Devils 2018-19 team discussion (player news and notes) - offseason part III
- Thread starter NJDevs26
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- May 1, 2011
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I'll play along.
I'd rather have Lovejoy than Orpik.
Orpik is worse than Lovejoy, at least as this past year.
Orpik has always been terrible. He was so overrated back in the day. Overrated for the fact that people thought he was actually really good and he got that stupid contract from MacLellan on his way through the door in DC.
I'd rather have Lovejoy than Orpik.
Orpik is worse than Lovejoy, at least as this past year.
Orpik has always been terrible. He was so overrated back in the day. Overrated for the fact that people thought he was actually really good and he got that stupid contract from MacLellan on his way through the door in DC.
SpeakingOfTheDevils
Devils Advocate
Reeeaaaally cutting into my potential like count on that last post by creating a new thread.
Just kidding. I want some more Shero updates.
Just kidding. I want some more Shero updates.
- May 1, 2011
- 130,431
- 57,924
It's funny how we filled up the last thread in under 5 full days. I'm not sure if that's a July record, it probably isn't, especially with the dramatic July's we had in 2012 and 2013. But it's pretty fast for what has been a very quiet July! Where all we heard were crickets and tumbleweeds until yesterday.
OmNomNom
Taco is Love, Taco is Life
i gotchu
joking aside, from a lockerroom perspective, i'd take LJ. we know he is a serviceable 3rd pairing D, and based on how he interviews, seems to carry himself like a true professional, which i'm sure is good for the young kids.
he really should go into coaching when he's retired. he just seems like the type
i gotchu
joking aside, from a lockerroom perspective, i'd take LJ. we know he is a serviceable 3rd pairing D, and based on how he interviews, seems to carry himself like a true professional, which i'm sure is good for the young kids.
he really should go into coaching when he's retired. he just seems like the type
Maybe he can replace Ward or Clowe this fall.
Yet two different teams managed to win SC championships lugging this overrated defenseman around. Go figure?
I can understand you not wanting Shero to sign him at this stage of his career but don't go trashing a guy who's got SC rings with 2 different teams. That wasn't by accident or luck. The leadership he brings can't be measured in statistics.
Washington got what they wanted from him, a SC Championship. That alone was worth the contract they gave him.
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I had an M3 and drove it for about 100k miles. I pity the person that picked it up cheap after I traded it in.
devlzfan
Registered User
I don’t know much about the other players Arizona got, but as always wondering if Ray was involved in this total cap dump. Nice to have $23M in cap space but it’s got to be used eventually.
Devils Dominion
Now we Plummet
Devilswede
Registered User
- Dec 10, 2006
- 12,264
- 619
Hinostroza & Oesterle are no players of interest to the Devils really. Don't see how any of those two can come in and knock some of our other guys from the lineup.
I'm sure Ray might've been involved but Ray probably wanted other pieces that Chicago was not willing to give up.
I'm sure Ray might've been involved but Ray probably wanted other pieces that Chicago was not willing to give up.
Better Call Sal
Salnalysis
Here it comes like clockwork, a move is made but it wasn't us, what are you doing Ray!?
- May 1, 2011
- 130,431
- 57,924
This is the dumbest argument I’ve ever seen in my life.
“This guy won two cups”. Because a bad player has never won two cups, right? Do you know how many BAD players have won two, three, four cups?
What a dumb f***in argument. And I’m sorry I lashed out at you, but this argument is a huge pet peeve of mine.
thethinglonger
Castron & Crew
Better Call Sal
Salnalysis
Zajacs Bowl Cut
Lets Go Baby
Just because he won a Cup (or two) doesn't mean he is a good player
that is a weird thing to argue
Monsieur Verdoux
Registered User
Better Call Sal
Salnalysis
Edmonton East
BUT the ADvaNCEd STatS...
- Nov 25, 2007
- 6,492
- 2,450
Had a dream last night that the Devs got Panarin. That means I qualify for a special HF source tag, right?
Or do I need to post it on twitter first?
Or do I need to post it on twitter first?
Monsieur Verdoux
Registered User
The Athletic is easily the best hockey media nowadays. This Scott Wheeler's article about Taylor Hall is also quite interesting.
"He (Hall) watched the playoffs, like everyone else, and took note of the impressive depth on teams like Vegas and Washington. The kind of depth the Devils lacked.
He’s thankful John Tavares, a close friend, has left the Devils’ division, but he still looks north to teams like Toronto as formidable foes in the Eastern Conference.
But it’s time, he says, for the Devils to evolve.
“You see the teams that go far, teams like that Capitals, their top guys are doing their thing, they’re playing well, Ovechkin had 15 goals or whatever, but it’s the Smith-Pelleys, the Jay Beagles, it’s those guys that are making the difference as the games go on and a series goes on,” Hall said.
“Hopefully, as our team grows, we can have those guys on our team – we can add to what we have on our first line. That’s just evolving as a team: getting guys into their roles, getting guys used to what they have to do. I just sit here like you (during free agency). I would love to see us add a couple of more pieces but at the end of the day that’s not my job. My job is to come into camp as healthy as possible, as committed as possible, and just worry about that.”
The Devils are ahead of schedule, though. Way ahead of schedule. He knows that. And it’s exciting.
When they started 9-2, he says he knew they had a chance to surprise a lot of people and make a run at a playoff spot. They did that. Now it’s time for another step.
“I watched playoff hockey for a month and a half before the Cup was handed out. We’re a long way from where we want to be. I think it was a great first step. I’m very happy with our season last year. But at the same time we won one playoff game and that was it. We’re one playoff game ahead of where we were last season,” he said.
“We have to be proud of that but we also have to know there’s a long way to go. It’s hard to get out of the basement, it really is. Now, I think the hardest step is going from making the playoffs to being a team that can challenge for the Cup. I’m really looking forward to trying to do that.”
He wants the world to know that Nico Hischier is better than people realize, too, and that he’s going to be a huge part of whatever comes next in the team’s growth.
“He was probably the biggest impact on my season this year, was being able to play with him all season long. If he was playing in Toronto or a big market that would have a lot more spotlight, I think that he would have a bigger name, a lot more recognition, certainly a lot more Calder votes than he had,” Hall added. “You know, he had 50 points as a centreman as an 18-year-old and us playing on a line together, we played the top lines each and every night. I’m proud to be his teammate, I’m proud to be on a line with him, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the evolution of him next year.”
As Hischier gets older, he thinks that evolution can take him well beyond his impressive debut season.
“You get older, you get used to the league, you get more energy on nights where maybe you’re not feeling it as a young guy. It’s a tough schedule and for him, he comes from Europe where they don’t play 90 games in minor hockey like we did growing up,” Hall said. “I still think he’s getting used to the schedule. And then you just get stronger, you get faster, you get more used to the speed of the game.”
After his MVP season, Taylor Hall is resolved for more --... (paywall)
"He (Hall) watched the playoffs, like everyone else, and took note of the impressive depth on teams like Vegas and Washington. The kind of depth the Devils lacked.
He’s thankful John Tavares, a close friend, has left the Devils’ division, but he still looks north to teams like Toronto as formidable foes in the Eastern Conference.
But it’s time, he says, for the Devils to evolve.
“You see the teams that go far, teams like that Capitals, their top guys are doing their thing, they’re playing well, Ovechkin had 15 goals or whatever, but it’s the Smith-Pelleys, the Jay Beagles, it’s those guys that are making the difference as the games go on and a series goes on,” Hall said.
“Hopefully, as our team grows, we can have those guys on our team – we can add to what we have on our first line. That’s just evolving as a team: getting guys into their roles, getting guys used to what they have to do. I just sit here like you (during free agency). I would love to see us add a couple of more pieces but at the end of the day that’s not my job. My job is to come into camp as healthy as possible, as committed as possible, and just worry about that.”
The Devils are ahead of schedule, though. Way ahead of schedule. He knows that. And it’s exciting.
When they started 9-2, he says he knew they had a chance to surprise a lot of people and make a run at a playoff spot. They did that. Now it’s time for another step.
“I watched playoff hockey for a month and a half before the Cup was handed out. We’re a long way from where we want to be. I think it was a great first step. I’m very happy with our season last year. But at the same time we won one playoff game and that was it. We’re one playoff game ahead of where we were last season,” he said.
“We have to be proud of that but we also have to know there’s a long way to go. It’s hard to get out of the basement, it really is. Now, I think the hardest step is going from making the playoffs to being a team that can challenge for the Cup. I’m really looking forward to trying to do that.”
He wants the world to know that Nico Hischier is better than people realize, too, and that he’s going to be a huge part of whatever comes next in the team’s growth.
“He was probably the biggest impact on my season this year, was being able to play with him all season long. If he was playing in Toronto or a big market that would have a lot more spotlight, I think that he would have a bigger name, a lot more recognition, certainly a lot more Calder votes than he had,” Hall added. “You know, he had 50 points as a centreman as an 18-year-old and us playing on a line together, we played the top lines each and every night. I’m proud to be his teammate, I’m proud to be on a line with him, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the evolution of him next year.”
As Hischier gets older, he thinks that evolution can take him well beyond his impressive debut season.
“You get older, you get used to the league, you get more energy on nights where maybe you’re not feeling it as a young guy. It’s a tough schedule and for him, he comes from Europe where they don’t play 90 games in minor hockey like we did growing up,” Hall said. “I still think he’s getting used to the schedule. And then you just get stronger, you get faster, you get more used to the speed of the game.”
After his MVP season, Taylor Hall is resolved for more --... (paywall)
Missionhockey
Registered User
Brooks Orpik wasn't a passenger on those Cup wins. He was an integral part of them.
Emperoreddy
Show Me What You Got!
Stay the course!!!!
Even Hall knows it is a process. More young guns are coming and the team will continue to get deeper. Patience.
NJDevs26
Once upon a time...
- Mar 21, 2007
- 67,501
- 31,877
The Hall thing is the biggest reason (by far) everyone's more hair-trigger around here than normal. People are deathly afraid of the 85-point dropback season where we finish out of the playoffs by ten points, suddenly the shine's off the rose then Hall starts dragging his feet on an extension a la JT wanting to go to a superteam. If Hall was signed or under control the next number of years there wouldn't be anywhere near the hand-wringing that there's been about having to spend and improve immediately.
If it wasn't Hall, it would be something else. The people who worry always do.
Emperoreddy
Show Me What You Got!
I think Hall is smart enough to realize that realistically the contender step won’t come until his next contract barring some luck.
Team is really young, and Ray can’t just poof the extra pieces out of thin air.
The big thing we need to improve, thinking about it right now, is 2C. Team still lacks the one, two scoring punch. A big reason was our big second line wingers were constantly hurt last year.
Though the other reason was some major center woes. Zajac was hurt, and it took him months to find his game again. Zacha never really established himself as a proper 2C either.
Mikey I think becomes more of a 3C Zajac replacement, so right now it really falls on Zacha to take the next step. He has the talent, so he absolutely can do it. It just has to click.
If he can’t that is a position where we have to go outside the organization for. We don’t really have another top 6 center candidate internally unless Mikey takes some major steps.
Scoring our way out of trouble is how we are built right now, so more scoring depth in the top 6 will go a long long way to another playoff berth.
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