Triumph Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 What are the alternatives? The free agent crop is not great whatsoever. I guess I'd have both back if both would sign one year deals. Otherwise I would just let Tootoo go, as much as I like him, this team can't have two of those guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas0nMacIsaac Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Some names of players having good seasons in the KHL. Andrei Kostitsyn Roman Horak Nikita Gusev (From Tampa) Niklas Bergfors Jan Kovar Dmitri Kugryshev Artem Panarin Steve Moses Sergei Shmelev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onddeck Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 That's not much different than what I had, just a matter of time. X is my 3rd liner because you don't just give young players time, you want them to earn it. I know a lot of people say "Play the kids" but if the kid can't earn the time, he shouldn't get it. 15/16 the rookie is a 3rd liner, 16/17 supplants Elias and in 17/18 supplants Zajac. Parise played on the 4th line when he finally got to the NHL. So we need to hit on a couple of RWs. Justin Williams is a great role player that puts the puck in the net especially in the clutch. I'd love him at the Z but he may be a 1st liner here. Boiling it down, this is still a transition though because it's not like we need to draft core players for years like the Sabres. We just need to finally hit on a forward prospect and a free agent. Justin Williams screams Michael Ryder to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zubie#8 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) Give Bergfors another shot lol need that annual ex-Devil signing anyways. Justin Williams screams Michael Ryder to meJustin Williams can actually play hockey. But he is too old so no thanks. Edited February 25, 2015 by Zubie#8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMazz Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) No 30 someodd year old FAs. I don't care if they are 31 or 35. Absoutely not. We need young, fast players. Not Justin Williams. I would bring back Ruutu though. Seems to have been a pretty solid depth guy. I just wouldn't plug him in the top six. Tootoo should stay too. Grandfather those guys in but we shouldn't be signing any "new" older players. Edited February 25, 2015 by TheMazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLL765 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 No 30 someodd year old FAs. I don't care if they are 31 or 35. Absoutely not. We need young, fast players. Not Justin Williams. I would bring back Ruutu though. Seems to have been a pretty solid depth guy. I just wouldn't plug him in the top six. Tootoo should stay too. Grandfather those guys in but we shouldn't be signing any "new" older players. We're going to need someone to play RW next year and I'm not sure there's many under 30 players out there in the FA market this year. As long as we don't sign any 30+ players to deals longer than 2-3 years, it'll be fine. I'm not saying that lot should go nuts and sign 3+ guys that are 30+, but it won't kill us to sign 1 or 2 guys to short term deals as stopgap solutions while we wait for a our, hopefully quite talented, 1st and 2nd picks in the draft this year to develop into reliable NHL players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilsrule33 Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 2015 Off-Season - Lou hires Adam Oates as coach - Scott Stevens retained as lead assistant with full control of the defense - Lou offers large contracts to both Antoine Vermette and Justin Williams, signs Vermette - Looks to package Gelinas/Merrill and multiple picks for a top 6 forward. - Buys out Ruutu - Overpays for some veteran defenseman, favourite being Paul Martin Care to rank from most likely to unlikely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpathianForest Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 My bold prediction: By the end of the day on July 1st Lou will have brought in two new players: Jagr and Zidlicky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Dan 56 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 My bold prediction: By the end of the day on July 1st Lou will have brought in two new players: Jagr and Zidlicky Zidlicky vetoing better trades solidified that he won't be back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpathianForest Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Zidlicky vetoing better trades solidified that he won't be back. I wouldn't be surprised though. Lou is pretty soft. To add to my previous post: We'll get a top ten and draft someone A) we don't need or B) who was slated to go higher. In addition none of our 2015 picks will go very far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 (edited) 2015 Off-Season - Lou hires Adam Oates as coach - Scott Stevens retained as lead assistant with full control of the defense - Lou offers large contracts to both Antoine Vermette and Justin Williams, signs Vermette - Looks to package Gelinas/Merrill and multiple picks for a top 6 forward. - Buys out Ruutu - Overpays for some veteran defenseman, favourite being Paul Martin Care to rank from most likely to unlikely? #2 and #6 on your list would be the top two predictions on mine, only replace Martin with Oduya. Edited March 3, 2015 by NJDevs4978 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldply123 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Zidlicky isn't coming back here. His ice time actually got cut under the new regime. I suspect he along with Jagr and Havlat were part of the group Lou singled out in regards to entitlement. My bet is Zidlicky sticks around in Detroit for another season. Their defense is pretty weak still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDEVS1730 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Zidlicky vetoing better trades solidified that he won't be back. He did not know they were better, though. He made his decision based on the team the trade was with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldply123 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Devils will need at least 3 if not 4 forwards slots filled even factoring in bringing back guys like Gomez and Bernier. I think Lou has his hands full because unless he can add another top winger and a center this team will miss the playoffs next year again. A trade if not two will be a necessity and getting more speed and playmaking is essential. Zajac, Cammy, Henrique is not a bad bunch they just need more help and to push the depth guys like Bernier down to where they can beat up on other teams lesser lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadvlfan Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Zidlicky vetoing better trades solidified that he won't be back. Not necessarily. He probably really didn't want to leave the family. so he met Lou half way. I don't think he burned bridge. Jagr, for sure won't be back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadvlfan Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I'm wondering if Tyler Bozak would be a decent trade to pursue, but a first rounder he is not worth. He's getting 4.5 next 3 years. not bad for a 2nd/3rd line center. We are after all paying 5.5 mil for zajac a "real" first line pivot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William D'Aquila Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I'm wondering if Tyler Bozak would be a decent trade to pursue, but a first rounder he is not worth. He's getting 4.5 next 3 years. not bad for a 2nd/3rd line center. We are after all paying 5.5 mil for zajac a "real" first line pivot. A poor mans Zajac, the only reason he has any offensive number is because he plays with JVR and Kessel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilsfan118 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 So.. where do we go from here, as fans? They're clearly not going to tank - so I guess.. just take it game by game? Enjoy what little victories we can? I'm looking forward to Severson's return. Both he and Larsson in the lineup will be exciting. Maybe Boucher and/or Matteau get another shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadvlfan Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 My bold prediction: By the end of the day on July 1st Lou will have brought in two new players: Jagr and Zidlicky You forgot, and a 3 yrs deal to Martin St. Louis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck the Duck Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 You forgot, and a 3 yrs deal to Martin St. Louis With a no movement clause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgeControl Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 So.. where do we go from here, as fans? They're clearly not going to tank - so I guess.. just take it game by game? Enjoy what little victories we can? I'm looking forward to Severson's return. Both he and Larsson in the lineup will be exciting. Maybe Boucher and/or Matteau get another shot. Number 1 we need to support the team this year and next...let them know we will sit through next years rebuild/reload and that putting a competitive 2017 team on the ice is way more important than patching together a 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecoffeecake Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 PRO: We draft Horvat or Domi and Marty to STL never happens. We get a top center, Marty retires as a Devil and we transition to Kinkaid who has been holding his own so far. Also Having Marty would of probably gained us some top draft picks for the pro-tankers and he probably ends up at 700 wins as well. CON: We have no way in ever knowing if Kinkaid as starter would be any less than a giant bust, much less if the Devils would of drafted Horvat, Domi or Nish. If they went off the board, drafting a scrub and the trade NEVER happened? We would of been set back for ages. Barring the results of the potential Kinkaid experiment, I could have seen a situation where the Devils could of signed Niemi in this coming offseason or another goalie earlier on. There are a lot of variables with not trading for Cory though. I'm not saying we didn't make the right call, but the "what ifs" are interesting. We would of probably been more in the McEchiel race if we took Domi or Horvat, I would imagine and having one of those two plus a def top 5 pick would of solved the foward prospect issue. There are plenty of goaltenders out there. There are far more than 30 people capable of starting somewhat successfully as an NHL goalie. Everyone has two these days, it wouldn't have been tough to wrestle one away from somewhere without giving up a 9th pick. Not that I'm unhappy with the cory deal, as much as I wanted him traded last year convinced he was going to walk. LA has been pumping out pretty nice goaltenders regularly, Boston always seems to have talent coming through behind Rask, the list goes on. I don't think we're dead without the trade. It only takes one guy to fill that need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Yeah and what happened to Boston's backup when he left Boston? He blew up with the Isles and got banished to a team trying to lose. Same with Scrivens going from LA to Edmonton. You can find mediocre goalies capable of having good numbers on a good team anywhere but you pay for goalies that actually can make a difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilsrule33 Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 From Lou today: Lamoriello listed that as the team's biggest need personnel-wise to get back in the playoffs in 2015-16 with the team headed toward its third consecutive postseason-less spring this season. “I think that we have to get a couple of offensive forwards,” Lamoriello said after today's morning skate. “Our role players are outstanding. Our defense, I'm extremely pleased with. Goaltending, I don't think say enough about it the way it's been. So we have to get a couple offensive players.” I don't think two scoring forwards is enough -- not the forwards that will be available in free agency and via the assets the Devils have. The Devils need a scoring forward to replace Jagr's role/contributions, and then anything else would be an addition, but it's just not close. Keep in mind that Schneider playing at above average to very good sets the team back, so you are also banking in getting the best goaltending in the NHL again. This is not going to be a good off-season for the New Jersey Devils. Need to stop for a bit before this team goes forward, and Lou doesn't think that, have the time to wait, or follow that reasoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onddeck Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Mcdavid and Kessel, duh. Check and mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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