GDT: Devils vs. Coyotes - 8:00 PM - MSG+

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

kinda. He's a playmaker billed as a sniper. What sniper can't score on a breakaway, passes over shoots, and when he's gone the rest of the team stops feeding him the puck and starts playing for themselves?

If he were a legit sniper and played like it maybe he would have fit better. His MVP year was lights out for sure but over and over we're seeing this team act different when he's out of the lineup. Whatever the reasons, it's clear this team needs to move on (with a great D boost in a deal to move him).

Great post. Part of it was the way things fell with the draft in that the Devils have younger playmakers at C and what best compliments them are wings that can finish. I do not see how Hall is worth a 12% or so of cap contract with what this team has going forward. He was awesome in the MVP season, but that season was an outlier and highly unlikely to be repeated.

 

[captainscott]

I am baffled by this team. It just looks like a better team without Hall. Maybe it’s an expectation vs reality situation. Hall is a great player who is MVP when he busts his rump. Maybe most of our prospects are still blue chip 2-way players and I am happy to see strong effort. I can’t explain it. I hope for everyone’s sake we see Hall traded soon. This has to be an awkward situation, with ill effects on the team.

I will not look too deeply into how an 20 man team plays plus or minus 1 player, however... on the whole Taylor Hall did not play a sound brand of hockey for most of his career here. if we take out the MVP season where he was so good and productive nothing else mattered. but if you look at all his other years he was not a sound player. This doesn't mean I don't think he was a good player and a productive one, but his style of play lended to turnovers, risky plays, etc etc. point is , if he is your go to guy and he plays a certain style and the head coach ( hynes) absolutely loves him, well then maybe a certain mentality starts to creep into the mindset. I will never take away what Hall did in 2018, but I for one was never a fan of how he played the game. certainly not saying now that he is gone the devils will be fine... far from it, he was their most productive forward, but we may start to see style of hockey that lends itself to winning.

is there a reason he was always on losing teams? jury is out

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

I will not look too deeply into how an 20 man team plays plus or minus 1 player, however... on the whole Taylor Hall did not play a sound brand of hockey for most of his career here. if we take out the MVP season where he was so good and productive nothing else mattered. but if you look at all his other years he was not a sound player. This doesn't mean I don't think he was a good player and a productive one, but his style of play lended to turnovers, risky plays, etc etc. point is , if he is your go to guy and he plays a certain style and the head coach ( hynes) absolutely loves him, well then maybe a certain mentality starts to creep into the mindset. I will never take away what Hall did in 2018, but I for one was never a fan of how he played the game. certainly not saying now that he is gone the devils will be fine... far from it, he was their most productive forward, but we may start to see style of hockey that lends itself to winning.

is there a reason he was always on losing teams? jury is out

1,000 likes for this post if I could

 

[Blender]

I think Hynes was trying to be more up-tempo early in the season too, though he wasn't giving younger players much rope whereas the team's nine hundred points out now so certainly Nas should be playing more of the Boqvists, Bratts, McLeods, etc. If I see more up-tempo WITH the mistakes getting cut out then I'll start to be encouraged.

So far I think Nas has just embraced that it's a building year at this point. Play all of these young guys with an up-tempo system and let them make mistakes, but teach them what they did wrong and hopefully over time they will learn and improve. Hynes was always very selective in his accountability, the same mistakes that some guys made regularly would result in others getting benched/scratched.

 

[devilsblood]

I think Hynes was trying to be more up-tempo early in the season too, though he wasn't giving younger players much rope whereas the team's nine hundred points out now so certainly Nas should be playing more of the Boqvists, Bratts, McLeods, etc. If I see more up-tempo WITH the mistakes getting cut out then I'll start to be encouraged.

Agree, I don't think it was his plan to play such a low event style. I know they were both brutal losses, each for different reasons, but he completely overreacted to those first two games.

 

[devilsblood]

Nas actually seems kind of likable unlike old lizard man.

Given Nas has long been the assistant, while Hynes was always the very young head coach, I think Hynes thought HC was his rightful position in the league, Nas is just more appreciative at this point in his career.

Hynes I think had come to believe he was going to change the game.

 

[Whaddagoal]

Wow, we won a game, i missed the last few.. LOL. Feel good moment for a brief time.

Looks like Mike McLeod is making a statement that the team made a mistake keeping him in the AHL all season long......!

 

[Better Call Sal]

Mike McLeod/Fox McCloud. I see no difference.

 

[tr83]

Mike McLeod/Fox McCloud. I see no difference.

Its been so long since weve seen the jacket. It must have taken hours to clean off all the dust

 

[JK3]

Hey we won! 7th time's the charm I guess.

 

[Triumph]

LOL and we put him at wing why last year? We didn't even have Hughes then.

He didn't play a lot of wing last season. He did play it sometimes but I believe he spent most of his time at center.

 

[devilsblood]

He didn't play a lot of wing last season. He did play it sometimes but I believe he spent most of his time at center.

Ya most common linemates last year.
Anderson
Tangradi
Stafford
Lappin
Gabriel.

He did play 80 minutes combined with either Zacha or Rooney, so he did play some wing, but that is only a third of his 246 mins.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

mogilny was my favorite player when I was younger and it broke my heart the way he left. And while schneider isn’t a fav of mine, this looks like the same crap and it must suck. Poor bastards.

New phone - who dis? Abo!

 

[Emperoreddy]

Vats played with the flu apparently.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Vats played with the flu apparently.

Well that explains it.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Vats played with the flu apparently.

Makes sense. He was terrible.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Sounds like our whole room is getting hit hard by it, unfortunately.

I can't imagine how much it impacts a pro athlete to lose 10 pounds in a week span, and then try to get right back into the lineup. It makes the way Nico's played in the last couple games all the more impressive honestly.

 

[My3Sons]

You would think the team would mandate or at least strongly encourage flu shots. They are fairly non-controversial in the scheme of things and cheap and easy to get.