57 replies to this topic

[jagknife]

If he can do this, I don't mind at all giving him that much

But even if they tender his offer, and he does not sign by a date (not too sure when it is this year) he becomes a UFA for next year

I honestly think Butler has the potential to put up 40-50 points, 20 goals. If that's the case, he's almost on pace with Benn. Might not need him for that hefty tag, especially with the cap going down next year and Zajac coming on UFA

[ghdi]

I honestly think Butler has the potential to put up 40-50 points, 20 goals. If that's the case, he's almost on pace with Benn. Might not need him for that hefty tag, especially with the cap going down next year and Zajac coming on UFA

We've got a LOT coming on UFA next year. Clarkson as well. Elias is also likely not going to make the same amount. There's plenty of cap space and more coming off to allow, even a big move, if we wanted. We attempted to sign Zach to absurd money. Benn is absolutely worth spending for. He's exactly what we could use and I truly believe that we wouldn't miss Zach that much once the chemistry came. This is exactly the type of guy you're not supposed to be able to get easily. Obviously, we're pretty much all pipe dreaming, but if his current contract situation allowed us to snatch up his rights, we do it.

Having both Benn and Butler (and Butler performs), hell yes. I'd say so long to Clarkson without much more than a "thanks, bye".

Edited by ghdi, 15 January 2013 - 08:07 PM.

[SterioDesign]

Love that goal but it was such a fluke the puck was loose almost the whole time lol its not like the one Malkin went through the whole Lightning team, that was gnarly

[Brandon]

Did I hear correctly recently that Dallas is having difficulty signing Jamie Benn right now? If so, if talks continue to sour, I would love to see Lou at least kick the tires on Benn's rights, a Benn - Zajac - Kovy first line would get us another playoff berth, for sure. Then again, it's all circumstantial and honestly just me fantasizing

EDIT: And of course someone brought it up like 5 posts before me

Edited by parisebrandon1994, 16 January 2013 - 02:48 AM.

[Marshall]

Jamie Benn's rights would cost a fortune and I'm not sure it'd be worth it.

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

DeBoer said he and the rest of the Devils can’t wait for Kovalchuk to get back on the ice with them.

“I talked to Marty (Brodeur) and I don’t think Marty had a shot against him in the scrimmage, so I think everyone will be happy Ilya will be here,” DeBoer said. “He’s a great player and he’s a good team guy, so it’s a dead issue as far as I’m concerned.”

The Devils definitely have looked thin up front through the first three days of training camp without Kovalchuk and with Adam Henrique still recovering from surgery on his left thumb.

“He’s critical,” DeBoer said. “He creates offense for us and when he’s on the ice the other team is on their heels and aware. It’s not even what he does individually. It’s the subtle plays he makes that creates offense for other guys down the ice. So, he generates a lot of our offensive opportunities and it will be nice to see him back out here.”

Brodeur would love to face him in the scrimmage Wednesday.“The last two scrimmages, I think I got one shot on net,” Brodeur said. “If he (plays), hopefully he won’t play on my team so I get a couple of shots.”

http://blogs.northje...ecting_captain/

I know its only camp, its early doors, lines are all new and everything else, but this quote does not fill me with confidence. I think we could definitely use another piece in the top 6.

Edited by Chimaira_Devil_#9, 16 January 2013 - 09:16 AM.

[SterioDesign]

http://blogs.northje...ecting_captain/

I know its only camp, its early doors, lines are all new and everything else, but this quote does not fill me with confidence. I think we could definitely use another piece in the top 6.

well thats obvious that we need another top 6 players.

in 48 games im guessing this production

Kovy 22
Zajac 12
Elias 13
Clarkson 11
Butler 11
Henrique 8 (considering he's gonna miss some time)
Josefson 5
Zubrus 10
Darche 3
Carter 3
Gionta 3
Bernier 3
Barche 0

Larsson 3
Greene 2
Volchenkov 0
Salvador 0
Fayne 1
Harrold 1
Zidlicky 3
Tallinder 2

so thats not a whole lot of goals, we're in deep trouble and we can't always sit down all calm saying that the Devils did it before and that they always find a way. Thats not a guarantee at all. Some guys will have to step up BIG TIME.

(im actually gonna keep this and see how off or right i was at the end of the year)

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

well thats obvious that we need another top 6 players.

in 48 games im guessing this production

Kovy 22
Zajac 12
Elias 13
Clarkson 11
Butler 11
Henrique 8 (considering he's gonna miss some time)
Josefson 5
Zubrus 10
Darche 3
Carter 3
Gionta 3
Bernier 3
Barche 0

Larsson 3
Greene 2
Volchenkov 0
Salvador 0
Fayne 1
Harrold 1
Zidlicky 3
Tallinder 2

so thats not a whole lot of goals, we're in deep trouble and we can't always sit down all calm saying that the Devils did it before and that they always find a way. Thats not a guarantee at all. Some guys will have to step up BIG TIME.

(im actually gonna keep this and see how off or right i was at the end of the year)

Is it though? from the sounds of things at camp and from the staff they are happy to run with what we have initially.

[moustic]

Is it though? from the sounds of things at camp and from the staff they are happy to run with what we have initially.

i don't see them saying otherwise...
They will always to improve if they can... but i don't see a coach in NJ saying that the group isn't strong enough...

[caron14]

Im optimist... i've seen this team without parise and they were able to perform... Bobby butler will score some goal jj will improve his scoring and ourself as a team we will get enough goal majority of the game. I think if we have the chance we can improve, if not im confident with what we have.

And mattias tedenby is a dark horse there... he is small not that strong etc.... but he can score goals for sure

Edited by caron14, 16 January 2013 - 09:41 AM.

[SterioDesign]

it's not only that im looking at our roster and see that theres things missing... im looking at all the teams around us and they all seem to have wayyyy deeper offensive then us.

yes we have a deep group of dman... one of them is a scoring defensemen and the rest are mostly so and so good all around or stay home. We won't have much help from the Ds in term of scoring, while other teams have established offensive dman.

plus with our goalies we might have to score a little bit more to cover for them. We absolutely need more help with scoring.

[Steadevils]

I think having a surpluss of experienced D will help us enormously this year. With the tight schedule there is not a lot of practice time to teach a young D-man call-up the ropes. Also, with stretches like 5 games in 7 days having 8 D will be vital. A week long minor injury could mean needing a replacement for 5 games. My point is our wealth of NHL defensemen could be depleted rather quick and we should not be jumping to trade one of these guys. You can almost pencil A-train in for 12 games missed so that's down to 7 D for a quarter of the season..Others have recent injury history too (Fayne coming off surgery, Larsson's back, Tallinder leg, Salvadore cuncussions). I think 8 NHL ready Defensemen is the appropriate number for this 48 game sprint.

As I said earlier the lack of practice time and the slow learning curve of defense make this a bad year to have an emergency AHL call-up. Urbom would likely be the call-up and could fill in, but he would not have the luxury of getting used to the speed of the NHL. Every game is vital.

So in my opinion the trade bait should not be the NHL defensemen. If a trade is needed the bait should be the glut of almost NHL ready defensemen we have in our system.

[moustic]

You know the season is about to start when you saw more and more posts of SterioDesign being pessimist about our offense (and our team) ; )

[caron14]

it's not only that im looking at our roster and see that theres things missing... im looking at all the teams around us and they all seem to have wayyyy deeper offensive then us.

yes we have a deep group of dman... one of them is a scoring defensemen and the rest are mostly so and so good all around or stay home. We won't have much help from the Ds in term of scoring, while other teams have established offensive dman.

plus with our goalies we might have to score a little bit more to cover for them. We absolutely need more help with scoring.

Seems to be better than us offensively.... Where was B richards last year against us? where was gaborik?

claude Giroux hvae less point in 5 on 5 hockey than brodeur in our series....

Pittsburg lost j staal as well....

and our defense is way better thant Philly and Pittsburg

[MDPucks]

In unrelated news Єklund (2.3% accurate) is reporting the rumor that Manti Te'o's "dead" girlfriend is being offered to the Devils for Kovalchuck.

Edited by MDPucks, 16 January 2013 - 06:05 PM.

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

i don't see them saying otherwise...
They will always to improve if they can... but i don't see a coach in NJ saying that the group isn't strong enough...

To me a quote saying that basically without Kovalchuk we couldn’t generate any shots in our own practice is a pretty damning verdict on our offense. And that was coming from the head coach and our veteran starting net minder.

Like i said early days, and i would like to think Lou is lookind to add something up front, but his "we will go with what we have" (or along those lines) statment a few days ago is a slight concern.

[Marshall]

There's no value to be put in those statements. Lou would never give hints about what he is about to do rosterwise, nor what he wants to do.

At best you'll get hypotheticals along the lines of "obviously, if we get the opportunity to improve our roster in any way we'll take a look at it".

[EdgeControl]

Can Kovy be triple shifted this year????