235 replies to this topic

[SMantzas]

Assuming no trade, who sits out on D? You think they'll rotate guys in and out or have Larsson stay in Albany?

Edited by SMantzas, 07 January 2013 - 06:34 PM.

[socbrian]

Lets go back to line ups..

FORWARDS
Ilya Kovalchuk ($6.667m) / Travis Zajac ($3.888m) / Steve Bernier ($0.775m)
Dainius Zubrus ($3.400m) / Patrik Elias ($6.000m) / Petr Sykora ($1.000m)
Bobby Butler ($0.525m) / Jacob Josefson ($0.900m) / David Clarkson ($2.667m)
Ryan Carter ($0.775m) / Stephen Gionta ($0.563m) / Peter Harrold ($0.525m)
Adam Henrique ($0.854m) / Cam Janssen ($0.575m) / Krystofer Barch ($0.750m)
DEFENSEMEN
Bryce Salvador ($3.167m) / Marek Zidlicky ($4.000m)
Henrik Tallinder ($3.375m) / Anton Volchenkov ($4.250m)
Andy Greene ($3.000m) / Mark Fayne ($1.300m)
Adam Larsson ($0.925m) /
GOALTENDERS
Martin Brodeur ($4.500m)
Johan Hedberg ($1.400m)
BUYOUTS
Colin White ($1.000m) / Trent Hunter ($0.667m) / Eric Boulton ($0.163m)

Hear me out with Bernier.. all last year I could not stop comparing him to Zack. He is a hard working scrappy player that plays well on the back check. I know he is not zach, but he does have the same type of game. I think he has the hockey sense to play on the top line.

I would sign Sykora to see what has in camp / until henrique comes back, and this could buy time for Lou to trade for someone like he normally does near the deadline (like Poni).

I am not sure what happens with the D, but with this great problem to have I think you should keep them all for depth

I moved harrold up to 4th line and yes I know that he is a D, but I think he played forward somewhere in his career, and he shows quick flashes of skill in moving the puck. I think he could make the transition pretty well, and if not you have one of the goons to plug into the 4th line to kill ice time

Also, with the 3rd like I know butler is a RW, but I think him or clarkson could go off wing

Edited by socbrian, 07 January 2013 - 06:55 PM.

[CarpathianForest]

Total waste putting Henrique on the 4th line.

[socbrian]

Total waste putting Henrique on the 4th line.

Hes on the 5th.. only because hes hurt ATM. When he comes back you replace him with the weakest link and realign all the lines

[Devils731]

Bernier is not a top line player, he can't keep up with them. He's an old style NHL player who is talented enough to just get by in the new NHL.

[socbrian]

Bernier is not a top line player, he can't keep up with them. He's an old style NHL player who is talented enough to just get by in the new NHL.

I disagree with you. Yes he might not be a top line player right now, I think he could develop into one. Its my opinion and I am not a professional scout so I could be totally wrong and I respect your opinion

[Devils731]

I disagree with you. Yes he might not be a top line player right now, I think he could develop into one. Its my opinion and I am not a professional scout so I could be totally wrong and I respect your opinion

He's 27 years old, how much more developing could he have left? He struggled to even get a NHL contract last season and scored 3 goals in 56 games.

[nmigliore]

I disagree with you. Yes he might not be a top line player right now, I think he could develop into one. Its my opinion and I am not a professional scout so I could be totally wrong and I respect your opinion

He's scored 6 goals in last 100 games and has been in the league for like 8 years now while topping out as a mid-teens goal scorer who plays less than 14 minutes per game. With all due respect, at this point I don't think he's going to develop into what you're thinking here..

Edited by nmigliore, 07 January 2013 - 07:22 PM.

[thefiestygoat]

With Henrique out and assuming no trades/new signings, I wouldn't mind something like this:

Kovalchuk-Zajac-Butler
Sykora-Elias-Zubrus
Carter-Josefson-Clarkson
Pesonen/Zalewski-Gionta-Bernier
Janssen, Barch

Butler on 1st line RW for reasons stated earlier in the thread my others.

Sykora may have faded as last year went on but maybe he can provide a bit of offense early on while Henrique is on the mend. Its a short year and maybe he can be decent enough for the first half of it to make it worth while. Tedenby hasn't been great in Albany this year and it appears questionable he can contribute to the Devils. Sykora on a line with Elias and Zubrus is at least familiar.

I haven't followed Albany much this year but a lot of people seem to like Pesonen as a 4th liner. I've always been a Zalewski fan but I doubt he gets a shot.

I don't mind Janssen and/or Barch if they are playing a heated divisional game in the regular season. As much as I have gotten into Corsi, I still love fighting and believe it has a purpose.

[Devils731]

I haven't followed Albany much this year but a lot of people seem to like Pesonen as a 4th liner. I've always been a Zalewski fan but I doubt he gets a shot.

I'm not sure why Zalewski doesn't get more of a shot. He looked not bad in the 7 games he played and he's put up decent numbers in the minors. I think he might be a good 4th liner for teams that want a 4th line that chips in some puck control and offense while the Devils focus their 4th line more on physicality.

[Triumph]

I'd hope there'd be another option. I know Sykora scored 20 goals, but that's pretty much all he did - he was part of a tough-minutes line, but Elias and Zubrus were likely doing most of the heavy lifting. By the end of the year, DeBoer wasn't putting him on the ice late in games, and in the playoffs he was a healthy scratch a few times. It was a nice comeback, but Sykora doesn't kill penalties, doesn't skate well, isn't great in the corners - it's just too likely that Sykora is totally done.

Edited by Triumph, 07 January 2013 - 07:29 PM.

[CarpathianForest]

With Henrique out and assuming no trades/new signings, I wouldn't mind something like this:

Kovalchuk-Zajac-Butler
Sykora-Elias-Zubrus
Carter-Josefson-Clarkson
Pesonen/Zalewski-Gionta-Bernier
Janssen, Barch

Butler on 1st line RW for reasons stated earlier in the thread my others.

Sykora may have faded as last year went on but maybe he can provide a bit of offense early on while Henrique is on the mend. Its a short year and maybe he can be decent enough for the first half of it to make it worth while. Tedenby hasn't been great in Albany this year and it appears questionable he can contribute to the Devils. Sykora on a line with Elias and Zubrus is at least familiar.

I haven't followed Albany much this year but a lot of people seem to like Pesonen as a 4th liner. I've always been a Zalewski fan but I doubt he gets a shot.

I don't mind Janssen and/or Barch if they are playing a heated divisional game in the regular season. As much as I have gotten into Corsi, I still love fighting and believe it has a purpose.

I would definitely mind something like that. Too many old guys and too many new guys.
The second line of Elias-Zubrus-Sykora would be tought to watch as the season wore on.

[mouse]

I think we're fine. We have cap space (which gives us some flexibility for trades, even if there isn't much available through free agency), d to trade, Lou, and DeBo. I think DeBo comes up huge this year. The short camp/season is going to leave some teams looking stupid and unprepared, but DeBo's smart. He'll have the boys ready out of the gate, or at least ready enough to steal some points and stay close until Lou can make a move.

As for the lines, when Henrique gets back, I see something like this

Kovy Zajac Butler
Elias Henrique Zubs
Tedenby JJ Clarkson
CBGB

I don't necessarily see Tedenby succeeding, but he played his best hockey with Clarkson and JJ, so maybe they can catch lightning in a bottle. If not, Lou obviously has to make a move, but I see that happening anyway, especially since we have no depth at forward, unless you count the goons, which I don't. I really hope DeBo can mostly keep CBGB together, there's something to be said for the whole being greater than the sum of all parts, and it seems like those guys have something special going chemistry wise, though he'll probably have to move Carter around whenever someone gets hurt.

[CarpathianForest]

I think we're fine. We have cap space (which gives us some flexibility for trades, even if there isn't much available through free agency), d to trade, Lou, and DeBo. I think DeBo comes up huge this year. The short camp/season is going to leave some teams looking stupid and unprepared, but DeBo's smart. He'll have the boys ready out of the gate, or at least ready enough to steal some points and stay close until Lou can make a move.

As for the lines, when Henrique gets back, I see something like this

Kovy Zajac Butler
Elias Henrique Zubs
Tedenby JJ Clarkson
CBGB

I don't necessarily see Tedenby succeeding, but he played his best hockey with Clarkson and JJ, so maybe they can catch lightning in a bottle. If not, Lou obviously has to make a move, but I see that happening anyway, especially since we have no depth at forward, unless you count the goons, which I don't. I really hope DeBo can mostly keep CBGB together, there's something to be said for the whole being greater than the sum of all parts, and it seems like those guys have something special going chemistry wise, though he'll probably have to move Carter around whenever someone gets hurt.

Butler's not even a shoe in. He'd be best to start at the third line and forget about Tedenby. We have a hugh gap on that first line that needs to be filled.

[mouse]

Butler's not even a shoe in. He'd be best to start at the third line and forget about Tedenby. We have a hugh gap on that first line that needs to be filled.

You got a player in the system to fill the spot? I'd say give Butler and Tedenby the best chance to succeed.

[CarpathianForest]

You got a player in the system to fill the spot? I'd say give Butler and Tedenby the best chance to succeed.

Tedenby has had a ton of chances to succeed and he's only shown inconsistent flashes of talent.

Bobby Butler had half a season during the 10-11 season wear he showed some talent and you're going to put him on the first line based on that? Come on now! You're smarter than that, Mouse!

[Zubie#8]

Everyone has to remember that Lou signed Butler in order to compete for a top 6 spot. So he will DEFINITELY get his chances on the top lines, no doubt about it. I think we will be fine especially when Henrique comes back. I still think we need to trade a Dman for some offense.

http://blogs.northje...w_bobby_butler/

“He signed a two-way (contract), so we’ll just see what develops, but he has the potential of being a top-six forward.”
Lamoriello hopes a second chance for Butler will allow him to rediscover his scoring touch.

“It’s going to be really up to him,” Lamoriello said. “He’ll be given every opportunity."

Edited by Zubie#8, 07 January 2013 - 08:59 PM.

[mouse]

Tedenby has had a ton of chances to succeed and he's only shown inconsistent flashes of talent.

Bobby Butler had half a season during the 10-11 season wear he showed some talent and you're going to put him on the first line based on that? Come on now! You're smarter than that, Mouse!

I'm not saying it's ideal, I'm saying we're hurting for forwards. Assuming Lou doesn't do something in the next couple weeks, we have to get something out of guys like that, and if we're going to, we have to put them in a decent position, and burying them won't work. If a guy like Pesohnen (sp ?) is better than Tedenby, fine, but we need somebody who can play top 6, and I don't think it's Clarkson, and we need a 3rd liner. If we can get lucky on 1 or both guys, it would be huge.

[CarpathianForest]

I'm not saying it's ideal, I'm saying we're hurting for forwards. Assuming Lou doesn't do something in the next couple weeks, we have to get something out of guys like that, and if we're going to, we have to put them in a decent position, and burying them won't work. If a guy like Pesohnen (sp ?) is better than Tedenby, fine, but we need somebody who can play top 6, and I don't think it's Clarkson, and we need a 3rd liner. If we can get lucky on 1 or both guys, it would be huge.

Our O is pretty weak when you have to fill a top 6 with a player who hasn't really even been tested.

[mouse]

Our O is pretty weak

Fixed.

I trust Lou, and expect us to have a team by the playoffs, but right now, we have about 5 top 6 and 7 top 9 players.