capo

The open ice and Devils speed is why OT has been successful for them. The PP lacks the size and grit up front to establish position in front of the goalie.

I missed people complaining about scorers. That's definitely not the issue. If the type of player the Devils have has to worry about being pushed around your never going to get anything out of them. This is just not a balanced team and the defense is atrocious.

He needs to pick a few guys, call the GMs and ask them what it's going to take. You can't keep letting them get steam rolled. Yes, it was Grandlund, but you can't have players taking liberties with your skill players.

This team is way too fvcking soft. It's embarrassing. Other teams are taking way too many liberties with these skill kids. Fitz is going to get these guys killed because he can't bring players in to protect them. It's absolutely moronic.

Ok, understood. I don't think it's a lack of talent though. I think it's too many of the same type of player. Coaching is definitely an issue. There is way too much offensive talent to have a PP suck that bad. You don't have to waste time on that stupid drop pass to gain the blue line if you can dump the puck down low and win a battle. They simply don't have that type of player. You can't win in the NHL if you can't win board battles. The Devils have the talent to exchange to get tougher and raise the level of compete. Fitz just hasn't gotten it done.

So... Our expectations are the issue?

Nothing wrong with systemic play with strong positioning. I'm sure there are Lemaire deciples out there. Madden? This team is absolutely abysmal right now. The record is way better than it should be. They've been pretty fortunate. We're seeing now what we probably should have been seeing all along.

Okhotiuk looked the best of the young D in camp by far. The times he had mishaps were from being over aggressive. I'll take over aggressive. In Bahl's small example he looked like a big guy who plays soft and was afraid to make mistakes. I would bring them both up and start scratching Subban, Siegenthaler, and Smith, who has also sucked. I'd look at trades for guys who fit the physical role. The only untouchable players on this team should be Nico, Bratt, Hughes, Hamilton, and Mercer.

This is absolutely a Fitz problem, the D is still terrible and they have too many of the same type of player. It's a coach problem. Not one time has he thrown a big guy out there on the PP with the sole purpose of standing in front of the goalie. Hell, there was a time when the Devils had Stevens up front on the PP just to do it. Graves is a big guy throw him out there. It's a player problem. They all look like they're playing the ladies game. As soon as the Devils scored that 4th goal Winnipeg got pissed and started hitting the sh!t out of them. Jack nearly got decapitated. The Devils superstar coming back from a long injury almost lost his head and they didn't even respond. This team is a joke!

Right after the Devils scored that fourth goal Winnipeg came out and hit everything that made and softened up the soft Devils. It was over right then. Softest NHL team I've ever seen.

LMAO

I hate this thing but why wouldn't they use the J Marty had on his helmet? I don't mind the black striping. If they used the regular logo all would have been fine.

The defense is horrible and Blackwood has sucked. They similar type forwards. They need some bangers in their to protect the smaller players. I don't know how many times we've seen guys get crushed and no fight back. You have to be hard to play against and they are soft. I would love to see 5 hard-nosed stay at home D. I'd get rid of all of them except Smith. 1 mover is plenty with these forwards. They need toughness.

Would a team take him at 6m?

I think were going to get what we all wanted and thought we would get out of Nico. The kid is an all situations beast in the Elias kind of way. I would still take him 1OA. Watch out for Yegor. I went to some B-Devs with my eye on Boqvist and was enthralled by Sharangovich. He has Nico like qualities. Boqvist is a beast btw. When he gets comfortable at the NHL he's going to be a star. A ton of speed, puck skills, and finish. Very fun to watch at the AHL level. I know people are not expecting much but Ruff can get them to buy in and supports them the right way we could be surprised.