2021 Around The League Thread

[mfitz804]

5 hours ago, titans04 said:

I'd kill to have that 🐐 fvckxr here. Head and shoulders above everybody else. 

Oh, no doubt, the fact that he looks like a goat doesn’t mean he plus like one. 

But still, he’s a Ranger, so fvck him in his goat a$$. 

[Nicomo]

5 hours ago, titans04 said:

I'd kill to have that 🐐 fvckxr here. Head and shoulders above everybody else. 

He’s a good lesson in patience. He didn’t have his breakout season until he was 25. 

[NJDevils1214]

13 hours ago, jagknife said:

 

Holy. sh!t.

Just saw, gonna read the article once the kiddos go to bed, but color me not even remotely shocked a kid who took photos of himself talking into stacks of cash hasn't managed money well....

talk about timing, posted just after you.

 

EDIT: $10.8m in homes he still owes money on. Just had his first kid. Had multiple millions in gambling debts, still hasnt paid out a civil suit settlement from an Erie County Court, assault ruling. Oh, and he might opt out of this season and forefit his salary, apparently. Holy sh!t.

EDIT 2: The Sharks are refusing to help settle the debts, too. He must really have pissed them off

He must not have had anyone helping him with that money or at least he wasn't listening. Hopefully he gets it sorted out for his kid's sake. I've seen some people say there might be a gambling problem going on, and a guy that has, seemingly, that much pride might be a hard nut to crack. 

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

The Athletic are finishing up their season preview. They asked all their journalists to vote on a number of different categories. Here are some relevant to the Devil's for anyone who does not subscribe (you should by the way , I have mine for £1 a month for a year) 

Toughest Division:

Oh good, although I think we already knew this. 

Who wins the East:

I am upset we are listed last here, its like no one voted for the Devil's , but someone had to put the teams with no votes in some form of order and said, "the Devil's are worse than the Sabers"

Last placed team:

Best of a bad bunch.

Most surprising team:

A lot of people think we will suck, however a few think we might not. 

Good news for Jack and not good news:

Yay devils leading in a category *looks at next vote*  Ahhh man come on. 

I did like the fact that a lot of people think old fish lips is in for a tough year. 

 

Anyway , discuss. Or not. 

Edited January 12, 2021 by Chimaira_Devil_#9

[MadDog2020]

I think what I’m looking forward to the most this season is the constant complaining about how much we suck, how much all of our players suck, how much all of our prospects suck, and how everyone else’s grass (particularly the Rags’) is greener than ours. Should be a barrel of laughs. Let’s go!

Edited January 12, 2021 by MadDog2020

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

@Chimaira_Devil_#9...no real surprises on that list.  Kinda know that no one's really expecting that much from the Devils.  Of course I do like that some think Hughes will take a nice step forward this season.

Interesting about Hall...get the feeling that he's never going to get that big contract now.  Can also see him bouncing around the league from here on out...not implying that he's a bad player by any means, just that some good players wind up become floaters, playing for a lot of teams (and becoming deadline acquisitions).  The big key is that I think teams (and their fans) have to calibrate their expectations of Hall...if they think that a repeat of 2017-18 is coming, that's only going to lead to disappointment.  Hope to get about .75 - .85 points per game, and for him to play in 70+ games.  His numbers from last season...I think that's about what he's going to be from here on out...probably better some years, but not insanely so.

[mfitz804]

18 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

I think what I’m looking forward to the most this season is the constant complaining about how much we suck, how much all of our players suck, how much all of our prospects suck, and how everyone else’s grass (particularly the Rags’) is greener than ours. Should be a barrel of laughs. Let’s go!

Ironically, I’m looking forward to guys being compared to generational players despite having poor production, thinking that a guy playing one good game means he’s going to be a star in the NHL for 20 years, and thinking that guys on a message board know how to run an NHL franchise better than those who actually run an NHL franchise. 

[NJDevils1214]

20 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

I think what I’m looking forward to the most this season is the constant complaining about how much we suck, how much all of our players suck, how much all of our prospects suck, and how everyone else’s grass (particularly the Rags’) is greener than ours. Should be a barrel of laughs. Let’s go!

I miss hockey, like eveybody does. Eveyone needs to be realistic going into this though. At first it'll be nice to have hockey back, but the high is going to wear off and odds are we'll be looking for any positives we can out of this sh!t. Let's just hope they all stay healthy and show some compete. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

5 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

I miss hockey, like eveybody does. Eveyone needs to be realistic going into this though. At first it'll be nice to have hockey back, but the high is going to wear off and odds are we'll be looking for any positives we can out of this sh!t. Let's just hope they all stay healthy and show some compete. 

Everyone is going to have their lists of "Hope fors" (making the playoffs shouldn't be on anyone's list), and first and foremost on mine is that Nico, who I happen to like a hell of a lot, isn't on his way to become a brittle player who's going to miss games every year.

But yeah, general health, young guys getting better, and snagging future assets for possible soon-to-depart players is pretty much what we'll be hoping to see.  Win-wise, I think they'll finish with 20-25 wins.  

[mfitz804]

I still hope for the playoffs. It shouldn’t be on my list but I’m programmed that way. Sometimes when nobody expects anything from you, you prove them wrong. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

I still hope for the playoffs. It shouldn’t be on my list but I’m programmed that way. Sometimes when nobody expects anything from you, you prove them wrong. 

Oh I still will too, in spite of the mountain of evidence that suggests otherwise...I can't help myself.  Of course when Boston smokes the Devils on Thursday and is doing the same Saturday afternoon, I'll re-adjust, and hope for more attainable goals.  25 wins in this division seems like a tough, but possible, season total for the Devils.  Anything beyond that will feel like a bonus.    

[Satans Hockey]

13 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

I miss hockey, like eveybody does. Eveyone needs to be realistic going into this though. At first it'll be nice to have hockey back, but the high is going to wear off and odds are we'll be looking for any positives we can out of this sh!t. Let's just hope they all stay healthy and show some compete. 

I miss normalcy more, I've grown extremely tired of watching things without fans. I didn't care for it during the bubble playoffs and watching the world juniors confirmed that even more for me. I'm glad they are playing hockey but it's really lacking the energy. Some of the MLS playoff games had some fans inside depending on the city and it was a notable difference in the viewing experience. I know not everyone cares about this stuff but for me seeing empty stands and hearing fake fan noise is just a bummer of a reminder of how sh!t everything is right now.

I'm most looking forward to Blackwood and Hughes progression this season. 

[Chuck the Duck]

13 hours ago, MadDog2020 said:

Meh. Dolan uses $100 bills to light his cigars. He doesn’t care.

Unless Dolan get MAJOR government funding to build the new arena AND gets to continue to own the new place without paying any local or state tax on the property, the same way he does with MSG now, this is not going to happen.  They just put close to $1 billion in private funding into a massive renovation of the current MSG, to which they no doubt have debt service that will continue on for years.  To have to build a new one, in midtown, as part of this project, will easily cost $1.5 billion.  I just don't see what is in it for Dolan as part of that plan.

[Satans Hockey]

28 minutes ago, Chuck the Duck said:

Unless Dolan get MAJOR government funding to build the new arena AND gets to continue to own the new place without paying any local or state tax on the property, the same way he does with MSG now, this is not going to happen.  They just put close to $1 billion in private funding into a massive renovation of the current MSG, to which they no doubt have debt service that will continue on for years.  To have to build a new one, in midtown, as part of this project, will easily cost $1.5 billion.  I just don't see what is in it for Dolan as part of that plan.

I think that's why Dolan has kept putting this off, he's not the one who wants to move, it's the city that wants to move MSG so they can do whatever to penn station. I guess they will eventually force it when they really want to get it done but with Covid crushing tourism and many other sources of income for the city I don't see how it's really feasible anytime soon. 

However I never thought the Islanders would ever get a new stadium built in this area so what the hell do I know lol

I wonder how many more years we have at Prudential before there's talks about them doing a real major renovation. The 21-22 season will be the 15th season there already, which is wild and an even crazier thing, as long as there are no more full season lockouts we only have 11 more seasons to play at Prudential, which would be the 31-32 season where we officially would have played more seasons at Prudential, 25, than the 24 seasons at the Meadowlands(I didn't count 04-05 since there was no season at all) 

Edited January 12, 2021 by Satans Hockey

[xxchaznjxx]

1 hour ago, MadDog2020 said:

I think what I’m looking forward to the most this season is the constant complaining about how much we suck, how much all of our players suck, how much all of our prospects suck, and how everyone else’s grass (particularly the Rags’) is greener than ours. Should be a barrel of laughs. Let’s go!

And don’t forget the “our team spends no money” people.

I know we have the cap room but I like the fact we’re not throwing out dumb contracts. I don’t know of any players the Devils could have signed but didn’t because they were too cheap. I’d like to see that list.

[mfitz804]

10 minutes ago, xxchaznjxx said:

And don’t forget the “our team spends no money” people.

I know we have the cap room but I like the fact we’re not throwing out dumb contracts. I don’t know of any players the Devils could have signed but didn’t because they were too cheap. I’d like to see that list.

Dont forget the guys who think we just refuse to sign free agents, like there’s a line of guys ready to sign in NJ but we just forgot to call. 

[MadDog2020]

1 hour ago, mfitz804 said:

Ironically, I’m looking forward to guys being compared to generational players despite having poor production, thinking that a guy playing one good game means he’s going to be a star in the NHL for 20 years, and thinking that guys on a message board know how to run an NHL franchise better than those who actually run an NHL franchise. 

Cool. 

[Satans Hockey]

1 hour ago, mfitz804 said:

thinking that guys on a message board know how to run an NHL franchise better than those who actually run an NHL franchise. 

I'm very confident that I could at the very least match missing the playoffs in 7 of 8 possible seasons which our team just did. Not exactly a high bar lol

[MadDog2020]

8 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said:

I'm very confident that I could at the very least match missing the playoffs in 7 of 8 possible seasons which our team just did. Not exactly a high bar lol

I’m 100% sure I could yield those same results.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, xxchaznjxx said:

And don’t forget the “our team spends no money” people.

I know we have the cap room but I like the fact we’re not throwing out dumb contracts. I don’t know of any players the Devils could have signed but didn’t because they were too cheap. I’d like to see that list.

The best case is always spending money on homegrowns (like the deal given to Nico...just hope he won't be injury-plagued).  And then if you've managed to put together a worthy core but still have more money to spend, THEN you go for that 1st or 2nd tier UFA guy who can help to put you over the top.  Devils are still firmly in the "Trying to put together the core" stage.  Hopefully, it's Nico, Jack, Blackwood, and some of the youth currently in the pipeline.  

But to sum up, I agree with you.  

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

4 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

@Chimaira_Devil_#9...no real surprises on that list.  Kinda know that no one's really expecting that much from the Devils.  Of course I do like that some think Hughes will take a nice step forward this season.

Interesting about Hall...get the feeling that he's never going to get that big contract now.  Can also see him bouncing around the league from here on out...not implying that he's a bad player by any means, just that some good players wind up become floaters, playing for a lot of teams (and becoming deadline acquisitions).  The big key is that I think teams (and their fans) have to calibrate their expectations of Hall...if they think that a repeat of 2017-18 is coming, that's only going to lead to disappointment.  Hope to get about .75 - .85 points per game, and for him to play in 70+ games.  His numbers from last season...I think that's about what he's going to be from here on out...probably better some years, but not insanely so.

Ah yeah, no I think the lists are pretty fair. I am hoping we can actually suprise a few people this season. 

Agreed about Hall, he is going to need to play lights out to get the deal he wants this year in a situation he wants. Not sure he has landed himself in the right place to do that. 

[mfitz804]

1 hour ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

Agreed about Hall, he is going to need to play lights out to get the deal he wants this year in a situation he wants. Not sure he has landed himself in the right place to do that. 

I’m pretty sure he just landed himself close to Toronto. 

[SterioDesign]

6 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

Dont forget the guys who think we just refuse to sign free agents, like there’s a line of guys ready to sign in NJ but we just forgot to call. 

Some people simply cannot see beyond their own narrowed views.

I've had a long argument with a buddy of mine last week. He's one of those "the government is taking away our rights with these lockdowns" and he just doesnt want lockdowns. "It's been a year of lockdown already, that's enough!" and i'm trying to explain that everyone need to follow a plan, be on the same page and that its how we'll get over this. And he's just suggesting very reckless solutions that'd just put more people at risk BUT at least he'd be able to be happy and feel "free". fvck everything else lol

And i could totally see a parallel with folks here who's been going "ITS BEEN 5 YEARS OF REBUILDING! I WANT TO BE IN THE PLAYOFFS NO MATTER WHAT! LET'S THROW THE BANK AT THESE FREE AGENTS AND DO SOMETHING!!! THIS LEAGUE IS ABOUT RESULTS" 

[mfitz804]

I don’t like Covid analogies as much as I like girlfriend analogies. 

[Devil Dan 56]

There is a very big difference between demanding playoffs after 5 years and just wanting to see some kind of improvement after 5 years of basement dwelling.