Confirmed with Link: Nikita Gusev (VGK) to NJD (2020 3rd, 2021 2nd)

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

 

[Billdo]

Was hoping for a sure fire top 6 guy, but at least he was a reasonably cheap lottery ticket and a short contract.

He is a sure fire top 6...

 

[jkrdevil]

4.5 mil a year for a guy that never played in the NHL, anybody worried?

That isn’t a lot of money in an 80 million cap world.

 

[JrFischer54]

4.5 mil a year for a guy that never played in the NHL, anybody worried?

if this was lou and conte i would be worried (brunner)

i'm sure shero did his homework and if he didn't think he was legit he wouldn't have perused him.

 

[Omark]

Russian folks- scouting report and reasonable expectations, plz

Semi-pro KHL sports bettor here.

Gusev has Datsyuk type soft hands but even better passing ability. The best power play player I’ve seen. His hockey IQ is insane.

However he has notable weaknesses also. He’s quite slow skater and physically weak. He also doesn’t play as fast paced hockey that NHL’ers usually do. This is why he’s bigger risk than Panarin when he entered the league but the potential is the same. Gusev beat Panarin in SKA in terms of PPG.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Remember last offseason when everyone was freaking the **** out that Ray wasn't making moves?

Yeah, where you guys at now?

Uh...Right here, very happy that he's making moves?

 

[LeedsMonster]

He is a sure fire top 6...

How? Hes never played in the NHL, and hes 27. I hope he comes here and blows the f*** up, but it's far from a sure thing.

 

[Blackjack]

RIP Devils rookies. Hope you guys like playing in Binghamton.

 

[The 29th Pick]

if this was lou and conte i would be worried (brunner)

i'm sure shero did his homework and if he didn't think he was legit he wouldn't have perused him.

I was thinking of Brunner when I wrote that !!!!!!!!

 

[NJDevs26]

Welcome to blue balls Monday.

Gotta credit this guy Rice again who was not only first but had the details of the trade exactly right.

 

[Patrik26]

That isn’t a lot of money in an 80 million cap world.

And Simmonds got $5 million for one year and people were OK with it even though there's really no guarantee he's worth it any longer. I feel more confident about Gusev contributing than Simmonds so yeah 4.5 AAV for 2 years is fine by me.

 

[Forge]

RIP Devils rookies. Hope you guys like playing in Binghamton.

That's okay, we need Bingo to be good as well, and they can really use the additional seasoning.

 

[Triumph]

If Gusev is bad, he can be waived. Vegas had no trouble forcing Shipachev out of the league when they didn't want him. I don't think he's bad.

I wonder if they don't think about moving Zacha for futures. I guess injuries happen. But yeah, this team should score a lot more next season.

 

[billingtons ghost]

4.5 mil a year for a guy that never played in the NHL, anybody worried?

Of course - anytime there's one of these Russian guys who have spectacular hands and look ultra-nifty, we all go off the deep end. I remember the Larianov, Kozlov, Loktionov etc hype... or if we watch guys transition from another league - Tedenby highlights (playing against men!!), Reid Boucher > Stamkos etc...

That said - Goose looks fantastic to me. Of course, I was a happy passenger on all of those hype trains. There's been some 'skating, defense, work ethic' slander, but I can't see it in the highlights, so it must not be true.

 

[OmNomNom]

Was hoping for a sure fire top 6 guy, but at least he was a reasonably cheap lottery ticket and a short contract.

i mean this guy is supposedly better than shipachyov, who never got to bust into the NHL solely because he got screwed by a raw deal by GMGM. i think we're gonna be okay

 

[New Jersey]

Uh...Right here, very happy that he's making moves?

And if we made rash signings last year, this offseason probably doesn’t happen, at least not like this.

Process, trust it.

 

[Missionhockey]

4.5 mil a year for a guy that never played in the NHL, anybody worried?

I am a little. Obviously I know nothing about this guy, but a lot of these outside the league sensations don't pan out (Fabian Brunnstrom, Vadim Shipachyov, Damien Brunner anyone?). Still, his production is hard to argue with so I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[billingtons ghost]

And if we made rash signings last year, this offseason probably doesn’t happen, at least not like this.

Process, trust it.

But but but... all I asked for was a #2 LHD last year to replace John Moore !
:=)

 

[BenedictGomez]

4.5 mil a year for a guy that never played in the NHL, anybody worried?

I'm not.

This is the risk I wanted the Devils to take.

And at only 2 years, you have as much as a potential 164 game audition to see if he can play in the NHL.

 

[LeedsMonster]

If Gusev is bad, he can be waived. Vegas had no trouble forcing Shipachev out of the league when they didn't want him. I don't think he's bad.

I wonder if they don't think about moving Zacha for futures. I guess injuries happen. But yeah, this team should score a lot more next season.

Wow...move Zacha, who has proven to be a serviceable NHL player AT THE LEAST, because we acquired an unproven player from a league with a history of players not translating well to the NA game.

 

[Azathoth]

RIP Devils rookies. Hope you guys like playing in Binghamton.

Eh, it wouldn't be the worst if guys like Anderson, Bastian, Seney, etc get beat out and spend the year developing in Bing, and I doubt any of them have a chance at beating Gusev if the hype is real. It will be real interesting to see what kind of camp Boqvist has though.

 

[My3Sons]

I think that largely depends on what we get from Subban.

I still think the defense is terribly ill-conceived. I have said it in the past I will say it again, I don't think the players are bad, I just think they don't fit together. It is thrown together in a mixed up fashion with no real vision in my opinion.

I think the vision is nimble puck moving transition on defense. Apparently that goes back to Shero’s PIT days. And yes I think he’s doing it as a bit of a patchwork but there NHL being what it is nowadays you have to play some moneyball to make a competitive roster work. I don’t think Shero expected to “go for it” heading into this offseason. One more year would have been better . Jettison Greene and have a year of Smith to evaluate and hopefully see the goaltending stabilize and move forward from there but the Subban and Gusev trades materialized and pushed things up one season. To me the fact that Shero has done this without crippling future cap or giving away a first round pick or A level prospect is pretty impressive.

I think this season’s team is potentially much much better than the version that made the playoffs two years ago. As always they’ll need good health and some good fortune but if the young players take continued steps forward and if Hughes is the real thing (neither of which are pie in the sky projections) and if the goalies can play well for about 35 games each (figure they each have five or six clunkers even in a good year), then this team can compete for a playoff spot with the patchwork defense.

 

[BenedictGomez]

The 2nd best thing about this is no longer having to read Gusev trade rumors every day.

 

[JK3]

Not enough Kevin Rooney.

Oh yeah, well take this!

Boucher-Zajac-Palmieri
Blandisi-Henrique-Kennedy
Ruutu-Kalinin-Tootoo
Farnham-Josefson-Gionta

 

[LeedsMonster]

i mean this guy is supposedly better than shipachyov, who never got to bust into the NHL solely because he got screwed by a raw deal by GMGM. i think we're gonna be okay

Hope you're right, and obviously I'm rooting for him, just not setting my expectations too high