Speculation: Devils Defense

[zharkenby]

Yeah, he’s not awful and his deal is a good one.




Yeah, this isn’t true either. Some wanted Barzal for sure, but this “entire fan base” crap is revisionist. The fact of the matter is Zacha went where he was predicted to go. You can go back and look at every draft and say we shouldve taken someone different but don’t lie about it.




AND FOR THE RECORD TO EVERYONE IN THIS THREAD.... THESE TWO DO NOT REPRESENT THE MAJORITY OF THE DEVILS BOARD OR FANBASE.

You literally aren’t watching if you think severson in any other role besides bottom pair is plausible

 

[Magic Man]

Too soon man, too soon.

Fair enough. Good luck with Carlson.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

You literally aren’t watching if you think severson in any other role besides bottom pair is plausible

weren't you the guy that weeks ago gave up on the team?

Excuse me if I don't take your opinions on anything hockey related seriously.

 

[72hockey guy]

Absolutely. It was the last draft of the David Conte era (which was phenominal at it's peak, but awful at the end) - have to think if Castron was on board the Devils would've picked differently. At the very least, Shero should've traded down as there was a lot of uncertainty after the top 5 that year. Devils had good defensive prospects at the time and they seemingly forced the pick of a forward (which could've still been Barzal) when they could've had Werenski or Provorov.

That being said, Zacha was in NJ's lineup last season and contributed to where they finished in the standings (for better or worse) which led to them winning the draft lottery and getting Nico, who will be a great player for the Devils for a long time. Long-term is the Zacha/Nico combo better than what they could've gotten with Werenski/Provorov/Barzal and a (likely) later 1st round 2017 pick? Who knows...maybe not, but it's probably close.



Not sure why people feel the need to make ridiculous hot takes like this. Zacha just turned 21 a few days ago and is the #2 center on a playoff team. He's shown some good flashes of skill this season and is certainly a much better player in his 2nd year than his 1st in the NHL. To write him off as "barely and NHL player" at this point is an asinine statement.

Shero's done a great job rebuilding NJ's forward group and improving the defense with Vatanen and Butcher, but continued improvements on defense has to be a priority this offseason. Would have to think Carlson is a target, but even if they don't land him I expect a few changes heading into next year.

hes definitely a target, shero has coveted him for years even before coming to NJ. as I said before I'll be shocked if he isnt a devil on july 1

 

[Zippy316]

I still think Shero goes hard for Carlson and ends up dealing Severson. Severson just seems like the odd man out in the Devils rotation and unless Shero can swing a deal for a top four (preferable top pairing) LD, I don't see how else he quickly improves the defense. Severson would also be the odd man out if the Devils add Carlson and there's no room for his deal long term.

Something like this would actually be a solid team IMO, plus whatever you get for Severson. If Shero doesn't resign Maroon, I'd expect him to get a short stop gap second line winger; Neal, Perron, or Nash make sense here

Hall - Hischier - Bratt
Johansson - Zajac - Palmieri
Wood - Zacha - Maroon
Coleman - Boyle - Noesen


Greene - Carlson
Mueller - Vatanen
Butcher - Santini
Lovejoy

 

[rent free]

I still think Shero goes hard for Carlson and ends up dealing Severson. Severson just seems like the odd man out in the Devils rotation and unless Shero can swing a deal for a top four (preferable top pairing) LD, I don't see how else he quickly improves the defense. Severson would also be the odd man out if the Devils add Carlson and there's no room for his deal long term.

Something like this would actually be a solid team IMO, plus whatever you get for Severson. If Shero doesn't resign Maroon, I'd expect him to get a short stop gap second line winger; Neal, Perron, or Nash make sense here

Hall - Hischier - Bratt
Johansson - Zajac - Palmieri
Wood - Zacha - Maroon
Coleman - Boyle - Noesen


Greene - Carlson
Mueller - Vatanen
Butcher - Santini
Lovejoy

Would you do gardiner for severson?

 

[AfroThunder396]

What exactly happened to Severson? Also would you like a Dman prospect from the Flames? We have tons.

Severson a weird player. I would describe him as a mobile transitional defenseman, not a true PMD but also not a stay at home guy either. He's a good skater and has a deceptively good shot, which he rarely uses. The shot metrics of every player on the team are higher with Severson than without Severson, which is nice.

But his biggest problem by far is his decision making. He has enough raw talent to get by and often shows flashes of being an elite player but frankly he makes too many dumb decisions in all three zones.

He was playing very well earlier in the season but his play fell off dramatically around the beginning of February. He's been in Hynes's dog house for a while. To be fair, he has played with some pretty terrible partners, mostly John Moore who is awful at everything (except scoring during 3 on 3, don't ask). It's tough for a defenseman to succeed with a guy like that tied to your ankle. But still, Severson is just simply not reliable enough as an ES defender to be trusted against tough competition. We were all hoping he'd grow out of the dumb mistakes by now but that doesn't seem likely.

His PP production has dropped from 13 last year to a paltry 4 this year. The additions of Vatanen and Butcher have really dropped him down the PP depth chart. His PP TOI dropped from 180 minutes last year to 120 minutes this year. Our PP is weird, we like to run 4F/1D on at least one unit and often times both, so Severson will sometimes get a regular PP shift with the second unit and sometimes not. He could be a decent point option for a 2nd PP defenseman but don't expect crazy numbers.

Luckily we traded for Vatanen so he doesn't need to be a top pairing guy, but even as a middle pairing guy he seems more like the passenger of a defensive pairing rather than the anchor of one. If you already have a quality second pairing LHD and need a guy for him to play with I'm sure Severson would be a nice ~35 point guy. He's a guy that really needs to be sheltered to succeed.

A lot of Devils fans want to use him as trade bait to fix the left side of our defense, because Vatanen made him expendable and because the market for young RHD with offensive potential is insane right now. I don't know how realistic a young LHD/young RHD swap is though.

 

[Zippy316]

Would you do gardiner for severson?

I'd consider it, but would probably say no due to their contracts.

 

[rent free]

I'd consider it, but would probably say no due to their contracts.

WHOs contract?

 

[Magic Man]

Would you do gardiner for severson?

Do you want to intentionally tank next year? The Leafs most likely re-sign Gardiner.

 

[Zippy316]

WHOs contract?

Gardiner.

He's a UFA after next year so I'm not sure how that'll work for the Devils. He'd likely command somewhere around what Schultz got, if not more.

On top of that, Devils likely have to add to Severson (probably picks) and I think they've given enough away in the last year.

 

[Bigboi123]

Jake Muzzin
Alec Martinez



John Quennville
Blake Speers
2019 2nd
2020 1st

Thoughts?

 

[zharkenby]

Jake Muzzin
Alec Martinez



John Quennville
Blake Speers
2019 2nd
2020 1st

Thoughts?

Good value actually, I’d probably do it

 

[RSeen]

Jake Muzzin
Alec Martinez



John Quennville
Blake Speers
2019 2nd
2020 1st

Thoughts?

Terrible for Kings

 

[XXIV97]

Washington isn't going to let Carlson hit Free Agency.

They will sign him or trade him. Most likely, they will sign him.

 

[72hockey guy]

Washington isn't going to let Carlson hit Free Agency.

They will sign him or trade him. Most likely, they will sign him.

they dont have the cap space to sign him

FINAL CAP HIT

: $75,348,384

FINAL CAP SPACE

: $16,773 thats 16 thousand not million

LTIR Used

: $365,157


they also have michal Kempny a top 4 d man to sign
Tom Wilson and grubauer to sign

they are desparately trying to find someone to take Orpik to use his 5m

and heres the kicker they only have 4 defensemen signed period

cap fans notoriously say they are fine cap wise but they basically lie, most notably Stephen Peat. do yourself a favor before you believe the lies actually go look at cap friendly remember they still have to carry 22-23 players stephen peat routinely pretends they can get by with 16 players to fudge the truth

thats why you should always go to cap friendly and see what the actual facts say

even their coach is afraid the devils will poach him


But, according to Craig Custance of The Athletic, Carlson may be on the verge of pricing himself out of the Capitals.
Brian MacLellan had the following to say about Carlson’s upcoming UFA status, and his season so far.
Via The Athletic:

“It’s tough because we have to go in and balance what we have to pay him, (Tom) Wilson and other roster decisions,” Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told The Athletic. “It’s going to come to a point where we have this much to spend. We really like the player, we really like the season.”
MacLellan said there have been some contract conversations but this is likely an offseason decision for the Capitals, who have quietly set themselves up for another Metro division title.
“I’m assuming he’s going to say yes or no and ‘I’m going to see what’s out there. If I can get $8 million somewhere else …’” MacLellan said. “I don’t know. That’s me reading the tea leaves. They haven’t come out and said that. They want to sign, I want to sign.”​

Other free agents that the Capitals will need to decide on before the 2018-19 season are RFAs Tom Wilson, Devante Smith-Pelly, Travis Boyd, and Philipp Grubauer and UFAs Jay Beagle, Alex Chiasson, Jakub Jerabek and Michal Kempny.

Like I say as an islander fan. I don't have a horse in this race. But I do appreciate honesty and Carlson is from New Jersey, and he's exactly what the devils need. The isles could use him too but id rather keep our captain first

 

[XXIV97]

they dont have the cap space to sign him

FINAL CAP HIT

: $75,348,384

FINAL CAP SPACE

: $16,773 thats 16 thousand not million

LTIR Used

: $365,157


they also have michal Kempny a top 4 d man to sign
Tom Wilson and grubauer to sign

they are desparately trying to find someone to take Orpik to use his 5m

and heres the kicker they only have 4 defensemen signed period

cap fans notoriously say they are fiine cap wise but they basically lie, most notably Stephen Peat. do yourself a favor before you believe the lies actually go look at cap friendly remember they still have to carry 22-23 players stephen peat routinely pretends they can get by with 16 to fudge the truth

They could trade Holtby. But they will have to trade a key player to sign Carlson

 

[72hockey guy]

They could trade Holtby. But they will have to trade a key player to sign Carlson

theres always things anyone can do, but if you read caps fans posts they say they dont need to trade anyone

i dont have a horse in this race, im an islander fan, but I dont appreciate fans who post lies

so im just advising you all to do the research cap friendly gives you the data, theres no reason to buy a lie if you dont have to

and if the caps own coach has doubts about being able to keep him. then id venture to say the devils have a legit opportunity

its one way to bridge the gap between the devils and the caps completely giving up only money

 

[Juxtaposer]

I’d have a lot of time for Severson on the Sharks.

 

[elitepete]

Would the Devils do a Severson for Hutton swap?

Canucks need an RHD.

 

[Zezel22]

Conte's final parting gift to the Devils.

"HE'S GOT THAT HOCKEY SIZE, THO!"

But anyway, I think the Devils make an aggressive pitch to Carlson. If they get him, maybe they can afford to move another piece or two to try and solidify things on the back end.

But I don't think you take away from the forward group much if you can help it. Dangle Zacha/McLeod/Bratt, see if there's interest around the league.

His size is not as majestic as Connor Chatham's.

 

[Bologna 1]

Would the Devils do a Severson for Hutton swap?

Canucks need an RHD.

nah, that wouldn't remotely interest NJ

 

[Billdo]

You literally aren’t watching if you think severson in any other role besides bottom pair is plausible

I know I know the sky is falling and the organization is in shambles, you’ve had the same shtick for a while

 

[Zezel22]

I still think Shero goes hard for Carlson and ends up dealing Severson. Severson just seems like the odd man out in the Devils rotation and unless Shero can swing a deal for a top four (preferable top pairing) LD, I don't see how else he quickly improves the defense. Severson would also be the odd man out if the Devils add Carlson and there's no room for his deal long term.

Something like this would actually be a solid team IMO, plus whatever you get for Severson. If Shero doesn't resign Maroon, I'd expect him to get a short stop gap second line winger; Neal, Perron, or Nash make sense here

Hall - Hischier - Bratt
Johansson - Zajac - Palmieri
Wood - Zacha - Maroon
Coleman - Boyle - Noesen


Greene - Carlson
Mueller - Vatanen
Butcher - Santini
Lovejoy

Like this and agree that you need to go hard after Carlson. You dont build thru UFA and the Devils have NOT done that. but you can buy a big one to solidify yourselves at a key spot and THIS is the guy for the Devils. No doubt in my mind. Overpay if you have to this is what all that cap space is for.

The issue I have here is with Greene still being on that first pair. If you're trading Severson, I'd like to try to get a LHD back to plug in there... even if its not a 1st pair guy - just to make the 2 LHD that player brought back in Severson trade, Butcher and Mueller and bump Greene to 7D. After that Lovejoy only has 1 year left and salary isnt too egregious. Can try to get somebody to take him with only 1 year (conditional 7) or make him this years Prout, bury him in Bing and wait for an injury.

Have to get Greene off the ice he is killing this team worse than Lovejoy at least Lovejoy has some pulse, a tad bit of physicality.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

Damon Severson can be a key asset and has upside... but he just doesn't seem in a rush to learn the defensive side of the game and that's probably the reason why I'm not his biggest fan.

After being healthy scratched in key games, one would think that you'd work your ass off to get back into the lineup but he just looks like he's on neutral.

I wouldn't trade him for a "meh" return cause I honestly think he'll be a legit #4 but he needs to wake up. The ideal player I'd want is someone like Darnell Nurse. Someone who can add some size and strength to our lineup and can skate real well to boot.

Severson + Speers/Quenneville for Nurse

I don't know if it's something the Oilers would do but that's the type of deal I'd look at if moving Severson.