GDT: Winnipeg @ Devils 7:00 PM MSG+

[jagknife]

35 minutes ago, MB3 said:

she’s calling a game in minny right now 

I was being facetious, nasally voice and completely clueless about hockey 

[mfitz804]

Just now, jagknife said:

I was being facetious, nasally voice and completely clueless about hockey 

Maybe it was that older Marcia Brady looking “sweet salad under his bucket” a-hole. Really tired of her. 

[jagknife]

1 minute ago, mfitz804 said:

Maybe it was that older Marcia Brady looking “sweet salad under his bucket” a-hole. Really tired of her. 

She was wearing a Jets jersey, definitely didn’t have resemblance to vintage or modern Marcia Brady

[Nicomo]

23 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

I don't even really have thoughts on this game.  Decently played overall.  Tip of the cap to the Jets and mainly Connor on that sweet game winning goal.

With that said, players who can get off this team immediately:

- Tatar

- Subban

- Johnsson

 

Players who are on a short leash:

- Zacha

- Vesey

 

Players who deserve more time but are on thin ice:

- Smith

Vesey? Idk how anyone could be unhappy with what he brings. He’s like 2nd in the league in takeaways/60, kills penalties well, and occasionally chips in on offense. Can’t ask for much more out of a 3rd/4th liner. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by Nicomo

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Just now, Nicomo said:

Vesey? Idk how anyone could be unhappy with what he brings. He’s like 2nd in the league in takeaways, kills penalties well, and occasionally chips in on offense. Can’t ask for much more out of a 3rd/4th liner. 

Yeah Vesey’s been pretty good at what he’s been asked to do.  Definitely guys that you notice way ahead of him, as far as “for the wrong reasons” players go.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

26 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

I don't even really have thoughts on this game.  Decently played overall.  Tip of the cap to the Jets and mainly Connor on that sweet game winning goal.

With that said, players who can get off this team immediately:

- Tatar

- Subban

- Johnsson

Well PK will almost definitely be gone at the deadline.  If Fitz somehow manages to unload Tatar or Johnsson as well he’s a borderline miracle worker.  Any points they come up with these days seem to be completely by accident.

Edited March 11, 2022 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[devlman]

4 things:

1. Of course we make Eric fvcking Comrie look like Jacques Plante. Backup scrub against us never fails

2. We got too cute in the O-zone. Not enough crashing the net.

3. What the hell did Nas draw up from that timeout? Why was Graves playing down low in the offensive zone?

and most aggravatingly:

4. How the hell was that not a penalty on the Jet player slashing Bratt directly leading to the Connor goal

[mfitz804]

7 minutes ago, devlman said:

4 things:

1. Of course we make Eric fvcking Comrie look like Jacques Plante. Backup scrub against us never fails

2. We got too cute in the O-zone. Not enough crashing the net.

3. What the hell did Nas draw up from that timeout? Why was Graves playing down low in the offensive zone?

and most aggravatingly:

4. How the hell was that not a penalty on the Jet player slashing Bratt directly leading to the Connor goal

Accurate. 

[jagknife]

13 minutes ago, devlman said:

4 things:

1. Of course we make Eric fvcking Comrie look like Jacques Plante. Backup scrub against us never fails

2. We got too cute in the O-zone. Not enough crashing the net.

3. What the hell did Nas draw up from that timeout? Why was Graves playing down low in the offensive zone?

and most aggravatingly:

4. How the hell was that not a penalty on the Jet player slashing Bratt directly leading to the Connor goal

I’ll add this as well: if you stopped jacks line, we had nothing tonight, yet Lindy didn’t make ANY changes. He was the opposite of DBA: instead of musical lines, we had etched in stone ones.

[slasher72]

1 hour ago, NJDfan1711 said:

I don't even really have thoughts on this game.  Decently played overall.  Tip of the cap to the Jets and mainly Connor on that sweet game winning goal.

With that said, players who can get off this team immediately:

- Tatar

- Subban

- Johnsson

 

Players who are on a short leash:

- Zacha

- Vesey

 

Players who deserve more time but are on thin ice:

- Smith

Keep dreaming. Fitz has no intention of moving anyone except Subban. He's perfectly happy with Zacha 

[Jerrydevil]

40 minutes ago, jagknife said:

I’ll add this as well: if you stopped jacks line, we had nothing tonight, yet Lindy didn’t make ANY changes. He was the opposite of DBA: instead of musical lines, we had etched in stone ones.

Among the forwards, I thought two of our whipping boys, Zacha and Johnsson, played pretty well tonight, and the 4th line had a couple of monster shifts. I thought Yegor played well, too.

[Nicomo]

4 minutes ago, Jerrydevil said:

Among the forwards, I thought two of our whipping boys, Zacha and Johnsson, played pretty well tonight, and the 4th line had a couple of monster shifts. I thought Yegor played well, too.

I thought he was really off tonight. Flubbed a couple shots that should have been prime chances. He’s a halfway decent penalty killer, but when the main thing you bring to the table is your shot, you can’t be whiffing multiple times in a game. 

[nessus]

It's getting to a point where I just feel bad for Tatar. This simply is not the same hockey player that he was even last season. He's getting beat consistently on puck battles, he is getting out-muscled on almost every play, and he's not able to capitalize on any opportunity where he's got space to shoot or make a play. His confidence is probably at about 0, and I just don't see him snapping out of it. And it's not even a matter of poor effort either. Reminds me of Jacob Josefson with the secondhand frustration I feel for someone who has got some degree of talent and has the effort, but no confidence to make any of it matter. I'm really thinking it's time to see what one of the AHLers can do in a similar role.

[NJDevils1214]

3 hours ago, Nicomo said:

I thought he was really off tonight. Flubbed a couple shots that should have been prime chances. He’s a halfway decent penalty killer, but when the main thing you bring to the table is your shot, you can’t be whiffing multiple times in a game. 

Especially not when you're playing with the best player on the team. Jack set him up for 2 or 3 prime shots and he whiffed. I get he's human, but you gotta be better than that if you're going to get time on the top line.

He's been good lately. Just not a good game from him tonight.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

6 hours ago, slasher72 said:

Keep dreaming. Fitz has no intention of moving anyone except Subban. He's perfectly happy with Zacha 

Zacha’s an arb-eligible RFA after this season.  If Fitz commits to him long-term, then yeah, it would appear that Fitz is “happy” with Zacha.  But I need to see Zacha survive the deadline and the offseason and be a Devil with a new 3+ year deal in hand before I accuse Fitz of that.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

6 hours ago, nessus said:

It's getting to a point where I just feel bad for Tatar. This simply is not the same hockey player that he was even last season. He's getting beat consistently on puck battles, he is getting out-muscled on almost every play, and he's not able to capitalize on any opportunity where he's got space to shoot or make a play. His confidence is probably at about 0, and I just don't see him snapping out of it. And it's not even a matter of poor effort either. Reminds me of Jacob Josefson with the secondhand frustration I feel for someone who has got some degree of talent and has the effort, but no confidence to make any of it matter. I'm really thinking it's time to see what one of the AHLers can do in a similar role.

He’s a guy who’s skills eroded very quickly.  That just happens to some guys much earlier than expected.

But now it’s on Fitz to make sure that we don’t see more of this in 2022-23.  He may have to buy out Tatar’s deal…you never like to see dead money, but the hits per season (2 years) are not that bad…you can’t take a “cross your fingers” approach and just hope for the best next season. Tatar brings absolutely nothing at this stage of his career.

[mfitz804]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

He’s a guy who’s skills eroded very quickly.  That just happens to some guys much earlier than expected.

But now it’s on Fitz to make sure that we don’t see more of this in 2022-23.  He may have to buy out Tatar’s deal…you never like to see dead money, but the hits per season (2 years) are not that bad…you can’t take a “cross your fingers” approach and just hope for the best next season. Tatar brings absolutely nothing at this stage of his career.

It was kind of one of those “take a shot” deals to see if he could get back to where he was. Unfortunately it wound up more like a “take a sh!t “ deal. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

It was kind of one of those “take a shot” deals to see if he could get back to where he was. Unfortunately it wound up more like a “take a sh!t “ deal. 

Oh for sure and I understood it completely at the time...he really wasn't so far removed from his productive years.  It was also a stopgap move...not like the Devils were going to re-sign him even if he was reasonably productive.  Just sucks that it didn't work out even a little.  

[mfitz804]

20 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Oh for sure and I understood it completely at the time...he really wasn't so far removed from his productive years.  It was also a stopgap move...not like the Devils were going to re-sign him even if he was reasonably productive.  Just sucks that it didn't work out even a little.  

The only guys that he has more points than who have played a comparable number of games are McLeod (8 fewer) and Vesey (9 fewer). Yet I'm totally satisfied with both of those guys.

[DevsMan84]

Hughes looked great last night.  I thought Sharangovich and Mercer had somewhat rough games last night.

As much as I like Subban as the person, Subban the player is just simply finished.  Same with Tatar.

I wouldn't mind Johnsson here but my expectation of him is nothing more than a 3rd liner.  If he is gone then I won't be shedding any tears either.

[Jerrydevil]

7 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Hughes looked great last night.  I thought Sharangovich and Mercer had somewhat rough games last night.

As much as I like Subban as the person, Subban the player is just simply finished.  Same with Tatar.

I wouldn't mind Johnsson here but my expectation of him is nothing more than a 3rd liner.  If he is gone then I won't be shedding any tears either.

It's doubtful Johnsson will be back. He's not that much better than what a call-up would be. Subban would have to try out to make a team next season. I think he'll opt for a TV studio job.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

6 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Hughes looked great last night.  I thought Sharangovich and Mercer had somewhat rough games last night.

As much as I like Subban as the person, Subban the player is just simply finished.  Same with Tatar.

I wouldn't mind Johnsson here but my expectation of him is nothing more than a 3rd liner.  If he is gone then I won't be shedding any tears either.

Agree with bolded fully.  Amazing how quickly some guys can just completely lose it...Tatar is only two years removed from a fine season.  The signs were there with Subban in his final Nashville season, and they were obviously smart to cut bait and cash in, while his numbers still looked respectable at first glance, and while he still had name recognition.  As much as I didn't like the player, at least the Devils were in a position to take on his cap hit without it ever hurting them...and by not cutting him, they never had to deal with any dead space related to his contract.

re:  Johnsson, I get the feeling he's one of those guys who will be out of the NHL by the time he's 30...not because he's necessarily washed up, just because he never really brought a whole lot when he's not getting great puck luck.

Johnsson's put up 10 points over his last 32 GP...that would be fine if he was a gritty 4th-liner who brought other skills to the table, but he doesn't really do much of anything else.

Dealing for him made perfect sense at the time...basically gave up nothing for him (Joey Anderson's played all of 5 NHL games since the deal, and seems to be settling into "good AHL player" territory), and he had that one productive stretch as a Leaf that gave him some intrigue, as to what his upside might be...given the state of the Devils, it was a perfect "OK kid, we're trying to build something here, you've got three seasons to show why you should be a part of thing, let's see what you got!" opportunity for him.  He just didn't do nearly enough with it...so little, in fact, that I don't give him that third season.

The guess here is that he's done just enough (and is still just young enough) to get one last look somewhere, after his contract is up...a one-year deal, about $1 million.  Devils could pull a Butcher and trade him this offseason and eat some of the money, just to open up his spot to someone who's simply better. 

At any rate, guy was a former 7th-rounder.  Not like lots of 7th-rounders ever get so much as a cup of coffee in NHL, let almost play over 200 games.  So kudos to him on making it.  

 

[Jerrydevil]

11 hours ago, Nicomo said:

I thought he was really off tonight. Flubbed a couple shots that should have been prime chances. He’s a halfway decent penalty killer, but when the main thing you bring to the table is your shot, you can’t be whiffing multiple times in a game. 

Off, but not invisible. Early in the season, I sometimes wondered if #17 was even out on the ice. Yes, he flubbed a couple last night. But it was not enough for me to call for his demotion to Utica, which is where he seemed to be headed in the fall.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

16 minutes ago, Jerrydevil said:

Off, but not invisible. Early in the season, I sometimes wondered if #17 was even out on the ice. Yes, he flubbed a couple last night. But it was not enough for me to call for his demotion to Utica, which is where he seemed to be headed in the fall.

Sharangovich has done enough for the Devils not to write him off...now it's about how good can he be?  What's his top end?  He's put up 30 G and 30 A in 106 GP so far.  I'd like to see him manage those same numbers in 75 - 82 GP...if he's getting time on the Top 6, he should be able to do that...he's working with some talented players here.

[Jerrydevil]

9 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Sharangovich has done enough for the Devils not to write him off...now it's about how good can he be?  What's his top end?  He's put up 30 G and 30 A in 106 GP so far.  I'd like to see him manage those same numbers in 75 - 82 GP...if he's getting time on the Top 6, he should be able to do that...he's working with some talented players here.

Yeah, he has an opportunity to grab here, for sure, and he seems capable. He has a pretty good shot and he doesn't need a lot of time and space to get it off. He's got a good motor, too, lately.