281 replies to this topic

[Triumph]

you were probably a year early with our bet but i'll give it to you again thanks to the economy and lack of teams that would actually give out a big contract actually having the salary cap room to do such.

+/- of $8MM on Hossa's cap hit. i will again take the under.

i want the line moved to 7.8 million. i also think that montreal goes strongly after him. hossa's played in a bilingual market, and montreal is the only team with the money to throw at him.

Williams can play center as well. Zubrus-Williams-Clarkson is not a bad third line at all.

he's a quasi-center. i know he can play there, but so can zubrus, and i think zubrus is a better center. and if zubrus-williams-clarkson is the 3rd line, who is centering the 2nd line? rolston?

[devilsrule33]

It's a good question. Perhaps Elias or Rolston can figure it out until something works. I know both of them aren't that strong at the center position. But I'm not a guy who wants to see the Devils sign Koivu for 4 million a year just so Rolston can possibly succeed at his natural spot. I don't want to see the Devils sign another bad contract to help the first one.

[sundstrom]

i want the line moved to 7.8 million. i also think that montreal goes strongly after him. hossa's played in a bilingual market, and montreal is the only team with the money to throw at him.

done - but only because i want to have a rooting interest in this thing. truthfully, i think we'll be close to a push on it but i could see him getting a 10/60 deal from somebody stupid.

i am betting on Detroit NOT winning the Cup which will only help keep Hossa from a questionable situation - of which MTL very much is. I think after the last couple of years, UFAs would have to be insane to go there if other choices presented themselves.

[dali]

First to put it short; the three most important tasks during the summer are (stating the obvious):

1) Re-sign Zajac and Oduya

2) strengthen defense

3) Promote new faces, first and foremost Corrente and Bergfors

4) look at a center for 2nd/3rd line, if possible


Here�s some armchair-managing, to be taken with a grain of salt.  Right now there are so many doors open, so it is pretty much just giving a mere thought of things.

It certainly isn�t easy be in Lou�s shoes right now, as if ever. The Devils have a number of free agents to be signed and then alaready a couple of big paydays around the corner during the next two offseasons. Plus there are some significant money tied up til 2012. And I wouldn�t even dream of getting any of the forward juggernauts (Hossa, Gaborik etc)  on the free agent market since there are already enough money tied up to forwards.

I�d like both Zajac and Oduya to get signed with a three-year-deal worth 9-9,5 million. Oduya might be due to a slightly bigger raise, since puck-moving d-men are in demand. I�d also depart with both Gionta and Madden. It�s not about hating them or whatnot, but more of a question doing a facelift and preparing for the forthcoming years and the inevitable retirement of the current core of skaters, namely Elias, Langenbrunner, Rolston and White. Since there are already almost 34 millions tied through the season 2011-2011, this team cannot afford to carry a load of expensive veterans, but select the best among them (and settle with what they have) and try to fill in the blanks with young and cheap players.

It stings, since Gio has been a consistent playehttp://www.njdevs.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=45063&st=260&gopid=761645&#r (outside scoring, that is) while many others haven�t like Zubrus. Besides Gio would have to take a hometown discount to stay, while some other GM is likely to throw a bigger offer for him.  Departing with Madden is a double-bladed sword as well. It�s not like he couldn�t handle the 3rd line duties, but more of a question to not anymore giving the team a chance to fall back into its old habits such as line matching. Madden would be ok for one more year, but we�ll see. And on the other hand, the team needs to promote new faces and let go of the sentiments of the glory days of the late 1990�s and early 2000�s.

The first priority outside signing the key free agents is to strengthen the defense. It includes renewal from within and namely promoting Matt Corrente. That�s one step, but the defense really needs another top-4 d-man, preferably a first-pairing player. It is easier to say this than actually get this done without handcuffing the team furthermore with another big contract. The thing is that the market for decent d-men is thin.

Throwing in some names: Jay Bouwmeester? In fantasy land, yes. If this team was actually getting him, it would mean absolutely no chance to wiggle and would probably mean losing one of the trio Parise, Zajac and Martin or leaving empty-handed if trading Zubrus or Rolston. Mattias �hlund? A good option, but is he willing to move out east and is he affordable as well? We�ll end up probably signing Milan Jurcina or Jaroslav Spacek. Or no one outside the organisation. But someone is brought in, let it be someone with a right-handed shot.

While waiting for Patrice Cormier, Zharkov and such to turn in bloom, and realising that Zubrus isn�t necessarily at his best playing center, a stop-gap center might come in handy, if there�s actually cap room. Jason Williams wa s brought up as one possibility, but I�d go with Steven Reinprecht if he was available. He can also play wing and contribute on 2nd pp too. It is totally lateral move and won�t make the center department better than last year, I guess it�s better to put a patch on a wound than let it bleed. Or then we�ll see Madden vacate the 3rd line furthermore, which has its virtues as well.

It is really hard to go anywhere the way this team and contracts are structured right now. The vets will perform and provide a playoff-spot, but to get the cut above of being a playoff team and turn into a serious contender can�t be done right now. Of course it is negotiabel, is that even a question of doing trades, though there are obvious holes in this teams.

And in the end: I�d like to see something like this, though purely made with fantasy hockey logics.

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner
Rolston-Elias-Bergfors
Zubrus-mr. X-Clarkson
Halischuk-Pelley-Rupp
Pandolfo, Leblond

Oduya-Martin
Salvador-Mr. Y
White-Corrente
Mottau, Greene (?)

Marty
a back-up goalie

Edited by dali, 14 May 2009 - 05:23 AM.

[Voros19]

Robert Lang is a perfect fit as a stop gap center.

[devils26]

GMs decide if a contract is a good value by looking at expected contribution to his team versus salary cap, not contract amount versus other people's contract amounts.

If a RFA and an UFA are both an option for a team to sign for the same contract then odds are extremely good the RFA is a much better player than the UFA is. So the GM would sign the RFA because he helps his team more relative to his cap, that decision is made regardless of other contracts.

When it comes to actually making the decision in a specific instance, it doesn't matter what the odds say. The GM will have to compare the potential contracts to see who will provide the greatest contribution to his team vs. the salary cap. I don't see how at least some comparison can be avoided, regardless of how rough or unscientific it is.

[Devils731]

When it comes to actually making the decision in a specific instance, it doesn't matter what the odds say. The GM will have to compare the potential contracts to see who will provide the greatest contribution to his team vs. the salary cap. I don't see how at least some comparison can be avoided, regardless of how rough or unscientific it is.

Ya, he's making the comparison to the cap, not comparing the RFA to the UFA. He compares both to the cap and picks the one with the best value. There is a comparison, it's towards the cap, not towards other contracts.

[devils26]

Ya, he's making the comparison to the cap, not comparing the RFA to the UFA. He compares both to the cap and picks the one with the best value. There is a comparison, it's towards the cap, not towards other contracts.

Fair enough.

[devilsrule33]

So Krejci signs a 3-year contract worth 3.75 annually. I don't see how Zajac can make more than this. I know he is the top line center here, while Krejci is a second line center in Boston, but David Krejci is a much better player.

Edited by devilsrule33, 02 June 2009 - 04:33 PM.

[Sarge18]

Lou better go and personally thank Peter Chiarelli for that one. That contract may work out similar to the one that Nathan Horton signed a few years back, that set the bar for almost all RFA forwards signed for a 2 year period.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=280676

It escalates from 3.5 to 3.75 to 4 over the 3 years, which has become the defacto standard these days for RFA players.

[Triumph]

So Krejci signs a 3-year contract worth 3.75 annually. I don't see how Zajac can make more than this. I know he is the top line center here, while Krejci is a second line center in Boston, but David Krejci is a much better player.

Krejci is not a 'much better player'. I had Krejci at 3.5 million per year - I don't think this changes much for Zajac. He'll get 3.5 to 4 million per season.

[devilsrule33]

Krejci is not a 'much better player'. I had Krejci at 3.5 million per year - I don't think this changes much for Zajac. He'll get 3.5 to 4 million per season.

I think he is much more talented. Zajac benefited from Parise's incredible year. Krejci created most of his points from incredible vision and passing. Krejci didn't see top minutes and was not on the #1 PP unit. Replace Zajac with Krejci on our top line and I think he gets 80 points. Not to mention how much better our PP comes.

This isn't a knock on Travis. I just think Krejci is really good.

[Triumph]

I think he is much more talented. Zajac benefited from Parise's incredible year. Krejci created most of his points from incredible vision and passing. Krejci didn't see top minutes and was not on the #1 PP unit. Replace Zajac with Krejci on our top line and I think he gets 80 points. Not to mention how much better our PP comes.

This isn't a knock on Travis. I just think Krejci is really good.

Yeah, I mean, no one on the Devils can be good, Travis is just a passenger on the Parise line whereas that Krejci is just a tremendous playmaker. Krejci isn't going to get 50 even strength points next season unless he improves his game, and Behind The Net ranked his strength of teammates as 8th (Zajac is 2nd) - that's despite the fact that Krejci did not get that much power play time.

For the purposes of salary comparison, Zajac has 3 full NHL seasons whereas Krejci has 1, and Krejci's first season wasn't even that good.

Krejci is certainly a better player. 'much better', I don't think that's the case.

Edited by Triumph, 02 June 2009 - 05:33 PM.

[devilsrule33]

Yeah, I mean, no one on the Devils can be good, Travis is just a passenger on the Parise line whereas that Krejci is just a tremendous playmaker. Krejci isn't going to get 50 even strength points next season unless he improves his game, and Behind The Net ranked his strength of teammates as 8th (Zajac is 2nd) - that's despite the fact that Krejci did not get that much power play time.

For the purposes of salary comparison, Zajac has 3 full NHL seasons whereas Krejci has 1, and Krejci's first season wasn't even that good.

Krejci is certainly a better player. 'much better', I don't think that's the case.

Again talking up Krejci does not mean I don't appreciate Zajac or don't think he is good NHL player. But the facts are the facts.

Krejci had more goals and more assists for more points. He had more PP points playing on the second unit. Krejci was playing in his first full season in the NHL. He is younger. He was thrown around all year on different lines playing with 6 different linemates.

Zajac finished his third full year and has played with the same two guys for his entire NHL career, one who is arguably a top 5 forward in the game. If you watched the two guys all year, you can see a major talent discrepancy between the two.

Edited by devilsrule33, 02 June 2009 - 06:11 PM.

[Triumph]

Zajac finished his third full year and has played with the same two guys for his entire NHL career, one who is arguably a top 5 forward in the game. If you watched the two guys all year, you can see a major talent discrepancy between the two.

this is simply a blatant untruth and makes me wonder what team you watched in 2007-08.

[devilsrule33]

this is simply a blatant untruth and makes me wonder what team you watched in 2007-08.

I've said this before...the 2007-2008 team was one that I was most removed from personally. I watched about two games all season, so please fill me in. If I am mistaken, I apologize, but Zajac still had the chemistry of playing with the same guys all season this year. I think everything else I wrote is fair though.

[Devils Pride 26]

hey tri this is OT but it seems like this whole thread jumps around a lot so i'll post it anyway. I'm trying to get into more extensive stats but I'm not exactly sure which ones more important and which ones look it but really don't make a difference. One thing I was looking at was shooting% for defensemen. For example I look at Dion Phaneuf. 11 goals last year looks very nice but taking 277 shots last year (3.5pg) and a S% of 4.0 ranking him 71st for defensemen total. There's a lot you don't see looking at the plain old stats. 2 people I was very impressed with were, Zidlicky and Aucoin. They didn't rack up a ton of shots but they both had very respectable S%. Campoli is 3 overall and makes you shake your head if your an isles fan, what were they thinking? Kubina is up there too. I was thinking about how Zidlicky would fit here ever since his Nashville days. One year left at 3.5M, think Rafi at half price but better defensively. With a rebuilding Wild, he's worth an inquire.

NHL.com has this interactive page where I found these stats. Very nice

[Voros19]

I was surprised the Devils didn't go after Zidlicky (Minnesota paid 2nd + Ryan Jones), and for that matter, Visnovsky (Los Angeles dealt Stoll + Greene), last summer. Zidlicky is not better than Rafalski defensively, however.

Typically it's a sign of a flukeyness if players have a year where their S% is out of whack with their career average.

[Voros19]

I think krecji is definitely a superior offensive player to Zajac. There's not much question about it. However Zajac's all-around game is really rare. I hope he gives Lou a slight break and takes $3M on a long-term contract.

[SC Devs Fan]

First to put it short; the three most important tasks during the summer are (stating the obvious):

1) Re-sign Zajac and Oduya

2) strengthen defense

3) Promote new faces, first and foremost Corrente and Bergfors

4) look at a center for 2nd/3rd line, if possible

Ummmmm... that is 4 things.

Sorry for paying attention!