235 replies to this topic

[Mayday]

Things to note:
-I'm putting Henrique in since he will only miss the first week or so this is what I want once we get into the meat of schedule


Ilya KOVALCHUK - Travis ZAJAC - David CLARKSON
Patrik ELIAS - Adam HENRIQUE - Dainus ZUBRUS
Mattias TEDENBY - Jacob JOSEFSON - Bobby BUTLER
Ryan CARTER - Stephen GIONTA - Steve BERNIER

Andy GREENE - Mark FAYNE
Henrik TALLINDER - Adam LARSSON
Bryce SALVADOR - Marek ZIDLICKY
Anton VOLCHNEKOV/Peter HARROLD

[Devil Dan 56]

After checking out Bobby Butler in Albany Devs game recaps I think he could definitely fill Sykora's 2nd line PP minutes and shine in the role. But what I really gained was the fact that the Albany Devs announcer is awesome.

I've watched a few of his highlights from Ottawa, and while I'm aware highlights will by definition only show the good, there is no doubting that he has an NHL shot and pretty good hands. Decent speed, too, from the looks of it. I also believe he can fill in for Sykora. In fact, I think it will be he or Tedenby's job to lose, just as last season when they basically handed spots to Palmieri and Tedenby so see if they could step in.

Edit... i don't want that to come off like I think he is going to be a 30-40 goal scorer or anything. I just think he will fit in fine.

Edited by Devil Dan 56, 09 January 2013 - 03:17 PM.

[Chuck the Duck]

God...the thought of Clarkaround playing on the 1st line scares the sh!t out of me. I know he scored 30 goals last season, but I swear at least 12 of them deflected in off his a$$.

I can see it now, Kovy breaks into the zone with the puck, Zajac drives to the net, Kovy looks to pass after 2 defensemen overplay him and he see Clarkson trips over the blueline and sputters to the ice like poorly made paper airplane, at which point Kovy thinks to himself..."I came back from being a god and owning a miniature giraffe farm in the motherland for this?!?!?!"

Edited by Chuck the Duck, 09 January 2013 - 03:21 PM.

[Devil Dan 56]

God...the thought of Clarkaround playing on the 1st line scares the sh!t out of me. I know he scored 30 goals last season, but I swear at least 12 of them deflected in off his a$$.

I can see it now, Kovy breaks into the zone with the puck, Zajac drives to the net, Kovy looks to pass after 2 defensemen overplay him and he see Clarkson trips over the blueline and sputters to the ice like poorly made paper airplane, at which point Kovy thinks to himself..."I came back from being a god and owning a miniature giraffe farm in the motherland for this?!?!?!"

My hope is that Kovy learns to bank it off Clarkson's head as he slides by the net on his back.

[newarkdev01]

My hope is that Kovy learns to bank it off Clarkson's head as he slides by the net on his back.

[DJ Eco]

I could see Zubrus on the first line. He's a strong work-horse along the boards, at least 1 or 2 players rush in to cover him; one of either Zajac or Kovalchuk are under-marked. Zubrus frees the puck to Zajac, sets up Kovalchuk with space for a quick wrister or slapshot. And that's not taking into account Kovy and Zajac's game rushing in with speed.

I can't see Clarkson giving them any of those options or complementing their game in any way.. I can see him with Henrique and Elias..

[devlman]

I just wanted to say that Mark Fayne is an underrated beast of a D-man. That is all.

[thefiestygoat]

I'd rather see the top 3 centers being Zajac, Elias, and Josefson. I think Henrique is better suited on the wing and could help replace some of Parise's production.

[DJ Eco]

I just wanted to say that Mark Fayne is an underrated beast of a D-man. That is all.

I didn't see it during the first half of last season, but DeBoer did. Sure enough, I realized that in the second half of the season. He's grown leaps and bounds into a pretty reliable d-man..

[ATLL765]

I didn't see it during the first half of last season, but DeBoer did. Sure enough, I realized that in the second half of the season. He's grown leaps and bounds into a pretty reliable d-man..

After what he did in 09-10, I thought he might put up more points last year, but he didn't. Not overly disappointing, just thought he could get 20-25 pts. Def will be a solid Tallinder-esque, technically sound 3-4 d-man, but isn't going to bowl guys over a la Nick Kronwall.

[Onddeck]

alright i finally got around to watching butler play on youtube, and i was probably over-critical for not actually seeing him play yet. I can definitely see why Lou picked him up, its a nice addition.

He definitely plays the same style Parise plays too, I can see it.

[mouse]

I'd rather put Clarkie on the 3rd line than the 1st, not just because I don't think he's a first liner, but because he's good with Tedenby and Josefson. He adds some physicality that they obviously will never have, and he seems to have good chemistry with them. I think if anyone's going to get the most out of Tedenby, it's him.

[Zubie#8]

I'd rather put Clarkie on the 3rd line than the 1st, not just because I don't think he's a first liner, but because he's good with Tedenby and Josefson. He adds some physicality that they obviously will never have, and he seems to have good chemistry with them. I think if anyone's going to get the most out of Tedenby, it's him.

Makes sense, Clarky had a good chunk of his goals playing with those two last year.

[Triumph]

Ugh, Tedenby on the team - please, make it stop. He's not good. He's not beating the AHL. Maybe he can draw penalties or something but I cannot imagine it's Lou's idea to have him start the season with the team.

['7']

This team is still not getting out of the first round...as it:s constructed. And you cant just replace Parise and Sykora's contributions with spare parts. Nor can you excpect Clarkson to put up 30 again. I understand Zajac is back healthy but the best we can expect from him is a 20 goal pace.

The Devils have defensive depth to trade. But none of that depth will ever fetch us the scorer that we need. The Devils will need to package a prospect (Matteau) a 2nd rounder, and a throw in, for Bobby Ryan. Or a player of his calibre.

Might as well keep the defensive depth for when injuries strike

Edited by '7', 09 January 2013 - 08:38 PM.

[NLinfante]

I mentioned it when we signed him, and I firmly believe this still: Butler will be an under-rated pickup for us. I watched him play for at least 2 seasons in Hockey East and he fits the exact mold of the best players I saw in college hockey 4-5 years ago: not necessarily superstar level, but skilled and possessing a fairly high hockey IQ. US College hockey is excellent at putting out this type of player today.

Other players that come to mind from my own, albeit hazy, college memory are Nathan Gerbe, Patrick Eaves, Ryan Shannon, Colin Wilson, James van Riemsdyk, etc. No real all-stars, but servicable NHL'ers for sure.

[coldply123]

I have to agree with Tri. I'm really tired of the Tedenby expectations of some Devils fans. He's shown really nothing. People can play that highlight reel goal against the Isles fifty times if they want, it was just a single goal. A lot of the remaining tape on Tedenby shows a guy who has some speed, but frequently isn't in the right spot, doesn't seem to have a lick of sense on playing defense, and is limited in size. Josefson has been a bit disappointing too, but moreso due to the interruptions due to injury. With him, there's been a bit more. Still not sure he's anything more than a 3rd line center if things break right, but that's far more than what Tedenby is or will be.

One thing I do have to say is that at least in my eyes, Dan Labraaten's star has fallen a bit with how much a few of the Swedes we've picked have largely bombed to this point (not just the 1st rounders).

In terms of the roster, I think it's pretty obvious the Devils need to address the forwards situation at some point, not just for this season but the next few seasons as well, with so many FAs and also some age creeping in there as well with guys like Elias and Zubrus.

[Triumph]

This team is still not getting out of the first round...as it:s constructed. And you cant just replace Parise and Sykora's contributions with spare parts. Nor can you excpect Clarkson to put up 30 again. I understand Zajac is back healthy but the best we can expect from him is a 20 goal pace.

I don't think people quite understand how little the Devils got from their fluke scorers like Clarkson and Sykora in the playoffs. Granted, they got a ton out of people like Gionta, Carter, and Salvador, who aren't going to repeat their performance. But Clarkson had 3 goals in the playoffs, one of which was the one Ilya Bryzgalov put off his stick. The Devils got basically nothing out of Zajac and Josefson last year, and I think that will change this year.

The Devils have defensive depth to trade. But none of that depth will ever fetch us the scorer that we need. The Devils will need to package a prospect (Matteau) a 2nd rounder, and a throw in, for Bobby Ryan. Or a player of his calibre.

Might as well keep the defensive depth for when injuries strike

Never happen. The Devils aren't going to replace Parise, so they can forget about that now, but they weren't a fluke in the playoffs - they were outplaying teams by a considerable margin. They don't have the ability to get that kind of scorer, but they can certainly get a stopgap - they should be looking to replace Ponikarovsky, not Parise.

mouse: I think you are sleeping on Josefson - he has been really good in the AHL. He's still only 21 and he had 20 points in 30 games with 2.75 shots per game and a +10. He's a 3rd line center in the NHL now - it's just a question whether he takes that next step.

Edited by Triumph, 09 January 2013 - 09:21 PM.

[Devils731]

I'm looking at the Devils SEL picks recently and don't see a bad list:

Josefson seems fine.

Larsson is good.

Urbom seems fine.

Tedenby isn't the lost cause some make him out to be.

Bergfors didn't pan out.

That list doesn't look too poor to me.

[Triumph]

Bergfors had NHL talent - seems like there are other issues there. He had 4 teams take a shot at him, which is usually a sign that a guy's got some ability (as long as that ability isn't e.g. punching faces). Tedenby is pretty much a lost cause, but Central Scouting had him ranked high too, it's not like they went way off the board - sometimes it just doesn't come together.