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

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

Zidlicky is very good at creating for himself, but isn't as good creating for others.

I love when he goes down below the goal line and puts one hand on the stick, using his other hand to protect the puck. He's a bull.

 

[Missionhockey]

Zidlicky is very good at creating for himself, but isn't as good creating for others.

I love when he goes down below the goal line and puts one hand on the stick, using his other hand to protect the puck. He's a bull.

I don't have specific examples but I disagree with this. He's pretty good at finding an open man. The only thing I don't care for about him is that he can't keep his slap shot low. He almost killed Zajac at one point last season.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

signature move

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

What exactly does Gelinas do to control play offensively? He has a great shot that's it, he's not exactly a puckmover like Rafalski and not the world's fastest skater or best decision-maker. Karlsson does all that so using that as the example is silly.

Wait, so you don't think Gelinas is a puck-mover? You watch him play and you don't see a player who skates and passes the puck very well?

Gelinas didn't play difficult minutes last season, but despite his defensive issues, his possession numbers were still excellent. That doesn't happen to a player who can't do anything but shoot (like say...Kurtis Foster?). Gelinas is a total-package offensive-defenseman. He skates very well, he shoots extremely well, he passes well, and he has a big body. If he can ever become league-average in his own end, he'll be a huge asset, but I think that might be a pretty big "if" at this point.

 

[captainscott]

Wait, so you don't think Gelinas is a puck-mover? You watch him play and you don't see a player who skates and passes the puck very well?

Gelinas didn't play difficult minutes last season, but despite his defensive issues, his possession numbers were still excellent. That doesn't happen to a player who can't do anything but shoot (like say...Kurtis Foster?). Gelinas is a total-package offensive-defenseman. He skates very well, he shoots extremely well, he passes well, and he has a big body. If he can ever become league-average in his own end, he'll be a huge asset, but I think that might be a pretty big "if" at this point.

Agreed he has some gifts you cannot teach. Reminds me of a young Sheldon souray

 

[MadDevil]

Zidlicky is very good at creating for himself, but isn't as good creating for others.

I love when he goes down below the goal line and puts one hand on the stick, using his other hand to protect the puck. He's a bull.

I remember a goal against the Flyers where Zid was all over the offensive zone. He looked like freaking Bobby Orr out there. He ended up behind the Flyers goal, made a fancy backhand pass and Jagr jammed it home.

My only real gripe with him is his penchant for taking penalties, usually after he gets beat trying to keep a puck in.

 

[britdevil]

Why is Gelinas "becoming league average" a big if?

He's not even 24 years old yet... When you consider the age that defenders enter their prime, he's a relative diaper wearer.

He'll be fine.

 

[JimEIV]

Why is Gelinas "becoming league average" a big if?

He's not even 24 years old yet... When you consider the age that defenders enter their prime, he's a relative diaper wearer.

He'll be fine.

The issue is how far he has to progress to just become OK...of course it is still to soon to pass any sort of definitive judgement... but there is definitely reason to be concerned because he is 23 and he has a long way to go be adequate.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

I remember a goal against the Flyers where Zid was all over the offensive zone. He looked like freaking Bobby Orr out there. He ended up behind the Flyers goal, made a fancy backhand pass and Jagr jammed it home.

My only real gripe with him is his penchant for taking penalties, usually after he gets beat trying to keep a puck in.

Zidlicky's best offensive game as a Devil that I remember was a regular season game against Toronto in 12-13.

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=2012020320-287-h

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=2012020320-455-h

No other defenseman on our team can do that.

 

[Bologna 1]

(go to the 0:46 mark in the florida clip) zidlicky is dirty, just look at some of these plays. especially considering he's not young, its pretty astonishing. brings a dimension to that backend that no other devils dman will. that being said, gelinas also brings a different element too, the biggest obviously being his shot. but at the same time, he is very good at skating the puck and also pinching down low to help out the offense.

 

[Tundra]

Zidlicky is one of our top 5 players. No doubt. His skill set is pretty astonishing for his age.

 

[devilsblood]

Why is Gelinas "becoming league average" a big if?

He's not even 24 years old yet... When you consider the age that defenders enter their prime, he's a relative diaper wearer.

He'll be fine.

The issue is how far he has to progress to just become OK...of course it is still to soon to pass any sort of definitive judgement... but there is definitely reason to be concerned because he is 23 and he has a long way to go be adequate.

For me the concern is: What the heck had he been doing during his years in Albany? Was he not learning anything during those years?

Makes me wonder about his ability to improve. Physically the tools are there to be a good defensive player, but it's the hockey smarts that may be missing.

 

[tycobb]

For me the concern is: What the heck had he been doing during his years in Albany? Was he not learning anything during those years?

Makes me wonder about his ability to improve. Physically the tools are there to be a good defensive player, but it's the hockey smarts that may be missing.

He wasn't great with positioning, but AHL players aren't nearly as skilled as 3rd line NHL players. Gelinas was getting school 1 on 1 from a teams 3rd line. I am hoping for a HUGE jump in that area this year. Maybe it was nerves.

 

[manilaNJ]

I remember a goal against the Flyers where Zid was all over the offensive zone. He looked like freaking Bobby Orr out there. He ended up behind the Flyers goal, made a fancy backhand pass and Jagr jammed it home.

My only real gripe with him is his penchant for taking penalties, usually after he gets beat trying to keep a puck in.

Zidlicky's best offensive game as a Devil that I remember was a regular season game against Toronto in 12-13.

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=2012020320-287-h

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=2012020320-455-h

No other defenseman on our team can do that.

(go to the 0:46 mark in the florida clip) zidlicky is dirty, just look at some of these plays. especially considering he's not young, its pretty astonishing. brings a dimension to that backend that no other devils dman will. that being said, gelinas also brings a different element too, the biggest obviously being his shot. but at the same time, he is very good at skating the puck and also pinching down low to help out the offense.

I'll honestly never understand how under stated the praise for Zidlicky is from our fanbase. He is so good at creating for himself and finding scoring opportunities (something a good 75% of the team lacks). He brings a much needed element of offensive creativity.

He has his blunders, but I'll take the trade off anytime. But, I, too, would like to see him take a lot less penalties. The team has had a pretty good PK over his tenure, so he can get away with that a little bit.

(Side note: I watched some games with Zidlicky on the PK... it wasn't terrible)

Both him and Gelinas fall under the heading of "offensive defenseman" but they're both very different in how they establish their offense. Looking forward to watching them both this season.

 

[billingtons ghost]

For me the concern is: What the heck had he been doing during his years in Albany? Was he not learning anything during those years?

Makes me wonder about his ability to improve. Physically the tools are there to be a good defensive player, but it's the hockey smarts that may be missing.

I know we have a high bar on these boards for becoming 'adequate', but I think Jim is a bit harsh here -

I think the kid played adequately defensively for much of the year.

At the end, whether it was fatigue, injuries, or a drop in confidence - he tailed off.

I didn't see things that were systematic problems with his game - I just saw mistakes that you would see with any rookie Dman.

Niedermayer was a dumpster fire in his own zone for a couple of years (granted, he was 4 yrs younger at this point) and if he didn't have Dano, it might have warranted a trip down to the minors.

When I see Gelly's breakdowns, I didn't exactly see him paired with Greene or even Fayne. In most cases, there were communication lapses between him and Merrill, or he and Sal biffed it.... and Sal has been a mess in his own right.

I think he'll be great this year.


Edit: I was thinking - has anyone put together a Gelinas low-lights package? I would like to see what everyone is complaining about... I remember some ugliness here and there, but I think it was magnified because of who he is. Greene had his own share of lowlights this year, after all.

 

[Tundra]

For me the concern is: What the heck had he been doing during his years in Albany? Was he not learning anything during those years?

Makes me wonder about his ability to improve. Physically the tools are there to be a good defensive player, but it's the hockey smarts that may be missing.

He's a converted forward. I don't think he's been playing D more than 5/6 years. Someone could correct me.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

he played forward when he was like 13 IIRC. he has been playing D ever since.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Gelinas was a -3 for the year. Considering he probably got many points on the PP, that's really not very bad at all.

Looking at his game log, he had -3, -2 in games against Pit, Ana, Chi, Bos and the Rangers 2x. Those are all elite teams with elite talents that could make anyone look silly. In those games, he logged mostly over 16m and in some case 20min toi.

Those include the complete disaster games where Chicago lit Cory up and where the Rags beat us outside in an All-Star game where no one escaped without a minus.

Erik Karlsson, in comparison, was a -15 and had like 15 games >= -2.

(Not that I'm comparing the two - I was just looking for an 'offensive defenseman')

 

[manilaNJ]

I don't think Gelinas is terribly far removed from NHL worthy defense, but his mistakes are easy to capitalize on.

His dogged desire for the puck is what helps him be great, but he needs to settle that down in the defensive zone.

I think a lot of it is just sinking back into bad habits when he gets overwhelmed or overly excited.

I've seen worse defense from players who spent several years in the NHL, so I have high hopes for what he can become.
But he has work to do, and he seems well enough aware of it. I've seen him a bunch in the AHL, and his progression is definitely noticeable. He'll get there.

All of this is probably why Larsson makes such a good partner for him -- Gelinas is chaotic, aggressive. Larsson is calm and patient. It's a little bit of everything out there.

 

[Classic Devil]

Gelinas doesn't need to be spectacular defensively, he just needs to be decent. I think with a good, consistent partner (Larsson) and some time in the NHL working with guys like Albelin (who always made his way being a good, consistent positional defenseman) he'll be able to take a regular shift. That combined with his offensive prowess will keep him in the NHL a long time.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Gelinas doesn't need to be spectacular defensively, he just needs to be decent. I think with a good, consistent partner (Larsson) and some time in the NHL working with guys like Albelin (who always made his way being a good, consistent positional defenseman) he'll be able to take a regular shift. That combined with his offensive prowess will keep him in the NHL a long time.

That's the other thing...

What is a regular shift - Are we talking: >18 shifts, >15m TOI?

Something like that?

The guy was actually logging between 19m->25m for the first 3months of the season, that drifted downwards 14-19m for Jan/Feb with the occasional benching - and then 12-16 over the last month.

That looks like fatigue, or just diminishing confidence from the coaching staff.

Still - the fact that he was putting up reasonably decent minutes for more than 1/2 the season gives me hope.

 

[Wingman77]

This has always been one of the plays I look at when it comes to Zidlicky that shows why he sometimes gets caught out of position - is because he is in positions that the opposition wouldn't normally expect him to be in and it leads to stuff like this and what you guys have shown in the numerous videos above. Of course sometimes it leads to results we'd rather not see such as odd man rushes or a goal, but all things considered the guy is generally what you'd expect from a defensemen that provides offense

He's been one of Lou's best pickups in the past decade and in terms of what we gave up to get him....goes without saying...

 

[tycobb]

Gelinas was a -3 for the year. Considering he probably got many points on the PP, that's really not very bad at all.

Looking at his game log, he had -3, -2 in games against Pit, Ana, Chi, Bos and the Rangers 2x. Those are all elite teams with elite talents that could make anyone look silly. In those games, he logged mostly over 16m and in some case 20min toi.

Those include the complete disaster games where Chicago lit Cory up and where the Rags beat us outside in an All-Star game where no one escaped without a minus.

Erik Karlsson, in comparison, was a -15 and had like 15 games >= -2.

(Not that I'm comparing the two - I was just looking for an 'offensive defenseman')

EK played 27 mins on a team that had a -29 goal differential.

Michalek and Spezza were -25/-26.

Gelinas looked bad and he played shelter minutes. Gave up 8.384 shots per 20 (5on5) with by the team's lowest DZFO%.

 

[Bologna 1]

missed a couple.....(2:20 in first clip, 2:13 in second clip)

 

[manilaNJ]

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.