Devils Team Discussion (current team/player news and notes) ‎2014-2015 Part IX

[njdevil26]

Well c'mon how did you expect them to perform in such a tough building?

 

[I Hate Tie DOMI]

do people actually care about Marty going for 700 wins?

its such a meaningless milestone.

I don't care and based on his last two seasons of play it was going to take him another two seasons to get there and people would have lost their minds about that too.

I think trading for Schneider was the right move, knowing this team....they wouldn't have drafted a forward at #9 anyways and either drafted a dman or a 2way forward.

The problem is the forwards and the age of all of them along with the coaching and personnel decisions this team makes.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

I'm on board with this, I was completely let down the minute the trade was announced and still feel it wasn't the right move for the organization. NJD needed a top forward prospect, goaltenders in today's NHL can be had for much cheaper than a top first round draft pick. In addition, Cory needed to be re-signed before proving himself. Now he's locked in for years, but isn't playing like a starter.

It wasn't a good deal.

The only reason you didn't like the Schneider trade was because is signaled the end for the person in your avatar. What should we have done, let Marty stink it up till he's 50?

Schneider is seriously one of the last things we should be complaining about

 

[wellonegm05*]

The only reason you didn't like the Schneider trade was because is signaled the end for the person in your avatar. What should we have done, let Marty stink it up till he's 50?

Schneider is seriously one of the last things we should be complaining about

I think there were plenty of alternatives to trading a top 10 pick for a 27 year old back up. I think it was also a mistake to give a guy who has never been a full time starter 40+ mill and 7 years before he s proven anything. Why? Because in todays NHL these michelin man, sit on your knees and pivot goalies are a dime a dozen and guys who can post a .91 can be had for next to nothing.

 

[tr83]

I saw the team was supposed to practice today but DeBoer decided to give them the day off. How nice...

Club Pete is in full session

 

[Jaysfanatic*]

Could have drafted a forward and signed Halak. Not that trading for Cory was a mistake, just, could have kept the pick is all. Oh well, it would have been Horvat or Domi.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

So who specifically should have been our starting goalie then? I need names and if you say a Marty/Kinkaid combo then I really can't take you seriously.

 

[glenwo2]

It's a reward for that great road period they played in the 1st last night.

"Great road period. Okay, Okay...okay...."


(I swear this gif fits in a lot of places)

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

Could have drafted a forward and signed Halak. Not that trading for Cory was a mistake, just, could have kept the pick is all. Oh well, it would have been Horvat or Domi.

That's the thing, I really have no faith in their drafting to say we should have kept the pick and got a forward prospect because they probably would find a way to screw it up.

 

[guitarguyvic]

I think it’s fair to question the Schneider deal. We could have picked up a badly needed forward prospect and probably signed a decent/good goaltender for relatively cheap. Now if Cory gets back on track and plays lights out for us over the next several years then in hindsight it will be looked at as a good deal. That being said, Cory’s issues so far this season are probably #3 on the top concerns for this team.

1) The players, starting with horrific performances from our “top” forwards – Elias, Jagr, Zajac are the worst offenders so far this season. No one steps up when needed. Lack of on-ice leadership from any player.
2) Poor coaching – irresponsible lineup decisions, failure to make adjustments in all areas, failure to hold players accountable, inconsistent handling of youth, lack of leadership.
3) Goaltending has been average to below average.

What makes this team incredibly frustrating is the lack of leadership more than anything. I can handle losing due to lack of talent. What I can’t accept is the players seeming perfectly content with their lackluster play and making excuses for losses; and a coach who does the same while simultaneously refusing to make necessary adjustments and logical lineup choices.

 

[glenwo2]

That's the thing, I really have no faith in their drafting to say we should have kept the pick and got a forward prospect because they probably would find a way to screw it up.

Exactly.

If it was going to be Horvat/Domi, I would rather they take Cory then.

There was no indication(and I think it was mentioned elsewhere) that they would've selected Nichusken(sp?) or whatever-his-name-is.

 

[wellonegm05*]

So who specifically should have been our starting goalie then? I need names and if you say a Marty/Kinkaid combo then I really can't take you seriously.

Considering Loungo could have been had for basically nothing, is more proven, and locked up for less than an unproven Cory, I think its pretty clear Lou has botched yet another one. And Im not even saying we had to take Luongo, but rather that there are certainly far tougher spots to fill than goaltending in todays NHL

 

[GameSeven]

I saw the team was supposed to practice today but DeBoer decided to give them the day off. How nice...

So predictable

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Considering Loungo could have been had for basically nothing, is more proven, and locked up for less than an unproven Cory, I think its pretty clear Lou has botched yet another one. And Im not even saying we had to take Luongo, but rather that there are certainly far tougher spots to fill than goaltending in todays NHL

Luongo is also 35 years old. He isn't the future of anything

 

[guitarguyvic]

I hate that we have such a mediocre coach “leading” this team. We can’t do better than this guy, really?? Everyone knew from the start of the season that Zubrus didn’t belong anywhere near the top 6…it took Pete 15 games to figure it out. Everybody knew that Salvador was terrible and the only way he managed to come out of the lineup was through injury. Everybody knows this team is in dire need of young guys that can skate, yet it took injuries to get JJ in the lineup and he still scratches him after he plays well. The team has averaged 2 goals per game for the last 17 games, and he has yet to make any significant adjustments to the system or line combos. I can go on and on and on about the perplexing and at times irresponsible decisions made by this coach, for the last three seasons now. IMO he is just a disgrace of a coach at this point, I have had it. I no longer have the patience to put up with his BS; and the worst part is he displays absolutely no passion. It doesn’t seem to bother him one bit that his team loses more than it wins, and he holds no one accountable that should be.

With the offense sputtering, I would roll these forward lines. Just keep it simple with the six best offensive forwards on the top two lines.

Cam-Henrique-Ryder (not ideal to have Ryder on the “top” line but he is a sniper and Cam/Henrique should be competent enough to make up for his deficiencies)

Havlat-Elias-Jagr (yes they are all on the wrong side of 30 but there could be some chemistry here with the Chzech connection plus it takes pressure off of Jagr being on the “top” line; if it doesn't work out swap Jagr with Ryder).

Ruutu-Zajac-Zubrus (shut down line that can be good defensively and pin the other team in its own end)

Gionta-Josefson-Bernier/Tootoo (speedy fourth line that won’t be a liability and can chip in the odd goal)

 

[Bologna 1]

What the heck is guy boucher up to these days??

 

[wellonegm05*]

Luongo is also 35 years old. He isn't the future of anything

He's proven enough that he would have been acceptable for the time being. Not the first choice, but baffling how given the assembly of successful teams post lockout, Lou feels the need to throw away one of the best picks we ve had in the past decade+ for an unproven goalie. I dont know what made Lou think that of all areas, goaltending should be addressed in that manner, and two, the logic behind throwing away a high quality pick for an unproven guy, + then proceeding to lock him up to crazy money for another 7 years before he even showed us anything.

Are we better off with a proven Luongo and his contract or an unproven Cory, a higher cap hit, and inconsistent goaltending, or 3rd option, a walk in duo of free agents? Seems arbitrary to me. We definitely are not clearly better off, which is what we should be certain of, if we are giving away a pick that high.

 

[None Shall Pass]

With that 9th overall pick, don't even act like we would've picked a guy who could score anyway. We'd pick a guy with 50pts/ "elite defensive" upside anyway. We have enough of those.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I'd almost guarantee that the pick was either Horvat or Domi had they kept it.

 

[Cheddabombs]

I think it’s fair to question the Schneider deal. We could have picked up a badly needed forward prospect and probably signed a decent/good goaltender for relatively cheap. Now if Cory gets back on track and plays lights out for us over the next several years then in hindsight it will be looked at as a good deal. That being said, Cory’s issues so far this season are probably #3 on the top concerns for this team.

1) The players, starting with horrific performances from our “top†forwards – Elias, Jagr, Zajac are the worst offenders so far this season. No one steps up when needed. Lack of on-ice leadership from any player.
2) Poor coaching – irresponsible lineup decisions, failure to make adjustments in all areas, failure to hold players accountable, inconsistent handling of youth, lack of leadership.
3) Goaltending has been average to below average.

What makes this team incredibly frustrating is the lack of leadership more than anything. I can handle losing due to lack of talent. What I can’t accept is the players seeming perfectly content with their lackluster play and making excuses for losses; and a coach who does the same while simultaneously refusing to make necessary adjustments and logical lineup choices.

It's 19 games into the season, in which he's started every single game with no rest. To question the deal already is jumping 15 guns at once. If you argue Lou could have spent that money elsewhere than sure, but one good player isn't going to change this team. Would that money get rid of the old slugs currently clogging up the forward position? Would it give our young defensemen years of experience? Would it help change Pete's idiotic decisions that make our already mediocre roster even worse? No it wouldn't. I understand Schneider hasn't played that well, but he's stolen a few games for us already. And the games he hasn't played that good he hasn't been that terrible, but the team's mediocrity can't atone the mistakes he does make.

There are plenty of things wrong with this roster than would take more than however much Schneider is making to fix.

 

[tr83]

I'd almost guarantee that the pick was either Horvat or Domi had they kept it.

And of course, left Nichuskin to fall to Dallas

 

[NJDevs26]

You guys wanted a seperate thread for speculation/trades whatever...let's keep the Nickushin/Domi/Horvat talk there since this is 'current team' discussion.

 

[wellonegm05*]

It's 19 games into the season, in which he's started every single game with no rest. To question the deal already is jumping 15 guns at once. If you argue Lou could have spent that money elsewhere than sure, but one good player isn't going to change this team. Would that money get rid of the old slugs currently clogging up the forward position? Would it give our young defensemen years of experience? Would it help change Pete's idiotic decisions that make our already mediocre roster even worse? No it wouldn't. I understand Schneider hasn't played that well, but he's stolen a few games for us already. And the games he hasn't played that good he hasn't been that terrible, but the team's mediocrity can't atone the mistakes he does make.

There are plenty of things wrong with this roster than would take more than however much Schneider is making to fix.

Again, consider who has been traded since/around that time frame. A lot of star forwards were up for grabs that Lou didnt have the assets for/refused to seek out. I may be wrong, but IIRC Seguin was rumoured to be available. If we offered a package around our 9th overall, pretty sure that gets something done considering what ultimately landed him.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Again, consider who has been traded since/around that time frame. A lot of star forwards were up for grabs that Lou didnt have the assets for/refused to seek out. I may be wrong, but IIRC Seguin was rumoured to be available. If we offered a package around our 9th overall, pretty sure that gets something done considering what ultimately landed him.

Just as I can't say for certainty that those rumours weren't true, you can't say they were. Even if they were true it takes 2 to tango, the other team has to agree to the trade as well. It's not as easy as the trade board makes it seem, GM's might not value our assets, or Lou might not value the other teams assets, as highly as we do.

The only people who can be specifically critical of Lou, and other GM's, are the people he's surrounded by when the deals (or lack thereof) happen. We can criticize the deals that do happen, but I absolutely despise when I see someone get traded for relatively cheap and then all these fans from other teams go "oh my goodness, why didn't *insert my favourite team's GM* go for that if that's the value." Maybe they did? Who knows for sure. The deal that got Schneider was, and still is, a great trade. For a 9th pick where the only player I would have liked at that position was Nichushkin (and I have a strange feeling Lou wouldn't have drafted him anyway) we got a new starting goalie for the better part of the next decade.

 

[Jaysfanatic*]

After we go 0-4 or 0-3-1 whatever it will be on this trip. Hopefully it plays out like this:

Everybody going back to New Jersey, take one step forward. Not so fast, Pete!