect and Zacha future is probably traded.

 

[Quest for Stanley]

They make no sense. Seney can’t handle that role and Zacha is needlessly demoted.

Seney can handle the role. 2C will allow him to show the offensive talent he brings to the Devils. When given the opportunity he’ll help the PP big time!

 

[Ripshot 43]

I'll keep Zajac and Coleman together.

Hall-Hischier-Palmieri
Johansson-Seney-Bratt
Boyle-Zajac-Coleman
Wood-Zacha-Noesen

Certainly looks like we need that 2C from this years draft. Zacha doesn’t need to be demoted this far though, just patients.

Did we have Maroon with Wood and Zacha last year at all? Seems like that wouldve been a great fit with their hard cycling and his passing skills.

 

[Nubmer6]

Certainly looks like we need that 2C from this years draft. Zacha doesn’t need to be demoted this far though, just patients.

Did we have Maroon with Wood and Zacha last year at all? Seems like that wouldve been a great fit with their hard cycling and his passing skills.

I'm not sure that has to be a demotion. If you roll all 4 lines equally, or at lest the bottom 3 lines equally, it doesn't really matter where you happen to write their names on a sheet of paper.

To me, it's also not about promotion or demotion. It's about chemistry. For example, if Zacha suddenly starts scoring at a high rate on that line combo, do you move him up to take the 2C slot again? I wouldn't.

Your comment about Maroon is interesting. Imagine moving Boyle to slot into what Maroon was doing next to Wood and Zacha, then reunite the Coleman-Zajac-Noesen shutdown line. It seems he could be a similar player in a similar role. The only danger is that you're putting all your size on a single line, but if it works, it works.

Speaking of size, the biggest problem with those lines is MarJo-Seney-Bratt. Seems they'd be steamrolled by physical teams.

 

[Billdo]

I'll keep Zajac and Coleman together.

Hall-Hischier-Palmieri
Johansson-Seney-Bratt
Boyle-Zajac-Coleman
Wood-Zacha-Noesen

 

[OmNomNom]

They make no sense. Seney can’t handle that role and Zacha is needlessly demoted.

Again, demoted is only because he's shown as a 4th line. If you ignore line #, it's totally fine

We have a tendency to think 4th line means least minutes, but why can't we have 3 2nd/3rd lines

 

[Triumph]

Again, demoted is only because he's shown as a 4th line. If you ignore line #, it's totally fine

We have a tendency to think 4th line means least minutes, but why can't we have 3 2nd/3rd lines

Because that's not generally how ice time distribution works - because of power plays and penalty kills, it's very hard to balance ice time between all the lines at ES.

Seney has played mostly with 4th liners but it doesn't appear like he's driving anything on that line - his Corsi with and without Boyle is functionally the same, so it's hard to put his struggles on Boyle. I like his shiftiness and there's clearly some skill there, but he's still learning the defensive zone - I see no reason to increase his responsibilities.

 

[NJDevs86]

Forward lineup when healthy this year:

Hall-Hischier-Palmeri
Marjo-Zajac-Bratt
Wood-Zacha-Coleman
Boyle-Seney-Noesen

There is no true 2nd or 3rd lines as they are both balanced so it doesn’t matter who we call the 2C between Zajac and Zacha and they could be switched here. However, Wood and Zacha always seems to work together.

Forward lineup next year

Hall-Hischier-Palmeri
Boqvist-Zacha-Bratt
Wood-Zajac-Coleman
Seney-McLeod-Anderson

Again Zajac and Zacha are interchangeable but I have Zacha up with the 2 skilled guys as he is a year older and hopefully more developed and Zajac is a year older. Marjo, Noesen, Stafford and Boyle will be gone. Any additions push guys down and make this a much deeper group up front. Doesn’t look all that bad.

 

[glenwo2]

Honestly they might just let Big Mac and Cory go next year.

I just don’t think they want eat the buyout if they can help it

Don't you mean "Let Cory go next year"?

Why the hell would they let Big Mac go?

 

[Better Call Sal]

Don't you mean "Let Cory go next year"?

Why the hell would they let Big Mac go?

You’re taking it too literally. He means go in net for us next year and letting Kinkaid walk.

It’s probably the most sensible move, as I’m sure it won’t be easy to find a taker for Schneider either way and I sincerely doubt they have any interest in buying him out.

If Mac continues to show this much promise, it allows you to try and be patient with Schneider to further recover and maybe find his game to get his value back up.

 

[glenwo2]

You’re taking it too literally. He means go in net for us next year and letting Kinkaid walk.

If that's what he meant, then that's what he should've said.

Otherwise, it sounds(looks) like he's saying that Big Mac, along with Cory, should be let go.

And nowhere did he mention Kinkaid. Where did THAT come from?

 

[Nubmer6]

Interesting article by Chris Ryan:
What Devils assistant coach Rick Kowalsky sees in Mackenzie Blackwood’s development

Kowalsky also said the structure and control of an NHL game, compared to the AHL, has benefitted Blackwood. Instead of more unpredictability in terms of what players do in front of goalies, Blackwood has leaned on and trusted the Devils' NHL defense, allowing him to zone in on shooters and focus on his mechanics.

Makes me shudder to think our AHL D is even more unstructured.

 

[Bleedred]

I don’t understand the fear of taking a buyout on Cory.

Is it the buyout cap hit? Or fear we might be buying out a still good goalie? I understand the cap hit reason, but don’t understand any fear in thinking an almost 33 year old goalie that has a .903% over his last 100 games (.901% over his last 96 regular season games played) might not be bad. And even with cap concerns, we bought out Cammalleri a couple years ago. Only he had 2 years left instead of 3.

If we’re bringing Cory back next year, he needs to prove to be serviceable first and he needs to do it for a significant stretch of games. His play has been homely as all hell for 25 games now and poor for 100 games. He’ll be 33 next year. I think people are way too optimistic about him bouncing back. He’s looked worse than Marty ever did at the end.

At the very best he might still be serviceable, but he’s still a very bad goalie at this stage. 100 games of decline can’t be ignored. That’s almost the last 30% of his total career. He’s now the goalie equivalent of if Taylor Hall scored only 50 points over his last 150 games. That’s how shot he is.

I think we might be looking at an LTIR situation for him. I’m starting to more than ever believe that.

 

[Nubmer6]

Also from Chris Ryan (Devils' Pavel Zacha is taking advantage of ice time: 5 observations, studs and duds from win vs. Hurricanes | Mackenzie Blackwood, Andy Greene)

"With a young goalie, you want to make sure you're not forcing him into big-time or a lot of situations where he needs to make big saves," Greene said. "We want to let him make the first save, then let us get the rebound, clear it, let us get sticks, let him see the puck and let him get comfortable. "

Um... shouldn't we be doing that for ALL our goalies? What the hell are we teaching them out there?

 

[R8Devs]

Seney hasn’t been given a chance at 2C, so we don’t know yet if he can handle the role.

Zacha has already had been given a chance all season and he has failed as 2C. Playing with Wood and Noesen, he has finally found his spot in the lineup. He’s a bottom 6 forward, that may become the team’s 3rd line Center when Zajac retires.

I wouldn’t count on it. I think McLeod is a better prospect and Zacha future is probably traded.

this kind of stuff is semantics. most of the season his line was the third one out at even strength but now since he's listed like that in the pregame lineup he's playing '3C'.

 

[Sheros expletives]

If that's what he meant, then that's what he should've said.

Otherwise, it sounds(looks) like he's saying that Big Mac, along with Cory, should be let go.

And nowhere did he mention Kinkaid. Where did THAT come from?

Logic thinking is a thing ya know

 

[Better Call Sal]

I don’t understand the fear of taking a buyout on Cory.

Is it the buyout cap hit? Or fear we might be buying out a still good goalie? I understand the cap hit reason, but don’t understand any fear in thinking an almost 33 year old goalie that has a .903% over his last 100 games (.901% over his last 96 regular season games played) might not be bad. And even with cap concerns, we bought out Cammalleri a couple years ago. Only he had 2 years left instead of 3.

If we’re bringing Cory back next year, he needs to prove to be serviceable first and he needs to do it for a significant stretch of games. His play has been homely as all hell for 25 games now and poor for 100 games. He’ll be 33 next year. I think people are way too optimistic about him bouncing back. He’s looked worse than Marty ever did at the end.

At the very best he might still be serviceable, but he’s still a very bad goalie at this stage. 100 games of decline can’t be ignored. That’s almost the last 30% of his total career. He’s now the goalie equivalent of if Taylor Hall scored only 50 points over his last 150 games. That’s how shot he is.

I think we might be looking at an LTIR situation for him. I’m starting to more than ever believe that.

It’s the money. Buying out Cory would result in paying him $2 mil for another 6 years. Yeah we don’t have cap issues but that is such an unnecessary sunk cost when there are goalies that have proven it takes 2 years to recover from that surgery.

Kinkaid is in a walk year. If Mac proves he’s capable over a prolonged period of time this year, let Kinkaid walk and go in with Schneider hopefully having less pressure and see if he can re-establish some value. Then you can maybe entertain a buyout if he falters or move him if Mac continues to show he’s the real deal and Cory gets himself right again.

 

[Bleedred]

It’s the money. Buying out Cory would result in paying him $2 mil for another 6 years. Yeah we don’t have cap issues but that is such an unnecessary sunk cost when there are goalies that have proven it takes 2 years to recover from that surgery.

Kinkaid is in a walk year. If Mac proves he’s capable over a prolonged period of time this year, let Kinkaid walk and go in with Schneider hopefully having less pressure and see if he can re-establish some value. Then you can maybe entertain a buyout if he falters or move him if Mac continues to show he’s the real deal.

I do hope that we can hold off on buying out Cory for one more year, but we definitely can't have him here for the remainder of his contract. He's likely only going to get worse, as he's gotten even worse the last 2 years since this drop off a cliff first happened. If he was plateauing in poor play and not getting worse and worse, he'd probably be okay to play as a backup for one more year, then either an amnesty or a regular buyout the next year, with only 2 years remaining on his deal. Though I think the buyout cap hit would still be $2 million per, only it would be for 4 years instead of 6.

As I've said though, I think there's a decent chance he's not as bad as he's been to start this year, but I also don't think he's as good as he was for the first 28 games last year. I think he might be somewhere in the middle, which is a serviceable, but still very poor NHL caliber goalie.

If he really is as bad as he's shown this year, it likely means that he's very close to landing on the LTIR sooner than later, as it could be detrimental to his long term health after hockey to continue to play like this.

 

[Bleedred]

Blackwood let loose a couple of really poor rebounds early in the game, both in the 1st period I think, but he definitely got a lot better after that.

I do notice he was protecting the short side better yesterday than in his first couple games. It's likely Rollie talked to him about that and pointed it out.

 

[MartyOwns]

Kinkaid is in a walk year.

i don’t understand. why would he need to walk for an entire year? is this some kind of forrest gump thing like when he ran across the country?

 

[Zippy316]

Forward lineup when healthy this year:

Hall-Hischier-Palmeri
Marjo-Zajac-Bratt
Wood-Zacha-Coleman
Boyle-Seney-Noesen

There is no true 2nd or 3rd lines as they are both balanced so it doesn’t matter who we call the 2C between Zajac and Zacha and they could be switched here. However, Wood and Zacha always seems to work together.

Forward lineup next year

Hall-Hischier-Palmeri
Boqvist-Zacha-Bratt
Wood-Zajac-Coleman
Seney-McLeod-Anderson

Again Zajac and Zacha are interchangeable but I have Zacha up with the 2 skilled guys as he is a year older and hopefully more developed and Zajac is a year older. Marjo, Noesen, Stafford and Boyle will be gone. Any additions push guys down and make this a much deeper group up front. Doesn’t look all that bad.

Way too much youth in that line-up.

Ideally, I'd prefer to add a middle-six RW (let's say Ferland for the sake of the discussion) and have one more older fourth line forward (let's say we keep Noesen).

Hall - Hischier - Palmieri
Bratt - Zacha - Ferland
Coleman - Zajac - Anderson
Wood - Seney - Noesen

Let McLeod/Boqvist earn their spots in the line-up, push any of the bottom six forwards down a peg, or be ready to step in in case of injury.