NHL Entry Draft Thread - 2021

[Devilsfan118]

I mean we've dressed AHLers like Tennyson and (currently) Bahl - I agree and don't think we have any sort of enough depth to be talking about moving on from Severson at this point.

Unless you package him in a trade that brings back a comparable defenseman.. which sort of feels like shuffling chairs on the titanic doesn't it?

[Aitchmack]

Elliott Friedman was saying that Larsson and the Oilers are working on an extension, so I doubt he'll be available. I'd love Fitzy to go for Hamilton but is there really a chance the Canes don't re-sign him?

There's also going to be free agents that don't sign their extensions until after the expansion draft, which will cloud the picture of who is available.

[Devilsfan118]

25 minutes ago, Aitchmack said:

Elliott Friedman was saying that Larsson and the Oilers are working on an extension, so I doubt he'll be available. I'd love Fitzy to go for Hamilton but is there really a chance the Canes don't re-sign him?

There's also going to be free agents that don't sign their extensions until after the expansion draft, which will cloud the picture of who is available.

The Canes' owner is notoriously cheap / penny-wise-pound-foolish, so it wouldn't surprise me to eventually hear that he lowballed Hamilton and he opted to walk.

[mfitz804]

1 hour ago, MB3 said:

You guys have wildly optimistic views of our defensive corps if you think Damon Severson is somehow expendable, even with the addition of a Larsson or Dougie Hamilton. 

And you have a wildly optimistic view of Severson if you think he isn’t expendable. The guy’s range goes from “kind of ok” to completely awful. Usually in the same game. 

[DevsMan84]

Just now, Devilsfan118 said:

The Canes' owner is notoriously cheap / penny-wise-pound-foolish, so it wouldn't surprise me to eventually hear that he lowballed Hamilton and he opted to walk.

Karmanos was, but this new-ish guy they have seems to be willing to spend more money.

[mfitz804]

4 hours ago, MB3 said:

He makes mistakes, but so does everyone. 

Will Butcher is a guy we should be excited about leaving. Damon Severson is a perfectly reasonable, perfectly reliable top-6 NHL defenseman on a great team and top-4 NHL defenseman on a fringe playoff team. Damon Severson lead the team in ice time by nearly 200 minutes. The gap between him and the second guy on the list (Jack Hughes) is bigger than the gap between Hughes and the 8th guy on the list (Pavel Zacha). 

He was consistently up against teams top lines -- teams top lines in the best division in hockey. Ovechkin, Crosby, Marchand, Bergeron, Panarin, Barzal... every single night. Put him in a 2nd pairing role by signing Larsson and elevating Ty Smith and I guarantee nobody here is pining for him to get cut or traded for scraps.  

I’m not looking for him to leave, but if he were to leave, I think he is easily replaced. I have been watching him leave guys alone to score all season, he has put the puck in our net multiple times between this season and last. If you put “Damon Severson goal” into Google, 2 of the first 5 results are about own goals. 

The question was, what do you do with him if you get Hamilton. The answer is, who cares, you play Hamilton in his spot, and move Severson down, and if there isn’t a spot for him, move him. He’s not not expendable by any stretch of the imagination. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by mfitz804

[Guadana]

3 hours ago, MB3 said:

He makes mistakes, but so does everyone. 

Will Butcher is a guy we should be excited about leaving. Damon Severson is a perfectly reasonable, perfectly reliable top-6 NHL defenseman on a great team and top-4 NHL defenseman on a fringe playoff team. Damon Severson lead the team in ice time by nearly 200 minutes. The gap between him and the second guy on the list (Jack Hughes) is bigger than the gap between Hughes and the 8th guy on the list (Pavel Zacha). 

He was consistently up against teams top lines -- teams top lines in the best division in hockey. Ovechkin, Crosby, Marchand, Bergeron, Panarin, Barzal... every single night. Put him in a 2nd pairing role by signing Larsson and elevating Ty Smith and I guarantee nobody here is pining for him to get cut or traded for scraps.  

Butcher isn`t nhl defenseman.
Severson isn`t top-2 nhl defenseman. And if you sign Larsson - you will balance your pairs. If you sign Hamilton - you will have two players for the same tasks. One of them will cost us 8.5+ mil per year if he will sign with us somehow.  Smith, Hamilton and Severson in one team is reckless extravagance.

[mfitz804]

1 hour ago, MB3 said:

Who cares how much he costs? We've lead the league in cap space for like ten years in a row, what has that gotten us?

I'm getting really tired of that argument, I don't give a sh!t what anyone costs right now because we have so much cap room. Overpay a few people and get some good players here. 

[Lateralous]

3 hours ago, Guadana said:

Butcher isn`t nhl defenseman.
Severson isn`t top-2 nhl defenseman. And if you sign Larsson - you will balance your pairs. If you sign Hamilton - you will have two players for the same tasks. One of them will cost us 8.5+ mil per year if he will sign with us somehow.  Smith, Hamilton and Severson in one team is reckless extravagance.

You lost me here.   IMO, Smith and Severson could form a really good second pair.   Presumably, Hamilton (or Larsson) would be brought in to anchor the 1st pair, no?    Why is that an extravagance?   We're still about 4 dmen shy of a good defense.    

[Guadana]

2 hours ago, MB3 said:

Who cares how much he costs? We've lead the league in cap space for like ten years in a row, what has that gotten us?

Ty Smith having offensive upside doesn't mean Ty Smith is only an offense-oriented player. He's a top-pairing type guy in the future because he's solid and smart on the puck. This team can afford Severson and Hamilton on the back end; this isn't your 1998 NHL where you have to be 6'-8" and hit the piss out of people to be considered a good defenseman. Technique, footwork, speed and zone escapability all make Ty Smith the prospect he is. 

When did I say Severson is a top-2 NHL defenseman?

Nope. Even modern NHL doesnt work this way. If you want to win - your defense should be really strong and competent. Hope Smith can upgrade himself in open ice game, but for now he cant secure open ice game. He has little bit slow start and cant change skating direction well. 
Severson is a great when he play on the board, he is good puck protector and i really like how he works on the blue line to help attack. But he is a trash when he needs to protect zones, when he needs to stop breakaways, I dont like how he works on the slot.
Pens, Capitals, Blues, Bruins, Kings were sucсessful when they play with 4 pretty strong D. Even Chicago.  Only Tampa played with 3 puckmovers. And one of them was Hedman. 

And most importantly - I was talking about money for a reason.  You're missing it. We must look at the objective reality. Smith is likely to get a serious contract. He has two more years on his rookie contract. Hamilton will eat a huge sum - you said it yourself. You suggested using the space under the cap. Severson will get a contract for 5-6 million-the reference points are enough, plus he played enough for the club to get a promotion. The cap won't be growing any time soon. The free space under the cap will quickly disappear. Especially with the new contract of Smith, Hughes, Zacha and Bratt. 
 

[Guadana]

1 hour ago, Lateralous said:

You lost me here.   IMO, Smith and Severson could form a really good second pair.   Presumably, Hamilton (or Larsson) would be brought in to anchor the 1st pair, no?    Why is that an extravagance?   We're still about 4 dmen shy of a good defense.    

At the very least, it will be too expensive to have Smith, Severson and Hamilton at the same time. Of course, I'm talking about the time when Smith and Severson will have to be re-signed.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Guadana

[mfitz804]

I would probably spend the money on Hamilton and Larsson. How about that? That’s how much I’m willing to spend to try to improve his team. We need defense. Get them both.

[Guadana]

3 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

I would probably spend the money on Hamilton and Larsson. How about that? That’s how much I’m willing to spend to try to improve his team. We need defense. Get them both.

I`m in. I just don't believe we'll find a way to persuade Hamilton. 

[mfitz804]

21 minutes ago, Guadana said:

I`m in. I just don't believe we'll find a way to persuade Hamilton. 

I’m not sure we can persuade Larsson either. 

[Guadana]

wrong topic

Edited May 10, 2021 by Guadana

[Guadana]

7 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

I’m not sure we can persuade Larsson either. 

Montour is a third interesting candidate after Larsson and Hamilton, but other than that I dont think we should make some big offers.

[Guadana]

6 minutes ago, MB3 said:

How much money do you think non-superstar players make on their first RFA contract?

Spoiler alert: it’s not enough to even remotely worry about Ty Smith’s cap hit as it relates to a single contract we dish out this summer, unless we go buck wild and offer Dougie 9 years.

He may score 30-40 points next season and 40+ points a year later. 90-100 points for 23yo defenseman in the NHL is a lot. We will see how much money will Dahlin get.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Guadana

[Guadana]

17 minutes ago, MB3 said:

look up restricted free agent contracts and get back to me. he’s still 2 full contracts away from UFA. 

Werenski got 5 mil for 0.54 ppg, Hanifin got 4.95 for 0.36, Hamilton got 5.75 for 0.47. 

Our PP was a trash this season, and I think Ruff will fix it. It will help Smith to gain points. And Hughes`s grow too. Smith is 0.48 ppg for today.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Guadana

[Guadana]

7 minutes ago, MB3 said:

In your estimation, 5 million dollars per season will do... anything.... remotely substantial to our cap? 6m? 7m? 

we have 11m in cap space this season. PK, Murray, Butcher and company will all be off the books soon. We’re paying Kovy, Cory Schneider, Mike Cammalleri, Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri more than $8m this year to *not* play for the Devils.

I’m sorry, but saying the salary cap is a reason the Devils shouldn’t rush to overpay anyone and everyone willing to join this dumpster fire — especially bonafide top-4 NHL defenseman — is a misguided, silly statement.

Bratt, Zacha, Jack, may be Wood, may be Murray will got new deals. May be Subban. We have to re-sign Smith, Blackwood and Severson. Sharkannens can get 2 year bridge deals. There are no needs and place for both Sevs and Hamilton.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Guadana

[SterioDesign]

well vancouver just took a 3-1 lead. so thats good

[Devs3cups]

1 minute ago, SterioDesign said:

well vancouver just took a 3-1 lead. so thats good

Yeah, pretty sure Vancouver will pass us. Knock on wood. We're likely drafting 5th. Pretty sure one of Clarke/Hughes will be available by then.

[SterioDesign]

Just now, Devs3cups said:

Yeah, pretty sure Vancouver will pass us. Knock on wood. We're likely drafting 5th. Pretty sure one of Clarke/Hughes will be available by then.

i dont know i've been seeing a lot of hype around Clarke. Plus he played really well at the juniors tournament. I think Clarke is gone in the top 3

Edited May 11, 2021 by SterioDesign

[titans04]

2 hours ago, Guadana said:

Bratt, Zacha, Jack, may be Wood, may be Murray will got new deals. May be Subban. We have to re-sign Smith, Blackwood and Severson. Sharkannens can get 2 year bridge deals. There are no needs and place for both Sevs and Hamilton.

Sounds like in this scenario we're generally signing up for more of the same. If the plan is to almost strictly rely onfeeder growth from within I would bet we continue to be a bottom feeder. If they don't go out and find some significant upgrades to add to this group not enough will change imo. Sure there will be done feel good stories along the way but no big steps forward as playoff threats. Not to just sniff maybe making them, the goal shouldn't stop there. 

[mfitz804]

11 minutes ago, titans04 said:

Sounds like in this scenario we're generally signing up for more of the same. If the plan is to almost strictly rely onfeeder growth from within I would bet we continue to be a bottom feeder. If they don't go out and find some significant upgrades to add to this group not enough will change imo. Sure there will be done feel good stories along the way but no big steps forward as playoff threats. Not to just sniff maybe making them, the goal shouldn't stop there. 

My opinion is they need at least 3 established players, preferably two defensemen and a winger. And a quality backup/1B. They cannot rely on this group of kids in the next couple of years. Some “vets” (re: guys who have played at least 5 seasons) are definitely needed to bridge the gap between now and when all of these kids will be hitting their prime. 

[Guadana]

8 hours ago, titans04 said:Sounds like in this scenario we're generally signing up for more of the same. If the plan is to almost strictly rely onfeeder growth from within I would bet we continue to be a bottom feeder. If they don't go out and find some significant upgrades to add to this group not enough will change imo. Sure there will be done feel good stories along the way but no big steps forward as playoff threats. Not to just sniff maybe making them, the goal shouldn't stop there. 

Fitz and co could be Ok with our offensive lines. Hope they are not, but I don’t think they will add more than one forward. Hope they will. I will assume that the top 6 will not change. I really want they add... Coleman/Granlund for 3rd line LW/C role, give a chance for Maltsev to play 3rd line LW/C, trade/expire Johnsson, and find RW for middle six role on the short deal. Maltsev is a league champion in takeaways. He play pretty solid and should work on his offensive game. I don’t think Merkley is a regular NHLer. He is pretty invincible when the puck isn’t in the offensive zone, when the puck is, he isn’t consistent. There are a lot of young candidates to play RW role. Boqvist was much better, but he can’t play on the line full of youngsters. Devils can rotate him and Maltsev to grow them with a couple of experienced NHLers.
I don’t know how management plan defense. Will they re-sign Murray? Will they give an opportunity to Bahl/Vukojevic/Okhotyuk rotating and playin third pair role? What they think about Carrik’s final performance? Will they protect Subban? What they think about Siegenthaler and his role? I hope they will re-sign Murray and sign Larsson/Montour. Kulikov return on 1-2 years will not hurt. 
 

I don’t think Fitz will make a lot. And I think this would be a short deals. I'm expecting a visit of one forward and one defenseman. And I reaaaaalyyy hope they will sign solid backup. Devils are not playoff team next year. Only if Hughes, Yegor and Jane will make another steps forward, everybody will stay health and Zacha with Bratt will not make step backwards. And don’t forget about goaltending, pp and pk. Too much to fix for one season.