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

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

dont forget that the 48th was the 2nd from the grabner trade…they moved from 26 to 22 to take k'andre miller who a few here on this board wanted over smith


…should be fun to see how this unfolds in the coming years

None of us here realistically expected Smith to be available so I'm not sure that's accurate

 

[Devils Dominion]

Hmm...



I wonder if this about the team, or about their web site.

Their site

 

[Camille the Eel]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Washington didn’t want to rent Marjo back for their playoffs. They will be looking to buy at the deadline I think. He’d surely be happy to return for awhile I think.

Pittsburgh will also be a buyer though maybe not for him. Boyle might interest them very much.

 

[dzubrus8]

If I'm Ray Shero, I have my eyes on a few players this summer, one for each position group:

RW Mark Stone, UFA - I think Matt Duchene is the better scoring talent and will likely end up with more money, but Stone is in the prime of his career and is one of the game's elite two-way forwards and not in the 20-point grinder sort of way but more so in the 60-70 point, physical yet responsible way. Devils frankly don't have a player like him on the roster and he would help build out the fast, attacking, supportive identity

LD Oscar Klefbom, EDM - Yes, I realize this was another move that fans wanted the Devils to make last summer and obviously it didn't happen. I see Darnell Nurse as the trade target, but I don't understand why: his stock is as high as ever and he has not even reached the prime of his career. Klefbom, like Nurse, is a LHD and minutes muncher, but he has trouble staying healthy and his output is on pace to be a bit more modest. Looking at the two teams' needs, I could see the Devils basing a package around Damon Severson and a pick to bolster Edmonton's right side, with Klefbom coming to New Jersey. And why would Severson work? Well, here's a scary stat: besides Adam Larsson, Edmonton's RHD have played a combined 37 games, meaning they need at least one more full-time RD. And it wouldn't hurt if their defense was producing a bit more offense.

G Semyon Varlamov, UFA - Yes, another high-profile UFA. Surely Sergei Bobrovsky is the grand prize of this FA class at goalie, but Varly is nothing to scoff at for whoever comes in second. In Varly you are not getting a load-lifting starter like the Avs thought when they gave up a 1st round pick for him, but his save percentage and GAA have stayed mostly consistent save the disastrous 2016-17 season in which the Avs finished as one of the worst in the league. By most indications he's a 91% save goalie at a time when those are becoming harder to come by. He won't steal many wins for the Devils but he won't lose many games, giving the Devils just enough time to platoon Schneider and Varly until Blackwood is finally ready to take the reins.

Here's my 2019-2020 roster:
Hall - Hischier - Stone
Bratt - Zacha - Palmieri
Coleman - Zajac - Silfverberg
Wood - Boyle - Anderson

Klefbom - Vatanen
Smith - Santini
Greene - Butcher
Mueller

Varlamov
Schneider

 

[Emperoreddy]

Not going to argue about their value, but for a team looking for forward depth there are solutions to those issues.

A: Johansson plays top6, Boyle is fourth line. Boyle has also played a lot of center and I don’t see why a playoff team with weakness in its bottom forwards wouldn’t put him there again.

B: Devils can retain

Doesn’t mean they will offer up a first though. We will get pieces back, but people shouldn’t get their hopes too high on a top flight return.

19 against the Isles today. They are a trash hockey team that is being saved by Gibson. I'm surprised they are only one point away from a playoff spot.

Also, we most likely we'll have to wait until the deadline. We want to keep Lovejoy's value up by playing him.

The pacific is a dumpster fire, only reason they aren’t as dead and buried as we are right now.

Was pushing Severson+ out the door a move people were seriously clamoring for last offseason?

I don’t recall this.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I think we should consider Duncan here as an option with Blackwood next year.



Arf, arf, arf, arf, arf.

 

[NJDevils17]

I mean this in the nicest possible way but this team is going nowhere with Zacha as the 2C. Bringing in another C should be a top priority..one of many.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I mean this in the nicest possible way but this team is going nowhere with Zacha as the 2C. Bringing in another C should be a top priority..one of many.

I'm one of Zacha's biggest supporters but I agree...at least right now

I would love to see a 3rd line of Zacha-Zajac-Coleman. That would be one of the better checking lines in the NHL.

Given what we have in the pipeline coming up, I actually think acquiring a 2C from outside the organization might be more important than acquiring a DMan. Though I think we will need at least one of both.

 

[I Hate Tie DOMI]

I mean this in the nicest possible way but this team is going nowhere with Zacha as the 2C. Bringing in another C should be a top priority..one of many.

With Johansson likely gone who are the second line wingers next year assuming Zajac-Coleman stick together as a third line. Bratt and ??

Does it even matter who that 2C is when there really isn't a 2nd line to begin with?

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

With Johansson likely gone who are the second line wingers next year assuming Zajac-Coleman stick together as a third line. Bratt and ??

Does it even matter who that 2C is when there really isn't a 2nd line to begin with?

I think theres a good chance that Jesper Boqvist is on the team next year

 

[JimEIV]

With Johansson likely gone who are the second line wingers next year assuming Zajac-Coleman stick together as a third line. Bratt and ??

Does it even matter who that 2C is when there really isn't a 2nd line to begin with?

I would like to see how Seney develops. He seems to get lost in lot of the conversations...perhaps it is that he is perceived as "just" a bottom 6 player? But I am not so sure that is the case.

I think it's easy to forget that Seney hardly has any Pro experience at all and he was playing for Merimmack College this time last year...

With what he has shown in a very short period of time since turning Pro makes believe that he has a lot more to offer once he figures things out and refines his game some more.

 

[Billdo]

I'm not going to be surprised if Boyle gets a 1st back. I also think if we move Lovejoy the return might surprise this board. Teams cover guys like Lovejoy at the deadline. Despite this board dumping on him, he hasn't been all that bad and on a good team with bottom pairing mins I think he'd be fine.

 

[MichaelJ]

Doesn’t mean they will offer up a first though. We will get pieces back, but people shouldn’t get their hopes too high on a top flight return.

No it doesn’t, which is why I said I wasn’t going to argue in value, just address the supposed issues.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

I'm not going to be surprised if Boyle gets a 1st back. I also think if we move Lovejoy the return might surprise this board. Teams cover guys like Lovejoy at the deadline. Despite this board dumping on him, he hasn't been all that bad and on a good team with bottom pairing mins I think he'd be fine.

I think Lovejoy brings back a 2nd before Boyle gets a 1st, which would still be amazing.

Four 2nd round picks would be huge.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

whens the last time the Devils had 2 first round picks in the same draft?

the last time we actually selected twice in the first round was 1998 (Van Ryn and Gomez) but have we ever had 2 at any point since then that we traded?

 

[Sheros expletives]

I don't think Boqvist should be penciled in for the second line, rather ease him in on the third. Then again with the third being Zajac's checking line maybe it's better to go with top line in Binghamton.

 

[Rebel Devil]

Why do I get the idea we are severely overvaluing draft pick return on guys like Boyle, Lovejoy and MarJo?

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Why do I get the idea we are severely overvaluing draft pick return on guys like Boyle, Lovejoy and MarJo?

Boyle returned a 2nd + prospect at the deadline two years ago and has better numbers this season than he did then. I don't think a 2nd is unreasonable.

Johansson is a 2nd line player IMO. I think he easily returns a 2nd.

I'm not sure that they'll trade Lovejoy, even though I absolutely would. I think he'll return a 4th or something similar to that. Guys like that get traded every deadline.

I will say I will be pretty surprised if we got a 1st for any of them

 

[Nubmer6]

Why do I get the idea we are severely overvaluing draft pick return on guys like Boyle, Lovejoy and MarJo?

Because we're on the HF Devils board?

 

[Call Me Al]

asking for a 2nd for those guys isn't overvaluing them

 

[Call Me Al]

we get a 4th for lovejoy ill be happy

 

[Camille the Eel]

Going down the stretch I’d like to see us play Bratt at center some. With his skating and abilities to carry the puck, see the ice and distribute it - above all his ability to back off defenders (you can’t get too close to him when he’s got open ice because he can stop and start and cut and leave you looking foolish) - let him handle the puck with the maximum open ice.

In the same vein, also would like to see him on a power play point, not a corner. Again imagine the havoc he creates with the puck at the top of the triangle occasionally, or circling with it in the open ice of a 5 on 4. See Matt Barzal for comparison.

He’s our most creative forward so why not play him in the most creative position. What have we got to lose in giving him some shifts there and seeing how it works?

Yes he’s small but so are Gaudreau and Barzal.

 

[Devilsfan992]

Gaudreau is not a center .. and you don't just throw an undersized player who hasn't played center in the center role.

Also what constitutes a center as being a more creative position than a winger?

 

[devilsblood]

With Johansson likely gone who are the second line wingers next year assuming Zajac-Coleman stick together as a third line. Bratt and ??

Does it even matter who that 2C is when there really isn't a 2nd line to begin with?

As Center is the more important position, I'd say of course it matter.

You could go Bratt Duchene Anderson.

Or

Boqvist Duchene Bratt.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Going down the stretch I’d like to see us play Bratt at center some. With his skating and abilities to carry the puck, see the ice and distribute it - above all his ability to back off defenders (you can’t get too close to him when he’s got open ice because he can stop and start and cut and leave you looking foolish) - let him handle the puck with the maximum open ice.

In the same vein, also would like to see him on a power play point, not a corner. Again imagine the havoc he creates with the puck at the top of the triangle occasionally, or circling with it in the open ice of a 5 on 4. See Matt Barzal for comparison.

He’s our most creative forward so why not play him in the most creative position. What have we got to lose in giving him some shifts there and seeing how it works?

Yes he’s small but so are Gaudreau and Barzal.

You are leaving out the most important part of being a center, the difficult defensive zone responsibilities which is why you can’t throw any winger at center.