Devils Team Discussion (current team/player news and notes) ‎PART X

[The 29th Pick]

I'm just hoping for an improvement from last year
then 2015/2016 better than 2014/2015
etc etc

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I will say, as excited as I am about the young D getting a chance, I am kind of worried.

Larsson and Merrill are both going to have to play big PK minutes

 

[AfroThunder396]

Madden was a 15-20 goal scorer playing on the 3rd line
Zajac's last four seasons:
2010–11 New Jersey Devils NHL GP=82 Goals=13
2011–12 New Jersey Devils NHL GP=15 Goals=2
2012–13 New Jersey Devils NHL GP=48 Goals=7
2013–14 New Jersey Devils NHL GP=80 Goals=18

those numbers are a joke, Zajac is not a goal scorer and his shot is not excellent and he creates no offense by himself. The only reason he had 18 last season was because of Jagr.

Devils offense since Zajac came along seasons:

2007: 27th (206 GF) (Zajac 8.3% of team goals, 20.4% point share)
2008: 27th (198 GF) (Zajac 7.1% of team goals, 17.2% point share)
2009: 15th (238 GF) (Zajac 8.4% of team goals, 26.1% point share)
2010: 19th (216 GF) (Zajac 11.6% of team goals, 31.0% point share)
2011: 30th (171 GF) (Zajac 7.6% of team goals, 25.7% point share)
2012: 15th (n/a, 15 GP)
2013: 28th (110 GF) (Zajac 6.3% of team goals, 18.2% point share)
2014: 27th (197 GF) (Zajac 9.1% of team goals, 24.4% point share)

2008 and 2013 have really been Zajac's only "bad" seasons, the other years he was a strong contributor to the team. His low offensive totals have been a function of the team in front of him.

But yeah. If Zajac shot more his goal totals would go up. Pretty obvious, that could be said for any player, but he's a 10.3% shooter which is pretty solid.

 

[MountainGoat]

Parise put up 94 points with Zajac and hasn't sniffed it since

see, I can play this game too.

come on, Parise is on a whole different level

The only reason some here think Zajac's shot "sucks" is because he doesn't score a lot. Which is absolutely ABSURD.

why is that absurd? his release is ok but he has more trouble than anyone on this team when it comes to hitting the net, probably because he puts all of his power on literally every shot he takes

 

[The 29th Pick]

gotta admit, nobody deflects shots off their faces into the net like Trav Trav !

 

[Chessarmy]

Havlat is a question mark its all about health. If healthy he will bounce back. He will be motivated by the change of scenery and Elias is going to push him. There are plan Bs if he doesn't work out too unless we trade more forwards away.

I think again outside of health there is almost zero reason to worry about Camm. The guy can score and is a hard worker and a hustler. He can drive the net and he can snipe. He gives Jagr and Zajac what they need. Not worried here

This just isn't a worry for me. Cory's resume speaks for itself and just no reason in my mind that 15 more games are going to degrade his game. We will be fine in net.

The kids are going to have growing pains. People need to be ready for mistakes. That said they are still studs, good/great players with a ton of potential. You also have Greene who is excellent, Zids who is better then people give him credit for.

Obviously there are question marks. Which kid can step up and take those top minutes next to Greene. Can Gely get his positioning in order. Still there is more to be hopeful here then to down about. Everyone is capable, we are more mobile with Volch gone too.

Honestly there aren't as many question marks in my mind then you say. Goaltending will be excellent, defense will still be very good because the talent is still there and our system just limits shots. Offense isn't going to light the world on fire, but it will be better and translate to more wins. PP could see huge improvments, PK may see a dip but maybe not.

Very good assessment here - I hope you're right about the young defense. I think that's the biggest concern for me right now

 

[njdevils1982]

gotta admit, nobody deflects shots off their faces into the net like Trav Trav !

is one of my all time favorite devils already…

 

[AfroThunder396]

The only injury I'm concerned with is Clowe. When healthy he's a very important player. Taking him out of the lineup creates a huge void.

 

[Devil X]

The only injury I'm concerned with is Clowe. When healthy he's a very important player. Taking him out of the lineup creates a huge void.

Words no one thought would be said when he signed that contract!

 

[The 29th Pick]

is one of my all time favorite devils already…

there it is

 

[njdevils1982]

it wont play....which goal is it????

i know it wont after the fact, dont know why……. its this zajmazing play…….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uficPAcKzwA&hl

 

[The 29th Pick]

How about this one

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

Madden was a 15-20 goal scorer playing on the 3rd line
Zajac's last four seasons:
2010–11 New Jersey Devils NHL GP=82 Goals=13
2011–12 New Jersey Devils NHL GP=15 Goals=2
2012–13 New Jersey Devils NHL GP=48 Goals=7
2013–14 New Jersey Devils NHL GP=80 Goals=18

those numbers are a joke, Zajac is not a goal scorer and his shot is not excellent and he creates no offense by himself. The only reason he had 18 last season was because of Jagr.

Who said Zajac was a goal scorer?

 

[njdevils1982]

yeah it wont play?

copy/paste into new window maybe. why it dont work is beyond me.

 

[Devils Trap]

Zajac is alot better then people give him credit for

 

[SeidoN]

EDIT: maybe not

 

[Mgd31]

The only injury I'm concerned with is Clowe. When healthy he's a very important player. Taking him out of the lineup creates a huge void.

Agreed. One of the few players in the top 9 with better than average playmaking ability. Loved Clowe when he was healthy. Save for that ten game initial stretch to start, he was great...

 

[MountainGoat]

Who said Zajac was a goal scorer?

bring up anything negative about Zajac and "oh you're wrong" "but he's elite defensively"

he's been a disappointment offensively (insert excuses)
40ish points since we lost Parise and people are ok with that? I don't get it.

 

[MadDevil]

What kind of offensive production are you expecting from him? 60 points? He did that on a line where all three players had career best seasons. And you're really going to single Zajac out of a lineup that as a whole has been terrible 3 of the last 4 years?

 

[Tretyak 20]

Been giving possible Devils trades some thought, and came up with an idea. We need young forwards, and have to trade D prospects for them. The problem is we can't really let any of Larsson/Merrill/Gelinas go right now. Those kids are a huge part of the future (which starts in October). Of course, Lou can't be targeting a Kane or Johansen in that situation. He needs to target prospect D for prospect F trades, so how about this:

To Cal: Steve Santini

To NJ: Morgan Klimchuk


Personally I think that's the kind of trade that Lou will have to make to have any chance at bringing in future top-6 offensive talent. It may not be sexy right now, but could be a great move down the road.

 

[RSeen]

Elias - Henrique - Jagr
Is this something we could work with ?
Cammalleri could play with Havlat and Zajac!

Henrique with the Chzech could really do some damage!

Very much not in favour of these lines, at least to start with.

 

[NJD1982]

Been giving possible Devils trades some thought, and came up with an idea. We need young forwards, and have to trade D prospects for them. The problem is we can't really let any of Larsson/Merrill/Gelinas go right now. Those kids are a huge part of the future (which starts in October). Of course, Lou can't be targeting a Kane or Johansen in that situation. He needs to target prospect D for prospect F trades, so how about this:

To Cal: Steve Santini

To NJ: Morgan Klimchuk


Personally I think that's the kind of trade that Lou will have to make to have any chance at bringing in future top-6 offensive talent. It may not be sexy right now, but could be a great move down the road.

I think we need to calm down with Santini. Yes, he's a very mature defenseman oozing with potential but that's it. He's 19 and still has a ways to go before he sniffs an NHL lineup. We may value him a lot but his value isn't as high to anyone because he is so young and defenseman taking longer to mature. Klimchuk will probably end up on the Flames roster by some point next year. I don't know how he can be valued the same as Santini.

 

[MountainGoat]

What kind of offensive production are you expecting from him? 60 points? He did that on a line where all three players had career best seasons. And you're really going to single Zajac out of a lineup that as a whole has been terrible 3 of the last 4 years?

well he is our highest paid player and our #1 C

I think 60 points is a fair number, he needs to hit that this season, Cam-Zajac-Jagr is a good line.
At the end of the day I just want to see him create some offense on his own, but he hasn't shown that he's capable of that.

 

[MadDevil]

well he is our highest paid player and our #1 C

I think 60 points is a fair number, he needs to hit that this season, Cam-Zajac-Jagr is a good line.
At the end of the day I just want to see him create some offense on his own but he hasn't shown that he's capable of that.

So because he's our highest paid player (until Cory's contract kicks in) and #1 center he should be something he's not? Over the course of his entire career he's a .586 PPG player. This year he was a .600 PPG player. Looking at his two best seasons (which also happened to be the two best seasons Parise and Langenbrunner had) and expecting him to match that isn't very realistic. He's a ~50 point center who is excellent defensively. I don't know why some people can't just accept that.

 

[EnglishDevil]

So because he's our highest paid player (until Cory's contract kicks in) and #1 center he should be something he's not? Over the course of his entire career he's a .586 PPG player. This year he was a .600 PPG player. Looking at his two best seasons (which also happened to be the two best seasons Parise and Langenbrunner had) and expecting him to match that isn't very realistic. He's a ~50 point center who is excellent defensively. I don't know why some people can't just accept that.

And 50 point centers who play elite defence are absolutely worth 5.75M in todays NHL. I don't know how anyone could look at some of the contracts being thrown around in UFA these last few years and convince themselves that Zajac would have gotten less. His contract is absolutely fair value for what he brings to the table. People just need to accept that he isn't a 70+ point guy, and that's perfectly okay.