ATLL765 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Seems to have had an excellent game tonight. He looks like a great faceoff guy to have around, and if you're going to dress a role player center why not have at least one good faceoff guy? Not that I'm saying that he will, or even should necessarily, stick around, but it's easy to make some kind of case to stick with him. Especially over Zharkov. ????? All of this...just...what? I don't understand why anyone thinks Zharkov didn't make a case to stick with the big club. He's quick and defensively responsible. If he could actually put the puck in the net occasionally, he'd be the perfect 3rd or 4th line player. Either way, he's still less of a liability than any of Janssen, Boulton or Sestito and none of them can score at all, at least Zharkov put up a few assists in his time in the NHL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinn01 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 The jury is still out but I definitely like him more than Sestito and Boulton. IMO Sestitio is useless. Boluton had a turrible game last night also. Id rather see Boluton in the lineup over Janssen but I would also like to see Sestito sent packing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLL765 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) IMO Sestitio is useless. Boluton had a turrible game last night also. Id rather see Boluton in the lineup over Janssen but I would also like to see Sestito sent packing. Agree completely. I don't understand why if the team finds a 4th line of Janssen, Boulton and Sestito to be satisfactory, that they wouldn't think a line of Carter, Palmieri and Zharkov wouldn't be just as good, if not better than that. I mean, at least they'd be quicker than what we put out there now and Palmieri and Zharkov are certainly no more of a liability on the ice than our current 4th liners. Imo, they're less of a liability and they have a better ability to put up a few points. Carter and Palmieri have shown they can score a goal here and there and Zharkov showed that he can at least get a few assists even though he can't score to save his life. If they put up 2 goals in the 2nd half of the year, that'd still be two more than the 4th line put up in the first half, right? Edited January 8, 2012 by ATLL765 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilMinder Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Janssen was brought in as an energy player and that hasn't panned out. I can barely notice when he has made a shift. Boulton? Good god I notice every one of his shifts. He is like that guy on the three lane highway everyone slams on their brakes and dodges to get around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetlebum Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Boluton had his best game as a devil last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinn01 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Boluton had his best game as a devil last night. Thats questionable. He had a bonehead penalty last night. While I agree he has almost the same amount of energy as Janssen and can fight but can also quasi set up plays and put the puck on net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpathianForest Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Having a goon on your lineup with little to no other assets is going the way of the dinosaur. I say drop Janssen and Boulton. We've got Clarkson. The only caveat is if Clarkie gets a 5 for fighting he won't be on the ice to score, but we don't really need to be dropping the glove anyways. There's a decent amount of teams out there with no enforcer that hold their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinn01 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Having a goon on your lineup with little to no other assets is going the way of the dinosaur. I say drop Janssen and Boulton. We've got Clarkson. The only caveat is if Clarkie gets a 5 for fighting he won't be on the ice to score, but we don't really need to be dropping the glove anyways. There's a decent amount of teams out there with no enforcer that hold their own. We do need to use the body more. Last night and the past few weeks we have been just getting tossed around and not really pushing back. Salvador was doing what he should last night in front of the net but he let his emotions get the better of him and was called for it, along with the other player who I forget who it was. They all need to be more tough and scrappy. I dont agree that Clarkson should be fighting. He is on his way to having the best season of his career and I dont want a broken hand or anything dumb from fighting run a risk at that. He has become a well rounded player this past off season and has worked really hard towards it, ontop of the backing he has received and will continue to receive from DeBoer. I do think that Boulton can be the "enforcer" and he seems to enjoy that position but can also control his emotions and actions much more easier and quicker/smarter then Janssen. Janssen just likes to bang the body. Boulton is better with the puck, but even that is like saying hes the smartest kid with down syndrome. I just think Clarkson should keep up with he is doing right now and not worry about fighting unless someone really really provokes him but even then let the few goons we have take care of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLL765 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 We do need to use the body more. Last night and the past few weeks we have been just getting tossed around and not really pushing back. Salvador was doing what he should last night in front of the net but he let his emotions get the better of him and was called for it, along with the other player who I forget who it was. They all need to be more tough and scrappy. I dont agree that Clarkson should be fighting. He is on his way to having the best season of his career and I dont want a broken hand or anything dumb from fighting run a risk at that. He has become a well rounded player this past off season and has worked really hard towards it, ontop of the backing he has received and will continue to receive from DeBoer. I do think that Boulton can be the "enforcer" and he seems to enjoy that position but can also control his emotions and actions much more easier and quicker/smarter then Janssen. Janssen just likes to bang the body. Boulton is better with the puck, but even that is like saying hes the smartest kid with down syndrome. I just think Clarkson should keep up with he is doing right now and not worry about fighting unless someone really really provokes him but even then let the few goons we have take care of it. I completely agree that Clarkson has become a well rounded player and has progressed the way we thought he would after the 09-10 season that was cut short by injury for him, but I disagree that Clarkson should completely cut fighting out of his game. I don't think he should be fighting too often like he had earlier in his career with NJ, but I think that part of his game is something that can be useful for the team. I also agree that Boulton can be the guy who plays the "enforcer" role that we signed Janssen to play in as well. Boulton seems much more adept at actually playing hockey than Janssen is. I'm pretty sure I saw him, pretty skillfully, deflect a puck during the last game and it quite possibly could have ended up in the net. It didn't, but the point is that if he can do that anywhere near regularly, he'll definitely be able to put up at least a point here and there. Something that I seriously doubt Janssen will do again after the one assist he got earlier this year on a goal by Sykora. That being said. I still think a 4th line consisting of Carter centering Palmieri and Zharkov would better and far more of a competent line that anything we've iced previously this year. I think a line with those three together would not only NOT be a liability on the ice, but when matched against other team's 4th lines, might even be able to score a few goals and do so much more regularly than Boulton, Sestito, Janssen, Mills or whatever other scrubs we've had on our 4th line earlier this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoreMoreThan3 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) I think he's saying Zharkov has gotten enough chances so there is no need to call him up. I'd disagree, Zharkov has proven both in the NHL and AHL he's an NHL player, to me. The Devils either disagree with that or don't feel he fits the makeup of the current 3rd or 4th line. I liked Zharkov when he was up with the Devils. He looks like he can produce big time but unfortunately he just didn't at all when he was up. It was strange. It kind of reminds me of Tedenby this season. As for this new guy. The Devils are 2-0 w/ him in the line up and I've seen him make some smart plays that have gone under the radar. No complaints at this point, don't see why he shouldn't stay. Edited January 8, 2012 by ScoreMoreThan3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohms law Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 That being said. I still think a 4th line consisting of Carter centering Palmieri and Zharkov would better and far more of a competent line that anything we've iced previously this year. I think a line with those three together would not only NOT be a liability on the ice, but when matched against other team's 4th lines, might even be able to score a few goals and do so much more regularly than Boulton, Sestito, Janssen, Mills or whatever other scrubs we've had on our 4th line earlier this year. You're probably right about all of this, but... it's not going to happen. Neither Lou nor DeBoer seem to agree, so... I think Mills is actually pretty decent as well, but he's not better than Carter or... well, everyone else, basically. I like that they called Pals back up for another look, although I don't have much hope that he'll turn things around. Zharkov is already at the place where Palmieri is going to be after this season. All you guys with man crushes on him are wearing rose colored glasses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLL765 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) You're probably right about all of this, but... it's not going to happen. Neither Lou nor DeBoer seem to agree, so... I think Mills is actually pretty decent as well, but he's not better than Carter or... well, everyone else, basically. I like that they called Pals back up for another look, although I don't have much hope that he'll turn things around. Zharkov is already at the place where Palmieri is going to be after this season. All you guys with man crushes on him are wearing rose colored glasses. I don't think I have too skewed a vision of Zharkov. I realize he's cursed as to scoring goals, but in his time in the NHL, he put up more points than all our 4th line has put together so far this year, right? I checked and he put up a total of 2 goals, 12 assists and 14 points in 82 NHL games over the past couple seasons. Excluding Palmieri and Carter, who both have had significant time on lines other than the 4th line, the 4th line has put up all of 2 points this year with both Janssen and Sestito having one assist each. even if you count Carter in that, it's still only 2 goals and 4 assists, totaling 6 points. My point here is that even though Zharkov couldn't score to save his life, he still showed over the past two seasons, that he's not at all a liability on the ice and in fact is quite defensively responsible, even working well on the PK under Lemaire. So if Zharkov is defensively responsible and has shown more offensive capability than all of the players we've played on our 4th line this season put together, why in the world have we not played Zharkov on the 4th line this season? I know some people think that Zharkov is a player that doesn't belong on a 4th line, but I think he can be the type guy who is a strong PKer and can work in bottom 6 in a checking role. So with the facts laid out to see here, have I made a good enough case for why Zharkov should be playing in the NHL on our 4th line? Edited January 9, 2012 by ATLL765 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefiestygoat Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I agree with you, ATLL765. Overall I'm happy with DeBoer, my one big issue is his idea that the fourth line has to be an "energy" line filled with goons. I'd much rather take a real, defensively strong hockey player than can also contribute on the PK like Zharkov. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohms law Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I can agree with that, but... he doesn't hit, really. I don't think that DeBoer (or Lamoriello) wants the Hansens as a fourth line necessarily, but he definitely values players who can check (and, to a lesser extent, block shots) over those who don't (even those who may have "better" defensive games). So, the point being it's not that I disagree with your analysis, it's just obvious to me that team management values other kinds of talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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