GDT: TBL @ NJD 7pm MSG+

[Chuck the Duck]

38 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

except its hard to make progress when your top 2 players miss significant amount of games, that both your goalies are injured and that you miss one of your top producer / spark plug for the whole season.

If everyone stayed healthy and we just sucked sure but things really went bad early too

I'm in line with SD here.  The injuries are something a team/org with our lack of depth simply cannot handle, especially at key positions.   Losing 1 G was bad, but losing both for extended periods of time causing you to rely upon young rookies who are clearly not ready and a cast off journeyman who never had any NHL success to speak of is something most teams would struggle with.  Add into that having Jack and Hamilton (our 2 most important skaters) out for 2+ months, and it's not shocking we are where we are right now.   

What is disappointing is the lack of production from guys like Tatar and Zacha, and the clear regression of Smith.  What's worse is the fact that this team is softer than Charmin and way too easy to play against.  That has to change, regardless of who is in the lineup.

[Fansinz88]

12 minutes ago, Chuck the Duck said:

I'm in line with SD here.  The injuries are something a team/org with our lack of depth simply cannot handle, especially at key positions.   Losing 1 G was bad, but losing both for extended periods of time causing you to rely upon young rookies who are clearly not ready and a cast off journeyman who never had any NHL success to speak of is something most teams would struggle with.  Add into that having Jack and Hamilton (our 2 most important skaters) out for 2+ months, and it's not shocking we are where we are right now.   

What is disappointing is the lack of production from guys like Tatar and Zacha, and the clear regression of Smith.  What's worse is the fact that this team is softer than Charmin and way too easy to play against.  That has to change, regardless of who is in the lineup.

We have no grit or toughness at all. It’s shows and teams push us around most nights. 

[mfitz804]

1 minute ago, Fansinz88 said:

We have no grit or toughness at all. It’s shows and teams push us around most nights. 

Disagree, Nate Bastian's face is very hard on our opponents' hands. Otherwise you are right. 

[SterioDesign]

Just now, Chuck the Duck said:

I'm in line with SD here.  The injuries are something a team/org with our lack of depth simply cannot handle, especially at key positions.   Losing 1 G was bad, but losing both for extended periods of time causing you to rely upon young rookies who are clearly not ready and a cast off journeyman who never had any NHL success to speak of is something most teams would struggle with.  Add into that having Jack and Hamilton (our 2 most important skaters) out for 2+ months, and it's not shocking we are where we are right now.   

What is disappointing is the lack of production from guys like Tatar and Zacha, and the clear regression of Smith.  What's worse is the fact that this team is softer than Charmin and way too easy to play against.  That has to change, regardless of who is in the lineup.

Yeah i've said this before many times, but i really think a realistic expectation for this team before the season was that we'd be in the mix to challenge for a wildcard spot IF and only IF everything went flawlessly and with some luck.

Here's a checklist of everything that needed to happen for us to challenge for a spot IMO:

• Team dealing with very limited injuries 😭 (Wood, Hughes, Hamilton, Blackwood, Bernier...)
• Jack Hughes having an amazing breakout season 🤩 (but missed a considerable amount of games)
• Hamilton delivering what we paid him for 🤩 (but missed a considerable amount of games)
• Hischier taking the next step😐 (roller coaster, better as of late)
• Rookies able to handle the NHL 🤩 (most did pretty good considering they are rookies)
• Our 2nd year rookies not going through a sophomore slump 😭 (Sharangovich showed signs of being great, very bad at times, Smith has been mostly terrible, Kuokkanen is mostly invisible, etc)
• Teams better than us sh!tting the bed 😐 (islanders did it for a bit)
• Blackwood being a true #1 😭 (injured)
• Our backup goalie able to do the job or not retire before the season 😭 (injured)
• New signings doing the job. Graves 🤩 Tatar 😐 Vesey 😐
• Subban not being terrible 😭
• Zacha keeping the momentum from last season and having a good season 😭
• Coaching staff doing a good job 😭

i could go on and on... But unless we had 🤩 aaaaaall across the board, we were not close to the wildcards. 

 

[Guadana]

11 hours ago, MB3 said:

Ok this is going to come off as overly optimistic and you’ll all roll your eyes at me but…. Trust the process. 

The sixers gm said that in 2012. He was going to build a young team that was going to have immense growing pains with an end goal of assembling high-quality talent through the draft and through trades. 

The results? Brutal at first. And fans mockingly chanted “trust the process.” 4 consecutive last (or second to last) place finishes in the east, with a low-water mark (is that a phrase?) of 10-72 (!!!!!!!). 10-72, jesus christ. 

But look what happened. The pieces fell into place. 4 consecutive playoff appearances, on their way to a 5th with a team many experts think is best suited to win the whole thing this year. 

The Devils are frustratingly bad. But they aren’t frustratingly bad and old. They’re young. They’re “don’t know who tom cruise is” young. Their best players are 23, 20, and 19 years old. They’ve played the majority of the season without their superstar defenseman. They have gotten abhorrent goaltending.

I dunno. I think we turn this ship around soon. There are few teams as well set up for the future as the Devils are and maybe we do just need to trust the process a little bit more. 

Still frustrating as fvck tho.

Glad to read this. Thank you for that.

Tired of whining. Сolorado did have 48 points season and turn the corner without big changes. We have two good young centers, two good young wingers, may be even three or even four,or even more, will see. We have some good defensemen and one prospect with rocket potential. Goaltending is svck, but I hope they will find replacements and Daws\Schmid will grow on themselfs(big problem is the next market will not help). Defeats are painful, but if someone don`t understand why they are happening(worst goaltending, young roster), no one will open their eyes.

Remember this days when

On 9/19/2021 at 9:28 PM, SterioDesign said:

Mercer will certainly be our next Coleman

 

On 9/20/2021 at 3:28 AM, mfitz804 said:

There is a huge difference between recognizing a guy’s potential and declaring him “the next” whomever. That’s a distinction I think people here often miss. 

His rookie camp is encouraging. Mark Stone has had multiple 60+ point seasons. Rantanen has had two 80+ point seasons and is nearly PPG for his career.
 

Maybe Coleman is more reasonable (still to early IMO), but I am not ready to say he’s the next Mark Stone or Mikko Rantanen after two rookie camp games. 

If you are, you’re easily excited. 

 

 

And I`m lazy to find more and something about how Hughes is so busty and Hischier too. Now Hughes is a point per game player, Hischier is good 2 way center and Mercer play with better ppg than Rantanen and only did start to play top-6 role. 
Holtz has 1.19 ppg, that is on the level with Zegras (1.24), Rantanen(1.15), W Nylander (1.18) and Pastrnyak (1.12) in this age.

Results svck, but with this goaltending they will never change. This is axiom.
 

Quote

team like the Rangers than who are an elite level team with Shesterkin in net (.937 sv%, 22-5-2 record) vs Georgiev (.898 sv%, 7-7-2 record) who makes them a below average team? What about the Tampa Bay Lightning last season who were 5-7-2 with their backups in net vs 31-10-1 with Vasilevsky in net

If Fitz can`t fix it - this is a problem. This is the TRUTH NUMBER ONE PROBLEM. Nothing else. Smith is svck and he must be replaced, thank God, we have a tonn of left young defensemen who  can defend, and Luke freaking Hughes who is playing better than his brother Quinn and he is younger. 

Results are bad, really bad, but team is good and will be great and moving in the right direction. 

Shero svck and did a lot of bad decisions. His success was only luck and good drafting by Conte. Thanks God, he was fired. Hope Fitz will understand mistakes of Shero and will understand his own mistaktes. Because, no matter how I like Fitzy`s good decisions, his bad decisions are still bad and his inaction makes it worse for him.

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by Guadana

[Devil Dan 56]

25 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

Yeah i've said this before many times, but i really think a realistic expectation for this team before the season was that we'd be in the mix to challenge for a wildcard spot IF and only IF everything went flawlessly and with some luck.

Here's a checklist of everything that needed to happen for us to challenge for a spot IMO:

• Team dealing with very limited injuries 😭 (Wood, Hughes, Hamilton, Blackwood, Bernier...)
• Jack Hughes having an amazing breakout season 🤩 (but missed a considerable amount of games)
• Hamilton delivering what we paid him for 🤩 (but missed a considerable amount of games)
• Hischier taking the next step😐 (roller coaster, better as of late)
• Rookies able to handle the NHL 🤩 (most did pretty good considering they are rookies)
• Our 2nd year rookies not going through a sophomore slump 😭 (Sharangovich showed signs of being great, very bad at times, Smith has been mostly terrible, Kuokkanen is mostly invisible, etc)
• Teams better than us sh!tting the bed 😐 (islanders did it for a bit)
• Blackwood being a true #1 😭 (injured)
• Our backup goalie able to do the job or not retire before the season 😭 (injured)
• New signings doing the job. Graves 🤩 Tatar 😐 Vesey 😐
• Subban not being terrible 😭
• Zacha keeping the momentum from last season and having a good season 😭
• Coaching staff doing a good job 😭

i could go on and on... But unless we had 🤩 aaaaaall across the board, we were not close to the wildcards. 

 

I’m a fan of the emoji rating system 
 

Wait a minute… is this Keith Kinkaid?!? 

[SterioDesign]

7 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

I’m a fan of the emoji rating system 
 

Wait a minute… is this Keith Kinkaid?!? 

FBI: Delete this. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, SterioDesign said:

Yeah i've said this before many times, but i really think a realistic expectation for this team before the season was that we'd be in the mix to challenge for a wildcard spot IF and only IF everything went flawlessly and with some luck.

Here's a checklist of everything that needed to happen for us to challenge for a spot IMO:

• Team dealing with very limited injuries 😭 (Wood, Hughes, Hamilton, Blackwood, Bernier...)
• Jack Hughes having an amazing breakout season 🤩 (but missed a considerable amount of games)
• Hamilton delivering what we paid him for 🤩 (but missed a considerable amount of games)
• Hischier taking the next step😐 (roller coaster, better as of late)
• Rookies able to handle the NHL 🤩 (most did pretty good considering they are rookies)
• Our 2nd year rookies not going through a sophomore slump 😭 (Sharangovich showed signs of being great, very bad at times, Smith has been mostly terrible, Kuokkanen is mostly invisible, etc)
• Teams better than us sh!tting the bed 😐 (islanders did it for a bit)
• Blackwood being a true #1 😭 (injured)
• Our backup goalie able to do the job or not retire before the season 😭 (injured)
• New signings doing the job. Graves 🤩 Tatar 😐 Vesey 😐
• Subban not being terrible 😭
• Zacha keeping the momentum from last season and having a good season 😭
• Coaching staff doing a good job 😭

i could go on and on... But unless we had 🤩 aaaaaall across the board, we were not close to the wildcards. 

 

I don't think the Devils necessarily needed 🤩 completely across the board, but I'll definitely give you that there's far too many 😭 up there to have expected real WC contention, especially in areas where the Devils could ill-afford them...or another way to look at it:  if we knew all of the below was going to play out, yeah, we probably would've expected a pretty crappy year.

And to isolate those:

Team dealing with very limited injuries 😭 (Wood, Hughes, Hamilton, Blackwood, Bernier...) 

No question, this was a major issue...especially in goal.  No way that Daws, Schmid, and especially Gillies were ever supposed to be starting games for the Devils...yet they've combined to start 20 of them, and the Devils have gone 4-15-1 in those games, with Daws, Schmid, Wedge and Gillies combining for an .874 save% in their appearances.  

Our 2nd year rookies not going through a sophomore slump 😭 (Sharangovich showed signs of being great, very bad at times, Smith has been mostly terrible, Kuokkanen is mostly invisible, etc)

Sharangovich actually has 6 G and 9 A in his past 18 GP, but nothing about him has me terribly excited, long-term...I don't know what it is, but he seems like the kind of guy who will instantly become invisible in big games, tougher teams, etc...a "cosmetic numbers" kind of player.  Even the 15 points over 18 GP just feels quieter than it should.  He is only 23...maybe I just need to be more patient with him, but I'm not just feelin' him.  I think Smith (and just about every D not named Hamilton) could benefit from someone who knows what the hell he's doing and has any concept on how to teach.  I'm done with Kuokkanen...there's plenty of kids in Utica who could challenge for his spot.

Blackwood being a true #1 😭 (injured)  ;  Our backup goalie able to do the job or not retire before the season 😭 (injured)

Goes back to injuries, but yeah, I think Fitz has to at least entertain the idea that Blackwood simply isn't a #1-type package, due to a little of everything (not durable enough, not quite enough upstairs, etc).  I also think that they'd better be damned sure about Bernier still being able to play, once recovered.  My concern is that I can absolutely see Fitz doubling-down on this tandem, with the "When they're healthy" speech prepared.  If he wants to roll the dice with one of them, I'll live it with it (both are only under contract for one more season each).  But not both.  And yeah, the two Utes clearly aren't ready, and Gillies is what happens when every last thing goes wrong. 

Zacha keeping the momentum from last season and having a good season 😭 

Done with him.  Maybe he goes somewhere else and it all clicks and he produces more like the guy who had us all hopeful after those 84 games.  But I'm convinced it's not ever going to happen here.  Or to say it another way:  Fitz better not give him yet another chance next season.  He's had enough time and after appearing to turn the corner, to go back to being that enigmatic frustrating tease player is too much for me.  I'm moving on.  

Coaching staff doing a good job 😭

I'm never one to actively root against my team, but sadly, if this team somehow goes, say, on a 15-9-1 run or something like that to close out the season, or even worse, finishes within sniffing distance of an NHL-.500 record...Fitz 100% brings these guys back.  And that will be awful for everyone involved.  But yeah, as has been well-discussed, these guys aren't the answer and won't ever be.

 

Also done with Tatar, though sadly I suspect the Devils will hope he has a bounceback year based on a couple of solid Canadiens seasons, even though he's only managed 9 goals and 14 assists over his last 59 GP.  Those numbers are enough for me, AFAIC...he's finished, as far as being a solid offensive contributor goes.  If you can unload him for a low-round pick this season or during the offseason, just do it.  Addition by subtraction.  

Vesey wasn't brought aboard to be any more than he's been, and wasn't any major signing, so I can't get on him for too much.  Won't surprise me if he's trying out for some other team next season...he seems like one of those guys who's going to bounce around a lot, from here on out.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[devlman]

1 hour ago, SterioDesign said:

Yeah i've said this before many times, but i really think a realistic expectation for this team before the season was that we'd be in the mix to challenge for a wildcard spot IF and only IF everything went flawlessly and with some luck.

Here's a checklist of everything that needed to happen for us to challenge for a spot IMO:

• Team dealing with very limited injuries 😭 (Wood, Hughes, Hamilton, Blackwood, Bernier...)
• Jack Hughes having an amazing breakout season 🤩 (but missed a considerable amount of games)
• Hamilton delivering what we paid him for 🤩 (but missed a considerable amount of games)
• Hischier taking the next step😐 (roller coaster, better as of late)
• Rookies able to handle the NHL 🤩 (most did pretty good considering they are rookies)
• Our 2nd year rookies not going through a sophomore slump 😭 (Sharangovich showed signs of being great, very bad at times, Smith has been mostly terrible, Kuokkanen is mostly invisible, etc)
• Teams better than us sh!tting the bed 😐 (islanders did it for a bit)
• Blackwood being a true #1 😭 (injured)
• Our backup goalie able to do the job or not retire before the season 😭 (injured)
• New signings doing the job. Graves 🤩 Tatar 😐 Vesey 😐
• Subban not being terrible 😭
• Zacha keeping the momentum from last season and having a good season 😭
• Coaching staff doing a good job 😭

i could go on and on... But unless we had 🤩 aaaaaall across the board, we were not close to the wildcards. 

 

If this team had just half decent goaltending, a lot of the frowns are surmountable to the point of letting us play meaningful games in February. 

The problem with no goaltending is it amplifies everything that does not go right. I still can’t believe Fitz left us with Gillies and Schmid and said, ‘ok, go create a winning culture’ and then disappeared into the abyss never to be seen again.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

And as far as the D goes, here's who I hope is on the team next year:

Hamilton (duh)

Graves (he's solid)

Siegenthaler (too cheap not to give him another season here...and he's been pretty good)

Smith (yes he's been god-awful, but he's a second-year player and only 21 years old...I can't give up on him this early)

I have no idea if any of the kids in Utica will find a way to stick, so I can't add any of them to this list.

Certainly have no issue with L Hughes leaving school to come here, but we'll see if that actually happens.  I'm not banking on it. 

 

If PK is somehow back here, I'm gonna lose my sh!t...just deal him for a 4th rounder and let Bahl and/or Walsh get some time with the club (even if it turns out neither is much of an NHLer). 

Really hope that this is it for -131 Severson too...yeah, +/- isn't a great metric, but Severson's career has basically been one great big long brainfart with occasional sprays of Lysol.  Really hope some team is fooled by this career-year offensively (.563 PPG), and thinks that they have an opportunity to add a "solid vet D".  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, devlman said:

If this team had just half decent goaltending, a lot of the frowns are surmountable to the point of letting us play meaningful games in February. 

The problem with no goaltending is it amplifies everything that does not go right. I still can’t believe Fitz left us with Gillies and Schmid and said, ‘ok, go create a winning culture’ and then disappeared into the abyss never to be seen again.

As frustrated as I get with the situation and Fitz often seeming to be passive once the season is underway...when I take a step back, as far as the goalies go, I don't really know what he could have done.  Losing BOTH of your top two goalies (one for the season, the other yet to be determined) is just brutal.  It would have been nice if one of the Utes was close to ready to play in the NHL, but they're clearly not, and unfortunately when the goaltending situation gets as murky as it has here, the only kinds of guys who are really available are often Eddie Lack, Cinco Domingo, and John Gillies-types.  Fitz surely knew Gillies wasn't any kind of real answer other than being a warm body, but on this one I feel for him.

That being said, like I said a couple of posts ago, I don't think Fitz can afford to stake a potential stepping-stone season on Blackwood and Bernier coming back fully healthy and setback-free (much like Shero couldn't keep betting on Cory to regain his earlier form)...if he does, I'm definitely gonna be plenty pissed about it.  I think that Fitz absolutely has to go into the offseason looking at his goaltending as a position to address.  

[devlman]

27 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

As frustrated as I get with the situation and Fitz often seeming to be passive once the season is underway...when I take a step back, as far as the goalies go, I don't really know what he could have done.  Losing BOTH of your top two goalies (one for the season, the other yet to be determined) is just brutal.  It would have been nice if one of the Utes was close to ready to play in the NHL, but they're clearly not, and unfortunately when the goaltending situation gets as murky as it has here, the only kinds of guys who are really available are often Eddie Lack, Cinco Domingo, and John Gillies-types.  Fitz surely knew Gillies wasn't any kind of real answer other than being a warm body, but on this one I feel for him.

That being said, like I said a couple of posts ago, I don't think Fitz can afford to stake a potential stepping-stone season on Blackwood and Bernier coming back fully healthy and setback-free (much like Shero couldn't keep betting on Cory to regain his earlier form)...if he does, I'm definitely gonna be plenty pissed about it.  I think that Fitz absolutely has to go into the offseason looking at his goaltending as a position to address.  

Definitely bad luck losing both goalies but you can’t stop looking for them, especially when your starter had a lingering heel issue, vax concerns and your backup has a history of injury issues.

I’m not entirely sure of the goalie market but Fitz couldn’t find anyone better than AHL-level to serve as a stop gap? I know Khudobin was available at one point. As bad as he’s been, he’s still better than what we have.

Completely agree that Fitz can’t stake next season on Blackwood/Bernier without a plan B.

[Devil Dan 56]

48 minutes ago, devlman said:

If this team had just half decent goaltending, a lot of the frowns are surmountable to the point of letting us play meaningful games in February. 

The problem with no goaltending is it amplifies everything that does not go right. I still can’t believe Fitz left us with Gillies and Schmid and said, ‘ok, go create a winning culture’ and then disappeared into the abyss never to be seen again.

Well that’s not entirely fair. He didn’t disappear forever. He’ll poke his head out to catch one of his son’s games since that’s all that seems to interest him in regards to hockey these days. 

With regards to the goalies… Knowing Blackwood was not 100% and deciding Scott Wedgewood was the backup plan was just plain ridiculous. Then putting Wedgewood on waivers while Bernier was clearly battling something was even worse. Did we really need that extra roster spot? For what? Geertson?!? Colton White? 

[SterioDesign]

Well for the goalies, you have 2 goalies signed for the next 2 seasons and you're rebuilding. One of them is at that time considered a solid goalie, even team canada has him for an option for the olympics.

Do you really go and trade assets to get ANOTHER goalie? In a season we were not really projected to make the playoffs anyway?

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

38 minutes ago, devlman said:

Definitely bad luck losing both goalies but you can’t stop looking for them, especially when your starter had a lingering heel issue, vax concerns and your backup has a history of injury issues.

I’m not entirely sure of the goalie market but Fitz couldn’t find anyone better than AHL-level to serve as a stop gap? I know Khudobin was available at one point. As bad as he’s been, he’s still better than what we have.

Completely agree that Fitz can’t stake next season on Blackwood/Bernier without a plan B.

Khudobin has an .899 save% over his last 41 GP.  He wasn't going to make much of a difference...and don't forget what this defense can do to goalies.  

Sadly, I think that's where the problem was...any decent goalie who might actually be available (and cost more) probably wasn't going to be enough to save the season.  Sure, there's a part of me that absolutely would've liked to have seen Fitz really try to get someone better than Gillies, but like you said in the bolded, who was really out there for the taking?  And would it be someone you'd want to be tied to beyond 2021-22?  Once I set aside the raw emotions of how much I hate seeing this organization appear to accept losing, I'm not sure how much could've been done to improve the goaltending situation to the point where the Devils would've still been sniffing a WC spot.  How much do you want to give up for less-bad to might-be-decent?  

24 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

Well that’s not entirely fair. He didn’t disappear forever. He’ll poke his head out to catch one of his son’s games since that’s all that seems to interest him in regards to hockey these days. 

With regards to the goalies… Knowing Blackwood was not 100% and deciding Scott Wedgewood was the backup plan was just plain ridiculous. Then putting Wedgewood on waivers while Bernier was clearly battling something was even worse. Did we really need that extra roster spot? For what? Geertson?!? Colton White? 

I hear ya, but at the same time, the "backup to the backup" guys who are any good tend to be young kids with upside, who suddenly get pressed into action and are close enough to being ready to play well.  Maybe next year, a Schmid or Daws could fill in a little better, but it was too early to ask that of them (both are only 21).  So that means having to go with a Wedgewood, Domingue, Lack...and on a team as bad as the Devils are (especially on D), it gets ugly quickly...Domingue was actually passable on a stacked Tampa team when he had to play for an extended stretch, but here he was going to get exposed for the fringe journeyman that he is.  You are right, questionable to put Wedge on waivers, but is he any different than Gillies in the end?  Those guys all are what they are.

Basically, the non-prospect types are the ones who you can sign for relative pennies and who have no choice but to sit around and wait until something goes wrong with the big club's goalies.  And a hell of a lot has to go wrong for them to play...which is exactly what happened here.  

If anything, the problem goes back to the decades-long issue that's largely plagued the Devils since Marty...the franchise's complete inability to draft and/or develop goalies.  Hopefully Schmid or Daws can buck that trend, and as soon as next year, could actually play well enough to force themselves into the Devils' plans for 2023-24.  But I still want to see Fitz try to snag an offseason upgrade to play with the big club in 2022-23 (meaning Blackwood or Bernier isn't a Devil next season).       

Edited February 16, 2022 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Fansinz88]

3 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

Disagree, Nate Bastian's face is very hard on our opponents' hands. Otherwise you are right. 

Ok I’ll give you his face eating knuckles a lot. 

[Fansinz88]

Just now, Fansinz88 said:

Ok I’ll give you his face eating knuckles a lot. 

That makes him tough lol

[DevsMan84]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

As frustrated as I get with the situation and Fitz often seeming to be passive once the season is underway...when I take a step back, as far as the goalies go, I don't really know what he could have done.  Losing BOTH of your top two goalies (one for the season, the other yet to be determined) is just brutal.  It would have been nice if one of the Utes was close to ready to play in the NHL, but they're clearly not, and unfortunately when the goaltending situation gets as murky as it has here, the only kinds of guys who are really available are often Eddie Lack, Cinco Domingo, and John Gillies-types.  Fitz surely knew Gillies wasn't any kind of real answer other than being a warm body, but on this one I feel for him.

That being said, like I said a couple of posts ago, I don't think Fitz can afford to stake a potential stepping-stone season on Blackwood and Bernier coming back fully healthy and setback-free (much like Shero couldn't keep betting on Cory to regain his earlier form)...if he does, I'm definitely gonna be plenty pissed about it.  I think that Fitz absolutely has to go into the offseason looking at his goaltending as a position to address.  

Right before the season started Fitz said he wanted to start playing meaningful games in March.  Yeah he was thrown a curve ball with both Blackwood and Bernier going down, but if the extent of his creativity to solve that issue is to trade for an already 3rd stringer for "future considerations" then I would rather we move on from this guy quite frankly.

Hell, since the first game of the season, the only two moves that Fitz has made other than the normal, mundane stuff (call-ups, waivers, COVID-19 list, etc) was the Gillies trade and picking up Bastian from waivers.  For a guy who said that he wanted to play meaningful games this season, his actions were certainly that of a guy who was willing to punt the season away (yet again).

[SterioDesign]

2 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Right before the season started Fitz said he wanted to start playing meaningful games in March.  Yeah he was thrown a curve ball with both Blackwood and Bernier going down, but if the extent of his creativity to solve that issue is to trade for an already 3rd stringer for "future considerations" then I would rather we move on from this guy quite frankly.

Hell, since the first game of the season, the only two moves that Fitz has made other than the normal, mundane stuff (call-ups, waivers, COVID-19 list, etc) was the Gillies trade and picking up Bastian from waivers.  For a guy who said that he wanted to play meaningful games this season, his actions were certainly that of a guy who was willing to punt the season away (yet again).

Except there's not many moves he could have done to make us play meaningful games in March with everything that happened

And also people need to wake up to the fact that because something wasnt done, doesnt mean that something wasnt attempted. And the price we might have had to pay for a solution might not have been worth it in the long-run. 

[DevsMan84]

46 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

Except there's not many moves he could have done to make us play meaningful games in March with everything that happened

And also people need to wake up to the fact that because something wasnt done, doesnt mean that something wasnt attempted. And the price we might have had to pay for a solution might not have been worth it in the long-run. 

He could have been a little more aggressive/creative than to take another 3rd/4th string goalie from another team for "future considerations."  I would consider that to be the absolute bare minimum which to me lacks creativity.

He could have changed one or more of the coaching staff.  Instead he tells us "the answer is in that room" while we have yet again a terrible PP and a defensive scheme that isn't working.

If other teams are allowed to make bolder trades or replace coaches during the season Fitz can too.  He didn't and it looked like we were already punting away this season by Christmas.

Edited February 16, 2022 by DevsMan84

[MadDog2020]

53 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Right before the season started Fitz said he wanted to start playing meaningful games in March.  Yeah he was thrown a curve ball with both Blackwood and Bernier going down, but if the extent of his creativity to solve that issue is to trade for an already 3rd stringer for "future considerations" then I would rather we move on from this guy quite frankly.

Hell, since the first game of the season, the only two moves that Fitz has made other than the normal, mundane stuff (call-ups, waivers, COVID-19 list, etc) was the Gillies trade and picking up Bastian from waivers.  For a guy who said that he wanted to play meaningful games this season, his actions were certainly that of a guy who was willing to punt the season away (yet again).

Spot on. HE said those things. No one put a gun to Fitz’s head and made him say he wanted meaningful games in March. He VOLUNTEERED that to us. But his ‘actions’, or lack thereof, tell a COMPLETELY different story. I don’t wanna hear ‘what could he have done?’ The fact is he didn’t do sh!t. And I don’t wanna hear later that he ‘tried’ or some bullsh!t. Do, or do fvcking not. There is no try. 

Edited February 16, 2022 by MadDog2020

[SterioDesign]

12 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

He could have been a little more aggressive/creative than to take another 3rd/4th string goalie from another team for "future considerations."  I would consider that to be the absolute bare minimum which to me lacks creativity.

He could have changed one or more of the coaching staff.  Instead he tells us "the answer is in that room" while we have yet again a terrible PP and a defensive scheme that isn't working.

If other teams are allowed to make bolder trades or replace coaches during the same, Fitz can too.  He didn't and it looked like we were already punting away this season by Christmas.

You can't assume that he wasn't simply because there was no results in the end. God knows if he tried and what was available and at what cost. And the cost it might have cost might not have been worth it and fitting the plan.

The coaching staff i certainly won't defend him on that, it's absolutely ridiculous. 

[DevsMan84]

Just now, MadDog2020 said:

Spot on. HE said those things. No one put a gun to Fitz’s head and made him say he wanted meaningful games in March. He VOLUNTEERED that to us. But his ‘actions’, or lack thereof, tell a COMPLETELY different story. I don’t wanna hear ‘what could he have done?’ The fact is he didn’t do sh!t. And I don’t wanna hear later that he ‘tried’ or some bullsh!t. Do, or do fvcking not. There is no try. 

I am trying to think of a trade (not waiver pick-ups, not signings, etc), but trades that Fitz and even Shero have made that weren't either in the off-season or deadline dumps.

I mean I guess there was the Maroon and Grabner trades back in the 17-18 season.  But someone should have told Shero and now tell Fitz that trades to add/get better are allowed during the season as well.

[SterioDesign]

3 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Spot on. HE said those things. No one put a gun to Fitz’s head and made him say he wanted meaningful games in March. He VOLUNTEERED that to us. But his ‘actions’, or lack thereof, tell a COMPLETELY different story. I don’t wanna hear ‘what could he have done?’ The fact is he didn’t do sh!t. And I don’t wanna hear later that he ‘tried’ or some bullsh!t. Do, or do fvcking not. There is no try. 

"Do, or do fvcking not. There is no try." lol do you honestly think it's that easy to make trades that work in your favour in the NHL? 

Every GM "want to win the cup". It's not a do or do not kind of thing. How absurd is that statement lol

He said he wanted to play meaningul game. He never promised that we would. You're acting like he promised something. 

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by SterioDesign

[MadDog2020]

Just now, SterioDesign said:

"Do, or do fvcking not. There is no try." lol do you honestly think it's that easy to make trades that work in your favour in the NHL? 

He said he wanted to play meaningul game. He never promised that we would. You're acting like he promised something. 

 

‘We tried’ is such a cop out. As if we’ll ever actually know what was tried. It’s a get out jail free card basically.