Devils 2019-20 team discussion (news and notes) - part XIV

[JK3]

The Merman Prophecies...

Click to read more...

 

[glenwo2]

then maybe dont have like 5 people respond with basically the same message idk. I dont think him not having a huge mistake directly leading to a goal makes him a viable option as a 6/7 D man next year. I see a talent that is mediocre at best for the level below the NHL and a hockey IQ that is decent but not above average and not near the level it needs to be to be an NHL D man.

Well for me, my ideal Defenseman is someone you don't notice on the ice.

The old "No News is Good News" thing.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

Well for me, my ideal Defenseman is someone you don't notice on the ice.

The old "No News is Good News" thing.

my ideal defenseman is someone you notice for great plays and talent, for high IQ and the skill to match. Hoping Jamie Drysdale ends up in this organization and we can develop a d core with talented smart defenseman so no one has to fall in love with a immobile merman in 60+ games into another lost season.

 

[JK3]

From the last thread, FWIW Mermis is doing a fine job, better than expected. I actually forgot about Butcher.

Of the five D that have played in all of the past 6 games, Mermis is (at ES):

#1 in SOG
#1 in Corsi%
#1 in Fenwick%
#1 in SOG%
#1 in xGF%
#1 in actual GF%
#1 in HDCF%

We've had 7 ES GF as a team, Mermis has been on for 5 of them.
We've had 6 ES GA as a team, Mermis has been on for 1 of them.

Before someone says "but Severson" - he's been on for 4 GF and 3 GA. So Mermis is outperforming his partner.

So yeah, this backs up the eye test that he's doing a pretty good job.

 

[Triumph]

Do I think Mermis is great, no, do I think he's worth giving a minimum one-way to and having him be the short-term LHD callup next season/potential 7th D? Yeah, I do, if he keeps playing like this.

 

[Oneiro]

Even if you don't care for the player, in a lost season it's pretty easy to reward a guy who is punching above his skills. Basic people management.

When a team is good, I get the whole John Wooden-"You five play and the rest are practice partners"-mentality. But the team sucks right now. After the deadline, the best use of time is to go fact-finding about your pool and depth.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

Even if you don't care for the player, in a lost season it's pretty easy to reward a guy who is punching above his skills. Basic people management.

When a team is good, I get the whole John Wooden-"You five play and the rest are practice partners"-mentality. But the team sucks right now. After the deadline, the best use of time is to go fact-finding about your pool and depth.

happy for the guy because you never know if that call up is ever going to happen especially once you get above 25. would prefer any other option moving into next year and i cannot say i have enjoyed his play, if others have then thats good for them. I would prefer not having to reach that much into the pool next year.

 

[OmNomNom]

happy for the guy because you never know if that call up is ever going to happen especially once you get above 25. would prefer any other option moving into next year and i cannot say i have enjoyed his play, if others have then thats good for them. I would prefer not having to reach that much into the pool next year.

i don't wanna overpay for UFA dmen though. at least, not a ton

i agree that mobile point-making dmen are nice, but i'm of the opinion that we need a few stay at home tougher guys. but if he ended up being bottom pairing next season and was this way right away, i'd be okay with it. he's already better than the prouts and quinceys we've had

 

[awegrzyn]

Stats since January 1 (Post Hynes and almost post Shero). Some interesting observations are hidden in there.

Gusev, Bratt, Zacha - Most productive line now

Gusev - points leader
Bratt - major improvement comparing to the start of the season
Palmieri - still great
Severson - major improvement, our only truly offensive D
Coleman - gently overrated stats wise and we did actually rob Tampa
Hischier - stable but did not improve
Zacha - super stable, productive, second best PLUS MINUS
Simmonds - was much better than eye test, we undersold him when compared to Coleman
Butcher - third best PLUS MINUS, inability to score
Wood - decent at both ends
Zajac - stable but unproductive
Anderson - contributes
Greene - nothing changed, more offensive production than Hughes
Rooney - stable, best PLUS MINUS on the team
Subban - did not improve, bad all around
Mueller - did not improve, better offensive production than Hughes
Hughes - fallen off badly in 2020, worst PLUS MINUS on the team
Carrick - not bad, but not improving
Vatanen (small sample) - one of the most overrated on the team, bad PLUS MINUS, bad offensively.

Those stats are obviously not everything, but give a good picture of what happened in the beginning vs now (2020). Those observations are related to each Devils players, and not across the league. Most of these observations can be made with an eye test, but it's cool to see the numbers.

* Look at shots taken by Hughes and Mueller. Hughes does not have a shot, and that is his entire production problem.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

i don't wanna overpay for UFA dmen though. at least, not a ton

i agree that mobile point-making dmen are nice, but i'm of the opinion that we need a few stay at home tougher guys. but if he ended up being bottom pairing next season and was this way right away, i'd be okay with it. he's already better than the prouts and quinceys we've had

Prout for sure, i hated watching him even more. I get where we are coming from, but I just dont want to go into next year in a spot where we need Dakota Mermis to play a big role. I dont want to overpay anyone in UFA, but there has to be better options for us to build a competent blue line.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

Stats since January 1 (Post Hynes and almost post Shero). Some interesting observations are hidden in there.

Gusev, Bratt, Zacha - Most productive line now

Gusev - points leader
Bratt - major improvement comparing to the start of the season
Palmieri - still great
Severson - major improvement, our only truly offensive D
Coleman - gently overrated stats wise and we did actually rob Tampa
Hischier - stable but did not improve
Zacha - super stable, productive, second best PLUS MINUS
Simmonds - was much better than eye test, we undersold him when compared to Coleman
Butcher - third best PLUS MINUS, inability to score
Wood - decent at both ends
Zajac - stable but unproductive
Anderson - contributes
Greene - nothing changed, more offensive production than Hughes
Rooney - stable, best PLUS MINUS on the team
Subban - did not improve, bad all around
Mueller - did not improve, better offensive production than Hughes
Hughes - fallen off badly in 2020, worst PLUS MINUS on the team
Carrick - not bad, but not improving
Vatanen (small sample) - one of the most overrated on the team, bad PLUS MINUS, bad offensively.

Those stats are obviously not everything, but give a good picture of what happened in the beginning vs now (2020). Those observations are related to each Devils players, and not across the league. Most of these observations can be made with an eye test, but it's cool to see the numbers.

jack hughes and mirco mueller having the same stat line is what nightmares are made of

 

[AfroThunder396]

Who is advocating for Mermis to play a big role? All I'm seeing are people saying he'd be a decent #6-#7.

 

[Call Me Al]

couldn’t imagine being this upset about the late-season-garbage-time-after-2-d-trades-and-an-injury-callup of dakota mermis

 

[theoptimist]

"Palmieri - still great"

Great?????

 

[Triumph]

This franchise has had subpar options as a callup D since Ken Sutton left. They signed Brian Strait to do this job in the summer of 2018. Other luminaries in this role have included Mark Fraser (the 2014-15 version), Cory Murphy, Peter Harrold (for 1 season), Mike Mottau (he was actually decent, but the Devils never called him up in his first year in the organization - he made the roster in 2007-08 and he was gone from this role), and so on. It's not an easy role to fill and it's seldom an important role to fill - on an ideal team, you don't need this player because you have younger, better players who you call up when there's injuries.

 

[Blackjack]

This franchise has had subpar options as a callup D since Ken Sutton left. They signed Brian Strait to do this job in the summer of 2018. Other luminaries in this role have included Mark Fraser (the 2014-15 version), Cory Murphy, Peter Harrold (for 1 season), Mike Mottau (he was actually decent, but the Devils never called him up in his first year in the organization - he made the roster in 2007-08 and he was gone from this role), and so on. It's not an easy role to fill and it's seldom an important role to fill - on an ideal team, you don't need this player because you have younger, better players who you call up when there's injuries.

Honestly, this is a can of worms, but I think teams should be able to carry several more skaters, and it should be common practice to rotate both forwards and defenders out of the lineup from time to time. They'd be fresher and you'd see fewer injuries.

 

[Better Call Sal]

"Palmieri - still great"

Great?????

Your schtick on Palms is something else.

 

[OmNomNom]

apparently bratt, zacha, and goose hung out in the city together

i love off ice chemistry

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Watch Dakota Mermis put together an Andy Greene type career.

 

[NjDevsRR]

This is only his second shot at the NHL. Maybe there is something there that can allow him to carve out a career in the NHL.

 

[Blackjack]

apparently bratt, zacha, and goose hung out in the city together

i love off ice chemistry

I want lines that do lines together.

 

[OmNomNom]

I want lines that do lines together.

@ kuznetsov where you at

 

[Emperoreddy]

I don’t really understand why Mermis is getting shit?

He isn’t going to set the world on fire, but he has been playing ok.

 

[Pitaya]

I don’t really understand why Mermis is getting shit?

He isn’t going to set the world on fire, but he has been playing ok.

Apparently better than okay , too

Unfortunately I doubt we dont acquire a LD by next seasons start and I see Mueller and Smith taking 2-3 so where would Mermis play?

 

[Pitaya]

Forget about Mermis for right now

Our other Swiss boy Mueller has been impressing lately - and from the top pair!