Your New Jersey Devils Regular Season Thread: 2022-2023 Edition

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

6 minutes ago, 2ELIAS6 said:

So uh, who were the douchers that got the entire site shut down for the rest of us? There were definitely a few idiots that would clog up entire threads with irrelevant nonsense.. I went to come in and had no idea what happened. Was pretty disappointed and figured that was the end of the place 

Without dredging it all up, there was a lot of very heated debate about Provorov.  It got very ugly, but it’s over now and that’s a good thing. 

Serious kudos to DM to keeping this place alive.  And for everything else that he does.

[Jerzey]

If there was ever a perfect time for this gif…
 

I have no idea what happened. I stopped reading the Provorov thread a while ago but from what I saw I think I know who’s gone. 
 

 

 

[NJDfan1711]

I almost created a new thread for what I'm about to say, but it doesn't deserve one, nor do I want to change the direction of this thread since it's meant to be the generic thread about the team for this season, however, since the last few posts have alluded to what evidently went on here recently (I didn't read or see any of it, btw), I just want to put it out there.  When I went to visit this site over the weekend and saw it was down I was assuming either 1) The hosting provider had some issue and it was out of DM's control or 2) DM was doing maintenance to the site as he does occasionally, and it would be back up in a short amount of time.  After a half day passed and the site wasn't back up, I was mildly concerned like I'm sure most others were as well, but still figured DM would get to whatever the issue was when he could (as he pointed out, he happened to be in the middle of a move, which is totally understandable, not that he needs any excuse or reason for how he spends his time - he could vacation for a week and turn off his computer and phone and if the site goes down and is unavailable for that time, oh well - we'll all have to live with it).  When the half day turned into a full day, and a day that the Devils were to play a game no less, part of me did start to think that we were about to read a post from DM saying NJ Devs is no more,  I was not only sad to potentially lose this site, but also feared that perhaps something happened to DM himself.  Thankfully that's not the case, however it occurred to me that I really don't have a way of connecting with many of you, and that I'd be sad to lose out on a really great place that I love coming to often, year after year.  Running a site like this isn't easy and we all do our part to try and support DM each year to keep the lights on and make this place an enjoyable and sustainable place to come to, but with that said I would like to publicly state and volunteer to take over this place (or build another) should the time come when DM ever has to step down.  I've been part of other online communities and forums in the past 20 years and I've seen some of them shut down.  It's unfortunate for the members and people who've formed a bond in a unique way.  But life does go on.  In the event that this place ceases to exist, I think some type of contingency plan would be helpful so that those members who do wish to stay connected can do so if they wish.  I don't know what the best way to go about this would be, but perhaps some type of Facebook Group or Reddit thread. 

Please, please, please, let's not derail this thread too far, that's not the point of this.  If people agree, perhaps a like/thumbs up to this post would at least confirm if I'm not alone and others share these thoughts, and anyone can private message me if they have ideas or want to come up with some type of backup plan just to be prepared. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by NJDfan1711

[jagknife]

48 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

I almost created a new thread for what I'm about to say, but it doesn't deserve one, nor do I want to change the direction of this thread since it's meant to be the generic thread about the team for this season, however, since the last few posts have alluded to what evidently went on here recently (I didn't read or see any of it, btw), I just want to put it out there.  When I went to visit this site over the weekend and saw it was down I was assuming either 1) The hosting provider had some issue and it was out of DM's control or 2) DM was doing maintenance to the site as he does occasionally, and it would be back up in a short amount of time.  After a half day passed and the site wasn't back up, I was mildly concerned like I'm sure most others were as well, but still figured DM would get to whatever the issue was when he could (as he pointed out, he happened to be in the middle of a move, which is totally understandable, not that he needs any excuse or reason for how he spends his time - he could vacation for a week and turn off his computer and phone and if the site goes down and is unavailable for that time, oh well - we'll all have to live with it).  When the half day turned into a full day, and a day that the Devils were to play a game no less, part of me did start to think that we were about to read a post from DM saying NJ Devs is no more,  I was not only sad to potentially lose this site, but also feared that perhaps something happened to DM himself.  Thankfully that's not the case, however it occurred to me that I really don't have a way of connecting with many of you, and that I'd be sad to lose out on a really great place that I love coming to often, year after year.  Running a site like this isn't easy and we all do our part to try and support DM each year to keep the lights on and make this place an enjoyable and sustainable place to come to, but with that said I would like to publicly state and volunteer to take over this place (or build another) should the time come when DM ever has to step down.  I've been part of other online communities and forums in the past 20 years and I've seen some of them shut down.  It's unfortunate for the members and people who've formed a bond in a unique way.  But life does go on.  In the event that this place ceases to exist, I think some type of contingency plan would be helpful so that those members who do wish to stay connected can do so if they wish.  I don't know what the best way to go about this would be, but perhaps some type of Facebook Group or Reddit thread. 

Please, please, please, let's not derail this thread too far, that's not the point of this.  If people agree, perhaps a like/thumbs up to this post would at least confirm if I'm not alone and others share these thoughts, and anyone can private message me if they have ideas or want to come up with some type of backup plan just to be prepared. 

Well said. That is my response to that post, well said.

I didn’t like the idea of me not having a spot to talk hockey with people who actually like the devils. Definitely wasn’t going to start posting Reddit, I just lurk there. And sure as hell wasn’t using Twitter or Facebook to talk the team. Noooooo way dude.

[Devil Dan 56]

47 minutes ago, jagknife said:

Well said. That is my response to that post, well said.

I didn’t like the idea of me not having a spot to talk hockey with people who actually like the devils. Definitely wasn’t going to start posting Reddit, I just lurk there. And sure as hell wasn’t using Twitter or Facebook to talk the team. Noooooo way dude.

Yeah this place is the best I’ve found for talking about the Devils. Twitter and Facebook are just the worst of the worst when it comes to trying to have a decent discussion

[Rob_Ottawa]

I went to HF boards just to see some Devils commentary. It was civil, just not as insightful as here. Also site navigation was a pain. 

[Nicomo]

2 hours ago, NJDfan1711 said:

I almost created a new thread for what I'm about to say, but it doesn't deserve one, nor do I want to change the direction of this thread since it's meant to be the generic thread about the team for this season, however, since the last few posts have alluded to what evidently went on here recently (I didn't read or see any of it, btw), I just want to put it out there.  When I went to visit this site over the weekend and saw it was down I was assuming either 1) The hosting provider had some issue and it was out of DM's control or 2) DM was doing maintenance to the site as he does occasionally, and it would be back up in a short amount of time.  After a half day passed and the site wasn't back up, I was mildly concerned like I'm sure most others were as well, but still figured DM would get to whatever the issue was when he could (as he pointed out, he happened to be in the middle of a move, which is totally understandable, not that he needs any excuse or reason for how he spends his time - he could vacation for a week and turn off his computer and phone and if the site goes down and is unavailable for that time, oh well - we'll all have to live with it).  When the half day turned into a full day, and a day that the Devils were to play a game no less, part of me did start to think that we were about to read a post from DM saying NJ Devs is no more,  I was not only sad to potentially lose this site, but also feared that perhaps something happened to DM himself.  Thankfully that's not the case, however it occurred to me that I really don't have a way of connecting with many of you, and that I'd be sad to lose out on a really great place that I love coming to often, year after year.  Running a site like this isn't easy and we all do our part to try and support DM each year to keep the lights on and make this place an enjoyable and sustainable place to come to, but with that said I would like to publicly state and volunteer to take over this place (or build another) should the time come when DM ever has to step down.  I've been part of other online communities and forums in the past 20 years and I've seen some of them shut down.  It's unfortunate for the members and people who've formed a bond in a unique way.  But life does go on.  In the event that this place ceases to exist, I think some type of contingency plan would be helpful so that those members who do wish to stay connected can do so if they wish.  I don't know what the best way to go about this would be, but perhaps some type of Facebook Group or Reddit thread. 

Please, please, please, let's not derail this thread too far, that's not the point of this.  If people agree, perhaps a like/thumbs up to this post would at least confirm if I'm not alone and others share these thoughts, and anyone can private message me if they have ideas or want to come up with some type of backup plan just to be prepared. 

Totally appreciate the sentiment here, but may I offer a small bit of advice? Paragraphs my guy, paragraphs. These giant walls of text are really hard to read. Especially on mobile. 

[Lateralous]

8 hours ago, Rob_Ottawa said:

I went to HF boards just to see some Devils commentary. It was civil, just not as insightful as here. Also site navigation was a pain. 

Despite the reputation, the actual team boards of HF aren’t bad.  They’ve just become so big that there’s almost too many posters and too many opinions.   I like that this forum is smaller.   

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 minute ago, Lateralous said:

Despite the reputation, the actual team boards of HF aren’t bad.  They’ve just become so big that there’s almost too many posters and too many opinions.   I like that this forum is smaller.   

From the bit that I was reading over the past couple of days, they are much more metrics-heavy…I don’t outright reject metrics but I can’t say that I enjoy when they dominate conversation.  Also was surprised how quickly they jumped on me about the whole Kakko - Hughes thing (I pointed out that it was supposed to be FUN, but they took it all way too seriously…and that seems to be more of the vibe there).  Just not really the place for me.

[Satans Hockey]

1 hour ago, Lateralous said:

Despite the reputation, the actual team boards of HF aren’t bad.  They’ve just become so big that there’s almost too many posters and too many opinions.   I like that this forum is smaller.   

Agreed on there just being too many posters. If you miss a day and a half there can be easily 20 pages to read in the general Devils discussion thread so I usually just end up skipping to the newest post.

Same thing with their game day threads with how long they are. I usually read the first page, especially the opening post cause they have some creative ones but I don't go and read the entire thread, especially for home games cause I've been trying to stay off my phone more when I'm at the games. 

Their main board thread for all the teams can turn into a real sh!t show some times so I only browse there once in ahwile. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Satans Hockey

[NJDevils1214]

17 hours ago, Nicomo said:

Totally appreciate the sentiment here, but may I offer a small bit of advice? Paragraphs my guy, paragraphs. These giant walls of text are really hard to read. Especially on mobile. 

Are you allowed to give constructive criticism without belittling people?

[Lateralous]

1 hour ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Are you allowed to give constructive criticism without belittling people?

Too soon?  

[Guadana]

Scouts in attendance at #NJDevils vs. Vegas:

- 2 Sharks scouts
- Blues
- Senators
- Stars
- Avalanche
- Blue Jackets
- Ducks

#SJSharks AGM Tim Burke is scouting the #NJDevils tonight.

[Rob_Ottawa]

Hard no on anything from Sens. That team stinks 

O'Reily is done too so no thanks 

[NJDfan1711]

18 hours ago, Nicomo said:

Totally appreciate the sentiment here, but may I offer a small bit of advice? Paragraphs my guy, paragraphs. These giant walls of text are really hard to read. Especially on mobile. 

For sure. I hate long-winded messages and responses as much as anyone. I got carried away and lost in thought 

[NJDevils1214]

52 minutes ago, Lateralous said:

Too soon?  

Don't make me bring your mom into this /s

I kid, obviously. I'm excited for the future!

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

[Puckbuster]

On 1/24/2023 at 12:05 AM, Rob_Ottawa said:

I went to HF boards just to see some Devils commentary. It was civil, just not as insightful as here. Also site navigation was a pain. 

Too much going on at HF.  It was awful.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

No goals and just 13 SOG for Sharangovich over his last 13 GP.  His trade value is dropping by the game.

[Nicomo]

5 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

No goals and just 13 SOG for Sharangovich over his last 13 GP.  His trade value is dropping by the game.

Had a golden opportunity on the short handed chance last night, too. 

On a more positive note; only Marty has ever had a longer winning streak as Devil than Vanecek. 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Nicomo

[Devil Dan 56]

2 hours ago, Nicomo said:

Had a golden opportunity on the short handed chance last night, too. 

On a more positive note; only Marty has ever had a longer winning streak as Devil than Vanecek. 

 

I know we say it a lot, but damn Marty was amazing.

I like Vanecek a lot. I think he’s our guy going forward, and I’m assuming they let Daws and Schmid fight it out for backup next training camp 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Definitely do NOT want to be a Debbie Downer...the fact is that we've all been waiting YEARS for the Devils to be relevant in January, and they're every bit that...I can't be happier about that.  I can't see them not making the playoffs, barring something catastrophic (like Jack or VV getting hurt...of course Nico and/or Bratt suffering injury would also be a major issue).  And even though they haven't played nearly as well as this 9-1-2 burst would suggest, the points that they've banked has once again given them some nice leeway should they hit another valley...so I'll take every last one of those points.

All this being said, Devils are obviously not going to keep winning this way for much longer...or another way to look at it, if the Rangers were on a similar kind of run, we'd be laughing at them and talking about how lucky that they are and how unsustainable their "success" would be.

VV has been awesome, again...he's put up a .929 save% over his last 9 starts (from 12/28 - 1/24).  Prior to that, he enjoyed a stretch from 10/25 - 12/16 (15 games) where he put up a .932 save%...it's been mentioned quite a bit but the guy has really been beastly for most of his season.  What's a little scary is that the Devils have flat-out NEEDED him to be this good as of late, as it's allowed them to win games where they've often gotten outplayed.  I can't ask VV to KEEP being this dominant...of course, we'll all happily take it if he's simply having a career year, but should he show signs of coming back to Earth, other players are going to have to step up.

And there's the big rub...if your name is not Jack, Nico, Bratt or Dougie, you simply can't be counted on for anything resembling much offense right now...the only consistency regarding the "other" guys ability to score is their penchant for vanishing for long stretches.  Haula has 4 friggin' goals to date.  Sharangovich has 2 goals over his last 24 games and none in his last 13 (and his SOG are drying up, which is never a good sign).  Tatar has 1 goal in his last 13 GP and 3 in his last 20.  Dawson has 2 in his last 19.  Wood doesn't even belong in a conversation with these guys with how much he's disappeared, which tells you all you need to know.

I'm curious to see if Fitz views the 2022-23 season as more of a "stepping stone" year than one to invest in, or one worth trying to fortify.  We all talk about the possibility of Meier and I'd love to see it happen, but if that's too rich for Fitz's blood, I'd like him to at least take a good look at next-tier options...starting with Henrique.  He has 36 goals and 35 assists since the start of last season...that's 28 G and 27 A per 82 GP.  I don't necessarily expect that same production here (he's getting increased minutes with the Ducks right now due to necessity/lack of depth), but he's a solid vet who should be able to help with the complete lack of secondary scoring...as long as the Ducks can eat some money, Fitz should absolutely take a look at this.  I'd have to look to see who else is available at a "should help but shouldn't cost too much" price, but I really hope Fitz does SOMETHING to address this soon.  I'm not asking for the moon...just a solid move that shows that Fitz at least acknowledges the problem and is willing to do something about it.  I don't know much more Jack can possibly be expected to keep dragging Tatar and Haula with him...these guys just don't find the friggin' net...like, EVER.  

   

[jagknife]

Fitz has to make a move and I truly think we’re seeing a member of the “supporting” (quotes cause no forward outside of the Nico line and Jack are doing anything) gone to make secondary scoring shakeup.

Woods value is in the toilet, but he needs to go. He’s a liability out there and isn’t even bringing his speed to the table anymore.

Haula isn’t going anywhere, except for hopefully away from Jack with whatever acquisition we pull.

I think Tatar will probably be staying on Jack’s wing in the hopes their new line mate will pull something.

that leaves Mercer and Sharangovich. If Wood isn’t part of a package, one of these two will be. They’re both victims of the “intangibles” and “well Jack likes him” predicament this team has with Haula. They have value being they’re young and both have show flashes of real, albeit raw, talent. That should hopefully help increase value for a potential trade of a current proven player.

On defense, we cannot stress it enough, but the sooner Marino is cleared to return, the better. Severson and Smith continue to be massive problems for the team with atrocious mistakes, bad decisions and untimely penalties. Marino will bring so much needed stability back there.

I didn’t hate Bahl’s game last night, which was a nice change. But I think once Marino comes back, he (Bahl) should be rotated out more frequently with Nakita (I’m not trying to butcher his last name yet), and Smith should see time in the press box with Severson as his rotator.

Also, the all star break cannot come soon enough cause these guys are looking absolutely gassed.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

17 minutes ago, jagknife said:

Fitz has to make a move and I truly think we’re seeing a member of the “supporting” (quotes cause no forward outside of the Nico line and Jack are doing anything) gone to make secondary scoring shakeup.

Woods value is in the toilet, but he needs to go. He’s a liability out there and isn’t even bringing his speed to the table anymore.

Haula isn’t going anywhere, except for hopefully away from Jack with whatever acquisition we pull.

I think Tatar will probably be staying on Jack’s wing in the hopes their new line mate will pull something.

that leaves Mercer and Sharangovich. If Wood isn’t part of a package, one of these two will be. They’re both victims of the “intangibles” and “well Jack likes him” predicament this team has with Haula. They have value being they’re young and both have show flashes of real, albeit raw, talent. That should hopefully help increase value for a potential trade of a current proven player.

On defense, we cannot stress it enough, but the sooner Marino is cleared to return, the better. Severson and Smith continue to be massive problems for the team with atrocious mistakes, bad decisions and untimely penalties. Marino will bring so much needed stability back there.

I didn’t hate Bahl’s game last night, which was a nice change. But I think once Marino comes back, he (Bahl) should be rotated out more frequently with Nakita (I’m not trying to butcher his last name yet), and Smith should see time in the press box with Severson as his rotator.

Also, the all star break cannot come soon enough cause these guys are looking absolutely gassed.

And I have to be fair...it's not like Haula was ever brought in to be Jack's winger...we all know that.  But seeing Ruff stubbornly stick with it game after game after game is frustrating.  Thank god Jack has become that rare "I get points no matter what" legit superstar kind of player.

Yeah I think Wood's time is done here.  Probably will just be allowed to walk after the season.  I don't see Fitz hurting the Devils' depth by trying to snag some 5th-rounder for Wood...maybe if the Devils were going to be sellers he might, but not seeing it here.  Ditto Tatar...he's obviously been MUCH better than Wood this year, but he just doesn't score nearly enough, and hasn't in quite some time.  But same deal as Wood...you're not going to get back enough to really justify dumping him.

I don't lump Mercer and Sharangovich together...Mercer is still VERY young.  If he's still here next season, I do need to see some real progress, or at least more signs that he can be the guy who had us all feeling like he was a draft-day steal.  I gotta give him some props in that he's played in every possible game since making the NHL...if anything, he's getting a hell of a lot of on-the-job training.  I see Sharangovich more as a classic bad-team player who can score 25 goals or so getting "out of necessity" top-line minutes for a team that has nothing to play for.  Seves is similar that way...there's places for both players in the NHL, but not on good teams, where their flaws are just too on-display (and too costly) to justify them sticking around.

And you are right, the team does look spent...fingers crossed but if they drop both road games headed into the ASB I wouldn't be THAT shocked...for one, they're long overdue to lose some road games, and for another, I think they might finally have one of those "Not tonight, we're just toast, one loss ain't gonna kill us" kinds of games that pretty much ALL teams do over the course of a long season.

And yeah it's impossible not to notice how much Marino not being in the lineup has hurt.  Hamilton may be dynamic as hell as times, but Marino is absolutely the unsung hero and glue of that D.  Devils need him back desperately.    

 

[Nicomo]

1 hour ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

I know we say it a lot, but damn Marty was amazing.

Look at how many of those winning streaks came post-Stevens and Niedermayer, too. That’s why I always get so annoyed with people who claim it was just the defense in front of him. Like he didn’t win 2 Vezina’s after those guys were gone.