127 replies to this topic

[mmajeski06]

Id get drury for cheap, even if zajac wasn't going to be out til November. Would be great on the 4th line.

He's way past his prime, but if he would come cheap, I wouldn't mind the Devils picking him up.

[Neb00rs]

just wanted to stop by and say how terrific it is that we lost our no.1 center for the first quarter of the season. Yay.

[Triumph]

i would argue zajac is the most difficult player to replace on the devils. after the team got its head out of its collective ass, it was a clear playoff team w/o parise. they were a clear playoff team w/o kovalchuk before that. i love elias as a center and i have very high hopes for josefson. but when you take zajac out, you're now asking your two best forwards to play with centers they've essentially never played with - at least successfully.

elias played with kovalchuk in 2010 and he played with parise in 2008.

and, yes, i think the devils win 6 games over the course of the season with 4 centers of zajac, elias, josefson, steckel more than if it's elias, josefson, zubrus/henrique, steckel if you simulate it enough. i hope that this is one where guys like tedenby, josefson, palmieri can really add something to the pot.

6 games is the low end of what you estimated, and i still think it's high. again, we're not talking goalies (who are a huge part of why teams win, even if the difference between them isn't great). we haven't started talking about defense, which is also a large reason why teams win. we're talking about one player, who is very good, but just cannot be worth 6 wins.

[Chorske17]

Here's Kovalchuk's chance to show he is worth all the money. I know he can't and shouldn't be expected to do it alone, but the guy still has not shown me anything. Kovalchuk will continue to put 30 something goals with no real scoring streak and fail to bring players to the next level with him.

This season will really show the lack of toughness on this team. Aside from Clarkson, who is going to play 12+ minutes that is a tough player who won't back down from a challenge? Too much flash and dash. All teams have to do is continue to pound away at the likes of Tedenby, Josefson, Parise, Elias, Greene, Taromina, and Henrique (if he plays). Zubrus has the size, but is very inconcsistent in using it. Clarkson can't play on every line... and Boulton isn't going to get much more than 4th line minutes. Very disappointing.

My prediction is the Devils will be nudging the Oilers and the Islanders over to make room at the bottom, make an attempt in February or March and not really get to where they need to be. If you thought last year was crap, wait until this year...

I guess we'll have to wait until the season starts, but mark my words I'll be right. If I'm wrong then you can destroy my name. I'll happily eat them if I am wrong. If that is the worst that happens (IF I am wrong), everybody will be happy!

[Triumph]

no real scoring streak? did you forget about the 3 weeks where he had 6 game winning goals?

[Chorske17]

no real scoring streak? did you forget about the 3 weeks where he had 6 game winning goals?

Where was he the rest of the season? Let's just wait and see... Like I said, worst case scenario with my comments are that I'm wrong and everybody is happy (even me). I'm predicting like the weathermen. What other job can you be right 10% of the time and still get paid big bucks? Maybe baseball where you can be a 300 hitter and considered AWESOME for going 1 for 9.

[nessus]

1 for 9?


Jeez what does the first line look like now?

Parise-Elias-Zubrus?

I'd like a right handed shot on the RW though. Ugh but I wouldn't throw Palmieri on that line so easily.

Edited by nessus, 19 August 2011 - 01:20 AM.

[Crisis]

I know Parise was a natural center coming into the league. What do you think of him playing pivot between Kovalchuk and (insert RW here). We all know how solid he is defensively and he can surely distribute the puck to Kovalchuk.

EDIT: Granted, we would be pulling our (arguably) best forward out of the position that made him just that.

Edited by Crisis, 19 August 2011 - 08:39 AM.

[Devilsfan118]

I know Parise was a natural center coming into the league. What do you think of him playing pivot between Kovalchuk and (insert RW here). We all know how solid he is defensively and he can surely distribute the puck to Kovalchuk.

EDIT: Granted, we would be pulling our (arguably) best forward out of the position that made him just that.

Yeah no to Parise at Center.

Taking our best player out of his natural position where he's experienced so much success to cover for another injured player seems like a step backward rather than forward

Edit: Love the sig, by the way

Edited by Devilsfan118, 19 August 2011 - 09:16 AM.

[devlman]

just wanted to stop by and say how terrific it is that we lost our no.1 center for the first quarter of the season. Yay.

Did you even read the article? Hes out til mid-November.

[Masked Fan]

Sucks losing anyone, really sucks losing impact players like Travis.

[Triumph]

chris drury retired, so you guys can cross that one off your wish list.

[iamtheprodigy]

chris drury retired, so you guys can cross that one off your wish list.

Yes, thank god. That was my first thought when I saw that he retired. Now Madden can retire too so we can abandon those thoughts as well.

[Mayday]

I kinda hope this makes Lou trade for a center..we need it even with Zajac.

[Devil Dan 56]

Where was he the rest of the season? Let's just wait and see... Like I said, worst case scenario with my comments are that I'm wrong and everybody is happy (even me). I'm predicting like the weathermen. What other job can you be right 10% of the time and still get paid big bucks? Maybe baseball where you can be a 300 hitter and considered AWESOME for going 1 for 9.

You said he never had a decent scoring streak. He did. Now you want him to have a scoring streak that lasts all season??

[peteyvegas]

If that's true, I'll take it. It used to be 8 to 10 months for that injury.

[NJDevs4978]

You said he never had a decent scoring streak. He did. Now you want him to have a scoring streak that lasts all season??

To be fair, having a point a game (which Kovy's done in his sleep before) is practially having a scoring streak that lasts all season

That said, you pretty much have to throw out the first half when evaluating everyone - Kovy included, since everyone was so far below their career norms it has to be looked at as an anomaly across the board.

[titans04]

Where was he the rest of the season? Let's just wait and see... Like I said, worst case scenario with my comments are that I'm wrong and everybody is happy (even me). I'm predicting like the weathermen. What other job can you be right 10% of the time and still get paid big bucks? Maybe baseball where you can be a 300 hitter and considered AWESOME for going 1 for 9.

Discard the rest of the season and the fact that he had to be taught there was another side of the puck. Plus he played much harder under JL. 100M doesn't guarantee he's going to play hard if he doesn't care for the coach. Better pray he likes the new coach or he'll be gone in time to find another next off season. Then there's that pesky +/- #, but we know that's meaningless and a result of some bad line changes and poor puck luck, otherwise the guy was golden.

[Triumph]

Discard the rest of the season and the fact that he had to be taught there was another side of the puck. Plus he played much harder under JL. 100M doesn't guarantee he's going to play hard if he doesn't care for the coach. Better pray he likes the new coach or he'll be gone in time to find another next off season. Then there's that pesky +/- #, but we know that's meaningless and a result of some bad line changes and poor puck luck, otherwise the guy was golden.

yawn, you're not a fan of the team, you got your minor league hockey back, why are you still here?

kovalchuk should fall somewhere between -10 and +10 next year. he gets 5 auto minuses since he plays so much on the power play, tough for him to work those off.

[Jas0nMacIsaac]

I am starting to like the idea of Steckel playing 3rd line center. He showed good scoring touch in the AHL and was never really given an offensive more offensive role in the NHL. Put him on a line with Tedenby, when Tedenby doesn't have to chase the puck he will be far better off.