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Zubie#8

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Zajac, JJ, and the 4th line can very well replace zach regular season production, but what about his post-season production? We were healthy in the playoffs and even with zach we couldnt get it done. Getting in the playoffs is nice, but unless you win a cup its a failure of a season, and right now we are online a playoff team, NOT a cup contender.

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Zajac, JJ, and the 4th line can very well replace zach regular season production, but what about his post-season production? We were healthy in the playoffs and even with zach we couldnt get it done. Getting in the playoffs is nice, but unless you win a cup its a failure of a season, and right now we are online a playoff team, NOT a cup contender.

"Devils: maybe a playoff team and definitely not a cup contender." - What everyone says every year, yet we always prove them wrong. No worries, we'll find a way to replace Zach's production. We always find a way to get into the playoffs, no matter what it takes

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"Devils: maybe a playoff team and definitely not a cup contender." - What everyone says every year, yet we always prove them wrong. No worries, we'll find a way to replace Zach's production. We always find a way to get into the playoffs, no matter what it takes

As devils fans we know our team better than the so called "analysts" who just say the same teams are favorite every year. We know our team is better than a bubble team like we are called every off season, but a cup contender is a different story. Up until this year we hadnt come close to winning a cup in almost 10 years. We just lost a huge part of our team and while his regular season production can be made up without picking up someone new, his playoff production cant since we were 100% healthy in the playoffs and alot deeper than we are now. We are more than a bubble team but as of now we arent cup contenders

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As devils fans we know our team better than the so called "analysts" who just say the same teams are favorite every year. We know our team is better than a bubble team like we are called every off season, but a cup contender is a different story. Up until this year we hadnt come close to winning a cup in almost 10 years. We just lost a huge part of our team and while his regular season production can be made up without picking up someone new, his playoff production cant since we were 100% healthy in the playoffs and alot deeper than we are now. We are more than a bubble team but as of now we arent cup contenders

sadly, your right, but I didn't even come close to thinking that we were gonna go to the stanley cup last year and look what happened

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Wouldn't count on Josefson for anything either, really. He's proven one thing thus far in his NHL career, and that's that he can't stay healthy.

His injuries have been more freaky than anything. So far as I know, he doesn't have any chronic problems like concussion, back, shoulder or knee issues, which are really what makes one injury prone

Basically, JJ is Nordberg.

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The problem with this logic is that come playoff time, it's still the same team as last postseason's, but without Parise (and Ponikarovsky). The Devils will have Zajac, Zidlicky, Josefson, CBGB to use, but no Parise. It's likely that they won't be as plagued by injuries (Kovy, Zid, Fayne, Elias) if they can make it anywhere in the playoffs next season, though. As compared to the regular season of last year, the Devils may not look so affected by the departure of Parise. But maybe the additions of Zajac, CBGB, and even Zidlicky explain why a seemingly decent team was good enough to make it to the SCF. And that's why I think something needs to be done. But also, I'm not exactly worried about it until the trade deadline approaches.

Edited by nessus
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The problem with this logic is that come playoff time, it's still the same team as last postseason's, but without Parise (and Ponikarovsky). The Devils will have Zajac, Zidlicky, Josefson, CBGB to use, but no Parise. It's likely that they won't be as plagued by injuries (Kovy, Zid, Fayne, Elias) if they can make it anywhere in the playoffs next season, though. As compared to the regular season of last year, the Devils may not look so affected by the departure of Parise. But maybe the additions of Zajac, CBGB, and even Zidlicky explain why a seemingly decent team was good enough to make it to the SCF. And that's why I think something needs to be done. But also, I'm not exactly worried about it until the trade deadline approaches.

Perhaps that's why Lou didn't sign Semin? Maybe he has a plan for the something to take place at the deadline?

Edited by TheMazz
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If im not mistaken, wasnt the offseason going into the 2010 season alot like this one, and then we got kovy? I think all that happened that offseason was we finally re-signed zajac, re-signed shanahan (even tho he retired after preseason) and hired lemaire. Finally lou signed the number 2 center we were all looking for.....robbie nieds! He turned out to be a bust as expected and later we got kovy. Maybe something similar will happen and we get iginla or something. Tedenby can be the bergfors, greene or tallinder can be the oduya, and then someone else like whitney can be the cormier. One can dream

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If im not mistaken, wasnt the offseason going into the 2010 season alot like this one, and then we got kovy? I think all that happened that offseason was we finally re-signed zajac, re-signed shanahan (even tho he retired after preseason) and hired lemaire. Finally lou signed the number 2 center we were all looking for.....robbie nieds! He turned out to be a bust as expected and later we got kovy. Maybe something similar will happen and we get iginla or something. Tedenby can be the bergfors, greene or tallinder can be the oduya, and then someone else like whitney can be the cormier. One can dream

Bergfors was actually having a decent rookie year...decent enough to trick Atlanta into thinking they had a solid prospect coming back to them. Tedenby's last season was dreadful...he'd have to have a Bergfors-type run as a Devils to get anyone to think he has any future as an NHLer.

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Perhaps that's why Lou didn't sign Semin? Maybe he has a plan for the something to take place at the deadline?

Problem with that is 3/4 of the season will be gone by then. The Devils could well be on the playoff bubble or worse if they don't find a top six winger sooner than that. There's too much parity in the league to have such a critical hole for that long.

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Problem with that is 3/4 of the season will be gone by then. The Devils could well be on the playoff bubble or worse if they don't find a top six winger sooner than that. There's too much parity in the league to have such a critical hole for that long.

Agreed. You could see the effect Zidlicky, Poni and Bernier had. I'm glad Lou made his moves as early as he did

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If im not mistaken, wasnt the offseason going into the 2010 season alot like this one, and then we got kovy? I think all that happened that offseason was we finally re-signed zajac, re-signed shanahan (even tho he retired after preseason) and hired lemaire. Finally lou signed the number 2 center we were all looking for.....robbie nieds! He turned out to be a bust as expected and later we got kovy. Maybe something similar will happen and we get iginla or something. Tedenby can be the bergfors, greene or tallinder can be the oduya, and then someone else like whitney can be the cormier. One can dream

I think something like this will end up happening. Perhaps not on the same scale (Iginla), but I really could see someone like Chris Stewart playing in New Jersey. He clearly is not working out in St. Louis and I am not convinced that he is just a bust that was overhyped. If he can put up numbers like he did just a year or two ago, he'd be a great RW for the first line, imo. If I recall correctly, St. Louis was using him on the third line.

Approaching playoffs:

Kovalchuk-Zajac-Stewart

Elias-Henrique-Zubrus

Tedenby/Sykora-Josefson-Clarkson

Carter-Gionta's Brother-Bernier

Also, excuse my other post in this thread, I was really tired and not able to type coherently. Sounds like it was written by a 10 year old. But I just meant that the improvements made at the end of last season (adding Zajac, Josefson, Zid, CBGB) were reflected in the playoff performance. You can't expect to get that far again with the same group minus the (arguably) best one.

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Bergfors was actually having a decent rookie year...decent enough to trick Atlanta into thinking they had a solid prospect coming back to them. Tedenby's last season was dreadful...he'd have to have a Bergfors-type run as a Devils to get anyone to think he has any future as an NHLer.

The trade would only be plausible if teddy was actually playing decent or better. Bergfors played great the first 25 or so games, and then he fizzled out. Im sure many teams will be after iginla and unless the flames are in the playoffs i think he will finally get traded. I think he would be a great fit on our team. Yes hes older but he knows how to score, play D, and hes a RW

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So basically the key to getting a Chris Stewart type player is all resting on the shoulders of Tedenby and if he plays amazing hockey for the first 25 or so games this season? That way we can use him along with a scrub prospect and a d-man that we don't need as trade bait?!

Sounds legit.

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I get the feeling you are being sarcastic about this haha. I doubt the devils get an iginla but when the devils traded for kovy they got rid of a overpaid dman they didnt need, bergfors who overachieved for 20 games, and a nut case minor leaguer. I wouldnt say its impossible.

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Oh I don't think Tedenby is getting traded if someone decent is coming back. When I said "something like this", I meant a trade for a potential first line forward. I do believe that one of Tallinder or Greene would have to be the centerpiece. It may sound ridiculous to some, but a healthy Andy Greene could match Stewart's 2011-2012 point production, or at least come close. And yeah, NJ does have a dman or two that they don't need, but there aren't many teams that have the D surplus that the Devils do. They could use that for a bit of leverage. I could see a trade happening sooner rather than later.

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The Devils have fvck-all for prospects right now. I think people forget that Kovalchuk was a rental - it was far from a foregone conclusion that he would stay. Not only was Kovalchuk a rental, but he was rented back when the salary cap meant something, and there were a lot of teams wary of taking on a player like that. That drove his cost down. If Iginla were suddenly being sold, the price would be much higher for him than it was for Kovalchuk, even though that wouldn't appear to make sense on its face.

Furthermore, the idea that Atlanta was hoodwinked into taking Bergfors - Bergfors put up some solid numbers in the minors, no one confused him for a star, but it feels like the reason he's not in the NHL right now has more to do with things outside his on-ice play.

Edited by Triumph
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The Devils have fvck-all for prospects right now. I think people forget that Kovalchuk was a rental - it was far from a foregone conclusion that he would stay. Not only was Kovalchuk a rental, but he was rented back when the salary cap meant something, and there were a lot of teams wary of taking on a player like that. That drove his cost down. If Iginla were suddenly being sold, the price would be much higher for him than it was for Kovalchuk, even though that wouldn't appear to make sense on its face.

Furthermore, the idea that Atlanta was hoodwinked into taking Bergfors - Bergfors put up some solid numbers in the minors, no one confused him for a star, but it feels like the reason he's not in the NHL right now has more to do with things outside his on-ice play.

When the devils got Kovy the first thing i said was that he was a rental, but i also expected lou to try to re-sign him. When you give up 3 players and a draft pick you kind of need to retain that player. But regardless of that, if the devils are locked into a playoff spot come trade deadline time, why wouldnt lou try to make a move like that if it made sense? Ive said this many time but we were two wins away from a cup. We are only a piece or two away, and when your organization is that close the gm should be aggressive because that window could close after a year or two.

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When the devils got Kovy the first thing i said was that he was a rental, but i also expected lou to try to re-sign him. When you give up 3 players and a draft pick you kind of need to retain that player.

But regardless of that, if the devils are locked into a playoff spot come trade deadline time, why wouldnt lou try to make a move like that if it made sense? Ive said this many time but we were two wins away from a cup. We are only a piece or two away, and when your organization is that close the gm should be aggressive because that window could close after a year or two.

Because rentals are typically a bad idea. They're good when the pieces you sell off are extraneous - and those pieces largely were. The Devils had plenty of centers, and at the time, they had plenty of wingers on the roster. Do the Devils really miss anything from that deal besides the 1st round pick? No. This year, the Devils wrapped up 3 pieces of nonsense and 2 draft picks and sold them to Minnesota for Zidlicky. The Devils aren't really in that kind of spot anymore. They have lots of D prospects and to some degree that's it - and D prospects are a more uncertain thing than forwards. If they could get a piece for one of their D prospects, sure, great. But trading for a big name at the deadline is often a bad move, and it's almost certainly going to be a bad move with where the Devils are right now, organizationally.

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Because rentals are typically a bad idea. They're good when the pieces you sell off are extraneous - and those pieces largely were. The Devils had plenty of centers, and at the time, they had plenty of wingers on the roster. Do the Devils really miss anything from that deal besides the 1st round pick? No. This year, the Devils wrapped up 3 pieces of nonsense and 2 draft picks and sold them to Minnesota for Zidlicky. The Devils aren't really in that kind of spot anymore. They have lots of D prospects and to some degree that's it - and D prospects are a more uncertain thing than forwards. If they could get a piece for one of their D prospects, sure, great. But trading for a big name at the deadline is often a bad move, and it's almost certainly going to be a bad move with where the Devils are right now, organizationally.

It doesnt necessarily have to be a huge name like iginla. Im just using him as an example cause hes the big fish this year most likely. What im getting at is that if getting an iginla would put us over the edge from being a normal playoff team to a bonafide cup contender then i would do it. If some one said "hey your team is ganna trade for so and so player and it will weaken your organization for a few years but this year you will win a cup" i would take it in a heart beat

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It doesnt necessarily have to be a huge name like iginla. Im just using him as an example cause hes the big fish this year most likely. What im getting at is that if getting an iginla would put us over the edge from being a normal playoff team to a bonafide cup contender then i would do it. If some one said "hey your team is ganna trade for so and so player and it will weaken your organization for a few years but this year you will win a cup" i would take it in a heart beat

The only way a team can acquire one player and go from 'normal playoff team' (whatever that is) to bonafide cup contender (again, assuming that we know what these things are) is by acquiring a goalie (and that's only if their current goalie is terrible). The addition of a highly skilled player can certainly make a team better, but the playoffs are a total crapshoot. Something like the Hossa deal worked out great for Pittsburgh even though they didn't win it all, but that's because the players they gave up weren't very good. The Devils acquired Kovalchuk, got some tough breaks, and were the first team eliminated from the 2010 playoffs.

The Devils can't afford to trade a 1st round pick. They can't afford to trade a forward. These things may change, but I doubt it. And if that continues to be the case it will be hard to cobble together anything for a significant trade.

Edited by Triumph
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