Confirmed with Link: Devils Trade Henrique, Blandisi, 3rd Round Pick to Anaheim for Sami Vatanen/Conditional 3rd

[Bologna 1]

Im sure I'll get blitzed for this, but I'm not thrilled with this deal. all they did was somewhat fill a need (I'm not as high on vatanen as most) while opening another hole. Losing henrique takes away someone who aids team speed, their biggest asset. And hurts the depth up front.

 

[jkrdevil]

Im sure I'll get blitzed for this, but I'm not thrilled with this deal. all they did was somewhat fill a need (I'm not as high on vatanen as most) while opening another hole. Losing henrique takes away someone who aids team speed, their biggest asset. And hurts the depth up front.

Henrique has done nothing so far this year and has never been someone that drives the play.

The game role Vatanen fills (though I still think we need another defensemen) far outweighs the role Henrique vacates, both in the short term and long term.

 

[Sojourn]

Im sure I'll get blitzed for this, but I'm not thrilled with this deal. all they did was somewhat fill a need (I'm not as high on vatanen as most) while opening another hole. Losing henrique takes away someone who aids team speed, their biggest asset. And hurts the depth up front.

Give Vatanen time. He’s a good defenseman. He can handle 20 minutes a game no problem, will be responsible defensively, good on the PK, a weapon on the PP, and he’s just a good all-around defenseman and puck mover at even strength.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Give Vatanen time. He’s a good defenseman. He can handle 20 minutes a game no problem, will be responsible defensively, good on the PK, a weapon on the PP, and he’s just a good all-around defenseman and puck mover at even strength.

He is just being a debbie downer. This was still the right trade for both teams.

 

[Sojourn]

He is just being a debbie downer. This was still the right trade for both teams.

If he does struggle a bit, be patient. Returning from shoulder surgery probably isn’t going to have him at his best, but I suspect he’ll get stronger as the season moves along. He’s a good guy to have in the playoffs too.

I think you guys will love him. He’s an easy player to like, and he’ll definitely improve your team on the back end, which sounds like what you needed. Cheers.

 

[My3Sons]

Vatanen stepped in and played top pairing minutes in his first game with a new team. He was a depth player in ANA. Gives you some idea of how iffy our defense has been.

 

[RSeen]

Vatanen stepped in and played top pairing minutes in his first game with a new team. He was a depth player in ANA. Gives you some idea of how iffy our defense has been.

He has averaged 21 minutes in his career. I wouldn't qualify that as a depth guy, still a top 4 Dman for the most part.

Criticizing him should not be happening, he hasn't even practiced yet.

 

[Devil X]

Vatanen stepped in and played top pairing minutes in his first game with a new team. He was a depth player in ANA. Gives you some idea of how iffy our defense has been.

Depth player? He averaged 21 mins a night with the ducks for the last 3 years which is the 3rd most on the team in that span. Palmieri was a depth player, Vatanen was one of their top 3 dman on a team that’s won it’s divison what 5 years in a row or something like that. I think he was a bit more then a depth player.

 

[My3Sons]

IM not criticizing him. He was immediately on the top pair and deserved it. As for the depth comment it sprang from comments by ANA fans who suggested Vats had become expendable with the development of Montoya and had slid down their pairings with the injury. Look, TiVo had become a depth forward on NJ. Doesn’t make him a bad player. I think the trade was well founded and at the end of the day the third and Blender will not be missed. Rico for Vats makes lots of sense and I am
Not second guessing it. My point is that our defense was something of a shambles of a middle pairing guy on another team is our undisputed number one guy. Eventually it will be Sevs or Santini but that’s in two years.

 

[Emperoreddy]

If he does struggle a bit, be patient. Returning from shoulder surgery probably isn’t going to have him at his best, but I suspect he’ll get stronger as the season moves along. He’s a good guy to have in the playoffs too.

I think you guys will love him. He’s an easy player to like, and he’ll definitely improve your team on the back end, which sounds like what you needed. Cheers.

Oh I’m definitely going to be patient. I still think he will fit right in.

Honestly the whole team just didn’t show up tonight. He gets the longest leash. He just got here and hasn’t had one practice yet. It is going to take time for him to adjust.

Plus he isn’t been fully accumulated to the PP yet. The formation we rolled out the past two nights it’s optimal for him. He should be at the top of our umbrella, but I think this is just a temporary thing until we get a practice in.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

Trading for Vatanen is fine. And Henrique was the most expendable player that could get him, but I would have preferred Zajac, but his contract sucks

 

[RSeen]

IM not criticizing him. He was immediately on the top pair and deserved it. As for the depth comment it sprang from comments by ANA fans who suggested Vats had become expendable with the development of Montoya and had slid down their pairings with the injury. Look, TiVo had become a depth forward on NJ. Doesn’t make him a bad player. I think the trade was well founded and at the end of the day the third and Blender will not be missed. Rico for Vats makes lots of sense and I am
Not second guessing it. My point is that our defense was something of a shambles of a middle pairing guy on another team is our undisputed number one guy. Eventually it will be Sevs or Santini but that’s in two years.

Fair point. We still seriously need a top pair Dman IMO. We may not be able to get a #1 but we need someone who is better than Greene.

 

[My3Sons]

Fair point. We still seriously need a top pair Dman IMO. We may not be able to get a #1 but we need someone who is better than Greene.

A LD who can play top pair minutes is a huge need for this team. It doesn’t have to be a true number one guy just someone who can defensively match up against top players and make a decent outlet pass. I’m not expecting much offense or physical play.

 

[Emperoreddy]

A LD who can play top pair minutes is a huge need for this team. It doesn’t have to be a true number one guy just someone who can defensively match up against top players and make a decent outlet pass. I’m not expecting much offense or physical play.

So Mueller since he was doing just that before going down

 

[Bleedred]

Im sure I'll get blitzed for this, but I'm not thrilled with this deal. all they did was somewhat fill a need (I'm not as high on vatanen as most) while opening another hole. Losing henrique takes away someone who aids team speed, their biggest asset. And hurts the depth up front.

Henrique isn't even that fast. I mean, it's not like he's slow, but he's really not that fast either.

 

[tr83]

Almost any trade for a D-man that puts Lovejoy and Prout on the bench in exchange for a middle 9 guy is a good one.

 

[NJDevs26]

Henrique isn't even that fast. I mean, it's not like he's slow, but he's really not that fast either.

He's only fast compared to Zajac and Boyle

Everyone's so hung up on speed but they also need defensemen that can break the puck out of the zone, which is what Vatanen does.

Almost any trade for a D-man that puts Lovejoy and Prout on the bench in exchange for a middle 9 guy is a good one.

That remains to be seen since Lovejoy played last night.

 

[Bleedred]

He's only fast compared to Zajac and Boyle

Pretty much only them. Even Greene isn’t particularly slow yet.

Even when we had the dinosaurs in the Lou twilight years when Henrique was only 25 and younger, nobody really talked about how fast he was. He was really fast compared to some of those old guys, but he was never talked about as being a speedy guy.

I even remember during the team speed arguments, seeing stuff like “Well, Henrique is one of the few young useful players we have, but he ain’t that fast either”.

 

[Camille the Eel]

But you can see how we miss Henrique in these two games. (That is to be sure in the continued absence of Palmieri.) He was the major interchangeable part on the forward group. Power play. PK. You could move him from line to line. He could play with all different combinations and while he wasn't scoring much this year, he was always dangerous. When out there around the net the other team had to deal with him. And he played with a bit of grit in terms of being a pest and getting into scraps.

I think this deal is more about our future than about this week. In the immediate short run we are going to have problems adjusting to his absence.

 

[devilsblood]

So Mueller since he was doing just that before going down

Mueller was not matching up against opposition's top line's. That was all Greene(and Santini).

 

[devilsblood]

I was meh on this trade at the time the deal was made, and it's only been 2 games, new team, no practice, maybe still recovering from the shoulder, but I'm a little less then meh at the moment.

 

[Bleedred]

But you can see how we miss Henrique in these two games. (That is to be sure in the continued absence of Palmieri.) He was the major interchangeable part on the forward group. Power play. PK. You could move him from line to line. He could play with all different combinations and while he wasn't scoring much this year, he was always dangerous. When out there around the net the other team had to deal with him. And he played with a bit of grit in terms of being a pest and getting into scraps.

I think this deal is more about our future than about this week. In the immediate short run we are going to have problems adjusting to his absence.

I think the trouble adjusting is the fault of Geoff Ward, who chooses to play both Zajac and Boyle on the same power play unit. This doesn’t have to be. This is the kind of thickness that makes you play Andy Greene on his off-side on the PK (hello Mike Foligno!) until Bryce Salvador is injured and you’re forced to finally change things, but not until after 6 weeks of really horrid penalty killing below 70% for a stretch and the goals happening for the same reasons, almost every time.

Ward knows how to run a power play, but he’s Pete DeBoering himself right now, by letting poor personnel decisions overrule his smarts in X’s and O’s. Unless these are direct orders from Hynes, then it’s his fault.

I understand Boyle and he’s been working, even though sometimes I wish he was on unit 2 instead of unit 1. The current lineups need to be blown to smithereens though.

 

[Camille the Eel]

[/QUOTE] I understand Boyle and he’s been working, even though sometimes I wish he was on unit 2 instead of unit 1. The current lineups need to be blown to smithereens though.[/QUOTE]

OMG seeing Zajac out there. And not just in those situations.

When we came rocketing out of the gate this year, it was with a wide open style of play. Granted the league was going to settle down as the season progressed. But still, a guy like Brat and also Gibbons and other youngsters, is at their most creative when you open up the play. So that is the style that suits us. It makes us competitive with top clubs.

So what does Hynes and the powers that be do? Having achieved a first place start, they field a club with Zajac, Boyle, Stafford, Hayes, Johanson, Lovejoy . . . etc. on the ice and try to play a shut down style. Keep doing it and we'll be competing with the Hurricanes for the eight spot in a month.

We need to open up the ice to succeed and to let our kids' skill register.

 

[devilsblood]

OMG seeing Zajac out there. And not just in those situations.

When we came rocketing out of the gate this year, it was with a wide open style of play. Granted the league was going to settle down as the season progressed. But still, a guy like Brat and also Gibbons and other youngsters, is at their most creative when you open up the play. So that is the style that suits us. It makes us competitive with top clubs.

So what does Hynes and the powers that be do? Having achieved a first place start, they field a club with Zajac, Boyle, Stafford, Hayes, Johanson, Lovejoy . . . etc. on the ice and try to play a shut down style. Keep doing it and we'll be competing with the Hurricanes for the eight spot in a month.

We need to open up the ice to succeed and to let our kids' skill register.

Johansson is not a slow it down kind of player. He should do well in an uptempo open ice style. Problem is he just has not been that good.

But I agree the Devils do not seem to want to go all in on uptempo. I guess they think they need to find that right balance. But last night had too many heavy footed guys in the lineup.
Johansen is not a shut down guy. He's a creative open ice type of player.

I just don't think he's been that good.

But I agree the Devil's don't seem to want to go all in on uptempo. I guess they feel they need some balance, but the linuep last night had, as noted, a bunch of heavy foots.
Johansen is not a shut down guy. He's a creative open ice type of player.

I just don't think he's been that good.

But I agree the Devil's don't seem to want to go all in on uptempo. I guess they feel they need some balance, but the linuep last night had, as noted, a bunch of heavy foots.

 

[Bleedred]

I understand Boyle and he’s been working, even though sometimes I wish he was on unit 2 instead of unit 1. The current lineups need to be blown to smithereens though.[/QUOTE]

OMG seeing Zajac out there. And not just in those situations.

When we came rocketing out of the gate this year, it was with a wide open style of play. Granted the league was going to settle down as the season progressed. But still, a guy like Brat and also Gibbons and other youngsters, is at their most creative when you open up the play. So that is the style that suits us. It makes us competitive with top clubs.

So what does Hynes and the powers that be do? Having achieved a first place start, they field a club with Zajac, Boyle, Stafford, Hayes, Johanson, Lovejoy . . . etc. on the ice and try to play a shut down style. Keep doing it and we'll be competing with the Hurricanes for the eight spot in a month.

We need to open up the ice to succeed and to let our kids' skill register.[/QUOTE]
Most of those guys were in the lineup to start the season though.

I wouldn’t lump Johansson in with that cast of guys.

Zajac has always gotten unfairly blasted around here, but 9 games and 0 points with over 17 minutes of ice time per game and lots of power play time, he deserves it at the moment. Or maybe he’s still injured. Even those fancy possession stats aren’t there for him this year, which is very rare. I was really annoyed when I saw him with Hall in the 3rd period last night. That better not be the next option to start with on Tuesday. Zajac has been very disappointing, but the coaches are to blame for his usage right now. Not sure what they’re line of thinking is here.

That said, we should be alright with a couple older/slower guys on the roster.