GDT: Kraken @ Devils - 7:00 PM - MSG

[AfroThunder396]

McLeod is a nice PKer, but we already have a strong PK unit without him with guys like Nico, Haula, Bastian, Sharangovich, etc. And penalty killing is not some special and unique skill, it's not difficult to find good penalty killers. Every other week there's a guy on waivers you can pick up who can immediately get plugged into a PK unit and do well.

Faceoffs, whatever. Faceoffs are only important situationally, and if there's a big draw I'd rather put out a good player who is good at draws than a bad player who is great at draws. Which is better, a 41% chance of being pinned in your zone with McLeod on the ice, or a 46% chance of being pinned in your zone with Hischier on the ice? I know which one I would take.

McLeod cannot defend at ES and he's an absolute blackhole offensively. His shot is pathetic and beer-league caliber and he is not fast enough to beat NHL defenders. He's not as strong as a guy his size should be and is absolutely abhorrent at defending down low/winning board battles.

There have been half a dozen guys on waivers this season better than McLeod. He sucks. We have bigger problems than him to address but this guy needs to go at some point.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Earlier in the season I might have bought it when Nico was also above a point a game but now that he's slightly below it and Hughes went to warp speed offensively, it's hard not to say it's Hughes. Yes Nico plays better everywhere else besides offensively but you can also make up those areas more with good team play than you can compensate for Jack's offense (exhibit A, Haula and McLeod being stapled to Jack for faceoffs...you can't exactly do that to find goals). I mean even last night they didn't score a single five-on-five goal.

Just be glad he likes ONE of the team's best four skaters since he slags the other three (Hughes, Dougie, Bratt)

It's great to have players like Hamilton or Hughes if you're playing fantasy hockey; where only points matter (in fact I've been cleaning up lately with Dougie).

However, there are two ends of the rink and Hischier (as well as some of those other players you mentioned) are far better in all three zones.

The Devils power play didn't miss a beat without Hughes last night - in fact I don't know if Hughes makes the play Tatar did on the first goal.

And at the same time the Kraken had far fewer second chance opportunities than the Canucks did the previous game.

I carried the crowd on my back last night. I’ll be joining Hughes on the injury list it’s so sore.

Did you start the "Sorry, Blackie" chant?

 

[Nocashstyle]

It's great to have players like Hamilton or Hughes if you're playing fantasy hockey; where only points matter (in fact I've been cleaning up lately with Dougie).

However, there are two ends of the rink and Hischier (as well as some of those other players you mentioned) are far better in all three zones.

The Devils power play didn't miss a beat without Hughes last night - in fact I don't know if Hughes makes the play Tatar did on the first goal.

And at the same time the Kraken had far fewer second chance opportunities than the Canucks did the previous game.

Lol.

I’m sure you’d rather have Barkov than McDavid too, Mr. Tortorella.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

That was one of the best games they have played in awhile. Yea, they had a couple of flubs, especially early on, but they played a controlled game and out played Seattle. Good solid game. My only complaint is I would like to see more secondary scoring.

Great synapsis.

 

[glenwo2]

That was the prevailing feeling by some (including me) pre-game.

Blackwood up to that point did not instill much (if any) confidence so hindsight'ing stuff is just hindsight, really.

Last night was the first night since his rookie year that Blackwood played like he used to.

And I mean NOT GIVING UP BACK-BREAKING SOFT-AS-CHARMIN GOALS.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Lol.

I’m sure you’d rather have Barkov than McDavid too, Mr. Tortorella.

If Jack Hughes is McDavid in your theory that's way off.

Hughes is a nice offensive player who contributes on the power play.

Nico does everything.

Nico made more plays below the dots in his own end last night than Hughes does in five games, had the screen on the game-winning goal, created all night AND assisted on the empty net goal.

Almost a Crosby-esque game if you are comparing players to some of the game's best.

 

[glenwo2]

Great synapsis.

Just an fyi :

Synapsis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Synapsis is the pairing of two chromosomes that occurs during meiosis.

 

[Nocashstyle]

If Jack Hughes is McDavid in your theory that's way off.

Hughes is a nice offensive player who contributes on the power play.

Nico does everything.

Nico made more plays below the dots in his own end last night than Hughes does in five games, had the screen on the game-winning goal, created all night AND assisted on the empty net goal.

Almost a Crosby-esque game if you are comparing players to some of the game's best.

Ahh yes, the second best 5v5 producer in the game right now is a “nice offensive player who contributes on the power play.”

 

[My3Sons]

If Jack Hughes is McDavid in your theory that's way off.

Hughes is a nice offensive player who contributes on the power play.

Nico does everything.

Nico made more plays below the dots in his own end last night than Hughes does in five games, had the screen on the game-winning goal, created all night AND assisted on the empty net goal.

Almost a Crosby-esque game if you are comparing players to some of the game's best.

I think Nico is underrated and deserves more appreciation but at the same time that’s a gross mislabeling of Jack. He’s not a nice offensive player. He’s a superlative or elite offensive player. The reality is the two of them provide a nice synergy for the team. Your arguments will be better if you are fair about both sides.

 

[Devils731]

I guess I’m going the opposite of general opinion and this game wasn’t very good for the Devils unless you think Seattle is extremely good. The Devils were pretty dominated the first 15 minutes of the game and I think the last 45 minutes were fairly even, leaving Seattle as having been the better team.

A lot of the Devils problems were controlling the puck and passing it to a teammate where they can receive the pass. This should fix itself on its own.

Outside of that, the Devils struggled mightily to break out of their own zone. Seattle was comfortable leaving 4 and even sometimes 5 guys in the zone, even in situations where the Devils likely should have been able to comfortable clear it. The Devils really never even came close to making them pay for this aggressiveness.

The Devils also struggled to skate the puck through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone, which is something the Devils were good with early in the year. Seattle was really standing the Devils up at their own blue line and the Devils just slammed themselves into the teeth of that for the first 15 minutes of the game. Once they started dumping more frequently things got better but the Devils also aren’t as good at doing that.

All in all, I think this game highlighted how well opponents are pre-scouting the Devils and how the Devils struggle to respond when their A game is stifled. I know it’s surprising to say but the Devils have just been out-talenting teams for the last little bit while other teams have come with better gameplans. The Devils need to improve their game planning so they can let the talent shine even more.

 

[Saugus]

I think Nico is underrated and deserves more appreciation but at the same time that’s a gross mislabeling of Jack. He’s not a nice offensive player. He’s a superlative or elite offensive player. The reality is the two of them provide a nice synergy for the team. Your arguments will be better if you are fair about both sides.

I don't understand the impulse to pit them against each other. Both are great players, both are vital to the success of the team. One of them being out for any significant length of time makes things very difficult for us, and I hope Hughes comes back soon and Hischier's bionic implants hold up.

They have different skills and are used differently, but I'm glad they are both on our team because we need both. I think if you asked them who is better, that's the response you would get, and it would be a genuine one.

 

[Nocashstyle]

I guess I’m going the opposite of general opinion and this game wasn’t very good for the Devils unless you think Seattle is extremely good. The Devils were pretty dominated the first 15 minutes of the game and I think the last 45 minutes were fairly even, leaving Seattle as having been the better team.

A lot of the Devils problems were controlling the puck and passing it to a teammate where they can receive the pass. This should fix itself on its own.

Outside of that, the Devils struggled mightily to break out of their own zone. Seattle was comfortable leaving 4 and even sometimes 5 guys in the zone, even in situations where the Devils likely should have been able to comfortable clear it. The Devils really never even came close to making them pay for this aggressiveness.

The Devils also struggled to skate the puck through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone, which is something the Devils were good with early in the year. Seattle was really standing the Devils up at their own blue line and the Devils just slammed themselves into the teeth of that for the first 15 minutes of the game. Once they started dumping more frequently things got better but the Devils also aren’t as good at doing that.

All in all, I think this game highlighted how well opponents are pre-scouting the Devils and how the Devils struggle to respond when their A game is stifled. I know it’s surprising to say but the Devils have just been out-talenting teams for the last little bit while other teams have come with better gameplans. The Devils need to improve their game planning so they can let the talent shine even more.

They had a very poor first period, but a good second and third. First period struggles has been a long-standing issue - which is obviously a big problem. This is just as much on Ruff as it is the players. You need to have the team ready to play. It’s inexcusable.

You’re not giving Seattle enough credit though, they’re a good team, maybe not so much on paper, but they’re getting the result because of their structure and style.

This was a good win. I feel better about this win than a majority of the recent OT ones.

 

[Triumph]

McLeod is a nice PKer, but we already have a strong PK unit without him with guys like Nico, Haula, Bastian, Sharangovich, etc. And penalty killing is not some special and unique skill, it's not difficult to find good penalty killers. Every other week there's a guy on waivers you can pick up who can immediately get plugged into a PK unit and do well.

Faceoffs, whatever. Faceoffs are only important situationally, and if there's a big draw I'd rather put out a good player who is good at draws than a bad player who is great at draws. Which is better, a 41% chance of being pinned in your zone with McLeod on the ice, or a 46% chance of being pinned in your zone with Hischier on the ice? I know which one I would take.

McLeod cannot defend at ES and he's an absolute blackhole offensively. His shot is pathetic and beer-league caliber and he is not fast enough to beat NHL defenders. He's not as strong as a guy his size should be and is absolutely abhorrent at defending down low/winning board battles.

There have been half a dozen guys on waivers this season better than McLeod. He sucks. We have bigger problems than him to address but this guy needs to go at some point.

This is an exaggeration of what is available on waivers, which I follow every day - in the last month, here are the forwards who have gone on waivers: Jake Leschyshyn (claimed), Zac Dalpe, Nicolas Caamano, Jacob Lucchini, Michael McCarron, Vinnie Hinistroza, Jonny Brodzinski, Dryden Hunt, Anton Blidh, Matthew Peca, Lane Pederson (claimed), Rudolfs Balcers, Adam Erne. Now there are guys on this list who I think are better than McLeod, but who don't play center and who don't make 975k. I've always been a fan of Hinistroza, but he falls into that class of player who doesn't really kill penalties and doesn't play much on the PP and these guys are always in danger of slipping out of the league even though they have some offense. That's the same story with Balcers. Erne makes way too much money. The truth is, players like McLeod don't go on waivers and they get snapped up when they do.

People have been yelling about the Devils fourth line center for over a decade. I just don't think McLeod is bad relative to that. He has good wheels and vision for a fourth line player, he also can't score goals. As a FOGO it's very hard to evaluate his territorial numbers. I don't think they should use him as much in that role, but they've also no doubt done a ton of work on faceoffs that I haven't done that isn't public.

 

[glenwo2]

I guess I’m going the opposite of general opinion and this game wasn’t very good for the Devils unless you think Seattle is extremely good. The Devils were pretty dominated the first 15 minutes of the game and I think the last 45 minutes were fairly even, leaving Seattle as having been the better team.

Uhh...I mean...Seattle is just 3 points behind Vegas (the top team in the West) so.....Yeah.

I think they're extremely good.

Now are they Boston-Bruins "extremely good" (or even Carolina "extremely good")? No. But let's not dismiss them as if they are the Canucks or something.

And you brought it up yourself later on in regards to game-planning which falls more on COACHING than the actual players.

Perfect example is the Devils finally deciding to dump and chase even if it's not their forte.

But you know what? It cut down on the turnovers considerably and allowed them to play better defensively when there wasn't odd-man rushes every 5 seconds (it felt).

 

[captainscott12]

McLeod is a nice PKer, but we already have a strong PK unit without him with guys like Nico, Haula, Bastian, Sharangovich, etc. And penalty killing is not some special and unique skill, it's not difficult to find good penalty killers. Every other week there's a guy on waivers you can pick up who can immediately get plugged into a PK unit and do well.

Faceoffs, whatever. Faceoffs are only important situationally, and if there's a big draw I'd rather put out a good player who is good at draws than a bad player who is great at draws. Which is better, a 41% chance of being pinned in your zone with McLeod on the ice, or a 46% chance of being pinned in your zone with Hischier on the ice? I know which one I would take.

McLeod cannot defend at ES and he's an absolute blackhole offensively. His shot is pathetic and beer-league caliber and he is not fast enough to beat NHL defenders. He's not as strong as a guy his size should be and is absolutely abhorrent at defending down low/winning board battles.

There have been half a dozen guys on waivers this season better than McLeod. He sucks. We have bigger problems than him to address but this guy needs to go at some point.

totally disagree with everything on this post.

This is an exaggeration of what is available on waivers, which I follow every day - in the last month, here are the forwards who have gone on waivers: Jake Leschyshyn (claimed), Zac Dalpe, Nicolas Caamano, Jacob Lucchini, Michael McCarron, Vinnie Hinistroza, Jonny Brodzinski, Dryden Hunt, Anton Blidh, Matthew Peca, Lane Pederson (claimed), Rudolfs Balcers, Adam Erne. Now there are guys on this list who I think are better than McLeod, but who don't play center and who don't make 975k. I've always been a fan of Hinistroza, but he falls into that class of player who doesn't really kill penalties and doesn't play much on the PP and these guys are always in danger of slipping out of the league even though they have some offense. That's the same story with Balcers. Erne makes way too much money. The truth is, players like McLeod don't go on waivers and they get snapped up when they do.

People have been yelling about the Devils fourth line center for over a decade. I just don't think McLeod is bad relative to that. He has good wheels and vision for a fourth line player, he also can't score goals. As a FOGO it's very hard to evaluate his territorial numbers. I don't think they should use him as much in that role, but they've also no doubt done a ton of work on faceoffs that I haven't done that isn't public.

I think he is way under rated on this board. he is our best faceoff guy.. plays really well in his own end kills penalties is big fast etc. i like mcleod a lot as 4th line center.. he is important to this team

 

[captainscott12]

They had a very poor first period, but a good second and third. First period struggles has been a long-standing issue - which is obviously a big problem. This is just as much on Ruff as it is the players. You need to have the team ready to play. It’s inexcusable.

You’re not giving Seattle enough credit though, they’re a good team, maybe not so much on paper, but they’re getting the result because of their structure and style.

This was a good win. I feel better about this win than a majority of the recent OT ones.

i liked the win because they found a way to get 2 pts on. a night when they were not the better team on ice. and held a 1 goal lead late under pressure.. you can see some of the younger guys learning how to play in these situations.. granted our goalie was the best player and you can't survive long term ..but a win with our best player out of lineup at home,, ill take it

 

[Devils731]

They had a very poor first period, but a good second and third. First period struggles has been a long-standing issue - which is obviously a big problem. This is just as much on Ruff as it is the players. You need to have the team ready to play. It’s inexcusable.

You’re not giving Seattle enough credit though, they’re a good team, maybe not so much on paper, but they’re getting the result because of their structure and style.

This was a good win. I feel better about this win than a majority of the recent OT ones.

I’m pretty confident if the Devils lost this game 2-1 instead of effectively winning it 2-1 people would be quite comfortable discussing how bad the Devils looked the majority of the game. We replay this game with the same ice tilting as yesterday and the Devils lose it more often than not.

The OT wins have mostly been poor showings by the team so I think this game is another point in the trend of generally poor showings; not a good game bucking of the trend.

 

[Triumph]

I’m pretty confident if the Devils lost this game 2-1 instead of effectively winning it 2-1 people would be quite comfortable discussing how bad the Devils looked the majority of the game. We replay this game with the same ice tilting as yesterday and the Devils lose it more often than not.

The OT wins have mostly been poor showings by the team so I think this game is another point in the trend of generally poor showings; not a good game bucking of the trend.

I happened to miss the first 15 minutes so I thought they played okay. There were some signs of good things, at any rate - the 4th line actually had some decent shifts, some other forwards who've been invisible got more involved. Nico's line apparently got cratered which I didn't notice but they had some decent shifts too. I think, more than the last few, this one's something to build on.

 

[My3Sons]

I’m pretty confident if the Devils lost this game 2-1 instead of effectively winning it 2-1 people would be quite comfortable discussing how bad the Devils looked the majority of the game. We replay this game with the same ice tilting as yesterday and the Devils lose it more often than not.

The OT wins have mostly been poor showings by the team so I think this game is another point in the trend of generally poor showings; not a good game bucking of the trend.

Seattle plays with very good pace and rolls four lines. They look very disciplined and well practiced. Their players are in open areas on breakouts and generally make solid passes. At times NJ outskated the Kraken. When they did the Kraken made mistakes and turned it over. Blackwood was the difference for them last night coupled with the Kraken not having a talent equal to Hamilton or Hischier. Hischier was dominant defensively and was always in the right spot. He definitely played one of those “let the game come to him games” that he will do too often but it worked last night. Hamilton was easily the best player offensively on either team. If Jack plays NJ probably wins by four without an empty netter. Seattle wants to play your top line even and then win with the bottom six. Last night NJ’s bottom six played well enough with the exception of that one icing shift that it became a special teams game where NJ has the edge. Killing that 5 on 3 was a big deal.

 

[Nocashstyle]

I’m pretty confident if the Devils lost this game 2-1 instead of effectively winning it 2-1 people would be quite comfortable discussing how bad the Devils looked the majority of the game. We replay this game with the same ice tilting as yesterday and the Devils lose it more often than not.

The OT wins have mostly been poor showings by the team so I think this game is another point in the trend of generally poor showings; not a good game bucking of the trend.

This place is always like that after a loss regardless of how they played haha. It obviously wasn’t their best game or most commanding win of the season, but regardless, there are things to feel good about last night.

And let’s be honest, before the season, if we knew we would be discussing “was it a good win or not” for a team that is comfortably 2nd in the division, only 4 points behind first, and 8-1-1 in their last 10…we would be ecstatic.

Although not without warts, this team is good. We’re 51 games into the season, if the beginning of the year was a fluke, it would have been exposed by now. This team just finds ways to win.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I’m pretty confident if the Devils lost this game 2-1 instead of effectively winning it 2-1 people would be quite comfortable discussing how bad the Devils looked the majority of the game. We replay this game with the same ice tilting as yesterday and the Devils lose it more often than not.

The OT wins have mostly been poor showings by the team so I think this game is another point in the trend of generally poor showings; not a good game bucking of the trend.

I don’t know, I really thought they came on nicely after a horrible start. They certainly got good goaltending, but I thought they put up a strong effort against a tough opponent.

Seattle suppresses shots pretty well and have converted their chances at a super high rate. 27 blocked shots, some key penalty kills, execution on the PP. Not a perfect game, but as good as I could’ve hoped without Jack. I expected the PP to be dead without him honestly.

 

[Devils731]

I happened to miss the first 15 minutes so I thought they played okay. There were some signs of good things, at any rate - the 4th line actually had some decent shifts, some other forwards who've been invisible got more involved. Nico's line apparently got cratered which I didn't notice but they had some decent shifts too. I think, more than the last few, this one's something to build on.

The Devils basically didn’t touch the puck for the first 15 minutes as Seattle’s pre-scouting ate them alive and the Devils were slow to adjust. Seattle probably could have scored a couple except for Blackwood. It’s by far the most lopsided stretch either team had in the game, so if you missed that bit then you missed why this game still wasn’t very good.

I have a hard time saying this is a good win when there is seeming agreement the Devils needed their goalie to play outstanding to win. Those are lucky wins, not good ones.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

It's great to have players like Hamilton or Hughes if you're playing fantasy hockey; where only points matter (in fact I've been cleaning up lately with Dougie).

However, there are two ends of the rink and Hischier (as well as some of those other players you mentioned) are far better in all three zones.

The Devils power play didn't miss a beat without Hughes last night - in fact I don't know if Hughes makes the play Tatar did on the first goal.

And at the same time the Kraken had far fewer second chance opportunities than the Canucks did the previous game.


Did you start the "Sorry, Blackie" chant?

and who scored those 2 Devils PPG? hmmmm I wonder who it could be!!

 

[AfroThunder396]

This is an exaggeration of what is available on waivers, which I follow every day - in the last month, here are the forwards who have gone on waivers: Jake Leschyshyn (claimed), Zac Dalpe, Nicolas Caamano, Jacob Lucchini, Michael McCarron, Vinnie Hinistroza, Jonny Brodzinski, Dryden Hunt, Anton Blidh, Matthew Peca, Lane Pederson (claimed), Rudolfs Balcers, Adam Erne. Now there are guys on this list who I think are better than McLeod, but who don't play center and who don't make 975k. I've always been a fan of Hinistroza, but he falls into that class of player who doesn't really kill penalties and doesn't play much on the PP and these guys are always in danger of slipping out of the league even though they have some offense. That's the same story with Balcers. Erne makes way too much money. The truth is, players like McLeod don't go on waivers and they get snapped up when they do.

People have been yelling about the Devils fourth line center for over a decade. I just don't think McLeod is bad relative to that. He has good wheels and vision for a fourth line player, he also can't score goals. As a FOGO it's very hard to evaluate his territorial numbers. I don't think they should use him as much in that role, but they've also no doubt done a ton of work on faceoffs that I haven't done that isn't public.

I am fully aware of the cap/roster logistics of bringing in a mid-season pickup off waivers, and you are fully aware that I was drawing a player quality comparison as opposed to a practical roster recommendation.

Penalty killers do not need to be centers, and 4th line centers do not need to be penalty killers. If McLeod was abducted by aliens today, our PK would take a hit but it's still a top half of the league unit. Obviously the unicorn of an ES play driver, quality PKer, center, making cheap money is usually only found in young ELC guys that quickly outgrow that role (Blake Coleman) or get overpaid by contenders (Brandon Hagel). But that doesn't mean that in the absence of such a player we should be okay settling for mediocrity.

I don't particularly care about previous 4th liners in this context. Rooney or Kalinin or Stephen Gionta or whatever, they don't matter to the performance of this team. McLeod is the one on this roster right now and he's a bad player completely independent of how bad those other guys were.

My points still stand - it is not hard to find penalty killing 4th liners, and players better than McLeod have been waived this season. He is not a major contributor to this roster and we should continue to work on finding an upgrade to him. His skill set is easily replaceable and upgradeable. If we have to pay a bit more money to bring in a quality vet, I am fine with that.

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

I guess I’m going the opposite of general opinion and this game wasn’t very good for the Devils unless you think Seattle is extremely good.

I think Seattle, especially based on the first game, plays the Devils tough. I did not get to watch the most of the game - so i'm mainly going by the score. But I was happy with the win. Wish they scored one more goal against that awful goalie but whatever.