The Devils' Right Wing Issue

[Triumph]

The Devils have a lot of problems right now, but I'd like to focus on just one because I think it's the most fixable.

 

The Devils have used 7 right wings so far this season: Jaromir Jagr, Martin Havlat, Michael Ryder, Damien Brunner, Jordin Tootoo, Steve Bernier, Mike Sislo, and Stephen Gionta.  Of these, the first 5 are UFA next year.  In addition, the Devils really have nothing at the minor league level at RW - they have Mike Sislo, who looks like a competent NHLer, but he's not going to be the kind of guy who wins and loses games for you.  So right wing is really a position they need to upgrade, and they need to be able to get young, cheap talent at RW, because clearly they are going to have to have some old, expensive talent at that position as well.

 

In addition, I think Damon Severson's emergence is obviating the need for Eric Gelinas.  I like Gelinas's skill set a lot but so far he is a disaster at even strength.  With Hraberenka and Scarlett potentially having some of those skills behind him and Severson already jumping ahead of him in terms of PP responsibility, the Devils can potentially sell high-ish on Gelinas while the league hasn't figured it out.  I don't like giving up on him, but I don't see many alternatives right now.

 

Let's look at the UFAs at that position this coming off-season, other than the guys I already mentioned - and here I am only considering right-shooting right wings:

 

Justin Williams

Drew Stafford

Joel Ward

Steve Downie

Mike Santorelli (C/RW)

Blake Comeau

Tyler Kennedy

 

So that looks rather unpleasant also.  

 

There are some more veteran RWs I might be interested in, but the guys I would like the Devils to investigate are:

 

C/RW Mika Zibanejad (OTT):  Zibanejad has gotten off to a slow start in Ottawa.  He's being used at center but his shot rate is way down so far this year and he's got players like Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, and Curtis Lazar coming up behind him.  Ottawa is desperate for defense - I wonder if they'd be interested in either Adam Larsson or Eric Gelinas in exchange for Zibanejad.  

 

RW Jeremy Morin (CHI): I have absolutely no clue what Chicago would want for Jeremy Morin, but this guy generates all kinds of shots.  If they wanted to trade Kris Versteeg I'd be interested in that too.  I might deal Merrill for Morin and something extra - Chicago has Glendening for their offensive needs, but with Oduya probable to leave and Hjalmarsson starting to perhaps age into the unpleasant part of a defensive D's career, they may need someone like this.

 

RW Kyle Palmieri (ANA):  He turns 24 this year and has never really gotten his shot at regular time on Anaheim.  I don't know what Anaheim needs - quite possibly nothing, so this may be moot - but whatever it is, I'd like to snag him.  I know he was a Rangers fan growing up but so was Santini.  I might be willing to go something like Jagr and a 4th round pick for Palmieri later in the year if the team continues on its current trajectory.  I might trade Boucher for Palmieri and a 3rd round pick but that's the kind of deal that's unlikely to go down.

 

Those are just 3 guys - there's others, but these players don't seem to grow on trees and the Devils just don't have one in their system - they have too many players who shoot left-handed.  They need a young guy who has plenty of RFA time left.

[Derlique]

Responding to the trade targets, I really like the Sens one. IIRC the Devils were extremely high on Zibanejad at the draft.  If we could somehow give up Gelinas/Larsson + for MZ, that's a huge win.  He is extremely versitile and has that right shot you were talking about.  His shot rate has been way down this year but is that from (lack of) opportunity or poor performance.  I know Travis Yost (TSN analytics guy) is high on him and that guy knows his stuff.

[SterioDesign]

id fvcking LOVE to have Zibanejad here and i dont think we'd have to give Gelinas AND Larsson.... Larsson was picked a few pick ahead of him in the draft and both are just floating. So i dont think youd have to throw Gelinas on top. Or at least maybe a lesser player. I'd throw Larsson + zubs or ruutu or something lol

[Triumph]

id fvcking LOVE to have Zibanejad here and i dont think we'd have to give Gelinas AND Larsson.... Larsson was picked a few pick ahead of him in the draft and both are just floating. So i dont think youd have to throw Gelinas on top. Or at least maybe a lesser player. I'd throw Larsson + zubs or ruutu or something lol

 

I said Larsson or Gelinas.  I don't think Ottawa would want to add any salary - they are a salary floor team.

[Louismydad]

The Devils have a lot of problems right now, but I'd like to focus on just one because I think it's the most fixable.

The Devils have used 7 right wings so far this season: Jaromir Jagr, Martin Havlat, Michael Ryder, Damien Brunner, Jordin Tootoo, Steve Bernier, Mike Sislo, and Stephen Gionta. Of these, the first 5 are UFA next year. In addition, the Devils really have nothing at the minor league level at RW - they have Mike Sislo, who looks like a competent NHLer, but he's not going to be the kind of guy who wins and loses games for you. So right wing is really a position they need to upgrade, and they need to be able to get young, cheap talent at RW, because clearly they are going to have to have some old, expensive talent at that position as well.

In addition, I think Damon Severson's emergence is obviating the need for Eric Gelinas. I like Gelinas's skill set a lot but so far he is a disaster at even strength. With Hraberenka and Scarlett potentially having some of those skills behind him and Severson already jumping ahead of him in terms of PP responsibility, the Devils can potentially sell high-ish on Gelinas while the league hasn't figured it out. I don't like giving up on him, but I don't see many alternatives right now.

Let's look at the UFAs at that position this coming off-season, other than the guys I already mentioned - and here I am only considering right-shooting right wings:

Justin Williams

Drew Stafford

Joel Ward

Steve Downie

Mike Santorelli (C/RW)

Blake Comeau

Tyler Kennedy

So that looks rather unpleasant also.

There are some more veteran RWs I might be interested in, but the guys I would like the Devils to investigate are:

C/RW Mika Zibanejad (OTT): Zibanejad has gotten off to a slow start in Ottawa. He's being used at center but his shot rate is way down so far this year and he's got players like Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, and Curtis Lazar coming up behind him. Ottawa is desperate for defense - I wonder if they'd be interested in either Adam Larsson or Eric Gelinas in exchange for Zibanejad.

RW Jeremy Morin (CHI): I have absolutely no clue what Chicago would want for Jeremy Morin, but this guy generates all kinds of shots. If they wanted to trade Kris Versteeg I'd be interested in that too. I might deal Merrill for Morin and something extra - Chicago has Glendening for their offensive needs, but with Oduya probable to leave and Hjalmarsson starting to perhaps age into the unpleasant part of a defensive D's career, they may need someone like this.

RW Kyle Palmieri (ANA): He turns 24 this year and has never really gotten his shot at regular time on Anaheim. I don't know what Anaheim needs - quite possibly nothing, so this may be moot - but whatever it is, I'd like to snag him. I know he was a Rangers fan growing up but so was Santini. I might be willing to go something like Jagr and a 4th round pick for Palmieri later in the year if the team continues on its current trajectory. I might trade Boucher for Palmieri and a 3rd round pick but that's the kind of deal that's unlikely to go down.

Those are just 3 guys - there's others, but these players don't seem to grow on trees and the Devils just don't have one in their system - they have too many players who shoot left-handed. They need a young guy who has plenty of RFA time left.

sucks that Palmieri was a rags fan but I believe he grew up in NJ so that could be a selling point for a resign(I know I'm looking far in advance but still)

[Louismydad]

I said Larsson or Gelinas. I don't think Ottawa would want to add any salary - they are a salary floor team.

I would rather give up Gelly instead of Larson, i don't know why I really never got hyped for gelinas. His sh!t is unbelievable but his all around game is way too poor

[Sneax]

I would rather give up Gelly instead of Larson, i don't know why I really never got hyped for gelinas. His sh!t is unbelievable but his all around game is way too poor

 

Last year he was churning out offense as such a consistent pace, this year not so much. If we could somehow trade gellinas for a decent forward, it'd be much better than trading Larson who is showing signs of playing better.

[MadDog2020]

I'd do Gelinas for Zibinajed in a heartbeat. I'll even drive Gelinas to the airport.

[ATLL765]

I'd definitely swap Gelinas for Zibanejad, especially since he can play center too.

With the way Gelinas has played this year,I think trading him for a young forward would be a smart move. We have plenty of young defenseman, but desperately need some young forwards that have top 6 potential.

[mfitz804]

These threads crack me up. So the rest of the league hasn't figured out that Gelinas sucks yet, but a bunch of guys on a message board have it all figured out.

[BostonNala370]

These threads crack me up. So the rest of the league hasn't figured out that Gelinas sucks yet, but a bunch of guys on a message board have it all figured out.

He does suck defensively. I agree with you other teams know he sucks defensively as well.

Triumph has pointed out a serious problem the Devils will have shortly

Edited November 20, 2014 by BostonNala370

[SterioDesign]

so say we'd get a guy like Zibs for Gelinas.... what now? it's still not enough. Whats next?

[BostonNala370]

so say we'd get a guy like Zibs for Gelinas.... what now? it's still not enough. Whats next?

That's the million dollar question.

[William D'Aquila]

Unload Ryder and Brunner for Frolik.

Cammy Zajac Jagr

Henrique Elias Havlat

 

Frolik Josefson Zibanejad

 

Bernier Zubrus Matteau

[Triumph]

These threads crack me up. So the rest of the league hasn't figured out that Gelinas sucks yet, but a bunch of guys on a message board have it all figured out.

 

Trades like this happen all the time.  Jack Johnson is terrible and Columbus traded Jeff Carter for him and a 1st round pick.  The league still hasn't figured out that Jack Johnson is bad.  Truth be told, the league is pretty ignorant of what is going on on other teams.

[MadDog2020]

Trades like this happen all the time. Jack Johnson is terrible and Columbus traded Jeff Carter for him and a 1st round pick. The league still hasn't figured out that Jack Johnson is bad. Truth be told, the league is pretty ignorant of what is going on on other teams.

Exactly. It's not like GM's are sitting there watching every team in the league every night. These guys deal with enough trying to manage their own teams.

[coldply123]

Trades like this happen all the time. Jack Johnson is terrible and Columbus traded Jeff Carter for him and a 1st round pick. The league still hasn't figured out that Jack Johnson is bad. Truth be told, the league is pretty ignorant of what is going on on other teams.

It's also a bit of teams thinking they can fix a player and that its the other teams fault for not getting more out of the player. Gelinas definitely has value in a league where Jason Garrison can get a major contract after one decent season with a bunch of PP goals. But he needs to be protected defensively and we desperately need some core forwards.

BTW, fantastic thread to start and great post.

I really love Zibanejad and I think he is very much obtainable for a fair price that we can afford. Makes so much sense for both teams actually.

I'd be surprised if Lou does not make some such trade either by the deadline but especially this offseason. He's almost going to be forced to do so.

[SterioDesign]

These threads crack me up. So the rest of the league hasn't figured out that Gelinas sucks yet, but a bunch of guys on a message board have it all figured out.

 

I often bring this one up but look at the Van riemsdyk trade... or the Forsberg / Erat trade... those kind of thing happen for a reason or another. just a matter of being on the right side of it lol

[EdgeControl]

look at kurtis foster!  when teams need a cannon on the blue line they will often overlook defensive liability. and gelanis is much better than post injury foster

 

He's in an offensive slump right now, if he drills a few goal from the point his stock will rise again

Edited November 20, 2014 by EdgeControl

[Derlique]

Trades like this happen all the time.  Jack Johnson is terrible and Columbus traded Jeff Carter for him and a 1st round pick.  The league still hasn't figured out that Jack Johnson is bad.  Truth be told, the league is pretty ignorant of what is going on on other teams.

Jack Johnson was a top 3 pick and Gelinas was a late 2nd rounder.  Draft position plays a role in this stuff, especially early on in careers

[redruM]

These threads crack me up. So the rest of the league hasn't figured out that Gelinas sucks yet, but a bunch of guys on a message board have it all figured out.

I found this funny as well!

[Triumph]

Jack Johnson was a top 3 pick and Gelinas was a late 2nd rounder.  Draft position plays a role in this stuff, especially early on in careers

 

Gelinas rolled into the league and put up very good offensive numbers - he's 41st in points per game among defensemen since he came into the league.  And yeah, I think he is fixable to a degree - he won't ever be good, I feel like that ship has sailed, but he can definitely be better than he is now.

[SterioDesign]

he's not a RW but what are you thoughts about our chances to land Nick Foligno this summer? his father is assistant coach here... he knows he could be a top player here so lots of ice time, Lou is obviously big on the whole family thing... i'd say there's chances right?

Edited November 20, 2014 by SterioDesign

[Triumph]

he's not a RW but what are you thoughts about our chances to land Nick Foligno this summer? his father is assistant coach here... he knows he could be a top player here so lots of ice time, Lou is obviously big on the whole family thing... i'd say there's chances right?

 

There is, but I feel like NJ is set at LW for a long time - they signed Cammalleri, they have Henrique, Clowe, Boucher, Ruutu, Zubrus, and Matteau all signed for next year.  Even if Clowe is injured, you buy out one of Zubrus or Ruutu, and Henrique gets moved to center, NJ still has Cammalleri, Boucher, Ruutu/Zubrus, Matteau there.  I don't see a spot for Foligno without some kind of trade.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Triumph

[BostonNala370]

There is, but I feel like NJ is set at LW for a long time - they signed Cammalleri, they have Henrique, Clowe, Boucher, Ruutu, Zubrus, and Matteau all signed for next year.  Even if Clowe is injured, you buy out one of Zubrus or Ruutu, and Henrique gets moved to center, NJ still has Cammalleri, Boucher, Ruutu/Zubrus, Matteau there.  I don't see a spot for Foligno without some kind of trade.

 

 

Does the buy out program under the new CBA extend beyond the first two years? I thought for some reason a team could buy out up to two players each year for the first two years and remove the number from the CAP.