Devils 2018-19 team discussion (news and notes)

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Cult of Hynes

Hynes is never wrong.
Nov 9, 2010
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If Smith was that good that he could have made the roster but 'there was no need to rush him', than he has nothing left to be learning from juniors and would gain more from NHL practices, training, consulting, etc etc... I find it hard to believe that a player is about NHL ready but we sent him down for an entire year in the juniors just because we have .. worse players in front of him?

Seems very illogical. Even if he only plays a few games here and there, the NHL environment would be far better for a guy who is about ready versus an entire year against much lesser players. I get the feeling he showed great things but just isnt ready.


Lol not when we have an overpaid decaying captain still clogging up the left side and a coaching staff obsessed with gritty veteran presence.

His going to be in a lesser league he already dominated last year. That isn't the best thing for someones development.
 

MartyOwns

thank you shero
Apr 1, 2007
24,127
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even if he plays “a few games here and there”, the nhl would be a far better environment? the best thing for this 165 pound 18 year old kid is to be a healthy scratch more often than not? unbelievable
 
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Billdo

Registered User
Oct 28, 2008
19,358
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Ocean County
If Smith was that good that he could have made the roster but 'there was no need to rush him', than he has nothing left to be learning from juniors and would gain more from NHL practices, training, consulting, etc etc... I find it hard to believe that a player is about NHL ready but we sent him down for an entire year in the juniors just because we have .. worse players in front of him?

Seems very illogical. Even if he only plays a few games here and there, the NHL environment would be far better for a guy who is about ready versus an entire year against much lesser players. I get the feeling he showed great things but just isnt ready.

So you think a guy sporadically playing a few games spread across 8 months is better for his growth than playing against his peers at a high level?
 

billingtons ghost

Registered User
Nov 29, 2010
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I mean, I would rather have him than a young player as the 13F, he seems to be a good veteran who can help our young players and he certainly just want to be around an NHL team, even if it's not on a TOP9 and stuff like that. It's not that much about making the playoff or not...

He will probably accept to sit 75% of the games and could be useful if we have an injury (as our young guys continues to progress in the AHL).

I don't understand why the majority of you are so tough with him? I mean, it could be a win/win situation?

I can only speak for myself, but I hate having vets that don't bring much block a kid. I personally don't think we are 'there' yet as a team, and it'll be a struggle to make the playoffs. For that reason, I'd rather be spending my time seasoning a JQ or McLeod or Dea or Andersen or Seney and letting them see what it takes to stick - bringing them up on injury and sending them back to the A when a player comes back... I get your point that we don't want a kid sitting at 13F... but there are a few things here:

1. We'll probably carry 8D, so whoever sits out at 13F might find more games.
2. We have LOTS of kids in the lineup - so giving Zacha or Bratt or Wood or Coleman or Noesen or Anderson or Dea a night off to figure things out isn't a bad thing.
3. We have some old vets too - Boyle, Zajac might get a rest - and recently fragile vets- Mojo, Palms...
4. Stafford isn't at all versatile. He won't be great on the PP, and he won't play the PK, and he won't play C. If I had my choice, I'd rather slot in a Seney or McLeod who could do all of those things.
 

Bleedred

Travis Green BLOWS! Bring back Nasreddine!
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May 1, 2011
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That Severson trade thread on the main board is an embarrassment.:facepalm: Thank god it was locked before it could even fill up two pages.
 
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NjDevsRR

Anything Can Happen In Jersey
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Apr 24, 2012
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Cult of Hynes (who I think blocked me a while ago) would be the first one to criticize Hynes and Shero for ruining Smith if it did not work out well for the kid in NHL at 18 years old hurting his development.
 
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Zippy316

aka Zippo
Aug 17, 2012
19,490
4,481
New Jersey
I'm really curious to see what happens with Boyle this year.

I give him a pass last year because there's no way he could've had a healthy off-season suffering from cancer. I love the reason the Devils brought him in to give themselves a proven winner and someone who sets an example.

But it's just looking painful obvious that he's a square peg in a round hole here. Doesn't seem to fit with anyone on the team style-wise and it ends up with a disjointed fourth line most games. Plus, the Devils have some guys in the system who can probably step into 4C and play the way we want (Rooney, Seney, Coleman, and now Dea).

Personally, I'd be shocked if he ends the season with the Devils. I would think someone down in Bingo pushes their way up and makes him expendable.
 

RangerDoggo

The Devils have a culture of failure
Feb 3, 2016
3,166
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Brooklyn via NJ, like the Nets
Lol not when we have an overpaid decaying captain still clogging up the left side and a coaching staff obsessed with gritty veteran presence.
I stopped reading at the bolded part because that's absolute bullshit. We're one of the youngest teams in the league, if not the youngest. There was speculation Ty might make the final roster until he was sent back to Spokane. You'd be hard-pressed to find a coaching staff that applies to anywhere else in the league. Maybe Vancouver but that's about it.
 

Triumph

Registered User
Oct 2, 2007
13,473
13,796
I'm really curious to see what happens with Boyle this year.

I give him a pass last year because there's no way he could've had a healthy off-season suffering from cancer. I love the reason the Devils brought him in to give themselves a proven winner and someone who sets an example.

But it's just looking painful obvious that he's a square peg in a round hole here. Doesn't seem to fit with anyone on the team style-wise and it ends up with a disjointed fourth line most games. Plus, the Devils have some guys in the system who can probably step into 4C and play the way we want (Rooney, Seney, Coleman, and now Dea).

Personally, I'd be shocked if he ends the season with the Devils. I would think someone down in Bingo pushes their way up and makes him expendable.

I don't see what Boyle's game is. He's not some Zubrus or Maroon type along the boards. He's not a particularly good passer. The thing he's surprisingly good at for a guy with his size is goal scoring - since leaving the Rangers, he has 39 ES goals in 4 seasons, most of which were spent as a 4th line center. So yeah, he'll end up scoring a few more goals than most 4th line centers, but he won't win style points doing it - fans warmed to him here in part because of what he was going through last season medically, but at least in New York I don't think he was beloved.

It wouldn't shock me to have him lose his everyday spot in the lineup as the season goes along, but it would surprise me if he didn't end the season here. There's not a ton of guys who've spent their careers as 3rd/4th line players who are still going in the NHL at age 34/35 - if he's not cutting it here, I doubt there'll be a lot of interest elsewhere.
 
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Hischier and Hughes

“I love to hockey”
Jan 28, 2018
9,408
4,357
even if he plays “a few games here and there”, the nhl would be a far better environment? the best thing for this 165 pound 18 year old kid is to be a healthy scratch more often than not? unbelievable
I forgot the team only plays games and nothing else
 

Hischier and Hughes

“I love to hockey”
Jan 28, 2018
9,408
4,357
Smith is 18 years old. Going back to Junior is not going to harm his development. Some of you people need to chill the **** out.
idk if this is in reference to what I said but just to clarify I never said Smith being in the juniors was detrimental to his development
 

Hischier and Hughes

“I love to hockey”
Jan 28, 2018
9,408
4,357
So you think a guy sporadically playing a few games spread across 8 months is better for his growth than playing against his peers at a high level?
Once again, does e team just play games and sit home? Are there not a thousand other resources at the NHL level not offered to Smith in juniors? or are we conveniently forgetting that
 

Hischier and Hughes

“I love to hockey”
Jan 28, 2018
9,408
4,357
Also there really is no need for the hostility on this board. Were all Devils fans, I dont get why someones differing opinion is treated like total shit and then folks act as if he/she is a witch to be burned at the stake for his terrible ideas

And thats in reference to everything not just me or specific people.
 

Triumph

Registered User
Oct 2, 2007
13,473
13,796
I forgot the team only plays games and nothing else

While this is true, NHL practices aren't really instructional, and there aren't that many of them because of how the season works - teams get in maybe 2 full practices a week.
 

Hischier and Hughes

“I love to hockey”
Jan 28, 2018
9,408
4,357
While this is true, NHL practices aren't really instructional, and there aren't that many of them because of how the season works - teams get in maybe 2 full practices a week.
Practices as well as nutritionists, psychologists, training regiments (I suppose these could be online now idk any specifics) and the biggest of all - the environment of being on the team and around the guys
 

Triumph

Registered User
Oct 2, 2007
13,473
13,796
Practices as well as nutritionists, psychologists, training regiments (I suppose these could be online now idk any specifics) and the biggest of all - the environment of being on the team and around the guys

Spending games in the press box and living in a hotel aren't all that conducive to 'being around the guys'. Now odds are being an 18 year old they would've asked one of the older guys on the team to let him live at their house, but still, that's no way for a player to build confidence. Players want to be playing. Ideally he'd go to the AHL and get all that stuff down there, but that's not how the NHL works.
 
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