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Remaining UFAs?


Sharifijanov2099

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I cant remember the exact quote but i think it was Conte that said something to the extent of "X player plays alot like zubrus, which is something we wish we had more of." He said it around the time of the draft this year i think. It just showed how much the team values what he brings.

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I cant remember the exact quote but i think it was Conte that said something to the extent of "X player plays alot like zubrus, which is something we wish we had more of." He said it around the time of the draft this year i think. It just showed how much the team values what he brings.

Ah, right, we need more career 40-pt players on the top 2 lines. No ZP, no problem!! I love Zubrus as much as the next guy. He has amazing hustle. Never takes a night or shift off. He also has stone hands. If anyone is gonna realistically look at the deficit left in the wake of the ZP departure, they're going to see that we need more offense up front.

Zubrus tops out around 40 points. Can we realistically expect Elias to repeat his season from last year? Does anyone realistically think Kovalchuk will out do last year's numbers? Or that Clarkson can repeat 30 goals when it seemed like 10 of them went in off his ass last year? Even an optimistic projection with Henrique not slumping and upping his point total... and Elias repeating... and Kovy repeating... and Clarkson not falling off TOO much... if you assume all that, there's still quite a gap in what we have.

It's way optimistic to think that Butler or Tedenby can join the top 6 and make up for 35+ goals and 75+ pts.

A guy like Huselius, who yes has been injured... at least has consistently thrown 60 pts a season. Why not take a gamble on someone like that on a cheap 1 year deal and not be forced to rely on the likes of Zubrus or Butler to fill unrealistic expectations?

Henrique-Zajac-Kovalchuk

Zubrus-Elias-Clarkson

Butler-Josefson-Tedenby

Bernier-Gionta-Carter

or:

Henrique-Zajac-Kovalchuk

Huselius-Elias-Clarkson

Butler-Josefson-Zubrus

Bernier-Gionta-Carter

*A lot stronger top 9 sans Tedenby and with an experiment like Huselius. If Tedenby wants in, let him earn it over Butler or Bernier. Why some of you think that any of this is sacrilege, I do not know. As it stands now, we're missing a potential 60 goals (ZP/Sykora). Yes, Zajac missed most of last year so it's not entirely accurate, but Henrique/Elias stepped it up big time last season to fill that void.

Personally, I'd sign Huselius AND Sykora to 1-year deals and let Butler/Tedenby work their asses off if they wanna play in the NHL.

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Ah, right, we need more career 40-pt players on the top 2 lines. No ZP, no problem!! I love Zubrus as much as the next guy. He has amazing hustle. Never takes a night or shift off. He also has stone hands. If anyone is gonna realistically look at the deficit left in the wake of the ZP departure, they're going to see that we need more offense up front.

Zubrus tops out around 40 points. Can we realistically expect Elias to repeat his season from last year? Does anyone realistically think Kovalchuk will out do last year's numbers? Or that Clarkson can repeat 30 goals when it seemed like 10 of them went in off his ass last year? Even an optimistic projection with Henrique not slumping and upping his point total... and Elias repeating... and Kovy repeating... and Clarkson not falling off TOO much... if you assume all that, there's still quite a gap in what we have.

It's way optimistic to think that Butler or Tedenby can join the top 6 and make up for 35+ goals and 75+ pts.

A guy like Huselius, who yes has been injured... at least has consistently thrown 60 pts a season. Why not take a gamble on someone like that on a cheap 1 year deal and not be forced to rely on the likes of Zubrus or Butler to fill unrealistic expectations?

Henrique-Zajac-Kovalchuk

Zubrus-Elias-Clarkson

Butler-Josefson-Tedenby

Bernier-Gionta-Carter

or:

Henrique-Zajac-Kovalchuk

Huselius-Elias-Clarkson

Butler-Josefson-Zubrus

Bernier-Gionta-Carter

*A lot stronger top 9 sans Tedenby and with an experiment like Huselius. If Tedenby wants in, let him earn it over Butler or Bernier. Why some of you think that any of this is sacrilege, I do not know. As it stands now, we're missing a potential 60 goals (ZP/Sykora). Yes, Zajac missed most of last year so it's not entirely accurate, but Henrique/Elias stepped it up big time last season to fill that void.

Personally, I'd sign Huselius AND Sykora to 1-year deals and let Butler/Tedenby work their asses off if they wanna play in the NHL.

Sykora is shot. The problem with him is that he only provides goals - he's not good for anything else, really. The Devils don't need a player like that, especially not one whose best days are well behind him. If they sign him, it should be with the intent of using him in 60% or so of the games.

Huselius would be a great tryout invite, I'm sure the Devils have some of those lined up. Wouldn't mind giving Kovalev a tryout, even though he was terrible in the KHL. There's no way that I would sign two players who are old, can't kill penalties and are fringe NHLers. Bobby Butler can probably do 80% of the job Sykora did last year for 1/3rd of the price that Sykora's likely asking for.

Counting goals lost is a fool's errand. Parise played 1762 minutes last year. His ice time will be spread around 6 different players and we can probably count on 15 goals alone right there. Zubrus doesn't score a lot himself, but he helps drive play and that gets goals for other players - it's hard to have too many players like that.

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Ah, right, we need more career 40-pt players on the top 2 lines. No ZP, no problem!! I love Zubrus as much as the next guy. He has amazing hustle. Never takes a night or shift off. He also has stone hands. If anyone is gonna realistically look at the deficit left in the wake of the ZP departure, they're going to see that we need more offense up front.

Zubrus tops out around 40 points. Can we realistically expect Elias to repeat his season from last year? Does anyone realistically think Kovalchuk will out do last year's numbers? Or that Clarkson can repeat 30 goals when it seemed like 10 of them went in off his ass last year? Even an optimistic projection with Henrique not slumping and upping his point total... and Elias repeating... and Kovy repeating... and Clarkson not falling off TOO much... if you assume all that, there's still quite a gap in what we have.

It's way optimistic to think that Butler or Tedenby can join the top 6 and make up for 35+ goals and 75+ pts.

A guy like Huselius, who yes has been injured... at least has consistently thrown 60 pts a season. Why not take a gamble on someone like that on a cheap 1 year deal and not be forced to rely on the likes of Zubrus or Butler to fill unrealistic expectations?

Henrique-Zajac-Kovalchuk

Zubrus-Elias-Clarkson

Butler-Josefson-Tedenby

Bernier-Gionta-Carter

or:

Henrique-Zajac-Kovalchuk

Huselius-Elias-Clarkson

Butler-Josefson-Zubrus

Bernier-Gionta-Carter

*A lot stronger top 9 sans Tedenby and with an experiment like Huselius. If Tedenby wants in, let him earn it over Butler or Bernier. Why some of you think that any of this is sacrilege, I do not know. As it stands now, we're missing a potential 60 goals (ZP/Sykora). Yes, Zajac missed most of last year so it's not entirely accurate, but Henrique/Elias stepped it up big time last season to fill that void.

Personally, I'd sign Huselius AND Sykora to 1-year deals and let Butler/Tedenby work their asses off if they wanna play in the NHL.

Come on, every day on here this point has been brought up and shot down a number of times.

Bernier, Carter, and Gionta scoring five goals each replaces half of Parise's production. Add in a full season of Zidlicky and Zajac. And then a full season from JJ along with progression as a player from him along with Larsson.

An adequate fourth line will go a long way in replacing Parise's production. Laugh now but goals are goals, it does not matter where they come from. This is an organization that has suffered the loses of players far greater and kept moving forward.

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Come on, every day on here this point has been brought up and shot down a number of times.

Bernier, Carter, and Gionta scoring five goals each replaces half of Parise's production. Add in a full season of Zidlicky and Zajac. And then a full season from JJ along with progression as a player from him along with Larsson.

An adequate fourth line will go a long way in replacing Parise's production. Laugh now but goals are goals, it does not matter where they come from. This is an organization that has suffered the loses of players far greater and kept moving forward.

Yet this argument is not much better. I've said this before, but the Devils got really hot in the last 10 or so games of the regular season. And it's because Zid and Zajac came at appropriate times. And of course there's also the success of CBGB, as well as JJ's contributions. I do not believe that the team will do any worse in the regular season than they did last season. But then you get to the playoffs, and it's the exact same team, minus one of the best players in Parise, and a decent contributor in Ponikarovsky (not to mention aging goaltenders). If the question were:

Are Zid + Zajac + JJ + CBGB > Parise + Poni?

then we can assume we're in decent shape next season. But people tend to ignore the fact that the Devils had all of those players in the playoffs, not just the right side of that inequality.

That said, I think there are many ways to get the team to improve. Call me crazy, but I believe that one of Butler or Tedenby can replace Ponikarovsky's production. We also need to expect big years from JJ and Henrique, which is not too much to hope for. It's possible to take a chance on a guy like Andrei Kostitsyn, which could possibly be the missing link. But I like the idea of giving Huselius a tryout if he's still available by then. I don't know if he's even medically cleared to play or not, but he could contribute if he returns to the player he was a couple of years ago. Even without those two players, a trade has got to be coming soon. There is way too much talent being wasted at the AHL level. Gelinas and Urbom deserve a shot in the NHL. The year after, Merrill and Scarlett probably will. It's possible that Severson may even be ready in a couple of years. This may also be used to help out deficit in forward prospects.

Long story short, if the Devils want to make a decent playoff run again, replacing Parise, in more than just scoring, is still a relevant problem.

Edited by nessus
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Yet this argument is not much better. I've said this before, but the Devils got really hot in the last 10 or so games of the regular season. And it's because Zid and Zajac came at appropriate times. And of course there's also the success of CBGB, as well as JJ's contributions. I do not believe that the team will do any worse in the regular season than they did last season. But then you get to the playoffs, and it's the exact same team, minus one of the best players in Parise, and a decent contributor in Ponikarovsky (not to mention aging goaltenders). If the question were:

Are Zid + Zajac + JJ + CBGB > Parise + Poni?

then we can assume we're in decent shape next season. But people tend to ignore the fact that the Devils had all of those players in the playoffs, not just the right side of that inequality.

That said, I think there are many ways to get the team to improve. Call me crazy, but I believe that one of Butler or Tedenby can replace Ponikarovsky's production. We also need to expect big years from JJ and Henrique, which is not too much to hope for. It's possible to take a chance on a guy like Andrei Kostitsyn, which could possibly be the missing link. But I like the idea of giving Huselius a tryout if he's still available by then. I don't know if he's even medically cleared to play or not, but he could contribute if he returns to the player he was a couple of years ago. Even without those two players, a trade has got to be coming soon. There is way too much talent being wasted at the AHL level. Gelinas and Urbom deserve a shot in the NHL. The year after, Merrill and Scarlett probably will. It's possible that Severson may even be ready in a couple of years. This may also be used to help out deficit in forward prospects.

Long story short, if the Devils want to make a decent playoff run again, replacing Parise, in more than just scoring, is still a relevant problem.

This exactly. The way we are right now we are a playoff team, but in order to win a cup improvements need to be made to improve the team that played in the post season NOT the regular season. The team that played in the regular season was good but not great. The additions of zid, poni, zajac, and cbgb made them great. Losing parise and poni are holes that need to be addressed. I think parises spot will be filled via a trade. When the cap goes down before the season starts there will be firesales, and we have too many dmen right now.

EDIT: i think butler can easily replace poni if hes given a shot with good players. Poni wasnt really producing much after his injury.

Edited by njd3b1ink
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Yet this argument is not much better. I've said this before, but the Devils got really hot in the last 10 or so games of the regular season. And it's because Zid and Zajac came at appropriate times. And of course there's also the success of CBGB, as well as JJ's contributions. I do not believe that the team will do any worse in the regular season than they did last season. But then you get to the playoffs, and it's the exact same team, minus one of the best players in Parise, and a decent contributor in Ponikarovsky (not to mention aging goaltenders). If the question were:

Are Zid + Zajac + JJ + CBGB > Parise + Poni?

then we can assume we're in decent shape next season. But people tend to ignore the fact that the Devils had all of those players in the playoffs, not just the right side of that inequality.

That said, I think there are many ways to get the team to improve. Call me crazy, but I believe that one of Butler or Tedenby can replace Ponikarovsky's production. We also need to expect big years from JJ and Henrique, which is not too much to hope for. It's possible to take a chance on a guy like Andrei Kostitsyn, which could possibly be the missing link. But I like the idea of giving Huselius a tryout if he's still available by then. I don't know if he's even medically cleared to play or not, but he could contribute if he returns to the player he was a couple of years ago. Even without those two players, a trade has got to be coming soon. There is way too much talent being wasted at the AHL level. Gelinas and Urbom deserve a shot in the NHL. The year after, Merrill and Scarlett probably will. It's possible that Severson may even be ready in a couple of years. This may also be used to help out deficit in forward prospects.

Long story short, if the Devils want to make a decent playoff run again, replacing Parise, in more than just scoring, is still a relevant problem.

Just like all the prior years of Parise leading us to great triumph's in the playoffs. The playoffs involve so much luck, as mentioned already, the Devils were a bounce away from being one and done WITH Parise. Clearly, you don't replace Parise with a single player. I agree with you on adding a player such as Huselius or try and get value because the best way to replace Parise is add depth.

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