Devils 2021 offseason (news, notes and speculation) - part IX

[Hisch13r]

 

[Blackjack]

Sounds like Fitz really did right by Will. Hopefully that gets him some mileage in the NCAA UFA market.

 

[MartyOwns]

that’s what we saved our last retention spot for? lol…how pointless

 

[Comparison Ford]

This is basically just confirming it was a deal to get Butcher to a place that would play him. Good move by Fitz on a personal level, and great move for Butcher to be able to actually get in the lineup. These kind of moves are appreciated by players and Fitz already seems like a guy who cares about his guys, so this is just more proof of that.

 

[LeedsMonster]

Sad to see Bill the Butcher go. I remember how excited most of us were when he chose us. Hope he finds some success in Buffalo.

 

[Blackjack]

that’s what we saved our last retention spot for? lol…how pointless

I believe that has rolled over for '21-'22. The Palmieri and Zajac retentions are gone now. We now have one retention on the books (Butcher's) and can take up to two more.

The "last retention spot" thing was for if we wanted to retain on a transaction before the expansion draft. Even though the 2020-2021 season was over, a salary retention would have still counted toward the 3 contract limit for that season.

 

[Guttersniped]

if not tarasenko or tatar who else's name has been out there? not necessarily connected with the devils

There’s not much left other than Tatar (not counting the UFAs allegedly abducted by Lou), there were very few UFAs stragglers this year.

Teams had a bit more cap space for various reasons. Seattle was a major player in the UFA market, Drafting and re-signing three UFA (Larsson, Oleksiak, Driedger) and then signing three UFA in free agency (Schwartz, Wennberg and Grubauer).

Also two basement dwellers stepped in and used their massive cap space, we grabbed Hamilton and the Kings outbid the Rags (among others) for Danault. It ended up being a more active off-season without the bargains of last year. GMs tend to alternate between a year of wild spending followed by a year of more frugal regret, but the cap crunch last season really squeezed UFAs last season.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Mac confirms he had a bunch of minor injuries that he has since recovered from

Took 2 weeks or so off but otherwise has been in NJ training

 

[MartyOwns]

I believe that has rolled over for '21-'22. The Palmieri and Zajac retentions are gone now. We now have one retention on the books (Butcher's) and can take up to two more.

The "last retention spot" thing was for if we wanted to retain on a transaction before the expansion draft. Even though the 2020-2021 season was over, a salary retention would have still counted toward the 3 contract limit for that season.

ah ok cool. then i'm back to being indifferent on the butcher deal.

 

[Combat Koala]

Sad to see Bill the Butcher go. I remember how excited most of us were when he chose us. Hope he finds some success in Buffalo.

If he was a better skater, he would be a completely different player. I know his defense sucks, but his lack of skating ability plays so much into it it's hard to believe. He wouldn't be a good defender, but probably passable. Smart passer and a decent PP QB regardless. I never disliked him as much as many others seemed to have. Just no place for him on this Devils team. Will not miss his sluggish skating at all though.

 

[Hisch13r]

If he was a better skater, he would be a completely different player. I know his defense sucks, but his lack of skating ability plays so much into it it's hard to believe. He wouldn't be a good defender, but probably passable. Smart passer and a decent PP QB regardless. I never disliked him as much as many others seemed to have. Just no place for him on this Devils team. Will not miss his sluggish skating at all though.

He could still be a useful player in another system as a bottom pair PP guy but he never stood a chance with Ruff’s skating heavy system

 

[Eggtimer]

Mac confirms he had a bunch of minor injuries that he has since recovered from

Took 2 weeks or so off but otherwise has been in NJ training

Good to see MB seems to be motivated to improve and take the next step. Staying in NJ and training almost non stop and wanting to do better is something that not everybody does. Hopefully Bernier and him push each other and make a good duo.

 

[AfroThunder396]

If Butcher just was an NHL average skater he'd easily be a #3 middle pairing guy. His hands, vision, and passing are all outstanding. He would still be small and soft, but guys who are smart and can skate can either avoid trouble before it happens or bail themselves out.

I don't think he's really that much less skilled than Ty Smith, the difference between the two of them is mostly skating IMO.

 

[Mgd31]

What about Max Domi?

 

[MartyOwns]

What about Max Domi?

i don’t think he’s a reliable top 6 guy

 

[OmNomNom]

i don’t think he’s a reliable top 6 guy

you could argue he's a solid top 9er though, right? we could have reorganizable depth on the left side

 

[MartyOwns]

you could argue he's a solid top 9er though, right? we could have reorganizable depth on the left side

top 9, yeah. he's the kind of guy i would kick the tires on in UFA, but i wouldn't give up any kind of assets for him. especially given his injury issues.

 

[Eggtimer]

top 9, yeah. he's the kind of guy i would kick the tires on in UFA, but i wouldn't give up any kind of assets for him. especially given his injury issues.

Reports saying he is being shopped. He would be a good fit as he can play LW and C so could slot in at 3C but his attitude is garbage. He complained his way out of Montreal because he was butthurt about ice time and what line he was on. I can’t see Fitz want it a player like that. Yes he would be an upgrade on LW and 3C but I don’t want a player like that in the team if he feels he is entitled .

 

[JimEIV]

If Butcher just was an NHL average skater he'd easily be a #3 middle pairing guy. His hands, vision, and passing are all outstanding. He would still be small and soft, but guys who are smart and can skate can either avoid trouble before it happens or bail themselves out.

I don't think he's really that much less skilled than Ty Smith, the difference between the two of them is mostly skating IMO.

He'd be Rafalski if he was an average skater.

 

[Zippy316]

Buffalo likely played hardball knowing the Devils were dumping him after adding Hamilton.

From a Devils perspective, Butcher wasn’t getting any time on this roster. To just hold him here as the 7th D rather than give him a chance to get minutes elsewhere isn’t fair to him. Devils did him a solid by retaining and spending an asset to give him an opportunity.

 

[Zippy316]

What about Max Domi?

Another player that needs to be on a vet team rather than a young team like the Devils. We need guys who can show the kids what it takes to win, not guys that are still figuring that out themselves.

 

[Oneiro]

Maybe I just liked skating as a kid and it was never a drag to work on it but always seemed weird to me that guys couldn't get that much better at it. There are still plenty of NHLers I look at and I'm almost impressed they've gotten this far being that bad at it.

 

[Devils731]

Maybe I just liked skating as a kid and it was never a drag to work on it but always seemed weird to me that guys couldn't get that much better at it. There are still plenty of NHLers I look at and I'm almost impressed they've gotten this far being that bad at it.

I think the difference is we are talking NHL level skating. They’re bad NHL skaters but not bad regular people skaters.

So when we are dealing at skills at such a high level, for some people there will just be a ceiling they can never improve from. One reason drafting is so hard because you can’t foresee where that ceiling is.

If I relate it a bit to bowling, as a skill like skating is a skill. To make up numbers, looking at skating on a scale of 1-100; and 80 being an average NHL skater. It’s going to be significantly easier to go from 40-70 than it will be to go from 70-80, the improvement curve at such a high level makes those gains very difficult and something only a handful of humans can accomplish.

 

[Forge]

What about Max Domi?

Not going to be back until December I think. I'm kind of out on that.

 

[glenwo2]

(thanks Guttersniped!)

(thanks ME!)

He(Stafford) had some nice moments but those were few and far between...and in-between it was a whole bunch of nothing (or boneheaded plays).

On top of that, he did the above(the "bratt hit in the face with a puck and breaking his jaw" thing) and while that was an accident, it was(in my eyes) the most *noteworthy* thing I remember him for because on the ice, he was just...THERE.

I guess in retrospect I suppose that he was at least better than Andreas Johnsson (unless AJ starts contributing more next season) so there's that....but that's not really a huge hill to climb at this point.