Confirmed with Link: Devils re-sign Mirco Mueller (2 years, $850k AAV)

[captainscott]

But seriously, you're expecting Mueller to be a semi-regular 20+ minute defenseman by mid season?

merrill was in that position because we didn't have better options... as for mueller we don't know... i think the organization hopes he will be they gave up a #2 for him i don't think they plan on him sucking.. we will soon see..

this debate is so tiresome.. let the dude play and we can all pat ourselves on the back or eat crow by January... likely he will fall somewhere in the middle between those thinking he is gonna become the player that was drafted and a total bust..

 

[HBK27]

Moore's CF%5v5 was the lowest in the league(800 or 1000 minutes required I don't remember the criteria I used) by far at 44% no one was even close. He was something like 2% worse than anyone else in the group of 160 Defensemen.

The numbers I gave you earlier were all from this past season at even strength and had Moore above Greene and well above Lovejoy, who both played more games than him last season.

I'm certainly no advanced stats nerd, so maybe I'm missing something here - but it has Moore at 46.9%. Certainly not great, but well above Lovejoy's 43.2% - so Moore is nowhere close to worst in the league like you are saying.

I also went back and checked the 2015-2016 season. Moore had a 43.6% CF%, which is at least close to the number you cite. However, that was still above Larsson (43.5%) and Greene (42.7%) that year (which has to be taken with a huge grain of salt, given that they had some of the toughest matchups league-wide) - so still, not anywhere close to "worst in the league". Oh, and tops on the Devils that season was Eric Gelinas at 53.4% (albeit in 34 games), so um, yeah...

I'm genuinely curious as to what stats you're citing here regarding Moore.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/NJD/2017.html

You might have looked at the wrong year for Merrill's minutes.

Merrill played 9 20+ minute games in a row this season with a total of 16 20+ minute games with a high of 27:38.

Check those minutes here
https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/merrijo01/gamelog/2017

You're correct - I did look at the wrong year. I didn't see the game logs on hockey reference so I quickly googled it, which brought me to ESPN - they didn't have game logs for 2016-2017 (since they suck) so I switched to the prior season. In my head I thought I was switching from the upcoming season to last year. Lesson learned - never click on anything for ESPN again.

 

[HBK27]

I'm rooting for him, I saw a smooth skating 6'3 d man with a heavy shot. Having people believe in you can do a lot for a player.

And opportunity...he'll certainly get more ice time and leeway in a place like NJ with a team that's still rebuilding vs. San Jose where they're in a win now mode.

 

[BenedictGomez]

merrill was in that position because we didn't have better options...

I've tried that line of reasoning, I couldn't break through.

 

[devilsblood]

His skating is phenomenal which is why I think Shero traded for him. The questions are his consistency and D Zone play. He was arguably the best defenseman last night which is a great start.

Are those his questions?

From what (little) I have watched, and judging by the #'s, his d-zone play looks like his stronger attribute. The offensive #'s, despite some obvious offensive skills, are very unimpressive. Again, from what I have seen, he seemed ultra conservative, to the point of making bad plays because of it, in terms of passing the puck. Even when there was very little pressure.

 

[Zippy316]

Are those his questions?

From what (little) I have watched, and judging by the #'s, his d-zone play looks like his stronger attribute. The offensive #'s, despite some obvious offensive skills, are very unimpressive. Again, from what I have seen, he seemed ultra conservative, to the point of making bad plays because of it, in terms of passing the puck. Even when there was very little pressure.

Those are definitely the things I've heard the most about concerning him.

He's a terrific skater, he's tall with a long reach, and he has a very good shot from the point. Those attributes alone you hope he can develop into a quiet, but steady defensive defender.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

Are those his questions?

From what (little) I have watched, and judging by the #'s, his d-zone play looks like his stronger attribute. The offensive #'s, despite some obvious offensive skills, are very unimpressive. Again, from what I have seen, he seemed ultra conservative, to the point of making bad plays because of it, in terms of passing the puck. Even when there was very little pressure.

That could very well just be a head thing. He's used to having a short leash, so being "safe" is probably ingrained in his game.

 

[Bleedred]

I actually think there's a chance that he could become as good as Larsson.

BLASPHEMY!

I'm ready to take my licks for that one, you can come at me now!

 

[JimEIV]

I actually think there's a chance that he could become as good as Larsson.

BLASPHEMY!

I'm ready to take my licks for that one, you can come at me now!

Not me...I agree with you.

Mueller definitely can become a good #4/middle pairing defenseman just like Larrson.

 

[britdevil]

Not me...I agree with you.

Mueller definitely can become a good #4/middle pairing defenseman just like Larrson.

Jim, can I have a photocopy of your doctor's prescription?

I feel like my life would be a lot more manageable.

 

[devilsblood]

I actually think there's a chance that he could become as good as Larsson.

BLASPHEMY!

I'm ready to take my licks for that one, you can come at me now!

We know little of Mueller, but we know he is a better skater then Lars, which isn't saying much, but he looks to be much better in that regard.

But Lars was good as a straight in his own zone d-man, can Mueller be that at all? Lars made smart and skilled plays with the puck, I haven't seen that from Mueller.

Lars became pretty nasty physically, and I have seen hints of that from Mueller.

 

[devilsblood]

Not me...I agree with you.

Mueller definitely can become a good #4/middle pairing defenseman just like Larrson.

Or he could be absolutely nothing. Which I thought has been your mueller take for the most part.

 

[devilsblood]

That could very well just be a head thing. He's used to having a short leash, so being "safe" is probably ingrained in his game.

That's how I saw it.

Needs to break out of that.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Or he could be absolutely nothing. Which I thought has been your mueller take for the most part.

It 100% was.


Until he scored a goal & went +3 in his first preseason game.

 

[devilsblood]

It 100% was.


Until he scored a goal & went +3 in his first preseason game.

Ha, I thought it had more to do with the Lars degradation oppurtunity, which Jim will never pass up.

 

[JimEIV]

It 100% was.


Until he scored a goal & went +3 in his first preseason game.

He didn't score a goal. The puck didn't even go in the same side he shot at.

 

[JimEIV]

Or he could be absolutely nothing. Which I thought has been your mueller take for the most part.

I never made any claims about his potential. I don't know enough about him.

I know his resume, I know the reports I've read and I know the few clips I've seen and I can make a decent assumption of where he is now but I have no idea what he can be.

 

[GameSeven]

I never made any claims about his potential. I don't know enough about him.

I know his resume, I know the reports I've read and I know the few clips I've seen and I can make a decent assumption of where he is now but I have no idea what he can be.

You can say I'm sorry when Mueller is playing in Zurich in two years.

 

[NjDevsRR]

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

So far, Mirco has done a good job showcasing what Shero and Company saw in him. Of course, he will have to show that he can translate from the pre-season to the regular season, but as of now, I am very happy with him. If he can be a decent NHL defenseman for us, getting him was a very shrewd move.

 

[Bleedred]

I maintain that he can be as good as Adam Larsson.

Even Pete agrees, that's why they got rid of him!

Get it?

Because Pete doesn't think Larsson is good at all

 

[Emperoreddy]

Maybe Mueller's issues were Pete's fault? Haha

 

[captainscott]

I never made any claims about his potential. I don't know enough about him.

I know his resume, I know the reports I've read and I know the few clips I've seen and I can make a decent assumption of where he is now but I have no idea what he can be.

nobody does that was the point... have to let it play out.. so far so good.. will it last ... who knows.. many peoples point was including my own is that if the devils felt strongly enough to give up a #2 pick they certainly expect him to play significant mintues this season.

 

[Bleedred]

Maybe Mueller's issues were Pete's fault? Haha

While I don't think you can argue with the Sharks hiring Pete, and I also defended Pete when a few Sharks fans said he should be fired after the playoffs last year, by saying firing him would be pretty bush league, I'm still not a huge fan of his.

Perhaps he's not the terrible coach I made him out to be, but he isn't anything better than an average NHL head coach either. If you missed the playoffs with the Sharks roster of the last two years, you would have to be a terrible, terrible head coach.

He also still has his same weird quirks. Obsession with playing goons during the regular season, doesn't handle his goalie rotation (there barely is a rotation) well at all. Jones had to play 65 games last year, with a .931 backup goalie sitting on the bench and only getting 17 starts. Same dumb **** with Clemmensen playing a stretch over Vokoun in Florida. Same dumb **** with Hedberg playing 12 or 13 games in a row, after crashing into a mountain. Same dumb **** with Marty playing almost as many games as Cory in 2013-2014, because Marty was ''Our starter''. Same dumb **** as starting Cory for the first 20 straight games to start 14-15 (you guys wanted more Cory last year? We'll give you Cory until he splits in two this year!) and Clemmensen somehow ''Winning'' the backup job over Kinkaid to start the season. Jones barely played better than Cory last year, on a way better team, which really gets overlooked. Then Dell got a shutout in preseason the other night, and Pete implied that there might be competition because their ****** AHL goalie had just as good of an AHL season as Dell had in the NHL last year, even though he was awful for the two AHL years before that and outplayed by Dell in the AHL. And he also said that he needed to repeat last year. Not a great thing to say for a goalie who played as one of the best backups in the league last year, albeit in very limited work.

Becuz I haven't made a Pete rant on this part of the forum in over 2.5 years.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Mirco Mueller scores again tonight, slapshot from the blueline; 19:29 played, +1.

LOL.

Too funny.