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

[JrFischer54]

Question. So everyone super excited for Hamilton proving that the team is all about spending money I too thought that. Then I realized Hamilton gets the devils to the floor which they had to get to. So guess the question is two part. If they don’t add any legit talent this summer (big contracts) and just resign who they have what is the cap going to look like above the floor? 5-10? Second part say that does happen how much longer will people give ownership before they go out and spend more to get real nhl talent? I get that can’t happen all in one summer but they have to keep adding no? I mean even if they didn’t sign Hamilton the team was still spending at least 10 million to hit the floor this summer

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Question. So everyone super excited for Hamilton proving that the team is all about spending money I too thought that. Then I realized Hamilton gets the devils to the floor which they had to get to. So guess the question is two part. If they don’t add any legit talent this summer (big contracts) and just resign who they have what is the cap going to look like above the floor? 5-10? Second part say that does happen how much longer will people give ownership before they go out and spend more to get real nhl talent? I get that can’t happen all in one summer but they have to keep adding no? I mean even if they didn’t sign Hamilton the team was still spending at least 10 million to hit the floor this summer

There isn't really any reason to add players just to add. Some of the holdups may be due to unrealistic expectations and we may have to wait till closer to september for something to happen (tarasenko or tatar).

 

[AfroThunder396]

I think we're technically still under the cap floor by less than 1M right now, but Kuokkanen and Sharangovich remain unsigned. I'm guessing Kuokkanen gets somewhere in the ~2M range and Sharangovich around 3-3.5M. That would put us about 5M over the floor and 17M under the ceiling without adding anyone else.

Next year is going to be interesting because Hughes, Bratt, Zacha, and Wood are all RFA and need new deals, then the following year Blackwood is RFA with Severson and Graves as UFA. There will be space to add a few guys here and there, but if these guys are as good as we think they are those new contracts will eat up our space real fast.

Like everyone keeps saying, it's not salary that's the problem it's term. Unless we're getting an ass kicker that's the best at his position (like Hamilton) we are in no position to be handing out long term deals. Bringing in average/mediocre guys on 4+ year deals just for the sake of adding someone is how teams get into trouble.

 

[Hisch13r]

I think we're technically still under the cap floor by less than 1M right now, but Kuokkanen and Sharangovich remain unsigned. I'm guessing Kuokkanen gets somewhere in the ~2M range and Sharangovich around 3-3.5M. That would put us about 5M over the floor and 17M under the ceiling without adding anyone else.

Next year is going to be interesting because Hughes, Bratt, Zacha, and Wood are all RFA and need new deals, then the following year Blackwood is RFA with Severson and Graves as UFA. There will be space to add a few guys here and there, but if these guys are as good as we think they are those new contracts will eat up our space real fast.

Like everyone keeps saying, it's not salary that's the problem it's term. Unless we're getting an ass kicker that's the best at his position (like Hamilton) we are in no position to be handing out long term deals. Bringing in average/mediocre guys on 4+ year deals just for the sake of adding someone is how teams get into trouble.

I don’t think they end up higher than ~4.5 combined. Sample’s just too small

 

[Nubmer6]

Aw man...

That's just blatantly cheating to get "Like"s.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

I don’t think they end up higher than ~4.5 combined. Sample’s just too small

I do not disagree with you but I wonder if they may roll the dice with Rango and try and go a little longer and higher AAV to try and weaponize their cap space. Not the worst thing IMO to reward a homegrown player that put in a lot of work on his game.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I don’t think they end up higher than ~4.5 combined. Sample’s just too small

I think it would be smart to lock up Sharangovich long term now because I think he gets +25 goals next season and if we wait he's going to cost upwards of 4.5-5M on his third deal.

I'd like to give him 3-4 years in the ~3.5M AAV range now because I think it will be a steal by year two.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Question. So everyone super excited for Hamilton proving that the team is all about spending money I too thought that. Then I realized Hamilton gets the devils to the floor which they had to get to. So guess the question is two part. If they don’t add any legit talent this summer (big contracts) and just resign who they have what is the cap going to look like above the floor? 5-10? Second part say that does happen how much longer will people give ownership before they go out and spend more to get real nhl talent? I get that can’t happen all in one summer but they have to keep adding no? I mean even if they didn’t sign Hamilton the team was still spending at least 10 million to hit the floor this summer

Has not changed my mind at all. The Devils now have one more big name UFA than either TBL or Colorado. IMO they should acquire the majority of their "legit talent" like those teams. Though the draft and some shrewd trades. Not up to the owners to spend - it is up to the GMs to get players worth spending money on.

 

[Forge]

I don’t think they end up higher than ~4.5 combined. Sample’s just too small

Agreed. I was pegging no more than 5 combined

 

[Offseason Champs]

i think you need to roll the dice and give them short bridge deals to see what they are. I'd aim for two year deals for both so they expire with McLeod/Severson/Graves/Siegnthaler/Smith/Blackwood. That offseason should give us a much more clear picture of where we're going with them all.

As good as both were this year what if they never replicate this success? It's unlikely but not outside the realm of possibility. I'd be okay with longer terms and like 2-2.5 for both of them. Maybe contracts to take them to the end of RFA eligibility, but two years gives you another RFA contract for both, which I think makes the most sense fiscally.

 

[Guttersniped]

I think we're technically still under the cap floor by less than 1M right now, but Kuokkanen and Sharangovich remain unsigned. I'm guessing Kuokkanen gets somewhere in the ~2M range and Sharangovich around 3-3.5M. That would put us about 5M over the floor and 17M under the ceiling without adding anyone else.

Next year is going to be interesting because Hughes, Bratt, Zacha, and Wood are all RFA and need new deals, then the following year Blackwood is RFA with Severson and Graves as UFA. There will be space to add a few guys here and there, but if these guys are as good as we think they are those new contracts will eat up our space real fast.

Like everyone keeps saying, it's not salary that's the problem it's term. Unless we're getting an ass kicker that's the best at his position (like Hamilton) we are in no position to be handing out long term deals. Bringing in average/mediocre guys on 4+ year deals just for the sake of adding someone is how teams get into trouble.

I’m guessing Sharangovich gets a deal longer than 2 years. Fitz tried to get Bratt signed to a longer deal and couldn’t do it. I could see him at least three years. I’m not sure what’s the ideal length but a longer deal would also have good potential trade value down the road.

But, yeah, part of what the “we don’t spend!” crowd keeps ignoring is you need to immediately to pay guys a lot more when they get off their ELCs. And if they bridge deals like Bratt then you only kicked the can down the road a bit and another raise is coming soon.

And Lou didn’t want to give Barzal a bridge deal. Vancouver doesn’t want to do bridge deals with it’s stars. So flexibility is good. And Fitz isn’t trying to not spend, he offered a deal to Saad. You can’t put a gun to UFAs heads. And most posters seemed against us taking full-on crap cap dumps. And we can’t afford to trade our 1st.

I would have liked another UFA signing, actually smaller good value ones make jealous. Pius Suter at 2 years/3.25m was intriguing but he is very tiny. Pour one out for Bonino at
2 years/2.1m. And I can’t even think of other particularly intriguing deals this year, unlike last of season which was more lively (or I was more starved for entertainment).

 

[MauDevils]

I think it would be smart to lock up Sharangovich long term now because I think he gets +25 goals next season and if we wait he's going to cost upwards of 4.5-5M on his third deal.

I'd like to give him 3-4 years in the ~3.5M AAV range now because I think it will be a steal by year two.

That's not really long term. That's an expensive bridge deal that walks him straight to free agency.

Give him 2 years @ 2.75 mil and figure it out after that. I highly doubt he becomes a 7 million dollar player and makes us regret it too much.

 

[GameSeven]

DevilsInsiders QT'd this and thought it was an interesting read about MacKinnon

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

think you need to roll the dice and give them short bridge deals to see what they are. I'd aim for two year deals for both so they expire with McLeod/Severson/Graves/Siegnthaler/Smith/Blackwood.

That is playing it safe, not rolling the dice. That is fine to play it safe but the way you get contracts that become "steals" are by giving RFAs contracts that are longer with higher AAV than they "have earned".

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I would give Sharangovich 2 years, $2.5 million AAV

I Would give Kuokkanen 2 years, $1.8 million AAV

 

[Guttersniped]

DevilsInsiders QT'd this and thought it was an interesting read about MacKinnon

The diet stuff in general seems ok, though I don’t know about I one guy banning everything (I guess it’s a bit of killjoy and Marty won three Cups drinking an occasional Sprite).

As someone once said, just because you’re a perfectionist doesn’t mean you’re perfect. I don’t know about screaming at people after every slightly displeasing pass. I feel like that it could turn into white noise if you do that all the time. I would be more impressed by a leader who picks his spots more when yelling, but McKinnon might not be yelling like a maniac all the time.

I really like that Zadarov appreciates and admires this about Makinnon though, that’s probably the most endearing thing about all of this.

 

[Guttersniped]

DevilsInsiders QT'd this and thought it was an interesting read about MacKinnon

On the Stefan trade thread on the main board there was a very opposite vibe. A Coyotes fan said he was his least favorite Coyote ever or something. Not a bad guy, but very very easy going, and talking about having a six pack after a game. Goligoski mentioned that Stefan “taught him how not things so seriously” or something. And apparently the poster felt you could tell. Arizona is definitely a team wrestling with team culture issues and “country club” vibe (particularly since the players literally love that you golf there during the season.)

 

[Bcap88]

McKinnon started taking it seriously after a conversation with Crosby

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

The diet stuff in general seems ok, though I don’t know about I one guy banning everything (I guess it’s a bit of killjoy and Marty won three Cups drinking an occasional Sprite).

As someone once said, just because you’re a perfectionist doesn’t mean you’re perfect. I don’t know about screaming at people after every slightly displeasing pass. I feel like that it could turn into white noise if you do that all the time. I would be more impressed by a leader who picks his spots more when yelling, but McKinnon might not be yelling like a maniac all the time.

I really like that Zadarov appreciates and admires this about Makinnon though, that’s probably the most endearing thing about all of this.

There might be a bit of hyperbole there, but even if you take it for what its worth. It's a strategy that works on some people. It's probably what has worked for him, so he wants to transfer it to others.

Tough to do a one-size-fits-all, but at the least he is demanding the best out of everyone every game. I agree - that can wear on you. But as long as they win, everyone will listen. Kinda like the Torts affect (who by many accounts is a good human outside the rink).

 

[Classic Devil]

Any interest in giving Yamamoto from EDM an offer sheet? They're just about capped out, anything more than 2.5M and they'd be in serious trouble trying to match it. Right-handed shot, primarily RW can also play C, young, had 8 goals in 56 games last season...

 

[Devils731]

DevilsInsiders QT'd this and thought it was an interesting read about MacKinnon

I’d be interested to know his relationship with everyone on non-hockey matters.

I think if he’s a demanding jerk on everything hockey related but a cool guy with everyone on non-hockey stuff then I think you can separate his demands from him; it’s all about hockey excellence.

If he’s a demanding jerk about hockey and then isn’t relatable(or worse) outside of hockey stuff then I think the attitude would start wearing on you eventually.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Nice twisty twist.

 

[Guttersniped]

I’d be interested to know his relationship with everyone on non-hockey matters.

I think if he’s a demanding jerk on everything hockey related but a cool guy with everyone on non-hockey stuff then I think you can separate his demands from him; it’s all about hockey excellence.

If he’s a demanding jerk about hockey and then isn’t relatable(or worse) outside of hockey stuff then I think the attitude would start wearing on you eventually.

Yeah, I’m certainly not judging McKinnon harshly for something said in a interview translated from Russian. Tone is going to be lost and who knows what “jerk” was exactly.

Typically that sort of intensity generally seems like a positive, Blake Wheeler has taken some crap for his infamous hard assness, and his oil & water relationship with Laine (and maybe Trouba), but Laine might have issues beyond the Jets locker room.

There are some locker rooms with reportedly with real issues. The Sharks are trying to trade Kane and the Athletic said older players didn’t like him breaking team rules, being late to practices and games, and that was having zero consequences which in turn had a “ripple effect” on younger players. Wilson almost never ships anyone out though, he loves his guys (and loves giving them big contracts). Guerin is the anti-Wilson with his house cleaning.

 

[Eggtimer]

$100000 a year to cook for one person … I’ll do it for $90,000 amd season tickets to Avs hames . Where do I apply ? Maybe Jack will get one… same deal applies

 

[Emperoreddy]