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


Crisis

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13 minutes ago, RunninWithTheDevil said:

The fvck is happening 

 

 

 

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I’m pretty pissed at Fitz right now tbh. This is too big of a move to pin solely on Ruff. No idea what they’re thinking. 

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7 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

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I’m pretty pissed at Fitz right now tbh. This is too big of a move to pin solely on Ruff. No idea what they’re thinking. 

Yeah this is an organizational decision, clearly. We know the original plan was a 1A-1B situation with Blackwood and Vanacek, but Schmid completely exceeded all expectations with his performance. Obviously Fitz wants to stick with the original plan and let Schmid play in Utica. When (not if) Blackwood gets hurt again, he’ll get called right back up. Good to know we have Akira waiting in the wings. 

Edited by MadDog2020
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The only logical thing I can think is Mgmt doesn't think we have a shot at a deep playoff run, so they want to give Blackwood as much play as possible to try and shop him in the off-season; give other teams a look at him. But I just don't know if a few starts in 9 games is gonna be enough to move the needle on MB29. I think at this point in his career, you know exactly what he is. A middling goalie who shows flashes of excellence, but can't stay healthy for sh!t. 

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I’m very frustrated with this move. There is nothing about Blackwood I want around this team anymore. He is owed nothing, deserves absolutely nothing, and like many have pointed out, he’s one of the few trash holdovers from the losing era.

Schmid deserves to be backing up and has EARNED his chance to back up VV entering the post season.

I don’t care if we lose him for nothing, Blackwood is not part of the future here. Schmid has proven he IS

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21 minutes ago, Lateralous said:

I guess this is their way of making sure all three goalies are getting playing time heading into the playoffs but honestly, at this point I just don’t get it.   If Vanacek or Schmid gets hurt before the playoffs, then sure, give Blackwood a game or two but as long as those two are healthy, just sit MB in the pressbox.  As a marginal goalie who is always hurt and is a UFA this summer, he has absolutely no value to us beyond being the third option for the playoffs IMO  

Okay I hadn’t thought of the bolded and playing games is more important than watching them.

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Yeah any plan that consists of Blackwood getting NHL minutes at Schmid’s expense is really infuriating.  Hopefully Blackwood’s starts come against bottom-feeders (Blackhawks and Blue Jackets are on the schedule), because I really hate that both Fitz and Lindy insist on treating this loser like he somehow needs to be integrated into a team that sure seems to do just fine without him.

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Bad move.

They should be trying to build as much momentum as possible these last ~10 games. To me this gives off a feeling of we're just happy to be here. Old Yeller has no business playing over Schmid, none. He's earned nothing, this isn't a charity. The goal especially now is put your best guys on the ice, unless they're banged up and go into the first round on a high note. They haven't been hitting on all cylinders for a while now, having Yeller  out there does nothing positive for this team. Terrible, garbage move by Fitz. Damn it.

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20 minutes ago, titans04 said:

Bad move.

They should be trying to build as much momentum as possible these last ~10 games. To me this gives off a feeling of we're just happy to be here. Old Yeller has no business playing over Schmid, none. He's earned nothing, this isn't a charity. The goal especially now is put your best guys on the ice, unless they're banged up and go into the first round on a high note. They haven't been hitting on all cylinders for a while now, having Yeller  out there does nothing positive for this team. Terrible, garbage move by Fitz. Damn it.

I want to make this official.

From now on Blackwood will be referred to as Ol’ Yeller.  Full credit given to @DevilMinder of course.

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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I see it as a pressure put on Blackwood in a " hey guy... you have also notice that this young guy is playing really good so show us something that will not make us regret sending him down"

Tons can happen during 9 games... I'm almost sure VV & Akira will be our playoff goalies... And let's be honest, there is a strong chance that only VV see the ice anyway. 

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43 minutes ago, moustic said:

I see it as a pressure put on Blackwood in a " hey guy... you have also notice that this young guy is playing really good so show us something that will not make us regret sending him down"

Tons can happen during 9 games... I'm almost sure VV & Akira will be our playoff goalies... And let's be honest, there is a strong chance that only VV see the ice anyway. 

At this point, day to day roster decisions are questionable by these two.

Trading & free agency, Fitz is amazing. Managing who plays and who doesnt, Ruff is questionable, and Fitz also isn't helping.

1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah any plan that consists of Blackwood getting NHL minutes at Schmid’s expense is really infuriating.  Hopefully Blackwood’s starts come against bottom-feeders (Blackhawks and Blue Jackets are on the schedule), because I really hate that both Fitz and Lindy insist on treating this loser like he somehow needs to be integrated into a team that sure seems to do just fine without him.

Its worse than that, they play SIGNIFICANTLY better (using the eye test) in front of anyone BUT him. The team doesn't trust him most of the time and they play a much tighter (nerves wise) game

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Only explanation I have is the Devils want to have 3 capable goalies ready to go for the playoffs, with "capable" being a stretch. Schmid doesn't need to pass through waivers and can continue to stay reasonably fresh getting starts in Utica. Fitz may have some PTSD from the goalie situation from last season. An injury to Vanecek puts an inexperienced rookie in the driver's seat for the most important games this organization has played in a long time. Now, is the risk of that sort of situation playing out more significant than the downside of Schmid facing weaker competition in Utica? I would argue not even slightly. It is problematic for a number of reasons, not the least of which is it sends a bad message to Schmid who is effectively being punished for his excellent play.

But who knows, maybe they see something I don't.

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2 hours ago, RunninWithTheDevil said:

The only logical thing I can think is Mgmt doesn't think we have a shot at a deep playoff run, so they want to give Blackwood as much play as possible to try and shop him in the off-season; give other teams a look at him. But I just don't know if a few starts in 9 games is gonna be enough to move the needle on MB29. I think at this point in his career, you know exactly what he is. A middling goalie who shows flashes of excellence, but can't stay healthy for sh!t. 

100%.  The runway is way too short (and way to valuable to the this team) for him to prove anything. He's a restricted free agent making 2+x's what his value is in today's backup goalie market and that's IF he could go a full season healthy and productive which he hasn't done in a few years. It's sunk costs and time to move on I can't possibly imagine what they think they could get for him at this point and as you pointed out a couple starts here down the stretch won't change that. The more I think about it the more I don't get it.

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This is awesome!  We get to bitch about our team at the end of March, while they have the 3rd best record in the entire league.  I mean, we are not even worried about maintaining or fighting for a playoff spot.

I think in a 7 game series they are just as good, if not better, than any other team not from Boston.

Let’s Go Devils!!!!

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9 hours ago, MadDog2020 said:

Devils are wearing the throwbacks again on April 4 against Pittsburgh.

I think this season is the most different jerseys they have ever worn in 1 season with 5, they wore all of them at home at least 1x too...

Reds

Whites 

Jersey Jersey 

Reverse Retro

Heritage Jersey

 

Edited by Satans Hockey
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