Sarge18

That’s correct in regard to Devils retaining his NHL rights, which is a separate topic from the NCAA rules. Realistically it is in the Devils best interest to let him play 2 years of NCAA before bringing him pro.

The Devils can sign Stillman and it will toll for two years, ie the ELC doesnt start unless he is in the NHL for more than 9 games, or is out of junior eligibility. They can't sign Hughes until he is ready to leave Michigan, it will terminate his NCAA eligibility the moment pen hits paper.

https://torontosun.com/2016/04/14/hockey-is-luckiest-major-north-american-sport-researchers This may not be what sund is getting at, but most of the research points to hockey being the most random of the major sports. I have also seen studies that show that the NHL has the lowest probability of the favored team to win any given game of the major sports.

Stay Safe up there. It's already turning into a Mad House here in Palm Beach County, Publix totally out of water huge gas lines etc. The Euro Model had it coming right at us, Hurricane Center at you all. No one seems to have an idea where it's going. Could be anywhere from Miami to Jacksonville at this rate.

So having a right side line up of Subban, Severson, Vatanen and Carrick. Does Shero dangle Sami for forward or LD help?

If they play in Albany it means they have turned pro and their college career is over. For NCAA guys there is no turning back due to NCAA rules.

It wasn't just a hard hit and in no way was legitimate. That hit was 2 seconds late and a charge, that's a 5 + game every time, and likely a couple games off for him. Jaskin wasnt in the play and certainly wasn't eligible to be hit there. It was reckless and dumb. You want to forecheck hard go ahead, finish the check on someone you have engaged fine, this hit was a stupid idea and decision by Farnham. Change the timing and the circumstances of the game/play and you get away with it being a charge. But you cant, we add them all together and you have a bad hit.

The issue is yea, it may get you back into the playoff discussion, and once your in anything can happen. But that team still has serious flaws with Kessel that make it a longshot at really contending. The sort of structural flaws that are going to dictate a full tear down of the offensive group to fix. So why throw good assets after Kessel when the upside is playoffs, not a cup, and the end game is quite similar to the position they are in now. Only the young defense is a couple years older, and further out of sync age wise with where the forwards should/could be without trading for Kessel. Figure that by the time the team may be ready contend with Kessel is say 4 years post trade, Phil will be on the wrong side of 30, and far on the wrong side of a goal scorers career arc. The trap here is to not be the Maple leafs of the Early 00's and think that the core group is held together by anything more than duct tape and keep adding to it.

From the Sunrise area, it is a lot easier to get to downtown Ft. Lauderdale than it is Miami or South Beach. Try to his up Las Olas Blvd for some night life and a bunch of good restaurants. Rock Burger by the science museum is a favorite for something casual and delicious.

Atlanta Spirit Group owned the Hawks, Thrashers, and the Phillips Arena. Word around Atlanta was what they really wanted was 41 more open arena dates that were not tied to losing money on the Thrashers. So no matter what alternative local ownership group may have come around, they were not going to make it easy to keep the team in the building.

While the ECAC isnt full of traditional powerhouse teams like some of the other conferences, and is full of Ivy League schools dont let that lull you into thinking its a weak conference. Union and Yale are the last two national champions, Quinnipac, Colgate, and Cornell are solid programs. The top ECAC teams are as good as anyone in the country, and all the NCAA conferences have their bottom feeders. The league is also traditionally very defensive as the schools havent always been able to bring in top flight offensive recruits. Harvard also plays a strong out of conference schedule with a full list of games against the other Boston area Hockey East teams. I wouldnt worry about Kerfoot's qualcomp,if he puts up good numbers at Harvard, it isnt due to beating up on weak teams.

There have been two great takes on this over the years. http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2009/11/nhl-suspensions.html?m=1 And http://www.nhlwheelofjustice.com There's no rhyme or reason in most of these decisions. However in the carter Ashton case his penalty is dictated by the CBA.

I was only addressing the forwards in that. The defense has been a better story, but thats come down to drafting mostly. The homegrown guys haven't had to spend full years down there.

Looking at drafting, there is still a baffling affinity to marginally talented large forwards that play a north/south game that get picked to high on the hope that unforeseen offense develops. They have historically come from NCAA programs or the USNTDP, but lately have gone to chl leagues for them as well. Then you have the drafting of nobodies like a Mauro Yorg or Derek Rodwell type. But those happen so late as one cant totally complain, though i would bet there were overagers or others out there that could at least play in the AHL. Other than this past years draft disaster, the three before it look promising. Certainly far better than anything done in the mid 2000's. What it is becoming more apparent to me is not a drafting methodology issue, but a player development issue. There have been a few trends that have come and gone with the Devils and forwards, but the AHL program has been consistent. Either by desperation and putting guys in the NHL too soon, like a Jacob Josefson, or something afoul in the forward coaching in Albany very few are turning into useful pros. So few serviceable forwards have come through minor league development program since the late 90's. I can name three that spent 1 or more full years there that turned into full time pro's. Henrique, Clarkson, and Parise. Zach was only there due to the lockout. No one else has turned themselves into a every day nhl player. Forget top end talent, the Devils cant even develop bottom 6 guys anymore.

It is only for his negotiating rights until July 1st, he is not signed for next year.

Absolutely shocking. To think that the most secretive organization in the league does contract negotiations behind closed doors, all the while towing the company line in public. Never saw this coming...... Come on, anyone who did not think that this was the case all along was being delusional.

Sorry all, I think i broke the chat room

Its not about the goals against. Though that will get everyone's attention due to the size. There was never a moment where he looked comfortable with a shot coming his way. He did not play anything clean. There were rebounds galore, he was overplaying the shooters, and getting himself out of position. There was nothing good about his game, we saw the bad lateral movement, the inability to get off his ass, the bad rebound control, mistakes playing the puck, and a weak 5 hole again. He just looked terrible by any subjective measure as well. The Devils played like a hot mess in the neutral zone and high in the rangers end, leading to far too many turnovers and chances against. The D was aggressive all game long and got away with it in the first, but was crushed for it in the second. Instead of playing their down low grinding style, the devils let the game evolve into a track meet, and they cant win that style of game. But that brings up one of the big weaknesses in the lineup, the lack of speed in the lineup. The moment the Rangers started on those odd man rushes, there was not a Devil player who was going to get back into the play. Its unfortunate, but with this roster games like this are going to happen on occasion. They just dont have the margin for error with games opening up.

I disagree. If Marty even has a microsecond of thought about coming back the reaction has to be, not here. The adults in the room are going to have to make this decision for him.

The events of last night in Boston make a good case to bring this back up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VEz9p8-L3s#t=154 What in the world is Thornton doing? So now we have a player leaving the game on a stretcher because of the ridiculous notion of frontier justice that goes around in the league. I know the history from last years playoffs, and this game was down and dirty with four guys leaving the game due to injury. But seriously why does Orpik, a guy who doesnt really fight have to answer the bell to Thornton, the B's enforcer? Its a pretty big mismatch, and what does it solve? Makes Thornton feel better? Is any sort of justice being served? Lets see how he feels when what should be a 10+ game suspension is handed out.

Its really interesting that the argument that fighting makes the game safer still exists when you look at the history of the league and some of its more brutal moments. Fighting didnt stop Hunter on Turgeon, Domi on Niedermayer, Matt Cooke, Patrick Kaleta, Ulf Samuelson, Brian Marchment, Jarko Ruutu, Max Lappiere, Chris Pronger and endless other players from being some of the biggest cheap shot artists out there. There is no deterrent other than what the league can provide through suspensions pre or post instigator rules(and is unwillling to do but more on this later). You have guys that acknowledge that getting into the occasional fight, is part of the cost of the way they play, but its not going to stop them from doing what they do. People still talk about how no one hit Gretzky because of having tough guys on that oilers team. No one hit Gretzky because he was damn hard to hit, he didnt put himself into those sorts of positions just like Joe Sakic didnt. Fighting didnt save Mario Lemiuex from taking incredible abuse during his career. Its funny, I'm not even anti fighting. I just feel like fighting's role in the game has taken on some mystical level that goes well beyond its actual importance on the ice. If you read through something like Dryden's book, and how the Habs approached playing the Broad St Bully Flyers teams it puts a real interesting spin on the whole thing. Those Flyers teams thrived on fighting and the chaos of playing a physical game. It took a single hit from Larry Robinson and ensuing fight to set the tone for that initial series and those that followed. No enforcer, no protection role but an instance where a hit and fight certainly had an impact on the way two teams approached each other. Those instances rarely happen anymore. The Devils certainly had that element with Stevens through say 2003. It is amazing how things have progressed from those Flyers teams to the big bad Bruins teams to what the modern role of fighting has become. But back to the role of the league. The league and the so called Department of Player Safety are the only ones who can regulate this stuff out of the game by being far stricter on players who engage in dirty play. It looked like the tide was turning on the Torres suspension from the hit on Hossa, but the league backed off when pressure was applied. Things like Pronger getting a 1 game suspension for a chicken wing to Dean McAmmonds head in the finals are jokes. I'll be the first to say i love a good hard hitting game/series. But it has to be honest, and once a guy crosses the line there should be no question of the severity of the penalty. It is laughable how the league takes a tough stance every pre season to only back off once the games actually start to matter again in the regular season, to making the whole process a joke come playoff time. The problem is I'm not sure they can get as tough as they want without the PA pitching a fit. Which will complicate everything else going on with the leagues lovely labor relations.

Bobby Mac has said hes on unconditional waivers. With that the odds are its for a buyout. https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie

The thing is, Marty is done as a nhl starter. I know lots of people want to keep him in nets, but he just is not a starting quality goalie anymore. He cannot stay healthy for a season at a time, and isnt all that good when hes in net. His S% was good for 42nd in the league last year. If you take out guys who played under 20 games, he was still 36th. This is the 3rd year straight that he has been under 30. 34th in 11-12 and 35th in 10-11. This is not going to get any better. So we have a guy who is below starting quality in the regular season for 3 years running, is trending the right direction, and plays for a team that is going to need as much help in net as it can get to make the playoffs, yet we still want to start him out of sentiment? That is the sort of thinking if it carries through the year will likely have the team looking from the outside of the playoff picture. This is not a condemnation of his past contributions to the team, but a look at where he is now. Many of these guys love the game and do not know when to call it quits because they will not take an objective look at the quality of their play. Marty is quickly getting to that point. Hes a hero, let him play 35-30 games if that many. Call him the starter if it strokes his ego, but come game 10, if he is still getting played like the number 1 the Devils will have made the wrong choice in nets. There are positions in hockey that a player can ride off to the sunset in despite a drastic decline. Mike Modano is a great example of that, as is Ken Daneyko. Goalie is not one of them. When a guy is done there is no hiding it, and if hes left in the game it gets ugly real quick. The Devils are on the verge of that with Marty, and it is far worse to embarrass him in net then to embarrass him by putting him on the bench for a year. If he even thinks about entertaining the idea of playing past this year it would be the Devils best interest to immediately offer him a position in the org as the counter. If he isnt starting there is a good chance he becomes a distraction to whomever is, and the team is best served by him not being around. Doing anything but what gives the team the best chance to win each night is a disservice to the other 22 guys on the roster.

As we go through today's fun remember that chat is still up and running.

i got in http://widget00.mibbit.com/?settings=e34a3b7e7bc872bddc55387d93fb76e6&server=irc.mibbit.net&channel=%23NJDevs_chat