Devils 2019-20 team discussion (news and notes) II

[Whaddagoal]

The next 4 are at home vs. VAN, ARI, TBL, PHI. I'm writing off TBL as a loss, the other 3 are winnable. That would bring us to 4-5-2, which is obviously not ideal, but still salvageable.

Then we have the western Canadian trip @WIN, @cgy, @EDM, @Van. I'd like to see us at or above .500 at the end of that trip.

Also, apparently we play in Montreal on Thanksgiving day?

If we keep this momentum for another game or 2 or 3 we will erase a lot of the mental damage done from the early losses. The fact the point spread is very thin all around, we can make it happen and if so, the early woes would be shelved.

BUT...First Let's get past vancouver, keep the ball rolling.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

As soon as we won, I bought tickets to the Vancouver game.

I am a child.

 

[BahlDeep]

Severson was very good yesterday. I think he deserves more love for his sound game.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Subban thinks too much. He tries to be sneaky with all those behind the back blind passes, crazy pump fakes, dingle dangles, etc. He's much more effective when he's finishing checks, clearing off the glass, and shooting rockets from the point. He simplified his game and was dominant out there.

I wonder if it was Fitz who told him to settle down.

It was Hynes apparently. I think Amanda said that.

 

[JK3]

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Nico is practicing so seems he is ok

 

[The Devil In I]

If this is a true turnaround for Zacha and not just a temporary blip of impressive play, how do they handle the center situation going forward? Can't imagine wanting to relegate one of Hughes, Nico, Zajac, Zacha to the 4th line. Maybe just keep Zacha and Hughes together where Zacha can pick up the defensive slack?

I did notice that Hughes seemed surprisingly not bad at faceoffs last night. He won a good amount on the PP at least.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Hall-Hughes-Palmieri
Gusev-Zacha-Bratt
Boqvist-Hischier-Coleman
Wood-Zajac-Simmonds

but muh Rooney and muh Hayden

 

[MichaelJ]

If this is a true turnaround for Zacha and not just a temporary blip of impressive play, how do they handle the center situation going forward? Can't imagine wanting to relegate one of Hughes, Nico, Zajac, Zacha to the 4th line. Maybe just keep Zacha and Hughes together where Zacha can pick up the defensive slack?

I did notice that Hughes seemed surprisingly not bad at faceoffs last night. He won a good amount on the PP at least.

Zacha is wasted on the 4th line and the way he’s been playing he’s earned top minutes. He seemed to turn a corner the last 30 games of last year and I was waiting to see if it carried over. It has and he’s taken the next step in his development.

I think the answer is an easy one - put Zacha and Hughes together on a line. I know I’ll be pretty much alone in this, but I’d have Zacha at center and Hughes on the wing. Zacha can know provide a steadying presence in the middle as well as take the defensive demands of the position and Hughes can run wild. Maybe the reverse yields better results but that’s what I’d run out there for a stretch of games and see how it works.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

If this is a true turnaround for Zacha and not just a temporary blip of impressive play, how do they handle the center situation going forward? Can't imagine wanting to relegate one of Hughes, Nico, Zajac, Zacha to the 4th line. Maybe just keep Zacha and Hughes together where Zacha can pick up the defensive slack?

I did notice that Hughes seemed surprisingly not bad at faceoffs last night. He won a good amount on the PP at least.

yeah 5/16 overall but he won 3 or 4 in a row on the PP which was a big time to win faceoffs. Also I think its time when Nico gets back to put him on PP1 and Simmonds on PP2. Nico needs to be out there to win faceoffs and Zajac shouldnt be on PP1.

 

[The Devil In I]

Hall-Hughes-Palmieri
Gusev-Zacha-Bratt
Boqvist-Hischier-Coleman
Wood-Zajac-Simmonds

but muh Rooney and muh Hayden

They'd probably have to swap Coleman and Simmonds when we play the Boston and Edmontons with stacked top lines, but yea those lines seem solid.

 

[None Shall Pass]

Hall-Hughes-Palmieri
Gusev-Zacha-Bratt
Boqvist-Hischier-Coleman
Wood-Zajac-Simmonds

but muh Rooney and muh Hayden

The 4th line was the best line we had last night, so bench 2/3rd of it? Nico on the 3rd line? The two softest players we have on the 2nd line? Our tiny 18 year old center centering the 1st?

You can "muh" all you want, but this is Hynes-level bad.

 

[FooteBahl]

Hall-Hughes-Palmieri
Gusev-Zacha-Bratt
Boqvist-Hischier-Coleman
Wood-Zajac-Simmonds

but muh Rooney and muh Hayden

These lines are something I can definitely get behind; I would possibly swap Simmonds and Coleman though. It would spread out the "hardness" a little bit, but like you said, it's missing too much of Rooney/Hayden.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

The 4th line was the best line we had last night, so bench 2/3rd of it? Nico on the 3rd line? The two softest players we have on the 2nd line? Our tiny 18 year old center centering the 1st?

You can "muh" all you want, but this is Hynes-level bad.

Hughes is going to be tiny his entire career so you better get used to it

Some of you guys are way too caught up on "1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th" lines, good golly

 

[BahlDeep]

I mean, that 4th line did some work yesterday. I will keep them. Rooney especially, he was probably one of our best players yesterday

 

[MartyOwns]

If this is a true turnaround for Zacha and not just a temporary blip of impressive play,

his entire career thus far has been blips of impressive play, followed by months of agonizingly apathetic play. he has a long way to go before we have a ‘too many good centers’ crisis, so i wouldn’t worry about it

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

his entire career thus far has been blips of impressive play, followed by months of agonizingly apathetic play. he has a long way to go before we have a ‘too many good centers’ crisis, so i wouldn’t worry about it

He has been good to really good for going on 40 games now.

This isn't a one week stretch.

 

[Nubmer6]

his entire career thus far has been blips of impressive play, followed by months of agonizingly apathetic play. he has a long way to go before we have a ‘too many good centers’ crisis, so i wouldn’t worry about it

Exactly what I was going to say. We've had 3-4-5 game stretches of "Good Pavel" followed by weeks of "Bad Pavel". We know what he can do, but it's been a consistency issue with him. Let's hope he's figured it out.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

If Nico is back:

Hall - Nico - Palmieri
Coleman - Zajac - Simmonds
Hughes - Zacha - Bratt
Wood - Rooney - Gusev

 

[R8Devs]

I think I'd go with what I put yesterday on the post game thread.

Hall-Hischier-Bratt
Zacha-Hughes-Palmieri
Gusev-Zajac-Coleman
Wood-Rooney-Simmonds

Gusev with Zajac-Coleman to have two defensively responsible forwards with him and Coleman can play RW. Hughes centers two defensively responsible players too. Hall-Hischier-Bratt have played together before and Wood-Rooney played well last game so you can just slot Simmonds with them.

 

[Nubmer6]

Haven't we figured it out by now that when we win, Hynes puts out the exact same lineup? Nico will be benched

 

[MartyOwns]

He has been good to really good for going on 40 games now.

This isn't a one week stretch.

you’re including games from march, right? by all means, you can get your hopes up. but i’ll say the same thing i said when everyone was refreshing the devils twitter page after the loss against florida, convinced hynes was about to get fired- you should manage your expectations a bit. i think if more people did that, the attitude on this board wouldn’t swing back and forth like a wrecking ball in a tornado. zacha has started the season well, i like what i’ve seen from him so far. i think we’re at the point where we should demand that same level of play for an entire season before we have to ‘deal with the problem’ of having too many talented centers, which was the point i was making

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Hall-Nico-Bratt
Hughes-Zacha-Palmieri
Coleman-Zajac-Simmonds
Gusev-Rooney-Wood

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

you’re including games from march, right? by all means, you can get your hopes up. but i’ll say the same thing i said when everyone was refreshing the devils twitter page after the loss against florida, convinced hynes was about to get fired- you should manage your expectations a bit. i think if more people did that, the attitude on this board wouldn’t swing back and forth like a wrecking ball in a tornado. zacha has started the season well, i like what i’ve seen from him so far. i think we’re at the point where we should demand that same level of play for an entire season before we have to ‘deal with the problem’ of having too many talented centers, which was the point i was making

What expectations do I need to manage, exactly? What have I said that is so crazy? I haven't seen anyone say anything like Zacha is going to be a point per game forward for his career or that he is now living up to where he was drafted.

He has been playing well for close to 40 games now. I don't understand why its such a bad thing to acknowledge this?

All that I (and others) have said is that maybe he is finally showing he can be a consistent middle 6 forward for this team. Not really sure what needs to be "managed" about that.

 

[Triumph]

What expectations do I need to manage, exactly? What have I said that is so crazy? I haven't seen anyone say anything like Zacha is going to be a point per game forward for his career or that he is now living up to where he was drafted.

He has been playing well for close to 40 games now. I don't understand why its such a bad thing to acknowledge this?

All that I (and others) have said is that maybe he is finally showing he can be a consistent middle 6 forward for this team. Not really sure what needs to be "managed" about that.

Zacha has been okay - he's been better this year, we'll see how long that lasts - but he's also been lucky over those 40 games, which is a critical thing to keep in mind also. Anyone can have a lucky run where the puck goes in more often than it normally does and that's what's happened for Zacha over those 40 games. He's still not getting enough shots to be a big offensive contributor.