nessus

I'm glad they got embarrassed at home by a mediocre team to close out the season. I don't want anyone, especially not Fitz, to walk away from this season with anything but a bitter taste in their mouth. Lots of work to be done, and it starts now. Let's go 2024-2025 Devils.

I cannot agree with this any more. Fitz was so good at creating a team identity, but these replacement players were not sufficient to maintain what Fitz had built. It was absolutely one of the many reasons for the regression this season.

Really goes to show you how special of a player Jack is. He was winning games for the team early in the season, and especially last season. He likely singlehandedly kept Lindy afloat for so long. But injured Jack couldn't quite do it, despite still being the team's best player. Hoping for a speedy recovery for him.

I don't think we have to worry about Joel Quenneville coming here. Especially after being the only team with 2 players involved in the Hockey Canada case, it would be a completely ridiculous move to bring Quenneville in.

If there were ever a perfect analogy for the Devils’ 2023-2024, I think a lifeless, drunk weenie is it

Beautifully written. If it were a movie, NJ Dev would have to be played by Lindy Ruff. He would really nail that “huh” line.

Just a perfect summary of this season in one game. They have consistently given us hope only to lose a big game against a weaker team immediately after. Onto next season...

Nico, Timo, and Bratt all at the top of the card. That line was just clicking tonight. Timo's goal was awesome. Nico winning a battle and getting the puck to Bratt. Bratt with the patience to allow a scoring chance to develop. Timo finding the soft spot in front. Exactly what you want from that line.

I also thought he would be a core player for the Devils. But it really is a testament to how far this organization has come. Objectively, there wasn't too much to suggest that Santini was going to be a successful NHLer, but compared to what we were used to at the time, he looked really solid.

Me looking at draft prospects If the Devils continue to lose at their current rate, I would gladly take this guy. He'll need to drop a bit for that to be possible.

Fully expecting @MadDog2020 to get a "Fire Green" chant going today

I am not planning to get as invested this year as I normally do. Likelihood of trading the pick + inevitability of the Devils choosing a player other than who I was hoping for makes it frustrating. But I have definitely said that before. As of now, it's looking highly likely that the Devils stay in top 10 range. Schedule isn't going to get an easier, and this group doesn't seem to be on track to starting a win streak any time soon. If they keep the pick, I like Lindstrom as a possible fit. Tij Iginla seems like a good choice as well, but I'm not quite sure yet if he's someone to take in the top 10. But I will say that Iginla's stock seems to be rising, so that can certainly change by the summer. If they do end up trading this pick, you really need to get a top goalie. A top 10 pick is a really good asset.

Let's say Fitz had explored these goaltending options earlier in the season (and also fired Lindy earlier). Granted, the Kahkonen move was reportedly more about getting VV out than anything. But, so far we have gone 2 consecutive games with much improved goaltending. Let's see if this trend continues. Could this season have been saved with a tandem of Kahkonen and Allen? It makes you wonder how this could have changed Fitz's offseason plans. Now he is kind of forced to go after Markstrom/Ullmark/Saros, and one of those guys needs to be a clear #1 here. Had the Devils coasted into the playoffs with Allen/Kahkonen, they go into the off-season less desperate for a goaltender, so they could potentially save on some assets, or use them to address another team need. There are a lot of hypotheticals here that don't take into account availability of players so far in advance of the trade deadline, but I think this is what frustrates me most about Fitz taking such a long time to make changes. Not only did he allow this season to get away from him when the signs were there early on, he dug himself a hole for the offseason.

Timo is on an absolute tear lately. I have to say, I was quite worried about him fitting in here up until recently. I thought he was either injured or just a poor fit for the team. I don't think we have ever really seen this player until this recent surge. Last year, when he was "doing the right things but not getting rewarded", I still wasn't quite seeing it. But now he's looking like the player we thought we were getting: a real play driver who can generate a ton of offense on his own. That itself will be like an off-season addition as we head into next season. Nice to see Mercer and Holtz get rewarded tonight. Those are two guys who have been due. Dawson using those good hands in tight was great. And of course Holtz had to go top corner on a wide open net - just to be sure.

Every time they mention Kurtis MacDermid, I crack up thinking about it being McDavid's alter ego like @MadDog2020 mentioned