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Devils 2014-2015 Off Season Thread


Jerzey

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I had to search for it because they just hired a new assistant coach but yes it does appear he's still with them.

General Manager Doug Wilson

Assistant General Manager Joe Will

Head Coach Peter DeBoer - Devil

Assistant Coach Bob Boughner

Assistant Coach/Goaltending Coach Johan Hedberg - Devil

Director of Player Development Larry Robinson - Devil

Development Coach Mike Ricci

Director of Scouting Tim Burke - Devil

 

http://sharks.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=99330&navid=NAV

 

 

Devils West

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Having a bad team is one thing, it's another to sabotage it.

 

What do Shero or the new owners get by "sabotaging" the team? I just don't understand that line of reasoning, I don't get it. It's actually batsh!t insane to me that people even feel this way.

 

Also, it's July 2nd. There are more than 4 months until opening night where trades and free agents can still be found. Don't forget, Islanders got Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk the week before their home opener. Those are the kinds of scenarios and opportunities that will present themselves. You can't criticize a GM's offseason until the offseason's over in early October.

 

To be so quick to criticize a GM, who's one month on the job, no more than a day after the first day of free agency is just irrational and bizarre, sorry, but it just seems like a mentality that some of you have of almost wanting these people to fail, "just because" (and the reasons don't matter or make sense).

Edited by DJ Eco
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What do Shero or the new owners get by "sabotaging" the team? I just don't understand that line of reasoning, I don't get it. It's actually batsh!t insane to me that people even feel this way.

 

Also, it's July 2nd. There are more than 4 months until opening night where trades and free agents can still be found. Don't forget, Islanders got Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk the week before their home opener. Those are the kinds of scenarios and opportunities that will present themselves. You can't criticize a GM's offseason until the offseason's over in early October.

 

To be so quick to criticize a GM, who's one month on the job, no more than a day after the first day of free agency is just irrational and bizarre, sorry, but it just seems like a mentality that some of you have of almost wanting these people to fail, "just because" (and the reasons don't matter or make sense).

 

Some people, like myself, rightly or wrongly believe that Lou was removed for non hockey reasons. Lou's retooling was going well, as I said many times in the past, and while you can make that argument that he was getting up in age, he certainly isn't your average 72 year old. 

 

To me this is ownership wanting to put their stamp on the organization, which they have the right to do, as they own the team. I have to believe that if Lou was still in charge, we would have been bigger players in free agency, the 6th pick might have been traded, and Scott Stevens would still be in the organization.

 

While Shero didn't do anything idiotic during the UFA period, he certainly didn't make the Devils a better team. Frolik, Semin, and Oduya would have been nice bridge players to get us through this time. Think of the Devils as a piece of coal, Semin, Frolik, and Oduya are like LNG a bridge fuel to get us to our green energy stage.

 

Here is what my lineup would look like

 

1st in 2016, Merrill, Gelinas, and Ottawa's 3rd for Kessel 15% retained and the Leafs 2nd in 2017

 

Frolik signed for the same contract the flames offered 

 

Semin signed 1 year 4 million 

 

Oduya Signed 3 years 4 million per season

 

Moore same contract (deal makes sense now because Gelinas is gone)

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

Cammy Zajac Kessel

 

Henrique Elias Semin

 

Frolik Yayo Palmieri

 

Ruutu Gio Totoo

 

But hey guys we can't win now

Edited by William D'Aquila
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While Shero didn't do anything idiotic during the UFA period, he certainly didn't make the Devils a better team. Frolik, Semin, and Oduya would have been nice bridge players to get us through this time. Think of the Devils as a piece of coal, Semin, Frolik, and Oduya are like LNG a bridge fuel to get us to our green energy stage.

 

We'll never know which UFAs Shero did or didn't approach yesterday. But you're ignoring the rather large and likely possibility that UFAs don't want to come here.

 

It's another possibility that their agents (who do this for a living) know our cap situation (we have lots of it) and are blue-balling us into paying 1.5-2x what other teams are offering; and Shero's not budging, and rightly so. We're seeing players get snatched up and too many fans' immediate reaction is, "Oh man, we could've done THAT." It's possible Frolik told New Jersey $6m and when we said no, he went to the Flames for $4.3. These are very real scenarios that too many of our fans don't even care to think about. Not everything's so black-and-white.

 

The damage is done here in New Jersey, we were already a tough sell to any sort of marquee free agents, but we're even worse now. So, having said that, the best way to fix it is patience. Build a foundation. Build something genuine and do it the right way. As Shero has said many times, we are most likely to achieve this through trades and the draft, so we the fans need to understand that. 

Edited by DJ Eco
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This Oshie deal is another example. I see a lot of Devils fans saying, "Oh man! We could've made that trade!!!"...

 

NO, we couldn't have. If St. Louis' need was apples-to-apples, a veteran RW who could score 20 goals, we don't have that. Washington has the foundation to make these trades. We're building our foundation now. Making trades and signing UFAs "just to do them" is working in a vacuum.

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Some people, like myself, rightly or wrongly believe that Lou was removed for non hockey reasons. Lou's retooling was going well, as I said many times in the past, and while you can make that argument that he was getting up in age, he certainly isn't your average 72 year old. 

 

To me this is ownership wanting to put their stamp on the organization, which they have the right to do, as they own the team. I have to believe that if Lou was still in charge, we would have been bigger players in free agency, the 6th pick might have been traded, and Scott Stevens would still be in the organization.

 

While Shero didn't do anything idiotic during the UFA period, he certainly didn't make the Devils a better team. Frolik, Semin, and Oduya would have been nice bridge players to get us through this time. Think of the Devils as a piece of coal, Semin, Frolik, and Oduya are like LNG a bridge fuel to get us to our green energy stage.

 

Here is what my lineup would look like

 

1st in 2016, Merrill, Gelinas, and Ottawa's 3rd for Kessel 15% retained and the Leafs 2nd in 2017

 

Frolik signed for the same contract the flames offered 

 

Semin signed 1 year 4 million 

 

Oduya Signed 3 years 4 million per season

 

Moore same contract (deal makes sense now because Gelinas is gone)

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

Cammy Zajac Kessel

 

Henrique Elias Semin

 

Frolik Yayo Palmieri

 

Ruutu Gio Totoo

 

But hey guys we can't win now

 

This is a disaster.  This team might make the playoffs.  Where is it going?   It has no 2016 1st round draft pick.  Why?  Why would you give that up?   This team has no centers - it has Zajac who is a 2C, Elias who isn't one anymore either, Josefson who probably isn't a 3C.  It's not a good team.  Maybe it's average.  The defense isn't any good and now you've just made it old again.  You are basically turning this team into the Islanders in the mid 00s - yeah, those Islander teams made the playoffs, but they basically threw away a shot at a Stanley Cup to do so.

 

The Devils have been through 5 years where the only forward of significance they developed was Adam Henrique.  Everyone else was either on the team already or signed from free agency.  It has been, in a word, horrifying.  The Devils paid a ton of money for their forwards last year - nhlnumbers says over $40 million - and got almost no return on that, because their forwards were way below average.  It's over.  The era of Brodeur and going for it every year is done.  

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This is a disaster.  This team might make the playoffs.  Where is it going?   It has no 2016 1st round draft pick.  Why?  Why would you give that up?   This team has no centers - it has Zajac who is a 2C, Elias who isn't one anymore either, Josefson who probably isn't a 3C.  It's not a good team.  Maybe it's average.  The defense isn't any good and now you've just made it old again.  You are basically turning this team into the Islanders in the mid 00s - yeah, those Islander teams made the playoffs, but they basically threw away a shot at a Stanley Cup to do so.

 

The Devils have been through 5 years where the only forward of significance they developed was Adam Henrique.  Everyone else was either on the team already or signed from free agency.  It has been, in a word, horrifying.  The Devils paid a ton of money for their forwards last year - nhlnumbers says over $40 million - and got almost no return on that, because their forwards were way below average.  It's over.  The era of Brodeur and going for it every year is done.  

 

 

We had Zajac with competent wingers in 2012 and made the finals. This hypothetical team has depth, can score, and isn't handicapped long term. We had to give up a first in 2016, which is a bummer, but we still have Zacha from this years draft.

 

I would have to disagree with you on the defense, the top 4 is still very good Greene - Larsson, Oduya - Severson,  Moore - TBA

 

As for our inability to develop forwards, I agree with you there, but I am not sure how we fix that other than better drafting.

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Some people, like myself, rightly or wrongly believe that Lou was removed for non hockey reasons. Lou's retooling was going well, as I said many times in the past, and while you can make that argument that he was getting up in age, he certainly isn't your average 72 year old.

To me this is ownership wanting to put their stamp on the organization, which they have the right to do, as they own the team. I have to believe that if Lou was still in charge, we would have been bigger players in free agency, the 6th pick might have been traded, and Scott Stevens would still be in the organization.

While Shero didn't do anything idiotic during the UFA period, he certainly didn't make the Devils a better team. Frolik, Semin, and Oduya would have been nice bridge players to get us through this time. Think of the Devils as a piece of coal, Semin, Frolik, and Oduya are like LNG a bridge fuel to get us to our green energy stage.

Here is what my lineup would look like

1st in 2016, Merrill, Gelinas, and Ottawa's 3rd for Kessel 15% retained and the Leafs 2nd in 2017

Frolik signed for the same contract the flames offered

Semin signed 1 year 4 million

Oduya Signed 3 years 4 million per season

Moore same contract (deal makes sense now because Gelinas is gone)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cammy Zajac Kessel

Henrique Elias Semin

Frolik Yayo Palmieri

Ruutu Gio Totoo

But hey guys we can't win now

Thank god the fans don't run this team.

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We had Zajac with competent wingers in 2012 and made the finals. This hypothetical team has depth, can score, and isn't handicapped long term. We had to give up a first in 2016, which is a bummer, but we still have Zacha from this years draft.

 

I would have to disagree with you on the defense, the top 4 is still very good Greene - Larsson, Oduya - Severson,  Moore - TBA

 

As for our inability to develop forwards, I agree with you there, but I am not sure how we fix that other than better drafting.

 

It's going nowhere.  It's in limbo.  It's taking declining assets like Oduya and Semin and Kessel and throwing them on top of ascending assets like Severson.

 

Oduya isn't going to be a 20 minute a game guy much longer, it's entirely possible that he falls apart right away once he goes elsewhere.  He turns 34 before the season starts.  He was never a top pairing D.  He's played a ton of games in Chicago.  How much more does he have in him?

 

It's not just better drafting, it's more drafting.  The last time the Devils had more than 2 picks in the top 60+x picks?  2008.  Since then, they've been short a first rounder twice (2010, 2013), and a 2nd rounder twice .  They haven't had 2 1st round picks since 1998.  I'm not saying the Devils should get more picks at this juncture, but at least they should try to keep all their picks.  That's the only way this thing turns around, and like sundstrom said, it's going to be a long turnaround.  They're starting from near zero at forward.  If they fvck this up they could easily head to Islanderstown - maybe make the playoffs once in the next 5 years, then guys start leaving or they have to be traded off first, and the cycle starts again.  Hard to get out of.

Edited by Triumph
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Some people, like myself, rightly or wrongly believe that Lou was removed for non hockey reasons. Lou's retooling was going well, as I said many times in the past, and while you can make that argument that he was getting up in age, he certainly isn't your average 72 year old. 

 

To me this is ownership wanting to put their stamp on the organization, which they have the right to do, as they own the team. I have to believe that if Lou was still in charge, we would have been bigger players in free agency, the 6th pick might have been traded, and Scott Stevens would still be in the organization.

 

While Shero didn't do anything idiotic during the UFA period, he certainly didn't make the Devils a better team. Frolik, Semin, and Oduya would have been nice bridge players to get us through this time. Think of the Devils as a piece of coal, Semin, Frolik, and Oduya are like LNG a bridge fuel to get us to our green energy stage.

 

Here is what my lineup would look like

 

1st in 2016, Merrill, Gelinas, and Ottawa's 3rd for Kessel 15% retained and the Leafs 2nd in 2017

 

Frolik signed for the same contract the flames offered 

 

Semin signed 1 year 4 million 

 

Oduya Signed 3 years 4 million per season

 

Moore same contract (deal makes sense now because Gelinas is gone)

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

Cammy Zajac Kessel

 

Henrique Elias Semin

 

Frolik Yayo Palmieri

 

Ruutu Gio Totoo

 

But hey guys we can't win now

 

Thats assuming all of the pieces came together and we were able to get all of these players here in 1 offseason and even then this team is not great. Maybe this team makes the playoffs but its not a Stanley Cup contender and the Devils wouldnt have the assets and cap space to make them a cup contender in years to come. Making moves like this leaves them in perpetual mediocrity. 

The goal shouldn't be to just make the playoffs, it should be to win a Stanley Cup. 

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We had Zajac with competent wingers in 2012 and made the finals. This hypothetical team has depth, can score, and isn't handicapped long term. We had to give up a first in 2016, which is a bummer, but we still have Zacha from this years draft.

 

I would have to disagree with you on the defense, the top 4 is still very good Greene - Larsson, Oduya - Severson,  Moore - TBA

 

As for our inability to develop forwards, I agree with you there, but I am not sure how we fix that other than better drafting.

It's incredibly short-sighted to just assume that all of a sudden, we're going to start drafting well out of the blue just because Lou is no longer pulling strings.  A change in leadership does NOT guarantee better results.  Dealing for Kessel is definitely a win-now move, with his contract and everything, so outside of signing possibly Semin to help the scoring, the roster you posted doesn't do much for the future, especially if you're giving up those two picks next year.  It's also short-sighted and naive to assume that Zacha is the solution to our scoring woes.  

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It's going nowhere.  It's in limbo.  It's taking declining assets like Oduya and Semin and Kessel and throwing them on top of ascending assets like Severson.

 

Oduya isn't going to be a 20 minute a game guy much longer, it's entirely possible that he falls apart right away once he goes elsewhere.  He turns 34 before the season starts.  He was never a top pairing D.  He's played a ton of games in Chicago.  How much more does he have in him?

 

It's not just better drafting, it's more drafting.  The last time the Devils had more than 2 picks in the top 60+x picks?  2008.  Since then, they've been short a first rounder twice (2010, 2013), and a 2nd rounder twice .  They haven't had 2 1st round picks since 1998.  I'm not saying the Devils should get more picks at this juncture, but at least they should try to keep all their picks.  That's the only way this thing turns around, and like sundstrom said, it's going to be a long turnaround.  They're starting from near zero at forward.  If they fvck this up they could easily head to Islanderstown - maybe make the playoffs once in the next 5 years, then guys start leaving or they have to be traded off first, and the cycle starts again.  Hard to get out of.

 

Kessel is going to decline, but his precipitous drop off won't be for another 4 to 5 years, Semin is signed for 1 year, and Oduya is signed for 3 years. You are right Oduya may decline, but you have to remember he played in Europe for a long time, his body overall isn't as taxed. I would imagine he can play effectively into his late 30's like Rafalski.

 

You are also discounting what we have coming through the pipeline when it comes to defenseman. Santini, Jacobs, Scarlett, Hrabanka are all waiting in the wings. 

 

Draft pick worries are real, but you need to take risks. 

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Kessel is going to decline, but his precipitous drop off won't be for another 4 to 5 years, Semin is signed for 1 year, and Oduya is signed for 3 years. You are right Oduya may decline, but you have to remember he played in Europe for a long time, his body overall isn't as taxed. I would imagine he can play effectively into his late 30's like Rafalski.

 

You are also discounting what we have coming through the pipeline when it comes to defenseman. Santini, Jacobs, Scarlett, Hrabanka are all waiting in the wings. 

 

Draft pick worries are real, but you need to take risks. 

 

Kessel is a declining asset.  The Devils will not be able to sell him for more than they got him for.  Oduya played in Europe, that doesn't matter much to me, he's not as good as Rafalski, he has a shorter distance to not being a good player than Rafalski.  The Devils cannot keep counting on players to be good into their 30s.  It has burned them so many times.  How many times can they continue to do it?  Put it this way:  The Devils signed 6 UFA defensemen between 2004 and now.  Matvichuk, McGillis, Malakhov, Vishnevsky, Tallinder, Volchenkov.  NONE of them finished their entire contract as a member of the New Jersey Devils roster.  None of them brought back an asset in trade.  These moves were fine to win now (well okay I hated the Malakhov contract and Vishnevsky would not be a favorite of mine).  Regardless, The Devils don't have to make them, so they shouldn't.

 

Those defensemen may be nice players for the Devils but none of them are going to be worth very much in trade.  I like all of them but there's not a ton of value there, and there's not likely to be.

 

You do need to take risks, and the Devils will have to if they want to win a Stanley Cup, they can't just Edmonton their way to a good team.  Now is not the time for those risks.

Edited by Triumph
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Really don't think we are all that far off from being a playoff contender not a first seed team but like a 7th or 8th. I mean we have a decent young defense looking to improve and alright bottom 6 group and a stellar goaltender. I think honestly what will make or break anything will be the coaching staff and how the players play in the system.

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Kessel is a declining asset.  The Devils will not be able to sell him for more than they got him for.  Oduya played in Europe, that doesn't matter much to me, he's not as good as Rafalski, he has a shorter distance to not being a good player than Rafalski.  The Devils cannot keep counting on players to be good into their 30s.  It has burned them so many times.  How many times can they continue to do it?  Put it this way:  The Devils signed 6 UFA defensemen between 2004 and now.  Matvichuk, McGillis, Malakhov, Vishnevsky, Tallinder, Volchenkov.  NONE of them finished their entire contract as a member of the New Jersey Devils roster.  None of them brought back an asset in trade.  These moves were fine to win now (well okay I hated the Malakhov contract and Vishnevsky would not be a favorite of mine).  Regardless, The Devils don't have to make them, so they shouldn't.

 

Those defensemen may be nice players for the Devils but none of them are going to be worth very much in trade.  I like all of them but there's not a ton of value there, and there's not likely to be.

 

You do need to take risks, and the Devils will have to if they want to win a Stanley Cup, they can't just Edmonton their way to a good team.  Now is not the time for those risks.

The bolded is what should shock us as fans.  The fact that none of those players finished their contracts here and none of them brought back assets means that if these players were counted as Income/Expenditures, all six of those defenseman are straight expenditures and this isn't even considering the UFA forwards signed by New Jersey since 2004. It's impossible to believe that every UFA signing is going to give a decent return, but your GM should be striving for Jagr-like signings, none of this 4-6 years of commitment for non-essential players, but many signings should be returning assets as to not be "net-losses"

Basically, we need to re-invest in youth and that seems to be the commitment for the next few years.  

Patience, younglings. 

Edited by RizzMB30
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Really don't think we are all that far off from being a playoff contender not a first seed team but like a 7th or 8th. I mean we have a decent young defense looking to improve and alright bottom 6 group and a stellar goaltender. I think honestly what will make or break anything will be the coaching staff and how the players play in the system.

That's the league we're in...very few teams are as bad to be far off from being close to the 7th or 8th seed. That's the parity of it all. 

 

But looking at our division - I mean, I think NY, Washington, Columbus, the Rangers and Pitt are certainly the best in the division and likely only 4 of 5 will make it. That's nuts. So hard to make the playoffs nowadays.

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