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nessus

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nessus last won the day on August 12 2022

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  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Fully expecting @MadDog2020 to get a "Fire Green" chant going today
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Every time they mention Kurtis MacDermid, I crack up thinking about it being McDavid's alter ego like @MadDog2020 mentioned
  8. The whole point of having Jack and Nico is to have two strong lines. Kind of like Crosby/Malkin, McDavid/Draisaitl, Matthews/Tavares, etc. Nah let's just throw them on the same line and hope something happens
  9. I wonder if Erika ever gets tired of saying "Welcome back to (insert city) where the Devils are trailing..."
  10. One silver lining about this lost season, which may require some mental gymnastics, is that now we have both Luke's and Nemec's rookie seasons out of the way for next season. The downside is we are down one year on Nemec's ELC, which could have been helpful for fitting all the contracts in later on. But, going into next season with the goaltending situation fixed, coaching fixed, hopefully an upgrade or two on offense, and no rookie defenseman to acclimate to the NHL all should make a major difference. The Devils definitely overachieved last season, as much as I hate to admit it. Things were really working, especially early on in the season with that crazy win streak. I think part of it was teams just were not expecting it from the Devils who had been a bad team as recently as the previous season. As the season went on, they weren't quite as dominant as they were early. Then this season, you have the opposite - things really not working. From goaltending to injuries to coaching to star players having down years, many things not going their way. There's no reason not to expect a major bounce back as long as Fitz can address a few issues this offseason.
  11. The only thing that gives me pause about this is it's really tough to argue that Mercer is having a better season than Holtz right now. That's not to say Mercer isn't more valuable than Holtz, but more so that Holtz really should be evaluated properly before we decide to send him off at a time when his value is as low as it may ever be. For the record, I do still believe Mercer to be the better of the two right now. I'm by no means a stats guy, but I was looking at some the other day, comparing these two. Mercer has slightly more defensive zone starts, but I think this disadvantage is far outweighed by Holtz's limited usage and his overall weak linemates. But what was interesting to me was when looking at shots/60, goals/60, assists/60, Corsi, Fenwick, and a few other metrics signifying offensive contribution - they all favored Holtz. Defensively, Mercer typically has the advantage, which tracks with the eye test. The Devils made a big deal about adding an analytics department, but it certainly does not seem like it is being put to good use. I really would hate to see the Devils give up on a player who goes somewhere else to flourish.
  12. Deep down, the New Jersey Devil knows that Fitz made a mistake, but he is too focused on blaming Lou to realize it
  13. Lol way to welcome a new player to the organization. At least he's being transparent now.
  14. If the Devils are planning to move a major piece for a goalie this offseason, they better do their best to see what they have with Holtz for the remainder of the season. To be honest, I'm not sure who I would rather move between Holtz and Mercer. Holtz seems like the obvious choice here, since Mercer seems more versatile, and is more proven at the NHL level to this point. But this season, it is hard to argue that Mercer has been better than Holtz, and that is with Holtz getting the awful minutes and linemates that he has had all season. And Holtz is the anti-Toffoli - not quite producing how we would like, but really seems like he could be a great fit for Jack.
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