The OFFICIAL Off-Season Thread

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

7 minutes ago, Lateralous said:

I'm still hoping for an all black uniform with bright red trim and no white at all, kind of like the Edmonton blue/orange or Dallas black/neon green.    Our NJ logo without the circle would look perfect on something like that.   

Lots of cool possibilities for a cool Stadium Series uni...which means whatever the Devils come up with will somehow manage NOT to be cool, or at the very least will feel like a missed opportunity.  The best uniforms to come out of the Adidas era are the Heritage jerseys and the RR 1.0...which of course were heavily based on pre-1992-93 jerseys.  For some reason the design teams just can't seem to get "new" designs right.  The Adidas red-and-blacks remain polarizing, as do the Jersey jerseys and the RR 2.0.

Seeing teams like Calgary and Buffalo go back to their "old" look still has me hopeful that after next season, we'll see something very close to our old red-and-blacks make a comeback.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Devils’ restricted free agents: What the future likely holds for each RFA, including Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Mackenzie Blackwood, more (msn.com)

Article is more speculation than anything else.  I like the idea of Bratt not being locked up for a full 8 years.  I don't think EVERYONE has to be signed to a max term.  

[NJDevils1214]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Devils’ restricted free agents: What the future likely holds for each RFA, including Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Mackenzie Blackwood, more (msn.com)

Article is more speculation than anything else.  I like the idea of Bratt not being locked up for a full 8 years.  I don't think EVERYONE has to be signed to a max term.  

I still don't like the idea of Bratt getting 8mm even if it isn't max term. Not that splitting hairs over 1-2mm is super productive, rumors were that the cap might go up 1-2mm this off season if they can find a way to not touch escrow anyway, but I am just generally not sold on Bratt at that price and just continually consider what else could be done with that amount of money.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 minute ago, NJDevils1214 said:

I still don't like the idea of Bratt getting 8mm even if it isn't max term. Not that splitting hairs over 1-2mm is super productive, rumors were that the cap might go up 1-2mm this off season if they can find a way to not touch escrow anyway, but I am just generally not sold on Bratt at that price and just continually consider what else could be done with that amount of money.

Yeah Bratt at $8 million AAV doesn’t thrill me.  $7 million or thereabouts feels more “right”.

[Lateralous]

13 hours ago, Guadana said:

7.9-8.4mil is what teams sign players on the actual rfa market for what Bratt did.

I don’t think anyone disagrees that 8 million is what he can probably get on the open market if he wants to ride this out to a trade or UFA.  The question is if a team in our position should allocate that percentage of the cap to him for what he brings.   In many ways he’s the offensive version of Severson.   I absolutely think Severson will get a 7 million AAV in a 32 team league where everyone needs to fill out a top4.   I don’t think a Tampa, Colorado, Carolina or NJ who have actual dreams of winning the cup should even think about paying him that.   

11 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

 I didn't see a guy who was unlucky or snakebitten, as much as I saw a player who was pretty easily neutralized, to a concerning degree. 

This one sentence perfectly sums up what I saw from Jesper Bratt in the 2023 playoffs and why I’m so concerned about his contract in particular going forward.  

4 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I don't think EVERYONE has to be signed to a max term.  

Amen 

1 hour ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Not that splitting hairs over 1-2mm is super productive

While I agree with the rest of your post, I disagree with this sentence because I think it’s exactly what separates a top GM like Joe Sakic or Steve Yzerman from a hack like Kyle Dubas.   Sakic refused to overpay Landeskog and going back to the beginning of the Tampa run, Yzerman basically called Stamkos bluff and gave him a number the team was comfortable with and told him to take it or leave it.  It set the tone for all the other contract negotiations going forward.   Dubas probably overpaid Matthews, Marner and Nylander by a combined 5 million coming off their ELCs.   While it may be splitting hairs for the stars, that’s the difference between paying guys like Haula and McLeod in the 2-3 million AAV range to populate the bottom 6 vs filling out the lineup with retreads and minimum wage plugs like Toronto does every year.   It makes all the difference in fielding the deepest team possible 

With the acquisition of Meier and the emergence of Mercer, I believe Bratt is more of a luxury than a need for the Devils.  He just can’t be the guy who insists on top dollar and we cave to.   He’s exactly the guy who either needs to take a home town discount for the privilege of being apart of what Fitz is building or move on.   This is actually the perfect opportunity IMO for Fitzgerald to lean into the “everyone needs to take a discount if we’re going to get to where we want to go” mantra.  Even if it ultimately costs us Bratt, it sets the tone for everything moving forward and shows Fitz isn’t f’ing around.   

Edited June 2 by Lateralous

[Nicomo]

2 hours ago, Lateralous said:

With the acquisition of Meier and the emergence of Mercer, I believe Bratt is more of a luxury than a need for the Devils.  

Mercer is a nice player, and considering how young he still is we probably haven’t even seen his true ceiling yet, but there’s a pretty big gap between him and Bratt tbh. Mercer doesn’t drive play like Bratt does. He’s still more of a complementary player at this point. 

Personally, I’d feel much better about potentially losing Bratt if Holtz had actually shown a bit more by now. I definitely don’t think the Devils as currently constructed (and what’s in the system) I would consider Bratt a “luxury.” Wing is probably still their weakest position even with the addition of Timo. 

[NJDevils1214]

The draft could be really interesting given the talent on the board and with all the teams that are on the cusp of some major changes; St.Louis, Nashville, Winnipeg, Calgary, Washington, Pens(?), and I feel like Edmonton could finally get really desperate to make something happen before Drai and McDavid's contracts run out.

[Lateralous]

6 hours ago, Nicomo said:

Mercer is a nice player, and considering how young he still is we probably haven’t even seen his true ceiling yet, but there’s a pretty big gap between him and Bratt tbh. Mercer doesn’t drive play like Bratt does. He’s still more of a complementary player at this point. 

Personally, I’d feel much better about potentially losing Bratt if Holtz had actually shown a bit more by now. I definitely don’t think the Devils as currently constructed (and what’s in the system) I would consider Bratt a “luxury.” Wing is probably still their weakest position even with the addition of Timo. 

All fair points, I just worry the Bratt’s new contract becomes an albatross almost immediately if he gets in the 8 million range. 
 

Not saying he’s a bad player at all, Bratt just feels a lot more like the Tyler Johnson of this build out to me than any sort of critical core piece.  Tampa couldn’t wait to unload TJs contract once everyone else was due a big raise.   

[MadDog2020]

https://www.nhl.com/devils/news/hischiers-impact-on-and-off-the-ice--feature/c-344691664?fbclid=IwAR2_b1X-5dR129mmm7zWAFm_pPXRvuJ72COPM9ShpKvmHgTribkjqfgGz8Q_aem_th_AV2hsb-PS9Zsh-uvhAlrTlvkx9tGC4Uif88E1ja9x--h1cL1YAaEVcZxDwQvvLI8hQY

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

3 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

https://www.nhl.com/devils/news/hischiers-impact-on-and-off-the-ice--feature/c-344691664?fbclid=IwAR2_b1X-5dR129mmm7zWAFm_pPXRvuJ72COPM9ShpKvmHgTribkjqfgGz8Q_aem_th_AV2hsb-PS9Zsh-uvhAlrTlvkx9tGC4Uif88E1ja9x--h1cL1YAaEVcZxDwQvvLI8hQY

"rememberable"

I friggin' love Nico

[vincois]

IMO, no way in hell is Bratt getting more than Nico. (doesn't deserve it) Who cares about what he would get on open market. You don't base your negotiations on what a player "could" get. Tyler Bertuzzi is decent 2nd/3rd line winger, and multiple  teams WILL overpay. (same for Bratt) Agents are out to get as much as possible for players over their short career for their own pockets as well. 

I wonder if GM's (in general) could put a time limit on negotiations? (this needs to be signed off by this date) It seems as if Fitz has said, Bratt is well aware of what we have (proposal) on the table "take it or leave it".  Don't get me wrong, I like Bratt for his offense. But there's a reason you don't see Jesper on the ice late in the 3rd when were nursing a 1 goal lead, or on PK.  And in the playoffs, he was easy to knock off the puck.  He's not as good a 200' player (like Nico) why should he get an extra million?

[jagknife]

20 minutes ago, vincois said:

IMO, no way in hell is Bratt getting more than Nico. (doesn't deserve it) Who cares about what he would get on open market. You don't base your negotiations on what a player "could" get. Tyler Bertuzzi is decent 2nd/3rd line winger, and multiple  teams WILL overpay. (same for Bratt) Agents are out to get as much as possible for players over their short career for their own pockets as well. 

I wonder if GM's (in general) could put a time limit on negotiations? (this needs to be signed off by this date) It seems as if Fitz has said, Bratt is well aware of what we have (proposal) on the table "take it or leave it".  Don't get me wrong, I like Bratt for his offense. But there's a reason you don't see Jesper on the ice late in the 3rd when were nursing a 1 goal lead, or on PK.  And in the playoffs, he was easy to knock off the puck.  He's not as good a 200' player (like Nico) why should he get an extra million?

Agree with your take he doesn’t deserve more than Nico. He’ll get at least a qualifying offer from the Devils this summer, but unless him and his agent realize he’s a 70 point player and not a 90-100, I think his days in Jersey are numbered.

Of course we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, but the guys who want to be here have made it abundantly clear (Jack, Nico, Dougie, freaking Haula), Bratt just simply hasn’t. Right now, I think he wants to get paid.

[2ELIAS6]

I feel like this bratt thing is becoming more annoying than anything. I’m obviously no GM but fitz should basically toss two offers down a short term if bratt doesn’t want to stay and something longer term and the numbers are what the devils value him as and that’s it. Call it a day on this already, if he wants to be here he’ll take that path to stay, if he doesn’t let’s figure it out sooner than later so we can make the proper moves and decisions. Timo on the other hand, it’s constantly brought up that he didn’t produce much as far as points go in the post season, let’s keep in mind the guy was playing with some type of undisclosed injury ( yea I know a lot of players were) and a completely broken nose. On top of which timo brought A LOT of physicality that was very clear, and this team was starving for that. Pay timo and lock him up long term. 

[pumpkin cutter]

9 hours ago, vincois said:

IMO, no way in hell is Bratt getting more than Nico. (doesn't deserve it) Who cares about what he would get on open market. You don't base your negotiations on what a player "could" get. Tyler Bertuzzi is decent 2nd/3rd line winger, and multiple  teams WILL overpay. (same for Bratt) Agents are out to get as much as possible for players over their short career for their own pockets as well. 

I wonder if GM's (in general) could put a time limit on negotiations? (this needs to be signed off by this date) It seems as if Fitz has said, Bratt is well aware of what we have (proposal) on the table "take it or leave it".  Don't get me wrong, I like Bratt for his offense. But there's a reason you don't see Jesper on the ice late in the 3rd when were nursing a 1 goal lead, or on PK.  And in the playoffs, he was easy to knock off the puck.  He's not as good a 200' player (like Nico) why should he get an extra million?

i like this guy.

[Crisis]

13 hours ago, jagknife said:

Agree with your take he doesn’t deserve more than Nico. He’ll get at least a qualifying offer from the Devils this summer, but unless him and his agent realize he’s a 70 point player and not a 90-100, I think his days in Jersey are numbered.

Of course we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, but the guys who want to be here have made it abundantly clear (Jack, Nico, Dougie, freaking Haula), Bratt just simply hasn’t. Right now, I think he wants to get paid.

He did say this.  But who knows what "next couple of years" really means,  Could be two or three.

[NJDevils1214]

2 hours ago, Crisis said:

He did say this.  But who knows what "next couple of years" really means,  Could be two or three.

Basically either, "I'll get what I want or I think we will do another 1-2 year deal". Maybe he doesn't think Fitz will actually send him packing or he is just putting it on for the media. Fitz would be mental to give him another 1-2 year deal and let him walk to UFA and I don't see that happening. We'll know by the end of the draft where Tom's head is at.

[Lateralous]

The Hockey News is out with their draft preview which always includes team reports.   The Devils report is fun because they literally admit they had a hard time coming up with a long term need for the team.  Not sure I’ve ever seen that before.   It just reinforces what a wonderful job Fitzgerald is doing.   
 

Edited June 4 by Lateralous

[RunninWithTheDevil]

"the obvious answer is Mackenzie Blackwood"

 

[capo]

10 minutes ago, RunninWithTheDevil said:

"the obvious answer is Mackenzie Blackwood"

 

When someone writes something like that they obviously don't know sh!t.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

5 minutes ago, capo said:

When someone writes something like that they obviously don't know sh!t.

Yeah between the blurb about Mac and calling Seves a “big decision”, the author clearly doesn’t follow the Devils closely at all.  When you have three D locked up and a #4OA and a #2OA joining the fray, you don’t spend the $6 million or so AAV for 5+ years on Seves.  It’s not much of a decision at all.  

[Lateralous]

39 minutes ago, capo said:

When someone writes something like that they obviously don't know sh!t.

 

30 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah between the blurb about Mac and calling Seves a “big decision”, the author clearly doesn’t follow the Devils closely at all.  When you have three D locked up and a #4OA and a #2OA joining the fray, you don’t spend the $6 million or so AAV for 5+ years on Seves.  It’s not much of a decision at all.  

Yeah, this is some writer getting assigned to write up half the league and as you guys have pointed out, that’s pretty clear.  
 

When David Clarkson became a UFA, I realized most of these guys don’t know jack sh!t beyond the stat lines they read.  All I heard that summer was how Clarkson was some sort of consistent 30 goal scorer with grit and never once saw any type of critique of his skating, hockey IQ or that he was coming off one of those unsustainable seasons where he got 30 goals because absolutely everything just went in for him.  It was crazy, it was like there wasn’t a single guy in the media that had actually watched him play.   Hell, I wonder how much the Leafs scouts actually watched him.   
 

it was similar with Gomez.   Everywhere he went after NJ, they seemed shocked that they got a playmaker and not a goal scorer, especially in MTL.  

Edited June 4 by Lateralous

[MadDog2020]

https://twitter.com/ryannovo62/status/1665137780320616448

[MadDog2020]

https://twitter.com/JamesNicholsNHL/status/1665141207104618498

[MadDog2020]

https://twitter.com/AlexC_THW/status/1665181963756380162

[MadDog2020]

Dougie 🤣 https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1665130906418388993