Confirmed with Link: Devils sign Gelinas (1 year, $900k)

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

Playing around with this graph creator has become addicting.

Here are zone starts, quality of competition, ice time and their relative possession numbers all mapped out. Gelinas, for obvious reasons, isn't given many dzone draws... but he's also one of the worst possession dmen on the team. So it is slightly concerning, but not overly as he still has a lot of room to grow.

Gelinas faces tougher competition than most of the dmen, not surprisingly with all the OZ starts, he's probably seeing a lot of opponents best possession forwards.

It seems like Progressive Hockey is going to try and start doing numbers by line combinations/defense pairings -- which would be even better for analyzing these numbers. Can't wait for that.

Wow that graph is all you need to know about Andy Greene.

 

[The 29th Pick]

Wow that graph is all you need to know about Andy Greene.

and that we should have kept Fayne

 

[Classic Devil]

and that we should have kept Fayne

Makes me mad.

 

[R8Devs]

With the way the defense is shaping up, it doesn't make that much sense to give Fayne a 4 year contract, a 2 year contract would make sense. But it wouldn't be smart for Fayne to take a smaller deal just to stay with the Devils when there's a good chance he'll get pushed out by younger guys.

 

[Classic Devil]

With the way the defense is shaping up, it doesn't make that much sense to give Fayne a 4 year contract, a 2 year contract would make sense. But it wouldn't be smart for Fayne to take a smaller deal just to stay with the Devils when there's a good chance he'll get pushed out by younger guys.

I don't really agree. On the contract Fayne got with Edmonton, he's always a trade asset. It's not like he'll get stuck an unmovable brick like Volchenkov.

 

[The 29th Pick]

Makes me mad.

I understand the crop of young D coming up will be real strong, but I really thought Greene and Fayne played well as a pairing, but ...

 

[Oneiro]

From the way they've handled it, the organization sees at least Merrill and Larsson being top 4 guys easily. And probably Severson as well.

Mutually beneficial to depart with Fayne, as much as I liked his game.

 

[MadDevil]

Hopefully Larsson takes a step this year and starts to become a steady, reliable player like Fayne was. He certainly has the potential to be more, but I'd like to at least see a little more consistency from him.

 

[The 29th Pick]

Hopefully Larsson takes a step this year and starts to become a steady, reliable player like Fayne was. He certainly has the potential to be more, but I'd like to at least see a little more consistency from him.

Larsson HAS to step it up this year.
we know Merrill is pretty sound
we dont know if Geli will improve his D this season
so yeah Larsson has to be good this season

 

[tycobb]

and that we should have kept Fayne

All that chart shows is zone starts with QoC. It doesn't say how well he played.

Fayne @ 3.625 million wasn't worth it for us unless Lou bought out/traded Sal. I am thrill Larsson will have the chance play with Greene. Fayne is only worth that contract if he played with Greene. He look like crap with anyone else.

Larsson has a much higher upside than Fayne. I think people will quickly forget letting Fayne go.

 

[manilaNJ]

I don't really agree. On the contract Fayne got with Edmonton, he's always a trade asset. It's not like he'll get stuck an unmovable brick like Volchenkov.

I don't think that's a situation that Fayne wanted to be in, though.
I'll go back and track down the link, but there was an article posted around here where his quotes made it seem like he was well aware of the amount of kids breathing down his neck for roster spots.
He'll be heavily relied on in Edmonton, and for at least the duration of those 4 years.

His job didn't seem to be safe here, especially watching the way Gelinas and Merrill snatched up roster spots almost immediately.

Him leaving makes a lot more sense in retrospect.

Edit:
"They (Devils) tried to keep me, but they also have a lot of guys in the back end, a lot of guys who are locked up and are younger guys," Fayne said. "They tried to keep me, but at the same time, I felt like it was the right time to move on."
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/07/...stern-opponents-in-move-from-devils-to-oilers

 

[manilaNJ]

All that chart shows is zone starts with QoC. It doesn't say how well he played.

TOI% and CorsiRel are also included in the graph (using the size and color of the dots)

I was mainly looking at the sheltered aspect of Gelinas' short career so far, compared to the rest of the team.

But Fayne was the 2nd* best possession dman on the team after Greene.
Greene is head and shoulders above the rest, though.
*Actually, the 2nd best was Larsson, but he didn't even play half a season, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[JimEIV]

All that chart shows is zone starts with QoC. It doesn't say how well he played.

Fayne @ 3.625 million wasn't worth it for us unless Lou bought out/traded Sal. I am thrill Larsson will have the chance play with Greene. Fayne is only worth that contract if he played with Greene. He look like crap with anyone else.

Larsson has a much higher upside than Fayne. I think people will quickly forget letting Fayne go.

Completely agree...In large part Greene carried Fayne IMO. When he wasn't with Greene early in the year he was a train wreck.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Fayne, but I don't believe he was capable of anchoring a pairing and I don't believe he was worth his contract.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

With the way the defense is shaping up, it doesn't make that much sense to give Fayne a 4 year contract, a 2 year contract would make sense. But it wouldn't be smart for Fayne to take a smaller deal just to stay with the Devils when there's a good chance he'll get pushed out by younger guys.

you don't let a player in their prime walk because you may one day have players as good as him.

granted, I think Fayne was probably walking regardless because I don't think he liked the coach.

 

[glenwo2]

you don't let a player in their prime walk because you may one day have players as good as him.

granted, I think Fayne was probably walking regardless because I don't think he liked the coach.

Can't blame him....

 

[Missionhockey]

TOI% and CorsiRel are also included in the graph (using the size and color of the dots)

I was mainly looking at the sheltered aspect of Gelinas' short career so far, compared to the rest of the team.

But Fayne was the 2nd* best possession dman on the team after Greene.
Greene is head and shoulders above the rest, though.
*Actually, the 2nd best was Larsson, but he didn't even play half a season, so take that with a grain of salt.

That's a great point. Merrill and Gelinas are really only the tip of the iceberg.

 

[MadDevil]

Ideally we could have dumped Sal and kept Fayne to clear the logjam, but what's done is done. Long term, I don't think losing Fayne is that big of a deal. This season I think it's going to sting though.

 

[Semak]

Ideally we could have dumped Sal and kept Fayne to clear the logjam, but what's done is done. Long term, I don't think losing Fayne is that big of a deal. This season I think it's going to sting though.

Especially early in the season if Merrill, Larsson and Gelinas take their lumps. Don't want to even think about all three slumping at the same time.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

I'm a page or two late on this, but I think the biggest reason Zidlicky has gone underappreciated among Devils fans is because he's spent a HUGE chunk of his time in black and red playing with either Bryce Salvador or Anton Volchenkov. That probably plays into his PIMs too, since he's spending a lot more time without the puck than with it thanks to those two.

That's pretty much the biggest reason I didn't want Fayne to leave. With the pairings more up in the air now that Greene doesn't have a set partner, I think there's more chance we see Zid paired with Gelinas or Salvador. I think, if Merrill continues to develop defensively on the pace he set last season, he'd be the kind of partner Zidlicky's been missing since we traded for him.

 

[Chessarmy]

Larsson HAS to step it up this year.
we know Merrill is pretty sound
we dont know if Geli will improve his D this season
so yeah Larsson has to be good this season

Its now or never for Adam Larsson in my opinion - we're 4 years removed from his draft year and he still hasn't been much of an impact player for this team. This is the season where he needs to step up and be one of the most important defenseman for NJD or you might as well just ship him off somewhere and call him a bust.

We've waited long enough, its time.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Its now or never for Adam Larsson in my opinion - we're 4 years removed from his draft year and he still hasn't been much of an impact player for this team. This is the season where he needs to step up and be one of the most important defenseman for NJD or you might as well just ship him off somewhere and call him a bust.

We've waited long enough, its time.

This is another thing I think isn't so black and white. Larsson's had a pretty unique start to his career, in that he WAS an impact player as a rookie. He wasn't an instant #1 guy or anything, but he clearly showed he was already an NHL-caliber defensemen, even if he still had a lot of things to work on.

Then between the injuries, the lockout years (with an abbreviated camp and no preseason games), the glut of defensemen, and a coach that was more interested in the "now" than the future (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) he hasn't had an extended period of time to make his mark. Yes he's coming up on his fourth season, but Larsson's only played 128 NHL games. Some of that is his doing, but certainly not all of it. It's not like he's been some perennial disappointment since his draft year, and he actually played pretty well in the NHL last year.

I'm really glad he's been paired with Gelinas so far in the preseason, and that Merrill's with Greene. I think Larsson could still use some more sheltering, and he and Gelly were lights out last year in sheltered minutes (61% corsi).

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Adam Larsson is 21 years old lol

 

[The 29th Pick]

Adam Larsson is 21 years old lol

Merrill was 21 last season, he got his game going at that age
Larsson can do it this year

 

[NJDevs26]

Arguably Merrill was brought up the right way with the time he spent in college and briefly in the AHL before coming up here, while Larsson's developmental curve was inversed (getting a lot of time early in the NHL then being hidden later).

But yeah this is a big year for him in more ways than one, partly because of the prospects right behind him. And obviously more's expected of a #4 overall pick sooner than the other 2nd round defensemen we have.

 

[tycobb]

Arguably Merrill was brought up the right way with the time he spent in college and briefly in the AHL before coming up here, while Larsson's developmental curve was inversed (getting a lot of time early in the NHL then being hidden later).

But yeah this is a big year for him in more ways than one, partly because of the prospects right behind him. And obviously more's expected of a #4 overall pick sooner than the other 2nd round defensemen we have.

Not sure why people forget but Larsson was better in his Rookie season (19) than Merrill(21) did this year. Merrill didn't play long enough to prove anything.