GDT: It's a Wonderful Streak! Red Wings @ Devils, 7 PM, MSG+ 2

[MadDevil]

Cory was very good

He's 11-3-3 in his last 17 games, with a .927 save %.

 

[nugg]

monkey brains all around, gents

 

[BomaLightDevils]

If he can keep it going and start leaving out that one bonehead play every couple of games, he could mature into a genuine top shelf defenseman. His skating is so good - and he's got some legit offensive vision and skill - if he can become steady in his own zone he'll be a great player for us for a long time to come.

The ceilings on these guys are just incredible. Vats, Moore, Sevs, Butcher, Mueller, Santini... That's a sick backline if they all grow together and hit their ceilings.

Deal Greene at the deadline! (just kidding).

The success we are seeing from our defensive group especially Moore and vatanen and to a lesser degree Mueller most be credited to Hynes, the coaching staff and Shero.
The way the game is called and our system plays a vital role in this. Moore hasn't become a great player suddenly but the strength in the system plays good to Moore, vatanen and mueller's abilities, when you then look at how the refs calls the game the skating part are just so important, or else you get lost/lose your man or end up taking a penalty.

Without knowing how high are Devils in the standings for blocked shots?

 

[NJDevs26]

We do have to start giving the staff more credit on the defensemen this year. In prior years that was the main knock on them - that the defensemen haven't improved under this staff. Different story this year though, and we've seen the younger forwards come in and play well right away too.

 

[Ripshot 43]

Question... I’ve never gotten into the coaching enough to know this but if you have such a dominant possession line, why won’t they be put out on the PP together? Hall - Nico - Bratt do well enough on 5v5 that I would think giving them the extra space would be even better. Is it because you don’t want any of those 3 in front of the net?

 

[devilsblood]

Cory was very good

Surprised he didn't get a star. He was our best player for 2 periods.

 

[FooteBahl]

In October I can say I wasn't happy about Gibbons and Coleman making the team over JQ and Blender. Man was I wrong. I'll have one crow value meal with a diet coke please...super size it.

 

[devilsblood]

Question... I’ve never gotten into the coaching enough to know this but if you have such a dominant possession line, why won’t they be put out on the PP together? Hall - Nico - Bratt do well enough on 5v5 that I would think giving them the extra space would be even better. Is it because you don’t want any of those 3 in front of the net?

I'm not a coach, but that is a major part of it. It's a bit of a different game your playing. There is very little transition game, the neutral zone play is much different, your not defending much in your own zone.

But possessing the puck in the offensive zone is much easier and if you anchor a guy down low, that does open the perimeter. Then you want that net front presence both taking up space and cleaning up rebounds, and Boyle is very effective at that.

 

[Ripshot 43]

Devilsblood that was very well said!

Little plays like the pass Bratt made on Nicos 2nd goal make me so giddy for the future (and now).

 

[Bleedred]

I don't even think twice about resigning John Moore this summer.

I do, for various reasons.

The biggest reason, simply put. We don’t have the room to sign him, unless we trade someone.

Greene, Mueller, Severson, Vatanen, Butcher, Santini, are all signed for next year. Either Lovejoy is bought out or is the #7 again.

Not enough room for Moore to come back. And if Shero has plans to upgrade the defense next year, that’s another reason he can’t be back.

I’m still not convinced this is a breakout year, as much as he may be playing over his head. I’ll enjoy having him for the rest of the year, but it doesn’t make sense right now, unless we trade somebody else that’s signed for next year or Andy Greene retires, which probably won’t happen. If we re-sign him, it will be like when we re-signed Salvador and already had 7 defensemen under contract for next year. It means that one or multiple of our regulars this year will be sitting some nights next year and we might also have to carry 8 D-men again.

 

[Bleedred]

Here’s some random Schneider trivia, which would make a great trivia question for the next game he starts.

He needs one more win to match his career high winning streak. Does anybody know what team he beat for his 7th straight win?

 

[NJDevils17]

Bratt has been better than Nico this year. I think there were a few posters in that camp earlier on but as the season has gone on I think Bratt has been the slightly better player. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, just found the observation interesting.

 

[devilsblood]

I do, for various reasons.

The biggest reason, simply put. We don’t have the room to sign him, unless we trade someone.

Greene, Mueller, Severson, Vatanen, Butcher, Santini, are all signed for next year. Either Lovejoy is bought out or is the #7 again.

Not enough room for Moore to come back. And if Shero has plans to upgrade the defense next year, that’s another reason he can’t be back.

I’m still not convinced this is a breakout year, as much as he may be playing over his head. I’ll enjoy having him for the rest of the year, but it doesn’t make sense right now, unless we trade somebody else that’s signed for next year or Andy Greene retires, which probably won’t happen. If we re-sign him, it will be like when we re-signed Salvador and already had 7 defensemen under contract for next year. It means that one or multiple of our regulars this year will be sitting some nights next year and we might also have to carry 8 D-men again.

I'm a little wary of not signing Moore because we also have Greene, Mueller and Butcher, when Moore might very well be better then all those guys at 5v5 play. Actually he might be flat out the best of that bunch all around.

Moore's uptick in play can be attributed to a couple things. 1)He works better with a fellow puck mover. His #'s last year with Sev's(and Sev's with him) were very good. And they are good this year with both Vat's and Sev's. And 2)Style of play. We want skaters, that's why we brought in Moore originally, it's why we brought in Mueller. Vat's to a lesser extent(I think he is more all around then he is a great skater).

You can also say he's finally maturing mentally. Thinking the game better.

So I'm not seeing aberration here. I think it's legit to say Moore is becoming a good d-man. Or at least is a good d-man when in the right situation. And this is the right situation for him.

 

[devilsblood]

Bratt has been better than Nico this year. I think there were a few posters in that camp earlier on but as the season has gone on I think Bratt has been the slightly better player. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, just found the observation interesting.

Bratt's been the better sniper. He's been much more productive on the PP(get's the better minutes too, so that plays into in) and is more disruptive on the PK.

But 5v5 Nico generates more shots on net, and gets more assists. Significantly better #'s in both regards. He also plays the tougher position.

It's an interesting debate, but I'd probably roll with Nico as having the better season thus far.

 

[FooteBahl]

Here’s some random Schneider trivia, which would make a great trivia question for the next game he starts.

He needs one more win to match his career high winning streak. Does anybody know what team he beat for his 7th straight win?

The Devils?

 

[Bleedred]

I'm a little wary of not signing Moore because we also have Greene, Mueller and Butcher, when Moore might very well be better then all those guys at 5v5 play. Actually he might be flat out the best of that bunch all around.

Moore's uptick in play can be attributed to a couple things. 1)He works better with a fellow puck mover. His #'s last year with Sev's(and Sev's with him) were very good. And they are good this year with both Vat's and Sev's. And 2)Style of play. We want skaters, that's why we brought in Moore originally, it's why we brought in Mueller. Vat's to a lesser extent(I think he is more all around then he is a great skater).

You can also say he's finally maturing mentally. Thinking the game better.

So I'm not seeing aberration here. I think it's legit to say Moore is becoming a good d-man. Or at least is a good d-man when in the right situation. And this is the right situation for him.

I think Butcher is gonna be better than him for sure. Mueller? Can’t say right now.

Is Moore better than Greene right now? It’s a legitimate possibility that he very well is better than the 35 year old Greene, or that he will be quite a bit better than the 36 and 37 year old Greene that we’ll have over the next two seasons.

But I don’t see how we’re not gonna have Greene over the next two years.

 

[Bleedred]

The devils?

Yup!

February 24th of 2012.

That’s his one and only start against the Devils.

I thought it would be too obvious if I went out of my way to say “It came with the Canucks!”.

 

[severian]

Bratt has been better than Nico this year. I think there were a few posters in that camp earlier on but as the season has gone on I think Bratt has been the slightly better player. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, just found the observation interesting.

Bratt has proven to be an elite PKer, but his point totals are basically the same as Nico despite playing on the top PP unit. Bratt had a good amount of shooting luck, whereas Nico's shooting percentage is still garbage.

Both have been great, but I think it's pretty safe to say that Nico has the higher ceiling.

 

[devilsblood]

Bratt has proven to be an elite PKer, but his point totals are basically the same as Nico despite playing on the top PP unit. Bratt had a good amount of shooting luck, whereas Nico's shooting percentage is still garbage.

Both have been great, but I think it's pretty safe to say that Nico has the higher ceiling.

I think you have to give Bratt for burying his chances. At this point it's fair to say he rips it better then Nico.

 

[severian]

I think you have to give Bratt for burying his chances. At this point it's fair to say he rips it better then Nico.

Maybe, but his first 6 goals were on his first 18 shots.

Bratt also doesn't shoot the puck nearly as much as Nico. 81 vs 56 shots.

 

[devilsblood]

I think Butcher is gonna be better than him for sure. Mueller? Can’t say right now.

Is Moore better than Greene right now? It’s a legitimate possibility that he very well is better than the 35 year old Greene, or that he will be quite a bit better than the 36 and 37 year old Greene that we’ll have over the next two seasons.

But I don’t see how we’re not gonna have Greene over the next two years.

I'm not as high on Butcher as most. Yeah he runs the PP well. And yeah the points are impressive. But he is a little guy that does not skate all that well. He's not much of a defender in his own zone. He gets very easy minutes.

He's a pretty one dimensional specialist.

 

[devilsblood]

Maybe, but his first 6 goals were on his first 18 shots.

Bratt also doesn't shoot the puck nearly as much as Nico. 81 vs 56 shots.

No doubt Nico get's more shots on net.

Still, it's pretty clear that Bratt has a better shot.

Just very against the whole "luck" thing. Shooting a high % over a stretch does not mean a player was lucky during that stretch.

 

[MauDevils]

I must be watching different games.

 

[NJDevs26]

I think Butcher is gonna be better than him for sure. Mueller? Can’t say right now.

Is Moore better than Greene right now? It’s a legitimate possibility that he very well is better than the 35 year old Greene, or that he will be quite a bit better than the 36 and 37 year old Greene that we’ll have over the next two seasons.

But I don’t see how we’re not gonna have Greene over the next two years.

Yeah Greene'll almost have to be here through next year at least. I could see a buyout after next season when he'll be going into the last year of a contract but that's a ways off. They'll have to trade someone if they want to bring Moore back (and pretty much commit to this being the defense going forward) since six other guys are signed through next year like someone said. Seven including Lovejoy, who I don't expect to be here next year.

I'm not as high on Butcher as most. Yeah he runs the PP well. And yeah the points are impressive. But he is a little guy that does not skate all that well. He's not much of a defender in his own zone. He gets very easy minutes.

He's a pretty one dimensional specialist.

He may not skate well but that doesn't make him one-dimensional. I noticed at least two plays last night where he got beat but then made a nice stick play behind him to prevent the scoring chance.

 

[severian]

No doubt Nico get's more shots on net.

Still, it's pretty clear that Bratt has a better shot.

Just very against the whole "luck" thing. Shooting a high % over a stretch does not mean a player was lucky during that stretch.

No but the numbers tend to even out over time. Is Bratt going to shoot 18% over his career? Very doubtful.