devils102

If I had to rank them it would be probably WHL being the best, then OHL, then QMJHL. But great players come from all three. Just listening to Nolan Patrick last night -- he already sounds like a Devil talking about defensive responsibility and playing as a two-way center. I think they will take him. He's a big, talented guy up the middle, and he will take less time to adjust to living and playing hockey in the United States (presumably). He's also from the same hometown as Zajac! And he played junior hockey with John Quenneville last year. So the Devils should be familiar with him.

I hate the offside rule. Zajac looks really big and strong out there. Auvitu looks great and is better in the d-zone than I thought he would be. I can't see him coming out of the lineup when Merrill is healthy. Parenteau is a bit better all-around than I thought he was going to be. Still... don't need to see him on the first line of every power play or on the top line. I would like to see Hall and Palmieri together. I don't know if Palmieri is using a longer stick this year, but he's poke checking guys all over the place. Taylor Hall is awesome. Cory is awesome. On the minus side -- Severson still looks indecisive with the puck to me. Beau Bennett seems like a cool guy off the ice, but he doesn't seem to add a whole lot out there yet.

Yes. About to post the same thing.

Pretty good period all things considered. We don't have a lot of NHL experience in the lineup... but we are outworking the Flyers at this point.

He was the ultimate foil to Lou Lamoriello. Definitely have some good memories of Gomez and the Devils of his era. All the best.

Auvitu looked good as well... Moved the puck really well on the PP. It might be time to move some goalies.. We've got like... a lot of them.

Taylor Hall and Marc Savard are gonna light it up next year! I'm a Larsson fan, but I've always wondered how strong a defender he'd be outside the magic bubble that is being partnered with Andy Greene. I wish the best for him. He's going to have very high expectations in Edmonton. Perhaps too high for anyone. As others have said... You have to make this deal if you are Shero. The Canadian media is losing it up here. I will miss Larsson but love the deal.

I hope they play well down the final stretch. I've given up on the playoffs, but the team doesn't deserve to look at the standings and see us pretty much where we were last year. It feels like too much work has gone into this season. Finishing on a high note would be awesome.

PAAAAIIIIINNNNFFULLL.... We really needed that game. Toronto may be about to do us a big favour against Carolina. But, as Steve C. pointed out tonight, we need to win 14 out of 20 now (or get 28 points) to get 95 points on the season -- which would give us a shot at the playoffs.

That sucked. Devils were maybe a bit too cute. Making plays instead of just shooting it and getting to the net. The Jackets did a good job of collapsing in on the goalie (classic Torts). We can take solace in the fact that if the Jackets play like that going forward they will get crunched.

You would have to find out if local blackouts apply. If there ARE local blackouts... then if you're watching the game in an area where it's available on cable... you are out of luck. I live in Canada so people in the Jersey area may have more insight the rules down there. I have an X-Box One and the Gamcenter Live apphas been problematic for me this year. It's prone to random dropouts and lag has been an issue for me this season (my internet download speeds normally test at about 75-80 mps... so it's not the fastest connection, but it was more stable on previous versions of the GameCentre app). All that to say, I have no idea how the PS4 version of the app runs. I would look into that -- and blackouts. I've used it in the past and as Sammy says, it's great and really convenient -- if it works.

Well if we're going to lose a lot of games this year they might as well be competitive. I liked how Hynes had them keep pushing at the end. Good practice for 6-5 went it counts. Good to get Cammo a goal as well. May have missed the conversation elsewhere... but what do people think of Severson being a scratch?

I had to double check that one in case you got the score wrong. That's pretty ugly!

Only saw the third period which I take it was our best so can't really appreciate how bad the first and second went. Hopefully this is a starting point. It will be hard to be worse than the Devils were at there worst points tonight.

Yes! This is what I was excited about when it was announced Lou was going to the Leafs.

Also... I guess this fits in this thread as well. TSN did an investigation into the increased use of cocaine by NHL players: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl-acknowledges-more-players-using-cocaine-1.372075 The story doesn't really live up to the headline. But it's somewhat interesting.

Mark Spector wrote a piece that says Torres had only played 15 NHL games since his last suspension for a hit to Jarret Stoll. Despite that, Torres is not considered a repeat offender under the CBA because of the amount of time that has passed since that incident (mostly due to injuries that kept Torres out of the game). Assuming all that is true, there is still a lot of inconsistencies in the NHL's messaging on head shots. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/the-nhl-is-a-better-safer-place-without-raffi-torres/

My post was kind of confusing but I was trying to say that we have a lot of players on the roster that are unknowns. Boucher, Josefson, Merrill, Severson, Kalinin, Gelinas, Larsson to an extent, Zacha if he's around, Moore... Until we know what kind of seasons these guys are going to have it's hard to predict where the Devils will end up. I disagree that making the playoffs is an impossibility with this group if a handful of those guys pull out good seasons. And I'm talking like 8th place here, not winning the division.

Not completely unfair. If you look at the roster last year and compare to this year's team, there's not a ton of change. I'm a bit more optimistic, having followed the preseason games, that this team could surprise some people. There's so many new things going on with the Devils this year (from the roster to management to coaching style) that it really is a tough team to handicap. As I say I'm optimistic, but this team could be competing for a playoff spot or terrible and I wouldn't be surprised either way.

Indeed. Shot totals from OHL have always been high. I never really questioned it until they started tracking individual shot totals - those numbers really seem to jump out at you.

Could still be an early call-up like Henrique in 2012. They chose Josefson over him out of camp and then brought him up after an injury I believe. I guess the only decision now is whether they will sign Stempniak or Kennedy, and who goes down as a result. Gragnani would be a big surprise if he made it. I guess he would replace Gelinas? Helgeson is probably going down once Schlemko is better. Defence is pretty much set. Greene - Larsson Merrill - Severson Moore - Gelinas/Gragnani Schlemko/Helgeson Up front I believe Matteau would have to clear waiver which pretty much guarantees his spot. Not sure about the Kalinin or Boucher. Tlusty - Zajac - Cammaleri Palmieri - Henrique - Elias Kalinin/Boucher-Josefson - Matteau Ruutu - Gionta - Tootoo Stempniak - Zacha - Kennedy

Per TG: To AHL: Blandisi, Coleman, Kujawinski, Leblond, Lorito, O'Brien, Pietila, Sislo, Thompson, Burlon, Hrabarenka, Scarlett, Wedgewood, Appleby, Mozik Devils return John Quenneville to junior (Brandon, WHL)

Other than Friedman's report there doesn't seem to be a lot of actual sources out there. Friedman says NHL executives are telling him Lou would love to get Zajac. I guess it depends on who the executives are. I'd love to get van Riemsdyk but that's a big return.

Are the highlights from the game posted anywhere? I don't see them on the Devils main website or TSN.

I'm listening to the radio feed. Sounds like Blandisi is playing well. Sherry and Matt are raving about him anyway. Other than his goal, it sounds like he's playing with a bit of an edge and getting some power play time.