William D'Aquila

Rumors and hearsay

You don't know much about the Yankees. The Yankees became a dynasty when Big Stein was banned from baseball. The core 4 never occurs if he is around. And the Yankees post 2001 decline, if you want to call it that, was largely the result of him. Sheffield over Vlad, is just one instance I can think of.

Probably didn't use the write phrasing, but NHL owners that are hands on, and get involved with team personnel and decisions do not have a history of doing well. Whether Harris is this active going forward is up to question, but according to BostonNalala he is our savior.

NHL owners with bullheaded owners have a history of doing so well.

Ignoring the effect, while focusing on the cause.

There is a distinct possibility that Lou was not able to offer Brodeur the position he deserved. You don't find it weird that he retired in St. Louis? Lemaire is a special assignments coach, and scouts the Florida teams. The last few years Conte was nowhere near his peak, but his peak was all time. He has hit on almost every defenseman the Devils drafted since 2008. The forwards have been an issue, but it is not like he took risks, as far as going off the board. The Josefson, Teddy, and Bergfors picks were all universally praised. They didn't pan out, but it happens.

Marty studied a lot of tape as a goaltender, it is how he remained effective for so long. The foundation is there for him to be a good executive and a possible GM in the future.

Watching the further development of Larsson, Merril, Severson, and Gelinas should be a treat.

Zacha certainly helps. Matteau is a for sure NHL player. In fact, you can make the case that after the 28th pick the Devils drafted the two best players that were remaining in Matteau and Severson. A year from now when the luster of Shero has worn off, don't say I didn't warn you. I'm not buying into empty rhetoric of fast, attacking, supportive. The past two months have been a systematic destruction of everything this organization stands for. Stevens and Brodeur are pushed out of the organization, Lou is a sinecure, and David Conte is let go. In the coming weeks, it wouldn't surprise me if Lemaire is put out to pasture.

Nice article

It is warranted now. I'm not saying Conte has been a drafting guru over the past 10 years, because he clearly has not. However, he has added Henrique, Josefson, Larsson, Gelinas, Severson, Merrill, and Boucher to the NHL roster or the cusp of it. We have amazing d prospects and our forward pool is getting stronger, he deserved more time, and so did Lou for that matter. Expect his Pittsburgh guys to fill the void.

Will be interesting to see if Shero is capable of hiring anyone outside of the Penguin organization.

Marginalization of Lou's crew continues. I really hope Lou gets fed up and goes f-this. Rich of Shero to let him go considering his drafting record with the Pens.

Get Burke from San Jose offer him ANYTHING.

Definitely not going to the KHL. Russia is a petrol state with serious issues until oil rebounds.

Or he didn't want to publicly embarrass the greatest player in franchise history and hand over the reigns to a goalie who never started more than 50 games. You are what Elias Canetti described as the rhythmic and throbbing crowd

These teams are making a big mistake, the cap won't be going up anytime soon with a weak Canadian dollar and oil trading where it is.

Well we had the xenophobe as our HC at that time.

Well, he is a UFA, and when he is healthy he can skate and take the body.

Kessel is going to decline, but his precipitous drop off won't be for another 4 to 5 years, Semin is signed for 1 year, and Oduya is signed for 3 years. You are right Oduya may decline, but you have to remember he played in Europe for a long time, his body overall isn't as taxed. I would imagine he can play effectively into his late 30's like Rafalski. You are also discounting what we have coming through the pipeline when it comes to defenseman. Santini, Jacobs, Scarlett, Hrabanka are all waiting in the wings. Draft pick worries are real, but you need to take risks.

We had Zajac with competent wingers in 2012 and made the finals. This hypothetical team has depth, can score, and isn't handicapped long term. We had to give up a first in 2016, which is a bummer, but we still have Zacha from this years draft. I would have to disagree with you on the defense, the top 4 is still very good Greene - Larsson, Oduya - Severson, Moore - TBA As for our inability to develop forwards, I agree with you there, but I am not sure how we fix that other than better drafting.

Some people, like myself, rightly or wrongly believe that Lou was removed for non hockey reasons. Lou's retooling was going well, as I said many times in the past, and while you can make that argument that he was getting up in age, he certainly isn't your average 72 year old. To me this is ownership wanting to put their stamp on the organization, which they have the right to do, as they own the team. I have to believe that if Lou was still in charge, we would have been bigger players in free agency, the 6th pick might have been traded, and Scott Stevens would still be in the organization. While Shero didn't do anything idiotic during the UFA period, he certainly didn't make the Devils a better team. Frolik, Semin, and Oduya would have been nice bridge players to get us through this time. Think of the Devils as a piece of coal, Semin, Frolik, and Oduya are like LNG a bridge fuel to get us to our green energy stage. Here is what my lineup would look like 1st in 2016, Merrill, Gelinas, and Ottawa's 3rd for Kessel 15% retained and the Leafs 2nd in 2017 Frolik signed for the same contract the flames offered Semin signed 1 year 4 million Oduya Signed 3 years 4 million per season Moore same contract (deal makes sense now because Gelinas is gone) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cammy Zajac Kessel Henrique Elias Semin Frolik Yayo Palmieri Ruutu Gio Totoo But hey guys we can't win now

He fits what this team needs, and like Moore is a low risk signing.

I blamed ownership for pushing Lou upstairs because I felt it was to to the detriment of the organization. I also praised Blitzer for staying at the draft for all 7 rounds, but that must have been missed by you. You have an agenda, it is to whine constantly about my posts in an effort to get me banned. As for the Lou/JVB scenario, the team would have spent like they always did. Maybe Frolik is here, maybe Semin is here, or maybe Lou makes the same moves as Shero. If that latter scenario proved to be true, I would be airing my displeasure with Lou, which is what I did when Fayne was not re-signed.