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Tidbits on Devils in Elliotte Friedman's 30 Thoughts 12/21


Triumph

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http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-suitors-will-ante-van-riemsdyk/

Haven't seen these put here yet, the whole article is always worth reading but this week he's got a lot of Devils' stuff:

Quote

1. We’ll start with a couple more on New Jersey. One of the smaller storylines I’ve watched this season is Joseph Blandisi. Drafted by Colorado in 2012, he was not offered a contract and went back into the pool. No one took him, but an excellent overage season with OHL Barrie got him a contract with the Devils.

Last year (his first pro season), he was a point-per-game player with AHL Albany and had some strong moments for the Devils when he wasn’t an NHL target for diving. I thought he’d make the team this season, but the organization was not pleased with his exhibition performance. Blandisi is a bit of a polarizing player. When he was sent down, a few teams took longer looks at him in case there was a trade opportunity, but a few didn’t like what they saw.

I had a chance to see him up-close last weekend in Toronto. He certainly had an impact in a 3–1 win over the Marlies on Saturday. It sounds like he’s going to get another opportunity at some point with the Devils. I’m curious to see what kind of an impact he can have in the NHL.

Trading Blandisi at this juncture seems like a really bad move so I'm glad they held off on that.   There's some other good stuff in there about Sai Okabayashi who was part of the Devils' analytics department until he left - Custance had an article on him the other day but it was behind the paywall.

Edited by Triumph
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Have always thought the diving thing was way overblown. Every team has players that dive... some of the best in the league are notorious for it. Blandisi just doesnt get the benefit of the doubt (nor should he) because hes not an established star, and tbh so far he really sucks at toeing the line between diving and embellishment. He either needs to learn how to get better at acting (see: Giroux, Claude - Malkin, Evgeni) or stop altogether.

Very curious to see what kind of of player Blandisi can become. Hes got alot of skill, and has great offensive instincts imo.

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