Confirmed with Link: PTO: Tim Erixon

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

He was also playing for a coach who we have all seen first hand on how he can destroy a young player's confidence.

And it can't be easy for any young Euro player to come over here and leave family behind. The pressure must be off the charts.

go look at the Sharks LHD depth last year.

Vlasic
Martin
Schlemko
Dillon

I wonder if thats why the 21 year old didn't play much?

 

[Lou is God]

go look at the Sharks LHD depth last year.

Vlasic
Martin
Schlemko
Dillon

I wonder if thats why the 21 year old didn't play much?

My uncle is a big Sharks fan and when I went to California last week I asked him what he thought of Mueller and he had high praise for him.

 

[NJDevs26]

go look at the Sharks LHD depth last year.

Vlasic
Martin
Schlemko
Dillon

I wonder if thats why the 21 year old didn't play much?

It's a bit of a hollow argument considering he was meh in the AHL though. It isn't exactly akin to the Ducks having no room for Shea Theodore, who was lighting it up in the AHL.

I do love how a nominal, inconsequential PTO invite for AHL depth becomes an excuse to resume the Moore-Merrill-Mueller argument. Go ahead, fight over all the M's where nobody'll change anyone's mind and nothing of consequence will happen with any of those players for another month. At least Erixon isn't an M

 

[BenedictGomez]

We are 4 years out from his draft and Mueller still hasn't proved he's NHL player.

And if the New Jersey Devils took Mueller in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, you're honestly telling me Mirco Mueller wouldn't be an "NHL player" already?

Okay then....

 

[BenedictGomez]

I do love how a nominal, inconsequential PTO invite for AHL depth becomes an excuse to resume the Moore-Merrill-Mueller argument. Go ahead, fight over all the M's where nobody'll change anyone's mind and nothing of consequence will happen with any of those players for another month.

Jim has set the Mueller-bar so impossibly low that it's almost impossible for him to win that argument.

Mueller will need to finish -10 with 0 points in his first 5 games and trip all over the ice for Jim to win.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Jim has set the Mueller-bar so impossibly low that it's almost impossible for him to win that argument.

Mueller will need to finish -10 with 0 points in his first 5 games and trip all over the ice for Jim to win.

He needs to fall and concuse himself in his first game...oh wait

 

[BenedictGomez]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, future Hall of Famer Jon Merrill is on an NHL expansion team, and yet I'm not even convinced he'll be an opening night starter.

I THINK he MAY play on their 3rd pairing, but I'm not confident. Looking at that D, were I the Vegas coach, Merrill would be a healthy scratch.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, future Hall of Famer Jon Merrill is on an NHL expansion team, and yet I'm not even convinced he'll be an opening night starter.

I THINK he MAY play on their 3rd pairing, but I'm not confident.

It is kind of nuts they have so many D-man yet still will Ice an terrible terrible group.

 

[BenedictGomez]

It is kind of nuts they have so many D-man yet still will Ice an terrible terrible group.

Good asset management IMO.

You can always trade serviceable NHL d-men for draft picks, and shots-on-goal via draft picks is the name of the game in the early years of an expansion team. At least, I THINK that was their logic, I could be wrong.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Good asset management IMO.

You can always trade serviceable NHL d-men for draft picks, and shots-on-goal via draft picks is the name of the game in the early years of an expansion team. At least, I THINK that was their logic, I could be wrong.

I wonder if they trade Theodore. They could get a good package for him, and increase their odds for Dahlin

 

[NJDevs26]

Good asset management IMO.

You can always trade serviceable NHL d-men for draft picks, and shots-on-goal via draft picks is the name of the game in the early years of an expansion team. At least, I THINK that was their logic, I could be wrong.

That was certainly the plan but they overdid it to such a degree they actually depreciated their value because people knew Vegas HAD to trade multiple defensemen (hence Methot for a 2nd rounder 'three' years away when by all rights he probably should have fetched an immediate 2).

 

[JimEIV]

Jim has set the Mueller-bar so impossibly low that it's almost impossible for him to win that argument.

Mueller will need to finish -10 with 0 points in his first 5 games and trip all over the ice for Jim to win.

5 games would be an improvement from last season.... let's keep our fingers crossed.

 

[goonybird]

wait we're seriously supposed to be upset about our worst defenceman not named Lovejoy leaving?

I thought that was a joke xD

 

[217 Forever]

5 games would be an improvement from last season.... let's keep our fingers crossed.

Not that anyone cares but I agree with you regarding Merrill/Mueller. Merrill at least improved to the point that he could be a 3rd pair NHL defenseman (can't ignore his total lack of offense). Mueller hasn't proven even that much, and just because the Sharks have good depth doesn't change that fact.

People are just giving Mueller the benefit of the doubt because Shero gave up assets to get him. It may work out it may not.

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Not sure why you all continue to feed Jim's agenda. It's his same MO every season. Pick players to **** on, and give 1000000 reasons why said player is an absolute abomination to the team. We all saw it with Kovy. If you aren't a North American born player, you are already on his hate list. Dude feeds on negativity.

 

[devilsblood]

Not that anyone cares but I agree with you regarding Merrill/Mueller. Merrill at least improved to the point that he could be a 3rd pair NHL defenseman (can't ignore his total lack of offense). Mueller hasn't proven even that much, and just because the Sharks have good depth doesn't change that fact.

People are just giving Mueller the benefit of the doubt because Shero gave up assets to get him. It may work out it may not.

Mueller is also getting the benefit of doubt because he is only 22.

And I don't know if Merrill improved from day one, his first season was good, then his play dropped, due in part to injury, then his play picked back up this past season.

I liked Merrill, I would have liked to have kept him, I think his frequent injuries played into letting him go, but I'm hopeful Mueller can put his game together, I do think there are elements of his game which suggest he could.

 

[217 Forever]

Not sure why you all continue to feed Jim's agenda. It's his same MO every season. Pick players to **** on, and give 1000000 reasons why said player is an absolute abomination to the team. We all saw it with Kovy. If you aren't a North American born player, you are already on his hate list. Dude feeds on negativity.

Maybe he just calls it like he sees it which is generally unwelcome around here.

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Maybe he just calls it like he sees it which is generally unwelcome around here.

What's "it"? A defenseman that has 3 less years of development than Merrill a bust?

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

And if the New Jersey Devils took Mueller in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, you're honestly telling me Mirco Mueller wouldn't be an "NHL player" already?

Okay then....

Mueller apparently wasn't even good in the AHL by most accounts. I doubt he'll be anything.

 

[tailfins]

What's "it"? A defenseman that has 3 less years of development than Merrill a bust?

I'm not sure why we're denigrating Mueller. I think we all hope Mueller does well. Same with Merrill. It's' irrelevant to the people on this board if Merrill ends up an NHL washout.

Jim's point (and I've made the same before) is simply that Shero is making perplexing decisions in building our D.

Shero's approach seems akin to buying lottery tickets - he's bringing in low cost guys who:

- had good draft pedigrees but haven't panned out: Moore, Mueller, Erixon, Gormley
- he won with before: Lovejoy
- are overseas wildcards: Auvitu, Dyblenko

None of these have worked out. Meanwhile, he's let go of guys who are already on the team, but who are slower developing: Merrill, Schlemko. Merrill and Schlemko are better than all of the other D listed above.

(Yes, Shero gets credit for bringing in Schlemko - but we didn't resign him, and we didn't pick him up this offseason when he got traded for a 5th. And this is the guy who was so good, per other posters, that Mueller - who Shero traded a 2nd and 4th for - was blocked by him.)

To bring this back on topic, while the Erixon PTO is clearly a minor move, Shero's recent track record with the Devils D doesn't suggest that there's a lot of upside here.

I'm still holding out hope that there will be a chance for more significant improvements to the D toward the end of training camp.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I was wondering how we could have 3 pages of discussion on a PTO for Erixon. Turns out the conversation is all about Mueller and Merrill.

 

[mtnet]

wait we're seriously supposed to be upset about our worst defenceman not named Lovejoy leaving?

I thought that was a joke xD

Quick, offer Mueller+ for Merrill I'm not even giving Mueller any benefit of the doubt or expecting much at all until we see something, but this hand wringing over Merrill is comedy gold.

What I can agree with however is that relinquishing Merrill to Vegas will have repercussions for our team (and every team) for years to come. As in, any team playing against Vegas automatically projects to average +1GF per game if Merrill is in the lineup.

As for the PTO, there are some who call me...Tim?

 

[Triumph]

I'm not sure why we're denigrating Mueller. I think we all hope Mueller does well. Same with Merrill. It's' irrelevant to the people on this board if Merrill ends up an NHL washout.

Jim's point (and I've made the same before) is simply that Shero is making perplexing decisions in building our D.

Shero's approach seems akin to buying lottery tickets - he's bringing in low cost guys who:

- had good draft pedigrees but haven't panned out: Moore, Mueller, Erixon, Gormley
- he won with before: Lovejoy
- are overseas wildcards: Auvitu, Dyblenko

None of these have worked out. Meanwhile, he's let go of guys who are already on the team, but who are slower developing: Merrill, Schlemko. Merrill and Schlemko are better than all of the other D listed above.

(Yes, Shero gets credit for bringing in Schlemko - but we didn't resign him, and we didn't pick him up this offseason when he got traded for a 5th. And this is the guy who was so good, per other posters, that Mueller - who Shero traded a 2nd and 4th for - was blocked by him.)

To bring this back on topic, while the Erixon PTO is clearly a minor move, Shero's recent track record with the Devils D doesn't suggest that there's a lot of upside here.

I'm still holding out hope that there will be a chance for more significant improvements to the D toward the end of training camp.

Some of this is forehead-slappingly obvious. Even if Mueller was better than Schlemko last year in the San Jose organization, which I doubt, Schlemko was on the first year of a 4 year deal and was being paid over $2M a season. That's how NHL teams make decisions. Follow the money and who has waiver ineligibility.

Schlemko is 30 years old. There is no future with him.

It's cool that Dyblenko, a player who has never played a game in a Devils uniform, is listed as a failure, but Will Butcher gets no mention at all.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Merrill at least improved to the point that he could be a 3rd pair NHL defenseman (can't ignore his total lack of offense).

And.

How.

Long.

Did.

It.

Take.

Him.

To.

Improve (using the word "improve" loosely)?

Mueller apparently wasn't even good in the AHL by most accounts. I doubt he'll be anything.

So, like Merrill most likely?

Thanks; happy to finally know what the size of the stakes are here.

 

[Cheddabombs]

I'm not sure why we're denigrating Mueller. I think we all hope Mueller does well. Same with Merrill. It's' irrelevant to the people on this board if Merrill ends up an NHL washout.

Jim's point (and I've made the same before) is simply that Shero is making perplexing decisions in building our D.

Shero's approach seems akin to buying lottery tickets - he's bringing in low cost guys who:

- had good draft pedigrees but haven't panned out: Moore, Mueller, Erixon, Gormley
- he won with before: Lovejoy
- are overseas wildcards: Auvitu, Dyblenko

None of these have worked out. Meanwhile, he's let go of guys who are already on the team, but who are slower developing: Merrill, Schlemko. Merrill and Schlemko are better than all of the other D listed above.

(Yes, Shero gets credit for bringing in Schlemko - but we didn't resign him, and we didn't pick him up this offseason when he got traded for a 5th. And this is the guy who was so good, per other posters, that Mueller - who Shero traded a 2nd and 4th for - was blocked by him.)

To bring this back on topic, while the Erixon PTO is clearly a minor move, Shero's recent track record with the Devils D doesn't suggest that there's a lot of upside here.

I'm still holding out hope that there will be a chance for more significant improvements to the D toward the end of training camp.

My counter to that is what other method would you like Shero to use to fix the defense? Let's remember this is only his third season at the helm and the entire prospects cupboard was bare when he got here. At pretty much all positions. It was an absolute mess he inherited with zero direction. In the short time span he's had our forward prospects are looking much, much, much better. Our forward group in general is looking better. And it's painfully obvious that was his first goal, to improve the forwards. You talk about the questionable decisions he's made to improve the defense but almost neglect what he's done at forwards. Palmieri, Johansson, and Hall. All are, in the case of MoJo I'm extrapolating, vital parts to this team's top 6 and are all objectively good players. Not just good for a bad team (which is what Merrrill was by the way because objectively he was bad) but actually good.

So yeah, the defense isn't looking hot but what are the options? Because he only has so many resources to play with and he had practically every. single. hole. to fill. This just goes back to my insane pet peeve of fans ripping apart GM's for moves they should have made. Looking around the league, seeing teams make a move and thinking "wow why didn't Shero do that!" I absolutely hate that and it seems like that's what the argument can be broken down to. Why didn't Shero sign X free agent, who isn't a patch-work or by-low option. Why didn't Shero make that trade, that defenseman could have really helped. Why didn't Shero draft X defenseman, I'd love to have him in our system. All of that **** drives me nuts. Who are you (not you specifically, now I'm just on a diatribe) to say he didn't try to make that move? That he didn't try to sign that player? That he didn't like that prospect as well but had someone ranked a little higher (a lot of this one is also on scouting but of course the GM is always the scapegoat in this aspect). Because when Shero has to fix our entire forward group and our entire defense, not everything is going to be solved by year 3. But he's done a metric-****-ton in the mean time. People are just never satisfied.