Devils 2018-19 team discussion (player news and notes) - offseason part VI

[Bleedred]

And as much as we say Clarkson was a flash in the pan and a completely terrible signing by Toronto, we have to acknowledge that he had a medical condition that completely detoured his career.

That may be true, but Clarkson also overachieved in the 11-12 season and early in the lockout season. He may not have been as bad as Toronto/Columbus Clarkson, but he also wasn't as good as 11-12 and early 2013 Clarkson either. Clarkson from 08-09 and 09-10 was a pretty good 3rd line guy. His 10-11 production was way down, but almost everyone on that team had a down year and he was also played on the 4th line for almost the entire season that year.

welp, we’re officially out of the karlsson sweeps. eklund said we’re front runners

FML!

 

[Setec Astronomy]

welp, we’re officially out of the karlsson sweeps. eklund said we’re front runners

Someone who’s good at photoshop should do an X-Files I want to believe, but with Karlsson instead of the UFO.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

welp, we’re officially out of the karlsson sweeps. eklund said we’re front runners

i think Edmonton makes more sense than us

 

[Patrik26]

The less amount of time Wood has the puck on his stick, the better off he is. It's too bad Maroon didn't come back. Have him digging out the puck behind and around the goal and let Wood be the netfront presence. Less is more.

 

[My3Sons]

I think many misunstand the toughness/physical thing terribly...ever watch Malkin? That guy has a real nasty streak, I don't think anyone would mistake him for a goon. But, when he can take advantage of another player he absolutely will. And that is an advantage. Those things are often meaningless in the regular season but in the playoffs where every single inch is contested the physical aspect becomes much more apparent and meaningful... And you are going to have to see the same guy over and over for a 7 game series...it is not like it's off to another city the next day...

When you know you can do whatever you want to the guy lined up across from you and there is nothing they can or will do about it that's an incredible advantage in a series.

Physical shmysical. Just spear Malkin in the groin and then kick him with a sharpened skate. There will be no real consequences so for any player doing that based on how the league has handled cheap shots outside the bounds of physical play.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Off limits IMO

Hall
Nico
Vats
Bratt
Smith
Palms
Wood
Butch
Walsh
Coleman

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Off limits IMO

Hall
Nico
Vats
Bratt
Smith
Palms
Wood
Butch
Walsh
Coleman

Not that I disagree, but that certainly means no EK. That's fine by me.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Off limits IMO

Hall
Nico
Vats
Bratt
Smith
Palms
Wood
Butch
Walsh
Coleman

For Karlsson, remove Wood, Walsh, Coleman, Bratt from your list. Ottawa wouldn’t want Vats, and I would be very reluctant to part with Palmieri or Anderson.

 

[nugg]

Bold prediction: Wood has great chemistry with Zacha and possibly Bratt/Palmieri and scores 30 next season.

Zacha and Bratt are like best pals, aren't they? I'd like to see them together. Did Mojo have good chemistry with Zacha?

 

[Brodeur]

Someone who’s good at photoshop should do an X-Files I want to believe, but with Karlsson instead of the UFO.

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

He scored 19 goals, he’s got some kind of finish.

I think it’s more him slowing the game down a bit. Much like Luis Mendoza, harness that speed that is such a great weapon. He has so many tools and so much potential, he really is a wild card in terms of what he can become.

Sure a decent amount of goals but Ive been starting to get grabner-esque like feelings when Wood is on a breakaway (which happens often due to his incredible speed). Whats grabner-esque? Especially when he played for the Isles, "oh no, an Isle is on a breakaway! Oh, its grabner. Nevermind."

 

[Devilswede]

Not that I disagree, but that certainly means no EK. That's fine by me.

For Erik Karlsson the only off limit are Hall and Nico.

No one else is untouchable. For a player like Erik Karlsson, a type of player thay never becomes available basically, top 3 d-man in the league, you gotta give up to get.

Ottawa would probably want Bratt, Walsh, Wood along with high draft picks. And I would still do it.

 

[Ripshot 43]

For an unsigned Karlsson I wouldn’t give up anything close to what Ottawa would want. Just not going to mortgage the future let alone very good young players who are here now for one year of a player who hasn’t committed to anything.

 

[Quest for Stanley]

Seney to rely on speed, skill and grit to make impact

Nice article Julie!

 

[Zippy316]

For Erik Karlsson the only off limit are Hall and Nico.

No one else is untouchable. For a player like Erik Karlsson, a type of player thay never becomes available basically, top 3 d-man in the league, you gotta give up to get.

Ottawa would probably want Bratt, Walsh, Wood along with high draft picks. And I would still do it.

A realistic deal I could see Ottawa wanting and the Devils potentially willing to bite the bullet on would be:

Bratt or Wood + Zacha + Severson + 2019 1st for Karlsson WITH an extension.

Hall - Hischier - Palmieri
Johansson - Zajac - Wood/Bratt
Quenneville - Coleman - Noesen
Seney - Boyle - Anderson/McLeod

Greene - Karlsson
Mueller - Vatanen
Butcher - Lovejoy/Santini

Only issue with that is it guts our forward depth, especially at C. I think we would likely try to get one of their forwards back in return or add someone else. Pageau would be ideal, but not realistic, Dzingel wouldn't be a bad option, and Smith would be realistic, but not ideal.

 

[HBK27]

A realistic deal I could see Ottawa wanting and the Devils potentially willing to bite the bullet on would be:

Bratt or Wood + Zacha + Severson + 2019 1st for Karlsson WITH an extension.

Hall - Hischier - Palmieri
Johansson - Zajac - Wood/Bratt
Quenneville - Coleman - Noesen
Seney - Boyle - Anderson/McLeod

Greene - Karlsson
Mueller - Vatanen
Butcher - Lovejoy/Santini

Only issue with that is it guts our forward depth, especially at C. I think we would likely try to get one of their forwards back in return or add someone else. Pageau would be ideal, but not realistic, Dzingel wouldn't be a bad option, and Smith would be realistic, but not ideal.

Is a sign-and-trade a realistic scenario though? Why would Karlsson agree to a contract extension and then a trade - it only helps Ottawa while gutting the team that he's now committed to for the next 8+ years.

Maybe a team can be given permission to speak with Karlsson ahead of a trade and come to an agreement on a contract extension before dealing for him. But I still think the most likely scenario is he gets dealt as a pending UFA with no agreement in place and that's just not a risk NJ can take.

 

[Maine Fan]

As training camp and the season approach, I am still concerned with the apparent weakness of the Devils defense.
With Schneider out for who knows how long and Kinkaid starting with unsure backup to have a fast start the Devils need strong defense. I just don't see that the defense will be able to support the goalie shortfall.

 

[Zippy316]

Is a sign-and-trade a realistic scenario though? Why would Karlsson agree to a contract extension and then a trade - it only helps Ottawa while gutting the team that he's now committed to for the next 8+ years.

Maybe a team can be given permission to speak with Karlsson ahead of a trade and come to an agreement on a contract extension before dealing for him. But I still think the most likely scenario is he gets dealt as a pending UFA with no agreement in place and that's just not a risk NJ can take.

I think with extension, I would offer Bratt or Wood. Without extension, I wouldn't consider offering either one.

Realistically, a team that trades for Karlsson, if they give fair value, would have to have extra pieces they can afford to give up. It's a lot like how LA was able to give up both Simmonds and Schenn -- two very, very hyped prospects -- for Richards because their prospect pool was loaded at the time.

There's not many teams that can do that right now. Devils are pretty close to it with the amount of depth we have up front, but it'll still hurt us a bit.

 

[NJDevs26]

Is a sign-and-trade a realistic scenario though? Why would Karlsson agree to a contract extension and then a trade - it only helps Ottawa while gutting the team that he's now committed to for the next 8+ years.

Because it gets him out of Ottawa sooner. Plus he won't do a sign-and-trade for just anyone, he'll do it (if anywhere) for a location he wants to go to. If he doesn't get traded to one of his preferred destinations before the deadline this year he can't sign with them for the eighth year, he can only sign for seven years.

 

[My3Sons]

If NJ offered EK 12x8 to get him to sign an extension what would they have to offer Hall to get him to sign? I don’t see EK taking a penny less than the absolute top of his self perceived market value to sign with NJ. I don’t see NJ signing any big money deals until after Hall extends. I’m sure they’d like to keep Hall’s deal in the 10-11 million per year range.

 

[HBK27]

Because it gets him out of Ottawa sooner. Plus he won't do a sign-and-trade for just anyone, he'll do it (if anywhere) for a location he wants to go to. If he doesn't get traded to one of his preferred destinations before the deadline this year he can't sign with them for the eighth year, he can only sign for seven years.

How much sooner does it really get him out of Ottawa though? Maybe before the season instead of at the trade deadline? There's no way the Sens can afford to have him play out this season in Ottawa and just walk for nothing next summer. The 7 vs. 8 years isn't that big of a deal either - Karlsson has already made $45M and is probably due another $100M or so on his next deal. I'm sure he can live with a 7 year deal.

The cost of trading for a signed Karlsson versus an unsigned Karlsson increases significantly and hurts the new team he's now committed to long-term and makes it tougher for him to win a Cup. I just don't see the upside in Karlsson signing an extension before being dealt.

Karlsson also has a modified NTC where he can submit a 10 team no trade list. That gives him a tremendous amount of control over where he can be traded to this season. There are only a handful of teams that would be willing to trade for an unsigned Karlsson. No bottom feeder is realistically going to deal for him and give up young assets during a non-playoff season to potentially see him just walk in the offseason. His camp can leak out word of where he may consider signing an extension and can set up the NTC in a way that sets him up to go to a handful of destinations that he would consider.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

For Erik Karlsson the only off limit are Hall and Nico.

No one else is untouchable. For a player like Erik Karlsson, a type of player thay never becomes available basically, top 3 d-man in the league, you gotta give up to get.

Ottawa would probably want Bratt, Walsh, Wood along with high draft picks. And I would still do it.

I’d add Ty Smith to that, unless it’s basically a one for one deal, and even then I might hesitate.

 

[NJDevs26]

The cost of trading for a signed Karlsson versus an unsigned Karlsson increases significantly and hurts the new team he's now committed to long-term and makes it tougher for him to win a Cup. I just don't see the upside in Karlsson signing an extension before being dealt.

You're also assuming he wants to go where he has the best chance to win above all else, it's a generally incorrect assumption from fans now that money/years on contracts are similar, winning is going to be the primary motivation for all players going into FA. It still isn't, not for everyone anyway.

Karlsson won't care if we trade Ty Smith or Michael McLeod to Ottawa, trading prospects generally aren't looked on by players as something that's going to hinder winning in the immediate future anyway. Which is all they would care about (the immediate future) if they had winning as their top motivation.

 

[HBK27]

You're also assuming he wants to go where he has the best chance to win above all else, it's a generally incorrect assumption from fans that winning is the primary motivation for all players going into FA.

Karlsson won't care if we trade Ty Smith or Michael McLeod to Ottawa, trading prospects generally aren't looked on by players as something that's going to hinder winning in the immediate future anyway. Which is all they would care about if they had winning as their top motivation.

There's a difference between trading a Ty Smith or McLeod to Ottawa versus adding in Severson, Wood, Bratt and other picks/prospects (that could be used for trades for short-term help), which would be added to the pot if Karlsson signs an extension before the trade. Even if winning is not the primary motivation, I'm sure it's near the top of the list. I'd be absolutely stunned if he signed an extension before being dealt. I just don't see the upside for Karlsson to do that.

 

[Call Me Al]

is anyone else even a little concerned that karlsson’s best days are behind him? not that he’s still not a great player it just seems unlikely you’re going to get 8 years that mirror the past 8 years