Devils 2018-19 team discussion (news and notes) - part XVI
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Yeah, Severson's amazing defensively.
This chart really highlights just how amazing Nico has been. In the middle of this dumpster fire of a season being asked to carry the load offensively, and to some extent defensively, he has really excelled in the absence of his security blanket (Hall). He is criminally underrated by every other fan base.
This past game I saw Sev's multiple times as the only guy back. I don't think he did a great job in those spots, but just the same.
And I just wonder why Sev's #'s were better last year then this year. Is it him? Is it the system? Is it the usage? Is it the partner?
I really have no idea how they are going to improve this defense.
Greene, Mueller, and Lovejoy are not the future of this team in my current opinion.
Smith, Walsh and others look promising but they are smaller offensive minded d-men. This team really needs size and physicality to mix in the with skill. The best d-man in FA is Gardiner (Karlsson is not going to hit free agency I don't think). He puts up points but does not help defensively. Barring major trades, I don't see how they are going to improve the back line.
Greene, Mueller, and Lovejoy are not the future of this team in my current opinion.
Smith, Walsh and others look promising but they are smaller offensive minded d-men. This team really needs size and physicality to mix in the with skill. The best d-man in FA is Gardiner (Karlsson is not going to hit free agency I don't think). He puts up points but does not help defensively. Barring major trades, I don't see how they are going to improve the back line.
I’m sure Greene Lovejoy and Butcher excel at closing gaps with speed.
- Feb 5, 2010
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Yeah, Severson's amazing defensively.
It's at least nice to finally confirm statistically that Severson is better than Doughty.
BenedictGomez
Corsi is GROSSLY overrated
Greene & Lovejoy wont be on the team next year, and Mueller is fine currently as a #5/#6.
Is Nas responsible for the system? Or does he follow Hynes's game plan?
I find the disconnect between a good PK and awful 5v5 team defense a very interesting topic.
Sure and who are they getting replaced by? Extremely young undersized kids? I've watched enough games this year to know that not one forward on any other team is scared of dancing around doing whatever they want in the Devils zone because no one holds them accountable.
I think part of the problem with the defense is the fast attacking supportive vision of the team. To execute that properly requires good quality defenders. Guys that can smartly move the puck up the ice and have the instincts to know when to push it and when to lay back and the skating to recover when their aggressiveness results in the puck moving the other way. That system can look great on a good team. It is probably making this bad defense look worse than it is. It may not just be as simple as Hynes/Nas failing to see what the fans see. If Shero wants them implementing an attacking move the puck and join the play wherever possible system, they are going to do it.
Until the team gets two legit top pairing defenders I don't see it getting dramatically better. Even if Smith is going to be a better version of Butcher offensively, does anyone see him holding it together defensively in his own zone against the bigger and stronger NHL forwards while he is young? I expect him to need sheltered minutes defensively to get the most out of him if he plays in the NHL next season.
Of course, just about every defender on the team needs to play with protected minutes with the exception of Vats when he is healthy and on his game and to some extent for Sevs who can at least play middle pairing minutes and competition when he is on his game. Surrounding them with four bottom pairing defenders and calling it a day is bad enough, but then adding a style and gameplay that doesn't minimize the pressure on the defense but maximizes it is just asking for trouble.
Again, I see that Shero's heart may be bigger than his head right now and while the forwards may be ready to play up tempo when the team is fully healthy, the defense is still lagging way behind. I'm sure Hynes and Nas could fix the team defense with a low event system, but the decision so far appears to be not to go that route.
I wouldn't want MBW behind this defense until it is better sorted.
Oh, and for the Davies fans, even if he is here next season, he's another sub six foot sub 200 pound guy. Again, maybe a better skating Butcher along the lines of a Smith? I'm not an expert, but my thought is that you cannot just load up on six relatively average sized guys, no matter how smart or skilled they might be.
This part of the team is going to take more than one offseason to fix as I see it. Hopefully they can at least take steps in that direction starting with the draft and maybe a UFA that makes sense is found. If a great trade appears I don't doubt Shero will go for it, but that's less likely to me. What team moves a legit top pairing guy for anything less than a gross overpayment?
Until the team gets two legit top pairing defenders I don't see it getting dramatically better. Even if Smith is going to be a better version of Butcher offensively, does anyone see him holding it together defensively in his own zone against the bigger and stronger NHL forwards while he is young? I expect him to need sheltered minutes defensively to get the most out of him if he plays in the NHL next season.
Of course, just about every defender on the team needs to play with protected minutes with the exception of Vats when he is healthy and on his game and to some extent for Sevs who can at least play middle pairing minutes and competition when he is on his game. Surrounding them with four bottom pairing defenders and calling it a day is bad enough, but then adding a style and gameplay that doesn't minimize the pressure on the defense but maximizes it is just asking for trouble.
Again, I see that Shero's heart may be bigger than his head right now and while the forwards may be ready to play up tempo when the team is fully healthy, the defense is still lagging way behind. I'm sure Hynes and Nas could fix the team defense with a low event system, but the decision so far appears to be not to go that route.
I wouldn't want MBW behind this defense until it is better sorted.
Oh, and for the Davies fans, even if he is here next season, he's another sub six foot sub 200 pound guy. Again, maybe a better skating Butcher along the lines of a Smith? I'm not an expert, but my thought is that you cannot just load up on six relatively average sized guys, no matter how smart or skilled they might be.
This part of the team is going to take more than one offseason to fix as I see it. Hopefully they can at least take steps in that direction starting with the draft and maybe a UFA that makes sense is found. If a great trade appears I don't doubt Shero will go for it, but that's less likely to me. What team moves a legit top pairing guy for anything less than a gross overpayment?
Are our fwd's scared of dancing around other teams? Is that our issue?
I don't think the fear factor is really part of the equation anymore.
So who is replacing Lovejoy? Could be as simple as Santini.
Who is replacing Greene? Trickier in that sure Smith is the obvious choice, but where does Greene go? To the teams luxury box? And if that is the case could we possibly go Butcher Mueller Smith down the left side? That is an awfully unproven left side.
Butcher Smith Davies might all be legit NHL defensemen, but I don't think they could ever compromise the entire left side of the defense, let alone do it while they are of the ages of 24, 19 and 22 respectively.
agreed it will have to be a trade and we are gonna have to give up something of value.. bottom line somebody good needs to go..
The left side could be greene, butcher, smith?? nope ... none of them will be in press box.. so that tells me one of greene or butcher are gone next year... or one plays off side
It's hard to really tell given what a collective mess this team has been for much of the season. I thought he looked better at the beginning of the season, so did he regress? Is he trying to force things because the team is struggling? Does he look worse because Greene continues to decline and is no longer his safety blanket? Or is this just what he is?
There are a lot more questions than answers with this team right now.
Oneiro
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- Mar 28, 2013
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This interests me as well. My guess is that personnel impact the PK far more than coaching because it's the most discernment-heavy scenario in hockey (i.e. knowing when to go, when to lay back, etc).
One thing I'd be willing to bet on is that a kill with Zajac, Coleman, Zacha and Hischier will always be a top 10 PK.
MichaelJ
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- May 20, 2013
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That's a good question. I always presumed Nas implemented the system. I'm not sure why a head coach would not delegate the D to the D coach.
On the other hand, the forwards really seem to have problems contributing to the D, so if it's a system wide issue and not just the defensemen, it may be a Hynes issue.
As I said, what I see happening is that the D will chase their assignment high, which causes two problems for me. 1. They're not fast enough to cover the opposing forwards, so the forwards can blow by them and get netfront before the D can recover. 2. Our forwards are not always aware enough to cover for the casing D. I've seen so many times our F out of position and suddenly realize it and run down low. It's usually in time, but not always.
The other problem I see is that the forwards seem to be cheating and flying the coup. That results in chaos if the puck doesn't make it out of the zone. It's also a problem in that when the D gets the puck they have to make long stretch passes, getting intercepted more often than not. If there's 2 forecheckers, it becomes really hard for us to do that.
The D pinching is also a problem, but I consider that more an issue with the players than the coaches. Sure they're encouraged to pinch by the coaches, but its up to the players to make the reads and decide when it's safe and when it's not.
I have to say one problem that really niggled at me last couple years was fixed. I used to complain that when one of our D men got the puck, the other would skate towards him. I guess he was trying to be "supportive", but what he was really doing was drawing the opponent assigned to cover him towards the puck carrier, often causing 2 defenders on the puck. We've done a lot less of that this year.
Anyway, whatever system we're playing right now may work for some other teams, but we just don't have the right type of players to implement it. Stubbornly clinging to it instead of adapting is a huge issue.
JimEIV
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- Feb 19, 2003
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One of the things I am fairly certain about is that you cannot judge players with any certainty in terrible situations.
Our coaching is inept. I think we are beyond debate on this. The team has taken on an amateurish face and it is more than troubling that our GM has done little to stop the bleeding.
There is absolutely no sense in talking about personnel until significant structural change occur....this is a bad path we are on.
Our coaching is inept. I think we are beyond debate on this. The team has taken on an amateurish face and it is more than troubling that our GM has done little to stop the bleeding.
There is absolutely no sense in talking about personnel until significant structural change occur....this is a bad path we are on.
- May 1, 2011
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If he's good, he'll probably still give up 3 goals, with how many shots we allow with guys like Rooney, Gryba and Gabriel in the lineup. We've been getting crushed in shots since they've taken over, especially Gabriel and Gryba, as Rooney was here for a bit before them.
Best case scenario is probably how he played against Minnesota, before the 3rd period softy.
Billdo
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Career highs in goals and playing EXCELLENT defense and PK. I'm pretty sure he's taking the step.
PWiz30
I love to hockey!
- Jan 3, 2013
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That feeling when you have tickets to go see your team play on the road and they're starting the goalie who's 0 for his last 20 decisions.
Devils Dominion
Now we Plummet
That feeling when you have tickets to go see your team play on the road and they're starting the goalie who's 0 for his last 20 decisions.
Wear it, but first write FIRE HYNES on it
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