Devils 2019 offseason team discussion (news and notes) IV

[Better Call Sal]

The only outlier I can think of is a team like Ottawa, who would probably gladly absorb some bad contracts to just get to the cap floor next year. I could see them being willing to take on Reimer if a sweetener is provided.

Man, this is an NHL roster?

Ottawa Senators - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Luongo is interesting because I believe he's gone on record that he would probably just retire if asked to move because he doesn't want to leave Florida at this point. If he does that though, that creates some cap issues for both Florida and Vancouver, doesn't it?

 

[NJDevs26]

 

[GeNeXt]

I said a few weeks ago that I believe Zetterlund could be a dark horse to make the teams bottom-6. I think he’d be a decent option there as a physical, finishing winger.

Regardless, great to see him coming to N.A. after some bumps in the road in his development. Excited to see what Binghamton can do next season.

 

[Billdo]

Interested in seeing what Maltsev and Zetterlund bring to the table. Zetterlund is really interesting to me, would've loved to see him play the full year without injury.

 

[Darkauron]

The Fab is here!

 

[Bleedred]

Hall - Nico - Palms
Bratt - Hughes - Eberle
Wood - Zacha - Coleman
Agostino/UFA - Zajac - Anderson

Gardiner - Severson
Butcher - Vatanen
Greene - Santini

Cory
Mac

Is that defense the best? Hell no. But let me defend why it's probably our best option for the short term and defend the signing of Gardiner.

Andy Greene, at his advanced age and playing the amount of minutes he has has put up respectable numbers. 20 assists and 5 goals as a 1LHD.

Jake Gardiner, in his last full season has had 47 assists and 5 goals. It's also a fair assessment to say that in addition to being a Greene upgrade, Gardiner would stabilize our defense. No longer would Greene have to play the insane amount of minutes every game like it's the beginning part of the decade. It also would be a shorter term fix though because I fully believe this is gonna be Andy's last year so unless he takes a massive pay cut, I don't think he has a huge future on the team. So Gardiner would be a second pairing LHD for the foreseeable future. But that's not a bad thing.

Any defense with Steve Helgeson Santini as a regular is one that I can’t back.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

I don’t understand the enthusiasm for Eberle. Streaky player as a goal scorer, decent creativity as a passer, good hands. Upper tier mediocrity. Not worth a pile of money. Subject to being injured and pushed around.

How and where would he significantly improve us?

In fact I don’t see us paying to bring in a forward unless it’s someone with a lot of size in addition to being a consistent finisher.

If we are talking about someone from the Isles, Lee would fill a much greater need.

it’s more about being realistic, which is why i don’t pencil karlsson into any lineups next year. the isles will not lose their best forward/captain 2 years in a row, so lee is out. eberle is a shoot first player that would easily put up 65 points on hughes’ line, it would make hall happy, and i really don’t think his cost will be prohibitive

edit- and of course, no way to gardiner. his contract could very well be one of the worst in the league in a few years

There are a lot of Islanders fans who consider top-6 scoring "punch" (to use their words) perhaps their biggest need this summer. "A scorer for Barzal," and what not.

Those same fans are writing off Eberle, who they expect/want to walk.

Why would we sign Eberle to play a role that he was, frankly, inadequate for on the Island?

 

[Triumph]

There are a lot of Islanders fans who consider top-6 scoring "punch" (to use their words) perhaps their biggest need this summer. "A scorer for Barzal," and what not.

Those same fans are writing off Eberle, who they expect/want to walk.

Why would we sign Eberle to play a role that he was, frankly, inadequate for on the Island?

Because those fans are delusional. Not that there aren't better options than Eberle available - there are - but they will be much more expensive and come with much longer contracts. If they can get Panarin, great, good for them. But they very easily could end up with worse than Eberle.

Eberle wouldn't be called on to do a ton here. He'd be a complementary scorer. That's it.

 

[NJDevs26]

Eberle is better than what we have but better enough to justify a long term, big money deal? Eh doesn’t excite me but if he gets the Hall stamp of approval maybe he’s a FA target.

 

[MartyOwns]

There are a lot of Islanders fans who consider top-6 scoring "punch" (to use their words) perhaps their biggest need this summer. "A scorer for Barzal," and what not.

Those same fans are writing off Eberle, who they expect/want to walk.

Why would we sign Eberle to play a role that he was, frankly, inadequate for on the Island?

sorry, i’m not sure i understand the question. so barzal had a little sophomore slump, and islanders fans are blaming eberle, who was their best player in the playoffs. and you’re asking why i would still want eberle, given how islanders fans on hfboards feel?

lol ‘a scorer for barzal’ indeed

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

also, Masisak put out a list of potential top 6 forward acquisitions this summer. We all know about the UFAs, but he listed:

A. Nylander
Athanasiou
Hoffman
Huberdeau
A. Shaw (gross)
JT Miller
Kessel
Zucker
J. Schwartz
Ehlers
Sprong
RNH
Toffoli
Reilly Smith

as potential trade targets. Obviously he is just speculating, but I find some of these names fascinating.

Why is Alex Nylander included as a potential "top-6" forward acquisition? Yikes.

Anyways, some of those names are interesting to envision. I'd imagine Yzerman would consider Athanasiou a piece to build around; similarly, Schwartz, Ehlers and RNH likely stay. WPG loves the upside of the Ehlers contract, and EDM needs to obtain (not purge) top-6 talent.

Some names definitely require unique circumstances in order to be moved. It'd only make sense to move Huberdeau/Hoffman if FLA lands both Bobrovsky AND Panarin; I don't consider the latter a guarantee to sign there. On Kessel, there was a proposed 3-way deal on the trade board that sent JT Miller+Miles Wood to PIT, NJ 2019 2nd + D Mirco Mueller to TB, and Phil Kessel to NJ. It got some nods from all sides.

 

[ScottyK]

Quennvilles mom throwing shade at us signing zetterlund and maltsev lol

 

[Unknown Caller]

Quennvilles mom throwing shade at us signing zetterlund and maltsev lol

I'll be pretty surprised if Q is with the organization in September.

 

[Patrik26]

The Fab is here!

 

[NJDevs26]

Quennvilles mom throwing shade at us signing zetterlund and maltsev lol

Huh?

Where...and why?

 

[vtdevils2k]

Quennvilles mom throwing shade at us signing zetterlund and maltsev lol

Are you serious? What was said? She probably sees the writing on the wall like the rest of us. He's probably gone in a trade over the summer

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

edit

 

[MartyOwns]

that’s nothing, wait until you see what sykora’s sister said about us on yelp

 

[Better Call Sal]

Quennvilles mom throwing shade at us signing zetterlund and maltsev lol

I'd love to see this.

He hasn't progressed to the next level at all. Like the kid, but don't see where he fits anymore.

 

[Comparison Ford]

Quennvilles mom throwing shade at us signing zetterlund and maltsev lol

lol where do i find this

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

Because those fans are delusional. Not that there aren't better options than Eberle available - there are - but they will be much more expensive and come with much longer contracts. If they can get Panarin, great, good for them. But they very easily could end up with worse than Eberle.

Eberle wouldn't be called on to do a ton here. He'd be a complementary scorer. That's it.

The contract/spending concern is certainly valid, but I think there's middle ground between Eberle and Panarin that also make financial sense.

I don't know the exact contract you're envisioning for Eberle, but I'll assume 3 or 4 years at or slightly below his current AAV ($6M AAV). I think you'd be able to sign a guy like Joe Pavelski for that AAV at 3 years, possibly even 2. Zuccarello might even come in below $6M AAV, for similar term. Those guys would bring a lot more to the table than Eberle (whom you essentially conceded would be a passenger), while also filling that "complementary scorer" role.

Our personal concerns aside, I could see Shero signing Nyquist to roughly the JVR deal (5 years, $7M AAV). The Devils were connected to him in 2017, so there has been some interest. A 20-goal, ~50-point two-way Swedish forward would be a great fit opposite Bratt.

My point is that the pro-Eberle crowd always mentions contract concerns, but there are more well-rounded (i.e. more effective) players available that will likely sign contracts of similar scale.

 

[Darkauron]

Give me that Quennville mom source

 

[Devilswede]

that’s nothing, wait until you see what sykora’s sister said about us on yelp

What did she say?

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

Quennvilles mom throwing shade at us signing zetterlund and maltsev lol

I hope she had a happy Mother's Day, but she's wrong to do that. Her son was rewarded for showing up in shape (after embarrassing himself the year prior) with ample opportunity to stick, and he still played like a slug.

When you have guys like Agostino scoring from the bottom-6 and Bastian scoring 3 goals in 7 games... and then these newer, younger, promising forwards now in the fold... it's easy for a guy like JQ to get squeezed.

He needs a fresh start somewhere where he'll play almost every night and get his reps. Perhaps playing for his uncle in Florida? If the Panthers spend as much as they're projected to in free agency, they'll value dirt-cheap depth with moderate upside.

 

[Patrik26]

Nobody with a link to Momma-Q's shade, or alleged shade?