Chuck the Duck

Good deal. He can play the middle six and is versatile on the wing and at C. When he plays with Jack, he can take the FO's since Jack can win any of them. Good veteran leadership that was well liked in the room. I am happy they brought him back.

Bratt had a terrible playoffs, regardless of what the fancy stats may say. Its bad enough that he didn't put up points, but he was invisible for large stretches, got pushed off the puck constantly, and refused to get in shot lanes to block point shots a number of times in both series. That doesn't make him a bad player, it just means he had a bad month. But for a guy who wants to get paid more than Hughes, he just played himself out of anything close to that deal IMO. I don't think it will come to this, but if we have to choose between him and Meier for cap reasons, I take Meier 10 out of 10 times and trade Bratt.

Have to go back to Schmid for game 5. VV is cooked and is exactly what I was afraid of when we got him from Washington ... a descent regular season goalie the won't make the big stop or put the team on his back for a playoff run. Schmid is young and talented, so I'm hoping he is the answer in the future. It's a major question mark and could be something that is an achilles heel for this franchise the next few years. This team, like all other teams, will only go as far as it's goaltending will take it. You don't need Brodeur, Roy or Hasek in net to win a cup, but you need better than what we have seen in this series. We were spoiled with the consistency Marty largely provided during his time here. He was the cornerstone of those championship teams. Hopefully Schmid can become that for this version of the squad.

It is so much fun being at these games in a (relatively) full building. The energy from the crowd has been great from November on this season.

Stevens had 18 and 17, but never reached 20 with the Devils. He had 21 for the Caps in 1984-85. I thought Kurvers might have had 20, but his high was 16

Shows how much we took for granted when Marty was on this team. Not only was he a top netminder, but the guy almost never got injured and played 70 games a season. Blackwood has the tools to be a top 10 goalie in this league, but he can't stay healthy. Hopefully this injury is minor and he's out only a month.

Send Bernier to Utica for a conditioning assignment and try to showcase him for a trade at 50% retained down there. If no takers, put Bernier through waivers. If he's claimed, then good for him and it gets his salary off the books. If he is not claimed (which he won't be with that cap hit), then he's a really good insurance policy in Utica for the rest of the season. Owners will not like paying him $4.6 million to be an AHL G, and he will take time away from Daws and Schmid which is not ideal, but you really don't have much other choice. No point in releasing him and having a dead cap hit for the next 2 seasons from doing it IMO.

Totally makes sense to have Holtz on the 4th line playing 6 mins a game rather than in Utica where he is on the first line, getting PP1 time, and getting 18 minutes a night. If he isn't playing top 6, he should not be playing in the NHL. Let him develop in the minors and have Zetterlund play RW on that line.

Score more than the other team - for once Let's Go Devils!!!

I don't boo the team/players, and don't participate in chants for anyone to be fired. I get why some fans do it, but I don't believe in it personally. But we all are just sick of the losing and the play with no sense of urgency whatsoever. You can't win a Stanley Cup in October/November, but you surely can play you way out of contention for it in those months. Through 2 games, this team looks like an extension of the past few seasons which is bitterly disappointing. Hopefully they can turn it around with a good performance tonight.

I used the word might in a half-joking post meant to be overly dramatic. So you should relax yourself and not taking everything at face value. And honestly, I can't remember a start to a season where this much negativity ran throughout the fanbase right from the jump, where the head coach was booed during intros on opening night, and had chants to fire him ring out throughout the game. That is usually reserved for 5 games in. The loss to Winnipeg a few years ago was worse in that it was simply soul crushing, but to come out the way the Devils have these first 2 games, looking utterly listless in losing to a Flyers team (without Couturier) that is supposed to be in the Bedard sweepstakes, then a mediocre Red Wings team on a 2nd half of a back to back while we are playing in front of a full, energetic crowd in our home opener is pathetic. Can't wait to see how they play tonight in front of 32 of their closest family and friends. Maybe our goalies can come out and give up less goals than the other teams tender for once.

Reason 1087 why advanced stats are meaningless. Apparently the Red Wings and Flyers are getting caved in while starting the season undefeated and kicking our asses in the process while we are showing 2-way dominance and demanding that the coach be fired in what might be the worst start in franchise history. Makes tons of sense.

With Nico out, he likely will be as Mercer will probably shift to C on one of the lines. At least that is what I would do.

It wouldn't be as bad if they forced the broadcasters of the games to keep the ads static until there was a stoppage in play. For an ad to change as players are skating up ice is going to be incredibly annoying. The number 1 ad purchasers along the digitals board will be sports betting companies. They will have live odds and different prop bets constantly updating on that thing, kind of like they currently do with the boards around the fields in European soccer.

I've always been of the opinion that the franchise should stay in that city and just become defunct or dormant, regardless of where it is moved to. For example, the Scouts and their history should stay in KC, the Rockies should stay in Colorado, and none of that history should be transferred to NJ when the team was moved here. 99% of fans here in NJ do not care (or even know) about the teams fielded when the club played in KC and Denver. In the case of teams like Winnipeg or the Cleveland Browns where the team returns years later, the history and records attaches to that new team. Just my 2 cents

The US lost puck battles all over the ice last night. The Czechs neutralized their biggest strength (speed) and dominated them physically. Would the result have been different if Hughes doesn't get hurt? Probably not but it didn't help them since he was their best D and probably the best D overall in this tournament so far. To say he had a bad game is unfair considering he should not have even been playing after the hit towards the end of the first. He could barely transition and skate backwards which is not ideal for a defenseman at any level, let alone in the WJC. He battled through an injury that hobbled him and made him ineffective. The bling pass at the end was stupid, I will give you that. There was nothing else about that game that you can fault him for with the condition he was playing in.

Why invite the potential controversy that could arise out of it when NOBODY is asking for a Scouts jersey and crest from 1970-something to represent the NJ Devils in 2022? Like a bunch of others have said, if you have to go down this road (we don't - the NYI literally inverted the stripes and did nothing else to their regular home jersey the last time as their RR), then use the Scouts or Rockies jersey template with the Devils colors and logo and be done with it. I personally would rather see a black version of our cup winning jerseys, but they already have the Jersey Jersey abomination still out there for 2 more years, so there is no way they put out a black version of a jersey people want to compete with that sh!tshow for sales.

With a 36 save shutout

I would be surprised if Bernier ever plays again in the NHL. He is definitely going LTIR as he won't be ready for at least 1/2 of next season, probably longer.

No. But his family and friends could come visit him a lot easier than they will be able to in Columbus.

Palat is a good signing. He is being slightly overpaid, but that's the nature of free agency. I have no problem with this deal, and if he can continue to produce at the 50-60 point pace he has throughout his career, he is a great add on Jack or Nico's wing.

I don't know why he wanted out of Canada, but it is certainly possible that their COVID policies had a part in it. Not denying that at all.

Technically, Columbus is closer to Salem County, NJ than Calgary. But let's be honest, being in Columbus is basically the same as being in Calgary when it comes to his ability to see family during the grind of an NHL season. I could be wrong, but I don't think these guys have the time to jet around the country to have dinner with mom and dad, even on an off day. He wanted out of Calgary and took a calculated risk that his favorite boyhood team would open enough cap space to sign him. When that didn't occur, he took the highest offer available to him, and that was in Columbus. It had nothing to do with being close to his family. He just wanted to play for the Flyers and wanted out of Canada. He accomplished one of those things. I have no problem with his decision as its his to make. But any BS you hear about him always wanting to play in Columbus is just that ... BS.

Media was way off on this. NYI never were real players as they didn't have the cap room. NJD's offer was no where near the $10.5 million reported. CBJ offer was nowhere near the $12 million that was reported. Reports of it being between the Devils and Islanders with JG leaning to the Devils when, in reality, he had no intention of ever signing with us. Just pure rumors and speculation reported all day long from a bunch of guys making stuff up to fill air time. Made for an entertaining but frustrating day.

Agree 100%. But if Lebrun's statement is true, which I have no reason to doubt, then it's a poor look on the Devils to not even matching the CBJ offer. Personally, I think JG was trying to orchestrate his way to PHI. That is the one and only place he wanted to play. I think he suspected that they would move heaven and earth for him since he is a local kid, a superstar in the league, and would give them a marketable star to sell their rebuild around. Once they backed out and made it clear they would not do what was necessary to create the cap room to sign him, he pivoted to best offer available in the Eastern Conference that was not in Canada. If him leaving Calgary was truly about being closer to family, he would have signed with the Devils and been an hour and 45 minute drive from his childhood home. Now he needs to take a private jet to get him in the same amount of time. I don't begrudge him for making the right choice for his family. But I really don't understand it unless it was purely about $$ and getting out of Canada. CBJ is no closer to winning a cup than we are and, arguably, we have the centers that could have kept his point production where it was in Calgary for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, the Devils will target players like Matthew Tkachuk that fit more with what we need - wingers with some jam that are tough to play against and win puck battles along the boards to open space for our smaller skilled guys. Palat is a nice piece to add, but he doesn't make us appreciably better.