Post-Game Talk: Devils vs. Isles. Still winless but Brunner rules. Now hit the road Jack!

[engy]

Deboer's system is perfect for the team

Deboer's personnel choices leave a lot to be desired though

I wouldn't think it was perfect when Kovalchuk was here. As for current team, I don't know yet but one thing is sure, Devils haven't won yet with this "perfect" system.

 

[Devs4L]

Don't have much of a problem with Harrold getting a good amount of minutes last night. The speed of the isles forwards was clearly giving our d problems. Harrold is one of our only dmen that has some amount of speed. I get the thinking behind it.

I took more positive than negative out of the game. Marty is clearly in better shape this year than last year. Looked much quicker in net on a lot of saves. Let 1 or 2 softies, but also came up with a few gigantic save.

The team will eventually tighten up defensively. That will come with everyone getting use to playing the games again, playing the system, looking at enough video, maybe 1 or 2 line up changes, etc. I'm not worried about it. They held the Penguins to 9 total shots in the 2nd and 3rd period. The offense was what I wanted to see start taking steps forward and I saw that. We got 3 and could have had more. Henrique could have had 2 or 3 himself. I like the potential of our offense. The line combinations looked better last night than in Pittsburgh.

...oh and Brunner was an amazing pick up by Lou.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Looks to me like Henrique is throwing it trying to stay at wing. How can he go from a career 50% to this bad in two games? Wow.

On the flip side. If you add in Thursday night it really seems Loki has worked to improve himself at faceoffs. Still is mediocre and needs more work but it's an encouraging positive step.

 

[CerebralGenesis]

Deboer's system is perfect for the team

Deboer's personnel choices leave a lot to be desired though

been saying this for years :smuglanne:

 

[njdevil26]

I'm actually starting to think that this team needs a defensive upgrade other than our youngsters. I feel like two guys should be replaced. Gelinas should replace one... and a trade for a GOOD defenseman should be made for the other. I obviously don't know who... but the Devils need an NHL defenseman that is not Volchenkov, Salvador, Fayne, or Harrold.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I wholly disagree with your opinion on Zajac. Quite honestly, he was IMO our best forward on the ice tonight. Yea, Brunner potted two but Zajac was distributing the puck really well all night. If anything, we need him to shoot more because he does have a nice shot.

Henrique - Zajac - Ryder was our best line out there by far in terms of scoring chances created. Henrique could have had a hattrick tonight.. he's always been a little snakebitten but you have to pot one of those chances.

Volchenkov/Harrold actually had pretty decent games too IMO. The real bummer on defense tonight was Zidlicky. He got burnt multiple times.. two of Grabner's breakways were off of poor plays by Zidlicky.

Clowe looks really good.. much better than I thought he would be.. my brother (a Ranger fan) even said the same thing watching the game.

Jagr.. not so much. I'll give him another game or two to get the legs going but its really not so much in terms of speed that he's disappointing. He too often tries to make plays with the puck by himself and loses possession. He did less of this tonight but last night, he had a play where he should have dumped it deep, tried to get cute and led to a Penguins breakaway (that to his credit, he backchecked hard on).

Marty was.. rough. He saved a few shots that should have been goals but pretty much all three of the ones he let in were softies. You HAVE to save the last two. Regardless, he gave us a shot to win and we didn't take it. Six rounds in the shootout is ridiculous.

Brunner/Ryder looking good.. we signed them to score goals and that's what they're doing. Funny thing is that it's now been 3 games in a row dating back to last year that a Devil (discounting new guys) scored a goal..

Looking at both of our games so far and there's one big, alarming trend. Literally all six of our goals have come off odd man rushes. Other team gains possession of the puck, crosses the blue line and three seconds later, puck's in the net. All six goals.

That's kind of a good things in terms of our defensive positioning in the defensive zone is pretty good right now.. and we barely let the other team set up down low and generate scoring chances.. but it's more of a bad thing that we can't cut down on those quality scoring chances. You can't give that many odd man rushes a game (but honestly, Schneider/Brodeur need to bail us out of more of them..). If we do correct our neutral zone play a little more and respect other team's speed + make sure our forwards forechecking are doing it right and not all committing (happened on one goal), we'll be in the money. Easier said than done but it's nice to have one big issue that you know exists rather than multiple smaller ones that you have to figure out.

one last thing re: Larsson.. seemed like people thought he had a poor game because of his statline but I don't really blame him on either of the goals. First goal he stepped up the blueline and an unlucky bounce straight to Grabner caught him in a weird spot. Second goal a giveaway by Volchenkov led to a Larsson vs. Grabner sprint and yea, he's not winning that one. Still, though.. he forced Grabner wide and made him take a shot Brodeur should have saved. Zidlicky was seriously the worst defensemen out there tonight..

I agree on some points. Definitely on Larsson too. Zids made mistakes too but he had good moments too. Honestly he was just Zids. Saw some good tries on offense and some boneheadedness on the other side. Stuff we know to expect from Zids. I think Volch was the worst but even he had a few good moments too.

What I really agree is sloppy neutral zone play made everything look worse on top of forwards being out of sync on the forecheck. Otherwise positioning was way better and they did limit chances in their own zone. Can't break down in the neutral zone like that to a team that fast. Asking to get burned.

 

[ThePSEGPowerPoster]

I'm actually starting to think that this team needs a defensive upgrade other than our youngsters. I feel like two guys should be replaced. Gelinas should replace one... and a trade for a GOOD defenseman should be made for the other. I obviously don't know who... but the Devils need an NHL defenseman that is not Volchenkov, Salvador, Fayne, or Harrold.

I brought that up yesterday. I agree. I look around and see forwards galore. I look at our D and wonder if Scott Stevens - Fayne practice pairing might not be our best 2nd pairing.

 

[DevilChuk*]

I thought Larsson's offensive game started to come together. Taking more shots, more comfortable with the puck.

His stick work.. which IMO was his biggest strength last two years.. seems to have taken a step back. He needs to learn how to force players to go wide on him so he can use his stick to break up the play.

As far as positioning, I don't blame him for either of the goals he was on the ice for. We're talking about Michael Grabner. Just because he's not beating one of the fastest skaters in the NHL in a footrace, doesn't mean his speed is a problem...

 

[JK3]

Deboer's system works good but it will burn you if it's not done properly. Poor choices on when to pinch, big gaps between the D and forwards, two or even all three forwards forechecking and getting caught. The D is slow as hell and when you have guys with putrid foot speed like Sal, Volch and Larsson they can't transition fast enough and are constantly getting caught flat footed. All this crap leads to tons of odd man rushes. I'm tired of hearing we give up the least amount of shots, it's worthless when half of those shots are odd man breaks or breakaways.

This happened all last year and we couldn't really fix it, I don't think we can pull the heavy forecheck off like we used to. The system worked like a charm two years ago but we don't have the speed to pull it off. When you lose Parise, Kovy, keep the same slow aging defense and get even slower with Clowe, Ryder and Jagr it's just going to get worse.

 

[njdevil26]

I would hope at this point Lou offers Volchenkov in a trade and offers to retain some contract. Does anyone know how that works in the new CBA? Would the Devils have to keep a cap hit for retaining salary?

He has to go though. Even if you can say he's not the worst defenseman on a few nights... the fact that he's making over 4 mil a year is a problem. He's a 2 mil dollar shut down defenseman that has one good game out of three. Harrold is a #7 and should not be starting. He can move the puck sure but he is a small guy that's not going to hit anyone.

The Devils need a Mark Fraser type defenseman which I know is tough to admit. Opposing forwards are not scared to twirl around and get fancy in our zone and that needs to change. If guys like Grabner, St Louis, Nash, Giroux ,and others have it in the back of their head that if they don't pay attention they are going to get run over by a bus... then they won't think they can have free reign in the zone.

 

[Bleedred]

Deboer's system works good but it will burn you if it's not done properly. Poor choices on when to pinch, big gaps between the D and forwards, two or even all three forwards forechecking and getting caught. The D is slow as hell and when you have guys with putrid foot speed like Sal, Volch and Larsson they can't transition fast enough and are constantly getting caught flat footed. All this crap leads to tons of odd man rushes. I'm tired of hearing we give up the least amount of shots, it's worthless when half of those shots are odd man breaks or breakaways.

This happened all last year and we couldn't really fix it, I don't think we can pull the heavy forecheck off like we used to. The system worked like a charm two years ago but we don't have the speed to pull it off. When you lose Parise, Kovy, keep the same slow aging defense and get even slower with Clowe, Ryder and Jagr it's just going to get worse.

That's what I've been saying since last year.

There's a big misnomer on here that our defense is really good because we allow the least amount of shots in the league. This is wrong IMO.

Holding a team to 22 shots or less per game has very little to do with how good our defense is. It's more to do with our forechecking and keeping play out of our end. Our defense in reality is average to slightly below average. With Fayne out of the lineup it's slightly below average.

We give up a ton of odd man rushes, and that's because of the forechecking system.

 

[DevilChuk*]

I would hope at this point Lou offers Volchenkov in a trade and offers to retain some contract. Does anyone know how that works in the new CBA? Would the Devils have to keep a cap hit for retaining salary?

He has to go though. Even if you can say he's not the worst defenseman on a few nights... the fact that he's making over 4 mil a year is a problem. He's a 2 mil dollar shut down defenseman that has one good game out of three. Harrold is a #7 and should not be starting. He can move the puck sure but he is a small guy that's not going to hit anyone.

The Devils need a Mark Fraser type defenseman which I know is tough to admit. Opposing forwards are not scared to twirl around and get fancy in our zone and that needs to change. If guys like Grabner, St Louis, Nash, Giroux ,and others have it in the back of their head that if they don't pay attention they are going to get run over by a bus... then they won't think they can have free reign in the zone.

Devils can trade Volchenkov and keep up to half of his salary/cap hit in certain years of the deal. You have to keep cap hit if you're keeping salary.

His cap hit really isn't a big deal right now though because he's not holding the team back from doing any other moves. In the offseason, he was.. but right now, he's not. He's been average thus far. I'd trade him at the deadline if I was looking to add a player but otherwise, better off exploring a trade/buyout in the offseason.

 

[JK3]

That's what I've been saying since last year.

There's a big misnomer on here that our defense is really good because we allow the least amount of shots in the league. This is wrong IMO.

Holding a team to 22 shots or less per game has very little to do with how good our defense is. It's more to do with our forechecking and keeping play out of our end. Our defense in reality is average to slightly below average. With Fayne out of the lineup it's slightly below average.

We give up a ton of odd man rushes, and that's because of the forechecking system.

Yeah, low shots against but those shots are almost always insanely good scoring chances with all these breakdowns.

The system can work but with slower guys it has to be perfect. Everyone needs to be on the same page and know what to do and when. When you have a stay at home guy like Volch pinching and constantly getting caught somethings wrong. The lines need to be balanced with a speedy guy with some of the older slower guys, same thing with the D, that's probably why Harrold is in the lineup. Please just switch Fayne with Volch, we look so much better with one of Sal/Volch out of the lineup.

I can't blame Sal though, he's playing to his strengths and not trying to be someone he's not, his positioning has been pretty good.

 

[Uli Hiemer]

Larsson is worrying me now. He needs to take the next step.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I wouldn't think it was perfect when Kovalchuk was here. As for current team, I don't know yet but one thing is sure, Devils haven't won yet with this "perfect" system.

its the same system as when Kovalchuk was here bro. puck possession.

 

[Blender]

Our defense needs more speed, it'd be better with more speed. It's always had breakdowns, but half our defense is way to slow to get back and recover from them right now. When Volchenkov or Salvador pinch, if it doesn't work out they are ****ed...

We can't play our defense this aggressive without them having the legs to get back when things don't work out.

 

[NJTIXX]

Not sure if anyone posted..

Devils fly out later this afternoon!

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ACA7025/history/20131005/1900Z/KEWR/CYEG

 

[DevilChuk*]

Our defense needs more speed, it'd be better with more speed. It's always had breakdowns, but half our defense is way to slow to get back and recover from them right now. When Volchenkov or Salvador pinch, if it doesn't work out they are ****ed...

We can't play our defense this aggressive without them having the legs to get back when things don't work out.

I think our defense just needs to respect other team's speed more.. and our forwards need to do a better job of not all forechecking at the same time. So yea, less aggressive.. more conservative. Will hurt the time of possession a little bit but scoreboard's only thing that matters.

 

[NJDevs26]

Devils can trade Volchenkov and keep up to half of his salary/cap hit in certain years of the deal. You have to keep cap hit if you're keeping salary.

His cap hit really isn't a big deal right now though because he's not holding the team back from doing any other moves. In the offseason, he was.. but right now, he's not. He's been average thus far. I'd trade him at the deadline if I was looking to add a player but otherwise, better off exploring a trade/buyout in the offseason.

I don't even know what else we could have done in the offseason other than what we wound up doing...Ryder/Jagr/Brunner/Clowe/Olesz is a LOT to add in one offseason. Not to mention re-signing Elias/Zubie/Zidlicky/Harrold. Volch's salary would have been a lot more of a detriment if not for the Moscow Merc leaving though.

It probably wouldn't be an issue to take back cap hit to make a deal (I could see teams taking Volch at $2.1 million per), especially since we don't have any 'marquee' FA's this offseason for once and the cap's going up a bunch. I don't know if Lou will do that though, they'd pay almost as much to retain 50% of the salary/cap hit than they would for a buyout anyway, but the buyout would clear the cap totally off the books.

 

[DevilChuk*]

I don't even know what else we could have done in the offseason other than what we wound up doing...Ryder/Jagr/Brunner/Clowe/Olesz is a LOT to add in one offseason. Not to mention re-signing Elias/Zubie/Zidlicky/Harrold. Volch's salary would have been a lot more of a detriment if not for the Moscow Merc leaving though.

It probably wouldn't be an issue to take back cap hit to make a deal (I could see teams taking Volch at $2.1 million per), especially since we don't have any 'marquee' FA's this offseason for once and the cap's going up a bunch. I don't know if Lou will do that though, they'd pay almost as much to retain 50% of the salary/cap hit than they would for a buyout anyway, but the buyout would clear the cap totally off the books.

If anything, his caphit kinda helped us in the offseason as we did everything we wanted to do and it may have helped keep other contracts down (i.e. Brunner couldn't sign for much more than what he did because of Volchenkov's contract).

We should buy him out this offseason but I'm okay hanging on to him for now if he plays like has thus far.. he hasn't been that bad.

I really want to see the Henrique - Zajac - Ryder line stick together.. it's been great. Then you have Clowe - Elias - Brunner which I think works but does need to develop more chemistry. Leaves Zubrus - Loktionov - Jagr which is a pretty slow line but hasn't been too bad either. I'd like to change up the 4th line and get Josefson some time but whatever, I guess.

Our offense won't be a problem, I'm sure of that despite being shutout one game. Just have to make sure our defense avoids the odd man rushes and Marty/Cory helps us out a little more than they have so far. Expectations for the team remains the same.. we'll compete for a playoff spot but by no means are we a lock.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

I would hope at this point Lou offers Volchenkov in a trade and offers to retain some contract. Does anyone know how that works in the new CBA? Would the Devils have to keep a cap hit for retaining salary?

He has to go though. Even if you can say he's not the worst defenseman on a few nights... the fact that he's making over 4 mil a year is a problem. He's a 2 mil dollar shut down defenseman that has one good game out of three. Harrold is a #7 and should not be starting. He can move the puck sure but he is a small guy that's not going to hit anyone.

The Devils need a Mark Fraser type defenseman which I know is tough to admit. Opposing forwards are not scared to twirl around and get fancy in our zone and that needs to change. If guys like Grabner, St Louis, Nash, Giroux ,and others have it in the back of their head that if they don't pay attention they are going to get run over by a bus... then they won't think they can have free reign in the zone.

A Mark Fraser type of defenseman is the last thing we need.

 

[PWiz30]

Did no one get a video of the intro last night?

 

[Chessarmy]

is anyone else concerned about Larsson? I see zero improvement to be honest. Yea he's 20, but he's not showing anything.

We're two games into the season, but I still agree with you. If he still looks like this in December/January, I think its pretty evident that he may not be the player we thought he was 3 years ago

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

We're two games into the season, but I still agree with you. If he still looks like this in December/January, I think its pretty evident that he may not be the player we thought he was 3 years ago

I agree. If by the end of the year we still see no redeeming qualities then he won't be anything special..I hope I'm dead wrong.

 

[DevilChuk*]

I agree. If by the end of the year we still see no redeeming qualities then he won't be anything special..I hope I'm dead wrong.

You're being way too harsh. He has redeeming qualities already.

I do agree though that if he doesn't take a large step forward by the end of the year, he won't be anything very special (#1/strong #2).