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The New Jersey Devils 2021-22 Regular Season Thread


mfitz804

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2 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

I am also slowly starting to write off Foote as well.  I know he is young and was drafted high, but his hockey IQ seems to be minimal and his footwork is abysmal.  I really don't see him as anything more than a good to very good AHL player.

Foote seems like one of those guys that has a great shot but doesn’t have the ability to get to an area of the ice quick enough to ever  use it. If it was 1985, he’d probably be a big scorer but the game is so fast now

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9 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

He’s no good. He’s not going to suddenly be good. 

Yeah suffice it to say that Boqvist didn't do much with the couple of looks that he got.  You're only going to get so many...and even if he's young, he's not THAT young anymore.  When you're already soon to be 23 and on the outside looking in and other guys are simply ahead of you...not good.

But I agree, don't see some magical leap in ability coming.

10 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

I am also slowly starting to write off Foote as well.  I know he is young and was drafted high, but his hockey IQ seems to be minimal and his footwork is abysmal.  I really don't see him as anything more than a good to very good AHL player.

He still has some time on his side (only 20, turns 21 in on 11/29), but based on what I've seen so far, not terribly optimistic about him.    

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Jeff Marek has his own show now on Sportsnet.  Today's episode is a great listen.  There is an interview with Tom Fitzgerald from today where he talks about his decisions to reassign Holtz and hang onto Mercer, also the conversation about Vesey is interesting.  Basically asking him to change the entire way he plays to fill a bottom line role instead of coming in as the skill player he thought he was when he joined the Rangers.  After the interview they break down the Devils a bit more and Marek praises the Mukhamadullin pick.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/590/jeff-marek-show/are-the-devils-a-team-on-the-rise/

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29 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

He still has some time on his side (only 20, turns 21 in on 11/29), but based on what I've seen so far, not terribly optimistic about him.    

Foote doesn’t skate or move well. I don’t think it’s one of those things where you can say “he’s only 20”, maybe hockey sense and other things develop with time, but if you can’t skate at age 20, you aren’t going to suddenly be able to at 22 or 24 or whatever. 

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10 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Foote doesn’t skate or move well. I don’t think it’s one of those things where you can say “he’s only 20”, maybe hockey sense and other things develop with time, but if you can’t skate at age 20, you aren’t going to suddenly be able to at 22 or 24 or whatever. 

Yeah out of all the things player improve upon, I think skating is the one where players never seem to do a whole lot better at no matter how much they work at it.

I can't even think of a player who was a poor skater suddenly became a good one.

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1 minute ago, DevsMan84 said:

Yeah out of all the things player improve upon, I think skating is the one where players never seem to do a whole lot better at no matter how much they work at it.

I can't even think of a player who was a poor skater suddenly became a good one.

It’s not just poor, it’s slow as sh!t. He isn’t going to get significantly faster. Sure, if he had something to work with, he could get stronger and improve it a little. But I think he’s too slow to make any improvement significant. 

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17 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Foote doesn’t skate or move well. I don’t think it’s one of those things where you can say “he’s only 20”, maybe hockey sense and other things develop with time, but if you can’t skate at age 20, you aren’t going to suddenly be able to at 22 or 24 or whatever. 

I don’t really disagree, but you know how it works…when you’re still young, a former first-round pick, and if you can put up some numbers in the AHL, you’ll get some chances.  That’s what I meant by Foote having time on his side.  Doesn’t mean it will ever work out.

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3 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

It’s not just poor, it’s slow as sh!t. He isn’t going to get significantly faster. Sure, if he had something to work with, he could get stronger and improve it a little. But I think he’s too slow to make any improvement significant. 

he might not work in our system but he's still a good asset. Not that i think that there's team relying on slow guys lol but he might work in some system. just not ours. So we could always package him for something going in our favour.

We have such a young forward corp. I assume a lot of those guys should be a lock for at least a decade so we won't need much average depth unless its someone improving and pushing someone down. Flipping those guys who doesnt fit the system for someone that will would be good asset management

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2 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

he might not work in our system but he's still a good asset. Not that i think that there's team relying on slow guys lol but he might work in some system. just not ours. So we could always package him for something going in our favour.

We have such a young forward corp. I assume a lot of those guys should be a lock for at least a decade so we won't need much average depth unless its someone improving and pushing someone down. Flipping those guys who doesnt fit the system for someone that will would be good asset management

I don’t think we’d get anything significant in return for him, but maybe someone would look at his pedigree and take a chance on him as a throw in. 

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39 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Yeah out of all the things player improve upon, I think skating is the one where players never seem to do a whole lot better at no matter how much they work at it.

I can't even think of a player who was a poor skater suddenly became a good one.

Never happens. Scott Niedermayer always skated like Scott Niedermayer. David Clarkson always skated like David Clarkson. When it comes to skating, you’re either good, or you aren’t. 

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2 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Never happens. Scott Niedermayer always skated like Scott Niedermayer. David Clarkson always skated like David Clarkson. When it comes to skating, you’re either good, or you aren’t. 

Pretty much. If you are Season 1 Jack Hughes at 18, you can get stronger and even better. But you don’t go from Nolan Foote’s skating in wet cement to a great skater. 

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Just now, devlman said:

Foote’s got a lot of other tools where even being an average skater at best would allow him to be a solid NHL player in the future, parking himself in front of nets like a  JVR.

I hope you’re right, but his skating doesn’t even look average to me. 

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3 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

I hope you’re right, but his skating doesn’t even look average to me. 

Agreed it is below-average right now. And bad skaters don’t end up being great ones.

But I think it’s possible to improve skating to some degree…improving from below average to average I’d think is doable. Hopefully he can make that happen because he’s got some good skill.

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12 minutes ago, devlman said:

Agreed it is below-average right now. And bad skaters don’t end up being great ones.

But I think it’s possible to improve skating to some degree…improving from below average to average I’d think is doable. Hopefully he can make that happen because he’s got some good skill.

I don’t see it happening but I will be thrilled if he gets to that level. 

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25 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Would have been nice to see him get the 9 game look, but oh well. 

Don’t think he would’ve gotten enough minutes…unless you want to make the argument that he could’ve forced the Devils’ hands with some good play.  Feels like lots of playing time with Utica is the right move though.

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