2019 Offseason Thread

[jagknife]

Just now, SterioDesign said:

saw a Rangers fan that i know at the bar last night. He was going on about how the rivalry between the Rangers and Devils will be renewed and bla bla bla and at some point said something like "adding Kakko, Trouva and Panarin is a big boost for the team" like Panarin was a done deal already.

Man i hope he signs somewhere else cause im sure there's tons of Rangers fans like that

If you believe the drunken ginger, Commodore, the bread man and bob are off to the Island

really hope he’s wrong haha

[Nicomo]

3 hours ago, NJDevils1214 said:

This could be fun. I got Mikael Backlund.

Jens Karlsson? Apparently never even played a game in the NHL. Brutal lol

2 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

1994, 6th pick: Ryan Smith. Not bad, 386G, 456A in my 1270  games. 

I’ll add a step; look at your draft year and position and see if there’s someone below you that you’d prefer have been drafted in “your” spot. 

Mine is an old friend we all know: Patrik Elias, 51st pick overall. 

I guess I’ll go with Patrick Sharp at 95th overall. At least he won 3 Cups. 2001 wasn’t really the greatest draft outside Kovy and Spezza. 

[moustic]

8 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

1994, 6th pick: Ryan Smith. Not bad, 386G, 456A in my 1270  games. 

I’ll add a step; look at your draft year and position and see if there’s someone below you that you’d prefer have been drafted in “your” spot. 

Mine is an old friend we all know: Patrik Elias, 51st pick overall. 

Damn... 1996 what a sh!tty draft ! 

Marcus Nilson at 20
The only acceptable choice would be Zdeno Chára at 56 (ok Briere was at 24)

[ringtwins]

Mine was Jarrod Skalde at #26 1989

And ill go with Konstantinov at #221 that year

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

1994, 6th pick: Ryan Smith. Not bad, 386G, 456A in my 1270  games. 

I’ll add a step; look at your draft year and position and see if there’s someone below you that you’d prefer have been drafted in “your” spot. 

Mine is an old friend we all know: Patrik Elias, 51st pick overall. 

I’m Stephane Fiset.  The Avs made a huge trade to get Roy because I clearly wasn’t championship caliber.  Ouch.

Some good “below” candidates:  Tony Amonte, Alex Mogilny, Rob Blake, and Mark Recchi stand out.  I probably go with Recchi...Mogs just wasn’t quite consistent enough.

Two names we’ve seen and are familiar with were draftees in that 1988 draft:  Kevin Cheveldayoff (first round by the Isles, 16th overall, never made it), and Pete DeBoer (237th overall by the Leafs, also never played in the NHL).

[Lateralous]

9 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

In fairness, at that point in his career, he only had a World Championship, All Rookie team, Calder Trophy, two All Star appearances, a Jennings Trophy, a Vezina nomination, a division championship, a conference championship, 117 wins, and a Stanley Cup in his first 4 years. Who would’ve known he was gonna pan out??

The worst part is that Lou and Conte went out and pissed away another 1st two years later on Ari Ahonen.  I know the excuse was that they were protecting themselves for when Marty turned 31 and became a UFA but I really don't remember contracts ever being an issue with MB until he was in his 40s.  Didn't he usually negotiate them himself?     

I've always considered the Adrian Foster pick the moment that David Conte jumped the shark, but in hindsight, maybe it was earlier.    

Edited June 30, 2019 by Lateralous

[Devil Dan 56]

1 minute ago, Lateralous said:

The worst part is that Lou and Conte went out and pissed away another 1st two years later on Ari Ahonen.  I know the excuse was that they were protecting themselves for when Marty turned 31 and became a UFA but I really don't remember contracts ever being an issue with MB until he was in his 40s.   

I've always considered the Adrian Foster pick the moment that David Conte jumped the shark, but in hindsight, maybe it was earlier.    

Marty was almost a hold out in 1995 from what I recall. Eventually he fired his agent and worked it out with Lou. Maybe Lou was worried about it happening again.

Also in 1997 our goalie depth after Marty was Dunham who was expansion bait, Jeff Reese, Rich Shulmistra, and Peter Sidorkiewicz. In that case I can understand wanting something else in the system. I don't think I'd have tried to find it in the first round, probably 2nd or 3rd, but there was a need 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

48 minutes ago, Lateralous said:

The worst part is that Lou and Conte went out and pissed away another 1st two years later on Ari Ahonen.  I know the excuse was that they were protecting themselves for when Marty turned 31 and became a UFA but I really don't remember contracts ever being an issue with MB until he was in his 40s.  Didn't he usually negotiate them himself?     

I've always considered the Adrian Foster pick the moment that David Conte jumped the shark, but in hindsight, maybe it was earlier.    

His very first negotiation (after the 1995 Cup win, with Lupien as his agent) went very badly.  Marty was so aggravated after it was finally done that he actually said at the time that he would never sign another deal with the Devils...but time healed, and after that three year deal was set to expire, he wanted to stay with the Devils.  Lou told made it clear to Marty that he would not deal with Lupien again, so Marty and Lou pretty much hammered out their next deal (a four-year contract) with no issues, with Marty acting as his own agent (though at the time he had not yet moved on from Lupien, though that happened shortly after, when Lupien was furious with Marty for going around him in negotiating a new deal).  He did that for his next two deals as well...IIRC he hired an agent for his final Devils contract.

So basically, I can understand JF Damphousse at the time, as some insurance in case Marty wanted out.  I didn’t quite get Ahonen...Marty was locked up at that point.  I can only guess Ahonen was supposed to be additional insurance against Marty either leaving or fading (not like anyone knew he was an absolute lock to have such an insanely long prime).  Both picks look especially bad now because neither one ever did anything as NHLers...at least Damphousse was a throw-in in the trade that brought the Devils Friesen and Tverdovsky.  Ahonen never did anything that would make any other team want to take a chance on him.  I remember when he got a call up in 2005-06 (when Marty was hurt), and I saw him close-up during warmups.  I’ll never forget it, because I couldn’t believe how bad he looked.  My last thought was “So that’s why he’s never gotten a look, even as a barely-used backup.”  

So basically, I can kind of understand the why, but the results were definitely not good...especially with two first-rounders being burned up.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[mfitz804]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I’m Stephane Fiset.  The Avs made a huge trade to get Roy because I clearly wasn’t championship caliber.  Ouch.

Some good “below” candidates:  Tony Amonte, Alex Mogilny, Rob Blake, and Mark Recchi stand out.  I probably go with Recchi...Mogs just wasn’t quite consistent enough.

Funny that all of those Hall of Famers were not only drafted after Fiset, but in the 4th and 5th rounds!

Wtf were scouts doing that year??

[Lateralous]

 

1 hour ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

Marty was almost a hold out in 1995 from what I recall. Eventually he fired his agent and worked it out with Lou. Maybe Lou was worried about it happening again.

Also in 1997 our goalie depth after Marty was Dunham who was expansion bait, Jeff Reese, Rich Shulmistra, and Peter Sidorkiewicz. In that case I can understand wanting something else in the system. I don't think I'd have tried to find it in the first round, probably 2nd or 3rd, but there was a need 

 

57 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

His very first negotiation (after the 1995 Cup win, with Lupien as his agent) went very badly.  Marty was so aggravated after it was finally done that he actually said at the time that he would never sign another deal with the Devils...but time healed, and after that three year deal was set to expire, he wanted to stay with the Devils.  Lou told made it clear to Marty that he would not deal with Lupien again, so Marty and Lou pretty much hammered out their next deal (a four-year contract) with no issues, with Marty acting as his own agent (though at the time he had not yet moved on from Lupien, though that happened shortly after, when Lupien was furious with Marty for going around him in negotiating a new deal).  He did that for his next two deals as well...IIRC he hired an agent for his final Devils contract.

So basically, I can understand JF Damphousse at the time, as some insurance in case Marty wanted out.  I didn’t quite get Ahonen...Marty was locked up at that point.  I can only guess Ahonen was supposed to be additional insurance against Marty either leaving or fading (not like anyone knew he was an absolute lock to have such an insanely long prime).  Both picks look especially bad now because neither one ever did anything as NHLers...at least Damphousse was a throw-in in the trade that brought the Devils Friesen and Tverdovsky.  Ahonen never did anything that would make any other team want to take a chance on him.  I remember when he got a call up in 2005-06 (when Marty was hurt), and I saw him close-up during warmups.  I’ll never forget it, because I couldn’t believe how bad he looked.  My last thought was “So that’s why he’s never gotten a look, even as a barely-used backup.”  

So basically, I can kind of understand the why, but the results were definitely not good...especially with two first-rounders being burned up.

Interesting, I have zero recollection of that.   Then again, I was in college and living at the shore that summer, so I was probably drunk and we didn't have cable tv.   Wasn't 21 yet, so I had to arrange to watch the stanley cup games at a friends parents house or in the case of Game 4, stand at an arcade for 3 hours that had it on a small TV on the wall.  Needless to say, Marty's contract negotiations weren't really on my radar back then.     

     

[Devil Dan 56]

1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

His very first negotiation (after the 1995 Cup win, with Lupien as his agent) went very badly.  Marty was so aggravated after it was finally done that he actually said at the time that he would never sign another deal with the Devils...but time healed, and after that three year deal was set to expire, he wanted to stay with the Devils.  Lou told made it clear to Marty that he would not deal with Lupien again, so Marty and Lou pretty much hammered out their next deal (a four-year contract) with no issues, with Marty acting as his own agent (though at the time he had not yet moved on from Lupien, though that happened shortly after, when Lupien was furious with Marty for going around him in negotiating a new deal).  He did that for his next two deals as well...IIRC he hired an agent for his final Devils contract.

 

Thanks for clarifying that. I was 14 and had to get news from whatever my upstate NY local paper gave us which was not much when it came to the Devils haha. I guess it was in his book too wasn't it?

[MadDog2020]

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, mfitz804 said:

Funny that all of those Hall of Famers were not only drafted after Fiset, but in the 4th and 5th rounds!

Wtf were scouts doing that year??

Remember that there were only 21 teams back then...a late third-rounder back then would be the equivalent of a late second-rounder today.  But your point is still plenty valid, heh heh.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

47 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

Thanks for clarifying that. I was 14 and had to get news from whatever my upstate NY local paper gave us which was not much when it came to the Devils haha. I guess it was in his book too wasn't it?

All of what went down with Lupien was in his book, but he left out his animosity towards Lou and the Devils heading into 1995-96 season.  That one really did get ugly though.  Marty was very open in the press about how unhappy he was with how negotiations went.  And how he would never sign another contract with the Devils.  Not sure how that all got resolved, but it clearly did.  

[Devil Dan 56]

42 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

All of what went down with Lupien was in his book, but he left out his animosity towards Lou and the Devils heading into 1995-96 season.  That one really did get ugly though.  Marty was very open in the press about how unhappy he was with how negotiations went.  And how he would never sign another contract with the Devils.  Not sure how that all got resolved, but it clearly did.  

My assumption is Marty learned to appreciate the relative anonymity (is that a word?) of playing in Jersey. You can just live your life if you aren't dealing with Montreal type media. Also, while sometimes stingy, Lou did pay his guys like Marty and Stevens. 

[MadDog2020]

5 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

My assumption is Marty learned to appreciate the relative anonymity (is that a word?) of playing in Jersey. You can just live your life if you aren't dealing with Montreal type media. Also, while sometimes stingy, Lou did pay his guys like Marty and Stevens. 

Anonymity is indeed a word, and you are correct- Marty has referred to being able to live a harassment-free life here several times over the years, that he couldn’t live in a place like Montreal or Toronto.

[jagknife]

Panthers trade Reimer to the Canes for a 6th. 

Really opening that space for Bob to be a one man show down there

[MadDog2020]

Just now, jagknife said:

Panthers trade Reimer to the Canes for a 6th. 

Really opening that space for Bob to be a one man show down there

Bob would be a nice bridge to Spencer Knight for them for sure.

[mfitz804]

3 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Anonymity is indeed a word, and you are correct- Marty has referred to being able to live a harassment-free life here several times over the years, that he couldn’t live in a place like Montreal or Toronto.

Much easier to bang your wife’s family and get away with it?

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

7 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

My assumption is Marty learned to appreciate the relative anonymity (is that a word?) of playing in Jersey. You can just live your life if you aren't dealing with Montreal type media. Also, while sometimes stingy, Lou did pay his guys like Marty and Stevens. 

This is a case where Marty wound up having the cooler head, to the benefit of the Devils.  Imagine how some players with Marty's track record to that point would've reacted if told "I'm not dealing with your agent!"  Some would've said "OK, fvck off then, let me go to some team that WILL deal with him then!"  Especially when the first negotiation went so painfully. 

3 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Anonymity is indeed a word, and you are correct- Marty has referred to being able to live a harassment-free life here several times over the years, that he couldn’t live in a place like Montreal or Toronto.

He mentioned that in his book, that he wouldn't have loved the fishbowl existence that comes with playing in those cities and some others.  I used to go to a bar called Pub 46 (to watch football on Sundays...it was fun because it was full of mostly out-of-town fans, like me), and there was one bartender we got to know quite well who was very cool...he told me Marty used to go in there one or twice a month or so (sometimes with his late brother Claude), and apparently one thing Marty loved about going was that people who knew him would acknowledge him, but no one was harassing him or bothering him...he could just hang out and have two or three drinks and pretty much feel like one of the gang.  Obviously not doing that in a lot of other places.

[MadDog2020]

 

[jagknife]

21 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Bob would be a nice bridge to Spencer Knight for them for sure.

Absolutely, and I also failed to notice they also acquired Darling in the deal, who they immediately waived for buyout

other buyouts for today are Schlemko from Philly and Sekera from Edmonton 

[NJDevils1214]

36 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

 

#Hype.

Larry Brooks is saying Rags offered 11.25m x 7. Brooks isn't a great source, but it sounds like something they'd do. Would you guys do Panarin 11m x 8? I don't think Ray is going to go for him for that kind of money. If they met, I'd imagine they tried to sell him on the team and location but were prob not willing to give him the money the Rags would throw at him.

[Neb00rs]

1 hour ago, jagknife said:

Panthers trade Reimer to the Canes for a 6th. 

Really opening that space for Bob to be a one man show down there

It's hard to believe Florida would have traded Reimer without being all but sure Bob was coming. With the Darling buyout you can be near sure Bob will be the starting goalie in Florida next year. And with Bob, likely comes Panarin.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Neb00rs

[mfitz804]

5 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

#Hype.

Larry Brooks is saying Rags offered 11.25m x 7. Brooks isn't a great source, but it sounds like something they'd do. Would you guys do Panarin 11m x 8? I don't think Ray is going to go for him for that kind of money. If they met, I'd imagine they tried to sell him on the team and location but were prob not willing to give him the money the Rags would throw at him.

You can’t give him 8 years unless it’s a sign and trade.