Post-Game Talk: Devils lose to Caps 2-1 in OT (The More Things Change...)

[johnny pierogi]

Trade Palms before he just gives up completely or gets injured. He isn’t doing anything of value out there.

Trade Bratt for someone with size. I like Bratt a lot but we can’t have a team full of midgets and Jack is our chosen midget.

This team is soft and loses so many board battles and can’t cycle at all. I hate the system the Devils play. Wood is a tough kid but he doesn’t have to skill to cycle the puck it seems and the rest are too young or too small.

second time Steve has had to make an appearance in the last 12 hours. not good

 

[Call Me Al]

i think two things are true for hughes at this stage in his development - he needs to put on more weight and muscle like earlier in the season but obviously he needs to sustain it and grow into his man body, and he needs wingers that compliment him. he needs first and foremost a scorer on his line, but he needs bodies that can crash the net and cycle and keep possession and create space for him. he doesn’t seem to have chemistry with anyone other than those few early games with bratt, and i think we can all say that hopefully foote, mercer or holtz will click with him.

it’s still going to be a year or two before we really see his potential though, right now it just seems like he’s trying to do too much himself and he’s not strong enough for that, nor is that a good recipe for success unless your name is mcdavid

 

[Call Me Al]

one surprise though is his defense - if not directly by being a great defensively aware player, his speed and pickpocketing and ability to break the puck out have kept the other teams in check and he isn’t getting hemmed in and destroyed in possession nearly as bad as we probably all would have expected if his strength was going to be this much of an issue

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

Or maybe we have an offense that’s like 75% rookies/sophomores and the veterans completely suck. I think that’s probably the reason we don’t have sustained offense against a team with Ovechkin, Backstrom, Oshie, Kuznetsov, Carlson, Hagelin, Wilson, Chara, etc. who have all played playoff games in their sleep at this point.

Just a guess though.

So we suck at scoring goals just against Washington? How about building a roster with a mix of everything? I think that’s what several posters are asking for and if Jesper Bratt can help us add a player that will give us different attributes that we already have in spades (being fast, soft and can’t score) it would not only help our franchise player who’s having all sorts of trouble being the player we’ve envisioned he would be but the overall good of the team.

The way this roster is built is laughable and getting. Adding more soft perimeter players wasn’t the answer and it won’t be moving forward.

BTW, why do people think grinders when some are asking to add more size to our lineup? There are players with size and skills.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I'm all for trading Palms. Not Bratt though.

Size isn't nearly as much a problem for us as skill is. Skill/Talent in the goal scoring department is the thing we lack more than anything else, and it is the main reason we are losing games. It's not because we don't have a Ryan Reaves type player.

 

[BurntToast]

The issue come down to value. Do you trade Palms just to trade him? Are you ok with a 2/3 pick in an unknown draft?

Bratt and Wood might have more value because the are currently better, cheaper, and have the potential to get better.

Most have said No to Laine for Bratt..

How about Bratt for Reinhart? Straight no chasers..

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I would simply not trade one of our only players that is worth a damn.

 

[Call Me Al]

if we had more finishing ability we wouldn’t be talking about size. it’s not mutually exclusive but where we optimistically could have hoped for about ~50 goals between vets palms, goose and johnsson, we don’t even have 15.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Size is not a prerequisite for being able to get to dangerous parts of the ice and win battles for pucks along the boards, but it helps! Maybe GMs have traditionally been enamored with it to the point of rostering less than ideal lineups but I don't know how you can watch Bratt and Hughes and not think they'd be better if they were taller/heavier. There's a reason the hope re: Hughes is that he grows into a man's body and becomes more effective as a result, and it's not just the veteran savvy that comes with it.

 

[NJ Fan 12]

The issue come down to value. Do you trade Palms just to trade him? Are you ok with a 2/3 pick in an unknown draft?

Bratt and Wood might have more value because the are currently better, cheaper, and have the potential to get better.

Most have said No to Laine for Bratt..

How about Bratt for Reinhart? Straight no chasers..

Think you need to be realistic. Both Laine and Reinhart were top-five picks (deservedly so). There is no way Bratt is bringing either of those in a trade.

Speaking of Jesper, how does he get manhandled by Conor Sheary?

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

There's no reason to trade Bratt unless his bridge deal causes a contender up against the cap to overpay for him. He hasn't been nearly consistent enough for something like that to happen.

 

[Patrik26]

The last five Cup winners - Tampa, St. Louis, Washington, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. I'm pretty sure they weren't built around Smurfs and sloths. Complemented by, but not built around.

 

[Maine Fan]

No young players, 21 or younger, are particularly doing great. In 2019-20 there was five players with better Points Per Game (w/ 15 games played) then this season’s current leader. Farabee is 69th (nice) in points per game this season.

In 2019-20, Pettersson was 26th with 0.97 points/game (he’s 0.81 now). Then Yamamoto was 29th with 0.96 points/game (he’s 0.46 now). Laine was 34th with 0.93 (he’s 0.59 now). Svechnichov was 40th with 0.90 (he’s 0.74 now). Maker was 44th with 0.88 (he’s 0.96 now, Cale is the only one who hasn’t dropped.)

Quinn Hughes, 21 (Oct 14, 1999) 2018 draft
37 GP 2G 26A 28 points
37 GP .05G/G .70A/G .76PTS/G

Joel Farabee, 21 (Feb 25, 2000) 2018 draft
34 GP 14G 13A 27 points
34 GP 0.41G/G 0.38A/G 0.79PTS/G

Andrei Svechnikov, 21 (Mar 26, 2000) 2018 draft
35 GP 10G 16A 26 points
35 GP 0.29G/G 0.46A/G 0.74PTS/G

Jason Robertson, 21 (July 22, 1999) 2017 draft
29 GP 8G 15A 23 points
29 GP 0.28G/G 0.52/G 0.79PTS/G

Brady Tkachuk, 21 (Sept 16, 1999) 2018 draft
37 GP 11G 11A 22 points
37 GP 0.30G/G 0.30A/G 0.59PTS/G

Tim Stutzle, 19 (Jan 15, 2002) 2020 draft
34 GP 6G 13A 19 points
34 GP 0.18G/G 0.38A/G 0.56PTS/G

Ty Smith, 21 (Mar 24, 2000) 2018 draft
34 GP 2G 17A 19 points
34 GP 0.06G/G 0.50A/G 0.56PTS/G

Miro Heiskanen, 21 (July 18, 1999) 2017 draft
34 GP 5G 14A 19 points
34 GP 0.15G/G 0.41A/G 0.56PTS/G

Joshua Norris, 21 (May 5, 1999) 2017 draft
37 GP 8G 11A 19 points
37 GP 0.22G/G 0.30A/G 0.51PTS/G

Eeli Tolvanen, 21 (April 21, 1999) 2017 draft
29 GP 9G 9A 18 points
29 GP 0.31G/G 0.31A/G 0.62PTS/G

Oliver Wahlstrom, 20 (June 13, 2000) 2018 draft
30 GP 9G 7A 16 points
30 GP 0.30G/G 0.23A/G 0.53PTS/G

Jesperi Kotkaniemi, 20 (July 6, 2000) 2018 draft
33 GP 5G 11A 16 points
33 GP 0.15G/G 0.33A/G 0.48PTS/G

Jack Hughes, 19 (May 14, 2001) 2019 draft
34 GP 7G 9A 16 points
34 GP 0.21G/G 0.26A/G 0.47PTS/G

Nils Hoglander 20, (Dec 20, 2000) 2019 draft
37 GP 7G 9A 16 points
37 GP 0.19G/G 0.24A/G 0.43PTS/G

Alexis Lafreniere, 19 (Oct 11, 2001) 2020 draft
36 GP 5G 6A 11 points
36 GP 0.14G/G 0.31A/G 0.31PTS/G

Kaapo Kakko, 20 (Feb 13, 2001) 2019 draft
29 GP 5G 2A 7 points
29 GP 0.17G/G 0.07A/G 0.24PTS/G

Dylan Cozens, 20 (Feb 9, 2001) 2019 draft
25 GP 4G 2A 6 points
25 GP 0.16G/G 0.08/G 0.24PTS/G

Robert Thomas, 21 (July 2, 1999) 2017 draft
16 GP 1G 5A 6 points
16 GP 0.06G/G 0.31A/G 0.38PTS/G

Trevor Zegras, 20 (Mar 20, 2001) 2019 draft
15 GP 1G 5A 6 points
15 GP 0.07G/G 0.27A/G 0.33PTS/G

Whoa, that's a lot of typing. Interesting information.

 

[NJ Fan 12]

There's no reason to trade Bratt unless his bridge deal causes a contender up against the cap to overpay for him. He hasn't been nearly consistent enough for something like that to happen.

Really hoping Ron Francis selects him but even if he is unprotected don't see that happening.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Really hoping Ron Francis selects him but even if he is unprotected don't see that happening.

What? You think Bratt should be unprotected AND you think Francis wouldn't take him? Both are lunacy.

Edit: Andreas Johnsson on the other hand...

 

[MartyOwns]

Really hoping Ron Francis selects him but even if he is unprotected don't see that happening.

wait you want to lose bratt for nothing? you can't be serious

 

[HersheyBob27]

wait you want to lose bratt for nothing? you can't be serious

You guys seriously over value Bratt. Looks like he is a fourth liner again at practice today. McLeod deaerves better haha. Game against good team last night and the guy couldn’t even produce a single shot on net

 

[NJDevs26]

People here may overvalue Bratt but the poster above you is clearly undervaluing him saying we should leave him unprotected but he wouldn't even be taken.

 

[Camille the Eel]

i think two things are true for hughes at this stage in his development - he needs to put on more weight and muscle like earlier in the season but obviously he needs to sustain it and grow into his man body, and he needs wingers that compliment him. he needs first and foremost a scorer on his line, but he needs bodies that can crash the net and cycle and keep possession and create space for him. he doesn’t seem to have chemistry with anyone other than those few early games with bratt, and i think we can all say that hopefully foote, mercer or holtz will click with him.

it’s still going to be a year or two before we really see his potential though, right now it just seems like he’s trying to do too much himself and he’s not strong enough for that, nor is that a good recipe for success unless your name is mcdavid

If he just learns to finish some of his chances on a regular basis the critics will largely be silenced. He’s been generating good looks regularly - my impression is shooting more and taking it into the slot. Last night a post bang on with 7 minutes or so left and a break away in OT. If he finishes some of those, these board discussions will have a different tone. Personally I think he will get there but only time will tell.

 

[MartyOwns]

You guys seriously over value Bratt. Looks like he is a fourth liner again at practice today. McLeod deaerves better haha. Game against good team last night and the guy couldn’t even produce a single shot on net

if you ever read my posts, you'd know i definitely don't overvalue bratt. but he does have value, and shouldn't be lost for nothing. that's crazy talk

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

You guys seriously over value Bratt. Looks like he is a fourth liner again at practice today. McLeod deaerves better haha. Game against good team last night and the guy couldn’t even produce a single shot on net

I do think Bratt is a good player and has some value but I also think our board likes to overhype the hell out of him as well.

Losing him for nothing isn’t an option and would be horrible asset management.

 

[HersheyBob27]

if you ever read my posts, you'd know i definitely don't overvalue bratt. but he does have value, and shouldn't be lost for nothing. that's crazy talk

Sorry wasn’t specifically aimed at you

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Are there many 0.55 ppg players from age 19-22 with underlying numbers that improve every year that aren’t good players? If he isn’t a success story, what the Christ are you expecting of the prospects currently in our system?

 

[Emperoreddy]

Leaving Bratt unprotected is so f***ing laughable that I question if you are even a fan of this team.

He is a very good young player. This need to bury all our young players is absurd.

 

[NJ Fan 12]

Went with Blackwood, Johnson and Kulikov as the three stars. I thought the game turned in a positive way after the Kuokkanen, Zajac and Sharangovich line was reunited.

Just as easily could have been a win as an overtime loss.