Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2022-23 season thread part II

[Triumph]

I generally agree with the non bolded. But the bolded I disagree with.

Miles Wood IS irreplaceable. Name me one player in the league that has a similar style of play as him and is as effective as him AND also makes less than 5% of his teams salary cap. Name me just one player.

The reason this player doesn't exist is because most players are either slower than Wood or better than him at any number of things. Just because Wood is unique does not make him valuable.

When was the last time a team got hurt salary cap wise when giving a player term on a contract worth ~3.5% of the salary cap?

Every team presently above the salary cap can say similar things. The problem they all share is likely paying too much for a given player. Yes, there's the occasional weird team like the Leafs who've been in cap hell because of the pandemic, but that is a fluke. Most teams get into trouble because they pay their mid-range guys too much money.

I don't think people are realizing that Miles Wood might be the best 4th liner in the entire NHL - and having a good 4th line is extremely important to team success, especially in the playoffs. (See 2012)

This totally invalidates any point you want to make. Why would you bring up 2012? That line was made up of a guy the Devils claimed off waivers that year, a guy who was signed midseason who wasn't playing for anybody, and a career minor-leaguer. If you can just find players like that for free, why pay lots of money for one who is slightly better?

.Not to mention, we literally have NO IDEA if Wood's game will go to hell in 4-6 years. We think it might because it has happened in the past to players that play a physically taxing style. But there are also examples of that where guys that rely on speed and physicality have aged gracefully. (A guy like Pierre Edward Bellemare comes to mind)

Bellemare's game doesn't look like Wood's at all.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Free Big Bahl

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I like what Wood brings, but you could argue he doesn’t even deserve to be in when fully healthy if Holtz actually shows he’s ready. BMW does have that special chemistry, but would they not just as good or better with Zetterlund instead of him?

Let’s see what that could look like:

Tatar-Nico-Bratt
Palat-Hughes-Holtz/Mercer
Yegor-Haula-Holtz/Mercer
Zetterlund-McLeod-Bastian

Would Holtz giving a boost to PP2 be worth having him in over Wood? It’s all moot anyway because there’s little chance we’re all healthy at once.

 

[theoptimist]

Woods a hard player to evaluate. Yes he is a 4th liner (could be a 3rd if needed due to injuries ), but he has a skillset that is needed and is a little different than your typical 4th liner.
If he was a complete replacement level player that can easily be found, every team in the league would have their 4th line composed of Wood replicas.
I think he is a special exception here but nothing crazy like giving him 4+years of term or $$ of a stud 3rd line or second line player. Maybe a slight raise over your typical 4th liner but nothing insane like 4+ mil per.

I'm signing him to 6 and calling him Killorn then I short change Holtz for his bridge because he skates like me

 

[My3Sons]

I wonder how many starts before he gets waived ala Cory in 2019?

He’ll probably play just enough good games to get him in ... enough to absolutely kill us and flush point down the shitter.

It’s very easy to hate the worst player on your team, especially when he plays the most important position in the game and especially when he’s one of the three worst players at the position in the entire league.

Are you talking about Hischier or Hughes? I can't be sure beyond your comment about most important position and from knowing your post history I figure you must be talking about centers since you focus so much on them.

 

[Saugus]

I generally agree with the non bolded. But the bolded I disagree with.

Miles Wood IS irreplaceable. Name me one player in the league that has a similar style of play as him and is as effective as him AND also makes less than 5% of his teams salary cap. Name me just one player.

When was the last time a team got hurt salary cap wise when giving a player term on a contract worth ~3.5% of the salary cap?

Wood may have a unique game, given his speed, forechecking ability, and the depth scoring he provides. But that's not the role he's playing. You're defining it too precisely, saying that if we can't replace Wood's exact skill set, he is irreplaceable.

His actual role is "good fourth liner". And there are plenty of those guys available for cheaper.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

if thats what they are betting on, hes gone IMO. Hughes signed his contract with 4 RFA years left and Bratt would have 1. Big difference.

 

[Bleedred]

I’m pretty sure they’ll give Blackwood a couple of conditioning starts in Utica first. I don’t think he’ll be making his first start after returning with the NHL team.

But I was also pretty sure for the entire week before opening night that Vanecek would be the opening night starter.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

if thats what they are betting on, hes gone IMO. Hughes signed his contract with 4 RFA years left and Bratt would have 1. Big difference.

I refuse to believe this is their thinking. They can’t lose a player over some arbitrary cap because Hughes only makes 8 per year.

 

[Zippy316]

I’m pretty sure they’ll give Blackwood a couple of conditioning starts in Utica first. I don’t think he’ll be making his first start after returning with the NHL team.

But I was also pretty sure for the entire week before opening night that Vanecek would be the opening night starter.

We have the luxury of doing it now with how strong Schmid has looked. Might as well.

I don’t see Vanecek giving up the net unless he really slacks off. But hopefully Blackwood can play well enough to be a viable option every three or four games.

I refuse to believe this is their thinking. They can’t lose a player over some arbitrary cap because Hughes only makes 8 per year.

I would think this is just posturing to the media.

I don’t think the Devils will limit the number to 8. But news like this kinda sends word to Bratt camp that the Devils aren’t looking to absolutely break the bank on Bratt and go to 10 million per.

 

[Triumph]

if thats what they are betting on, hes gone IMO. Hughes signed his contract with 4 RFA years left and Bratt would have 1. Big difference.

Just not buying this because of Hamilton's contract. The Bruins got lucky that Chara's deal set an upper bound on their contracts for years, that won't happen for anyone else ever again because the cap is never going to have that much movement on it again.

 

[R8Devs]

I refuse to believe this is their thinking. They can’t lose a player over some arbitrary cap because Hughes only makes 8 per year.

yeah it'd be really dumb especially considering now they know what the future cap outlook is for the coming years which they didn't when Hughes signed. And when Hughes signed he didn't have as much as leverage as Bratt does. If the Devils are willing to give him 8 and Bratt wants somewhere around Hintz or even a bit more it should be pretty easy to close that gap between the two sides. Can't be losing Bratt for a difference of less than Brendan Smith's cap hit (1.1 million). But then again that's Lebrun's speculation which he qualifies with 'I may be wrong on this' instead of him saying sources are telling me this lol

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I may have missed it, but any word on Wood?

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

if thats what they are betting on, hes gone IMO. Hughes signed his contract with 4 RFA years left and Bratt would have 1. Big difference.

Not really news. Fitz said that he wanted a Boston like salary structure. in a recent interview Having said that, it does not matter what other players on the Devils make. Bratt should be compared to other wings with one RFA year left.

 

[bossram]

I may have missed it, but any word on Wood?

I think it was just an illness.

if thats what they are betting on, hes gone IMO. Hughes signed his contract with 4 RFA years left and Bratt would have 1. Big difference.

Yep. If this is Fitz's logic, it's idotic.

Just hand Bratt a f***ing cheque and get him signed.

Also, please keep Holtz and Bahl in the lineup.

 

[PWiz30]

I think it was just an illness.

Whatever it was, he was back on the ice today.

 

[Zippy316]

Out of curiosity, what are everyone’s feelings as far as the upcoming RFA/UFAs? Who would you extend and what would you be looking at contract-wise for each:

RFAs
Bratt
Sharangovich
McLeod
Boqvist
Bastian
Zetterlund
Bahl
Walsh
Blackwood

UFAs
Tatar
Wood
Haula
Johnsson
Severson
Graves
Bernier

 

[bossram]

I would rather overpay for good/elite talent than a 4th liner. Yes. That is correct. Is this a hot take?

I know. The best 4th liner in the league...is still playing on your 4th line. You only get value of that if the guy is outperforming his contract.

It's a cap league. Cap efficiency is the most important part of being a modern GM. Giving a massive AAV to a depth player and/or giving massive term to depth players are just tried-and-true mistakes in the cap era.

I like Wood. If he wants to stick around for 2 years at an AAV roughly equal to his current cap hit, then I would love it. If he wants more money or term, I hope he gets his bag elsewhere.

 

[HBK27]

I would think this is just posturing to the media.

I don’t think the Devils will limit the number to 8. But news like this kinda sends word to Bratt camp that the Devils aren’t looking to absolutely break the bank on Bratt and go to 10 million per.

I don't think Fitz will take a hard line at $8M either...I think they'd be willing to go a little bit higher considering Hughes' contract eats up 4 RFA years versus only 1 for Bratt. Again, this is just what LeBrun is reading into the situation, not necessarily fact.

I do like overall what Fitz is doing with this team and trying to maintain that salary structure. Really hoping he gets a deal done with Bratt, but for now I'm just going to trust the process with Fitz.

 

[My3Sons]

Out of curiosity, what are everyone’s feelings as far as the upcoming RFA/UFAs? Who would you extend and what would you be looking at contract-wise for each:

RFAs
Bratt - The team wants to extend him long term
Sharangovich - I'd support a longish extension for him
McLeod - Might boil down to Hockey Canada findings.
Boqvist - fine for inexpensive short extension
Bastian - I'd support a middling term extension for him at a reasonable rate
Zetterlund - Same as Bastian
Bahl - I'd like him to get some games in so we can see what he's capable of
Walsh - I'd move him for a similarly aged center prospect who can play top six in Utica
Blackwood - I'd try to trade him before having to qualify him if possible.

UFAs
Tatar - I'd be open to a short extension assuming he keeps up good play (2 years max)
Wood - I'd be open to middling extension (maybe 3 years?) but only at an average third line pay rate for a winger whatever that might be
Haula - I'd be open to a short inexpensive extension
Johnsson - Really?
Severson - I'd love to have him back on a two or three year deal but it won't happen
Graves - See my comment on Sevs
Bernier - Really?

 

[Better Call Sal]

I would be shocked if that is actually a consideration on Fitz's part for Bratt negotiations.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Out of curiosity, what are everyone’s feelings as far as the upcoming RFA/UFAs? Who would you extend and what would you be looking at contract-wise for each:

RFAs
Bratt
Sharangovich
McLeod
Boqvist
Bastian
Zetterlund
Bahl
Walsh
Blackwood

UFAs
Tatar
Wood
Haula
Johnsson
Severson
Graves
Bernier

You never know about trades but I would think all the RFAs other than Walsh and Blackwood are highly likely back if not involved in a trade. We have discussed Tatar, Wood, and Graves. Definitely somewhat of a split with the posters here. I do not remember much Haula discussion.

 

[Oneiro]

Wood totally burned himself with the blowtorch, didn’t he…

 

[severian]

Who's invading Philly with me tomorrow?

 

[Blender]

Wood totally burned himself with the blowtorch, didn’t he…

Seems like a plausible explanation.