You're the GM. What trade will you make now?

[fsu1852]

I would call The Kings and see what they want for Jake Muzzin

[NJDfan1711]

6 hours ago, fsu1852 said:

I would call The Kings and see what they want for Jake Muzzin

I'm always pretty bad about predicting potential trade targets, mainly because we never know how these GMs think and what they talk about to each other behind the scenes.  With there being some 800 or so players in the league, I feel it's just too hard to speculate and try to drum up scenarios of who we might be able to land.  But, with that said, I think you're right - I think we need to go to teams in the bottom of the league like the Kings (and yes, I know we're a bottom team in the league right now too), and try to poach them for talent while they're desperate.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

My first move isn't really a trade, but it's an internal move:

 

Send Cory down to the AHL

Bring Blackwood up to the big team

 

Tri pretty much echoed my sentiments, and the way he put it was perfect...it's time to go "nuclear" with Cory.  Giving him backup minutes and hoping that this will be the game where it suddenly comes together for him is not working.  His game is a mess...he's about an .860 save% guy since his game so suddenly and mysteriously abandoned him.  I'm sure it's baffling as hell to everyone involved, but I can't watch a guy who clearly has no confidence at this time continue to kill his team (and I think the team is affected by this)...as we've been over many times, no, Cory's teammates aren't without blame, but as Tri also pointed out very simply, .850 - .860 goaltending doesn't cut it in the NHL...I would say .895 - .905 in today's game is at the bottom edge of tolerably bad, and it feels like even that kind of play is three time zones away for Cory right now.  That can't continue at everyone else's expense.

So why Blackwood?  Because I think the team needs to do something bold.  Lack would be the safe call, and I think his best moment as a Devil already came and went (that crazy 50+ shot game against the Lightning).  You only call up Lack because "he has NHL experience".  Well in 2018-19, he's been about as porous in the AHL as Cory's been in the NHL.  Sure, sometimes you can briefly catch lightning in a bottle with a Lack-type, but I'm just not interested in safe and boring right now.  I also think Cory needs to play and play a LOT in Bingo...with his contract, you still have to do everything you can to try to right him...it's just gotten to the point that it can't be done up here.  So I want to see Cory get the Top Gun Maverick, Post-Goose treatment...keep sending him out there in Bingo, and hope the results start to improve.

I can't say that I'm necessarily thrilled that Blackwood would not be getting AHL games now that he's just started to build something there, but this has become a true goaltending crisis, and this calls for outside-the-box thinking.  That means giving Blackwood a legit chance to play his way into a rotation up here, sooner than later.  I like that KK has done about as much as could possibly be expected...an undrafted player has managed to do what too many actual DRAFTED Devil goalies haven't:  he's turned himself into a serviceable #1.  The problem is he's a Terreri-type #1...by virtue of outplaying the guy who was supposed to be much better, KK has stubbornly become the Devils #1.  But he has limitations.  The plan never called for him to be the #1...this could only happen in crisis, and that's where the Devils are with their current goalie situation.  I give KK all of the credit in the world for surpassing expectation and reaching his ceiling...many guys don't ever get there, and don't ever figure out how to get the absolute maximum out of their abilities.  KK did, and his general goofy likability (and underdog status) makes him very easy to embrace.  But if the Devils are trying to improve, KK isn't the guy who can get you there...it's not for lack of effort or desire on KK's part, it's just the reality. 

I don't know if Blackwood is that guy either, and admittedly it's an unfortunate perfect storm of events that should lead to him getting this opportunity...it may very well not work out, and it may be too early for him to get this chance.  But right now there's no hope with Cory or Lack...there's no reason to pump those near-dry wells, and I don't want safe and/or predictable.  I also think the ONLY chance to ever get Cory right is to get him games, games, and more games, even if it's not with the big club.  So this is my first GM move. 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[jagknife]

Well said, CR.

For me, also not a trade, but Nasradine is shown the door. His defense is a mess, his system is a joke, and there have been next to no adjustments that I can see with the naked eye. This sends the first salvo of people aren’t safe, get your sh!t together. We keep Hynes, for now, and the players should be fearful the top could be next. It pisses me off to know Robinson was potentially just a phone call away. Yes, We’ll never know if he would have even wanted to come back here, but the fact he was out there and we’re stuck with an inept backend bothers the hell out of me.

If you’re forcing me to make a trade offer, I’m calling St Louis about Jake Allen. Right off the bat it’s a lateral move at best but here’s why: Allen is going through almost the identical problem Cory is. Low confidence, can’t seem to pull himself out of a funk that’s been rather extensive and really, he can’t make a save to bail the team out if his life depended on it. Their fans are just like ours regarding him: there’s a group that loves him and still believes he is salvagable while the rest are over his sh!t. The biggest hurdle in this deal is St Louis is pretty much in cap hell with only $40,000 in cap space (yes, 40k), so there would have to be other pieces. I haven’t put my NHL ‘18 GM cap on in a while so I can’t even pretend to know where else we’d even theoretically be able to move and for whom, but that’s my building blocks: Cory for Allen.

Edited November 26, 2018 by jagknife

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I don't think Cory is tradable right now...not with his NTC, not with the length and money still coming, and not with the fact that he may simply never recover from his injury...there's just too many red flags for a team to consider taking a flyer on him.  I think the only recourse is to get him down to the AHL and damned near start from scratch. 

[MadDog2020]

8 hours ago, fsu1852 said:

I would call The Kings and see what they want for Jake Muzzin

Maybe Alec Martinez?

[jagknife]

7 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I don't think Cory is tradable right now...not with his NTC, not with the length and money still coming, and not with the fact that he may simply never recover from his injury...there's just too many red flags for a team to consider taking a flyer on him.  I think the only recourse is to get him down to the AHL and damned near start from scratch. 

That’s the only reason I brought up Allen. The change of scenery aspect of maybe they’ll get their game going with a new teams. But yes the NTC and cap hit make it a nightmare of a problem

[Devilsfan118]

5th worst team in the NHL, and we've caught up to the rest of the league in GP at this point.  This team will need to go on another insane winning stretch to even sniff the playoffs - do you guys think we're capable of it?  I don't, not without Cory being at least serviceable.  You're asking a whole lot of Hall and Kinkaid to expect them to repeat the latter half of last season.

Shero wanted to evaluate what he had this offseason - hopefully he took notice that this team is mostly trash outside of our top line, top D pair, and Kinkaid and has a plan to correct these areas over the coming seasons.

I'm going to keep  but the time to make a trade / signing / change of some sort was over the summer imo.  Now we've essentially dug ourselves into a pretty deep hole and are going to be significantly outside the playoff picture by the start of December.  

Nico and Jack Hughes as our 1 and 2C's for the next decade+ sounds pretty nice to me boys, just sayin'.

Edited November 26, 2018 by Devilsfan118

[DevsMan84]

Hate to say this but I agree with CR1976 about using the nuclear option on Cory.  While I would still like to see how he would fare with a start at home (all of his starts have been on the road where the Devils have been putrid), overall I think wasting games away on him trying to figure it out with the big club is doing more harm than good.