Confirmed with Link: Devils have re-signed Marek Zidlicky

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Do you guys think your GM would be open to trading Larsson?

Or is he in your long term plans, and just might be squeezed out this year numbers wise?

are you a Wings fan?

if you want him in Detroit, it'd likely cost one of your young gun forwards.

 

[StnTwnDevil]

and playing players on the 4th line just because they have "GRIT" is a stupid way to run a hockey team, I'm sorry.

there is a reason why Stephen Gionta was in the AHL for all those years. hes not a very good hockey player. plenty of teams play their young skilled forwards in the bottom 6 and develop them that way. Teams like the Hawks, Kings,Ducks, etc.

Its obviously not just because of grit. These are energy lines that can give some goal support, on good teams anyway. The teams that you mentioned are not good examples for your argument. The lone-non gritty player on those 4th lines is Chris Versteeg, and he found himself scratched a nice chunk of time in the playoffs. None of those teams you mentioned have young talent on their 4th line. 3rd line, yes, but definitely not the 4th line.

Rangers:
Boyle, Moore, Dorsett

Ducks:
Palmieri, Bonino, Winnik

Kings have two lines in the Mold of a good 4th line:
King, Stoll, Williams
Clifford, Richards, Lewis

Blackhawks:
Bollig, Handzus, Versteeg

Bruins:
Paille, Cambell, Thorton

Maybe in theory it makes sense to have a young skilled guy matched up against the lesser skilled gritty lines, but in practice, obliviously not so much. The match-up just doesn't work that way.

The reason the Devils have missed the playoffs is a lack of scoring depth in the top 3 lines. Why a 4th line is being blamed for a lack of scoring, when a 42 year old Jagr is your best scorer, is beyond me.

The AHL arguement for Gionta is also ridiculous. I guess anyone who plays there into their mid 20's is useless.

 

[Frk It]

are you a Wings fan?

if you want him in Detroit, it'd likely cost one of your young gun forwards.

I am indeed.

What do you think would be a fair package?

We have some nice young forwards (Jurco, Nyquist, Tatar) that were on the team last year.

Out GM has seemed to not be interested in dealing our #1 prospect (Anthony Mantha), but I could are about anyone else being in play.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Its obviously not just because of grit. These are energy lines that can give some goal support, on good teams anyway. The teams that you mentioned are not good examples for your argument. The lone-non gritty player on those 4th lines is Chris Versteeg, and he found himself scratched a nice chunk of time in the playoffs. None of those teams you mentioned have young talent on their 4th line. 3rd line, yes, but definitely not the 4th line.

Rangers:
Boyle, Moore, Dorsett

Ducks:
Palmieri, Bonino, Winnik

Kings have two lines in the Mold of a good 4th line:
King, Stoll, Williams
Clifford, Richards, Lewis

Blackhawks:
Bollig, Handzus, Versteeg

Bruins:
Paille, Cambell, Thorton

Maybe in theory it makes sense to have a young skilled guy matched up against the lesser skilled gritty lines, but in practice, obliviously not so much. The match-up just doesn't work that way.

The reason the Devils have missed the playoffs is a lack of scoring depth in the top 3 lines. Why a 4th line is being blamed for a lack of scoring, when a 42 year old Jagr is your best scorer, is beyond me.

The AHL arguement for Gionta is also ridiculous. I guess anyone who plays there into their mid 20's is useless.

teams that win now are teams that can roll 4 lines. I don't care about energy and grit, I care about being productive players. CBGB had a nice 2 months 2 years ago, I will give them that. but the ONLY one of them we should even consider keeping is Ryan Carter because he can actually play hockey.

Gionta stinks. you'll never convince me otherwise.

I am indeed.

What do you think would be a fair package?

We have some nice young forwards (Jurco, Nyquist, Tatar) that were on the team last year.

Out GM has seemed to not be interested in dealing our #1 prospect (Anthony Mantha), but I could are about anyone else being in play.

Nyquist would be the guy I target, but I am assuming he would be quite hard to get....I would add on top of Larsson to acquire him though

I think a Larsson for Tatar deal could be fair for both sides.

 

[Frk It]

I think a Larsson for Tatar deal could be fair for both sides.

From our perspective, Tatar for Larsson is something I would do. Even though I think he will become a good goal scorer in the league. Not sure if we'd have to kick in more, given Larsson's draft position???

I think both Nyquist and Tatar are good going forward with a promising future.

 

[StnTwnDevil]

teams that win now are teams that can roll 4 lines. I don't care about energy and grit, I care about being productive players. CBGB had a nice 2 months 2 years ago, I will give them that. but the ONLY one of them we should even consider keeping is Ryan Carter because he can actually play hockey.

Gionta stinks. you'll never convince me otherwise.



Nyquist would be the guy I target, but I am assuming he would be quite hard to get....I would add on top of Larsson to acquire him though

I think a Larsson for Tatar deal could be fair for both sides.

I agree those guys could make for a good 4th line, but like you said, you're probably not going to be able to pick them up. I just don't understand the focus on the 4th line when the other 3 lines don't score enough.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

Enough with this fourth line crap. Teams that win in the playoffs have their key players show up. LA is in the cup because of Gaborik, Kopitar and Doughty. NY is in the cup because of Lundqvist, and their depth on lines 1-3.

To win the Stanley Cup you need additional contributions from unsung heros, however the crux of the matter is if your best players produce.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

From our perspective, Tatar for Larsson is something I would do. Even though I think he will become a good goal scorer in the league. Not sure if we'd have to kick in more, given Larsson's draft position???

I think both Nyquist and Tatar are good going forward with a promising future.

Nyquist was on a 40-goal pace over 82 games this season. He's the present.

 

[tycobb]

Nyquist was on a 40-goal pace over 82 games this season. He's the present.

Not to mention he carried the team when Dats went down.

 

[StnTwnDevil]

Nyquist was on a 40-goal pace over 82 games this season. He's the present.

In my comment before, I was thinking of Nystrom and Tootoo as good 4th liners. Nyquist and Tatar carried the Redwings into the playoffs. They at least should be on the top 3 lines on any team. I really have a hard time seeing the Redwings being interested in either of them for Larsson. I would do that trade in a heart-beat though.

 

[devilsblood]

Happy to see Zid's re signed. I don't care that he is old when he is still playing well.

It's the old guys who are not playing well that we should give the boot.

 

[Frk It]

In my comment before, I was thinking of Nystrom and Tootoo as good 4th liners. Nyquist and Tatar carried the Redwings into the playoffs. They at least should be on the top 3 lines on any team. I really have a hard time seeing the Redwings being interested in either of them for Larsson. I would do that trade in a heart-beat though.

Has Larsson fallen off that much?

What do you think his future holds? Where's he at now?

 

[devilsblood]

Enough with this fourth line crap. Teams that win in the playoffs have their key players show up. LA is in the cup because of Gaborik, Kopitar and Doughty. NY is in the cup because of Lundqvist, and their depth on lines 1-3.

To win the Stanley Cup you need additional contributions from unsung heros, however the crux of the matter is if your best players produce.

We've seen 1st hand that 4th line players can play important roles in the regular season and the playoffs.

Are they as important as 1st line players? Of coarse not, but they are not inconsequential.

And when the team makeup seems to be so stacked with middle 6 guys as we seem to be, why not go with an unconvential 4th line that is actually able to be productive.

And I for one boot the entirity of CBGB, I'm not giving Carter a pass, he was as ineffective as the other 2.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

We've seen 1st hand that 4th line players can play important roles in the regular season and the playoffs.

Are they as important as 1st line players? Of coarse not, but they are not inconsequential.

And when the team makeup seems to be so stacked with middle 6 guys as we seem to be, why not go with an unconvential 4th line that is actually able to be productive.

And I for one boot the entirity of CBGB, I'm not giving Carter a pass, he was as ineffective as the other 2.

The thing is that you can never predict which fourth liners will produce. Take Marcus Nilsson, Ville Nieminen and Chris Simon in 03-04 for the Flames. They combined for 13 goals in the playoffs, but did jack for the rest of their playoff careers more or less. Yes, there are always fourth line heros, but they change ever year and are essentially random.

Carter is a good player. He shows flashes of skill that Gionta or Bernier could never hope to replicate. Get him with some decent players and 10g/20p is realistic.

 

[NJDevs26]

Enough with this fourth line crap. Teams that win in the playoffs have their key players show up. LA is in the cup because of Gaborik, Kopitar and Doughty. NY is in the cup because of Lundqvist, and their depth on lines 1-3.

To win the Stanley Cup you need additional contributions from unsung heros, however the crux of the matter is if your best players produce.

What Cup-winning team since the lockout hasn't had good third and fourth-line players? Even the Penguins managed to have a useful fourth line the year they won the Cup. Sure they're not 'as' important as the top players but it's not irrelevant either. Having depth has become a must and is why Chicago, LA and Boston are consistently great year after year and why you generally need depth to hang with those teams.

 

[R8Devs]

Has Larsson fallen off that much?

What do you think his future holds? Where's he at now?

he hasn't fallen off, we have a logjam of D and since he can be sent down without getting claimed that what they did. what happened was he got injured and then he was cleared but DeBoer didn't put him back in the lineup.

 

[MadDevil]

Why are we worried about the fourth line? We have plenty of guys who are capable of playing a bottom six role. That's not the problem. It's the lack of first liners. Get some actual first liners and the rest of the lineup should take care of itself.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Back on topic. This isn't the resigned Gio thread.

Make it about Zids

 

[MadDevil]

So, Zids to the fourth line?

 

[Better Call Sal]

Late to the party, but I approve. Zids earned this for sure.

Now buyout/trade Volch and re-sign Fayne:

Greene-Fayne
Merrill-Zidlicky
Larsson-Gelinas
Salvador

would be nice to see from my perspective.

 

[BrodeursCups]

Has Larsson fallen off that much?

What do you think his future holds? Where's he at now?

Where's he at now? His skating/mobility are the definition of mediocre and he very much struggles with speed to the outside/gap control. He has a lot to improve on this offseason. 14-15 is a big year for his development...