2023-2024 NJ Devils season thread

[DevilMinder]

https://calgaryherald.com/sports/hockey/nhl/calgary-flames/sharangovich-credits-devils-coach-with-helping-him-through-ahl

 

Govy talking about Brylin helping him early on. Nice quick article

 

 

[MadDog2020]

https://www.nj.com/devils/2024/02/7-random-devils-thoughts-nico-hischier-vaneceks-resurgence-devils-president-on-concessions.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=njdevilsonnjcom_sf&utm_content=nj_facebook_njdevilsonnjcom&fbclid=IwAR3pgXc80yBl-4oALnPxbrSWS7qiw9XDPp5yu7eQTNc6sMUySa4XDU5oHAo_aem_AYn5EBms01Q2gRcsMdu-hsUNs9td4qRjzYw4B3hZjWkZq-WDGTrmiVmc7BYfvq2Pf0hJzsfPDrtHFTLUgoRozVDu

[Devilsfan118]

59 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

https://www.nj.com/devils/2024/02/7-random-devils-thoughts-nico-hischier-vaneceks-resurgence-devils-president-on-concessions.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=njdevilsonnjcom_sf&utm_content=nj_facebook_njdevilsonnjcom&fbclid=IwAR3pgXc80yBl-4oALnPxbrSWS7qiw9XDPp5yu7eQTNc6sMUySa4XDU5oHAo_aem_AYn5EBms01Q2gRcsMdu-hsUNs9td4qRjzYw4B3hZjWkZq-WDGTrmiVmc7BYfvq2Pf0hJzsfPDrtHFTLUgoRozVDu

I mean I guess you can call a .907 SV% in January a 'resurgence' but let's relax on that a little bit.  I don't subscribe so I can't read what's said but I hope the suggestion is not that the Devils goaltending problems might be solved.

[MadDog2020]

49 minutes ago, Devilsfan118 said:

I mean I guess you can call a .907 SV% in January a 'resurgence' but let's relax on that a little bit.  I don't subscribe so I can't read what's said but I hope the suggestion is not that the Devils goaltending problems might be solved.

Nothing of the sort was suggested; just that VV’s most recent performances could be reason for some hope. 

Edited February 8 by MadDog2020

[Lateralous]

I don't see Vanacek ever being the end solution for the Devils goaltending no matter how well he plays in the next few games but it would be nice if he were playing well enough that other GMs didn't smell the desperation and feel like they had Fitz by the nuts the second they pick up the phone on a goalie call.  

Edited February 8 by Lateralous

[Devilsfan118]

42 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Nothing of the sort was suggested; just that VV’s most recent performances could be reason for some hope. 

I can agree with that then, good stuff. Thanks!

[nmigliore]

It's not as sexy as Markstrom or Saros but I wouldn't mind seeing the Devils pick up Jake Allen or, even cheaper, Kaapo Kahkonen given where they sit in the standings. Allen has a positive goals saved above expected, cumulatively, over the last three years with Montreal (+5) and is under contract thru next season. Kahkonen is a rental who was awful last year but has rebounded this year (+4). Maybe he bombs coming over here, because goalies are voodoo and the Devils seem to have no goalie luck (besides last year), but can't imagine he'd cost much. Vitek looked solid against the Avs, and hopefully it continues, but hard to trust him considering his to-date performance.

[MadDog2020]

2 minutes ago, nmigliore said:

It's not as sexy as Markstrom or Saros but I wouldn't mind seeing the Devils pick up Jake Allen or, even cheaper, Kaapo Kahkonen given where they sit in the standings. Allen has a positive goals saved above expected, cumulatively, over the last three years with Montreal (+5) and is under contract thru next season. Kahkonen is a rental who was awful last year but has rebounded this year (+4). Maybe he bombs coming over here, because goalies are voodoo and the Devils seem to have no goalie luck (besides last year), but can't imagine he'd cost much. Vitek looked solid against the Avs, and hopefully it continues, but hard to trust him considering his to-date performance.

Holy sh!t an nmig sighting! 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Just now, MadDog2020 said:

Holy sh!t an nmig sighting! 

Yeah that’s pretty cool.  

[nessus]

I want the Devils to get a goalie just as much as anyone, but realistically speaking...how often are serviceable goalies actually getting dealt these days? I feel like I rarely see it happen. I get the whole argument of "if there's a will, there's a way" regarding Fitz's lack of action. But at the same time, if there aren't any options that wouldn't cost some ridiculous price, maybe we can't blame him too much for this one.

[devlman]

Also, Toffoli is pretty terrible. There’s no way I see him coming back next year. You almost don’t know what to do with him this season. 

[jagknife]

I found the game tapes VV has been watching instead of actual hockey.

Spoiler

 

I’m convinced this could double as his tribute video when he returns after we eventually say goodbye 

[jagknife]

Smith back on the ice in a normal jersey.

i’ll take his grit and occasional mistakes and dumb penalty over bAHL’s braindead play lately.

bAHL needs time in the press box and feel some shame.

 

 

[MadDog2020]

13 minutes ago, jagknife said:

Smith back on the ice in a normal jersey.

i’ll take his grit and occasional mistakes and dumb penalty over bAHL’s braindead play lately.

bAHL needs time in the press box and feel some shame.

 

 

Except it won’t be Bahl, it’ll be Hatakka and you know this.

Edited February 9 by MadDog2020

[nmigliore]

Hopefully Bahl is the one who comes out and not Hatakka; I know it's a very small sample but the Devils have outscored the opposition 9-3 with him on the ice at five-on-five and he's looked good with Miller. He deserves a longer look, in my opinion. We already know who and what Bahl is.

Bahl has also been such a drag on Nemec, that pairing needs to get broken up. 

Edited February 9 by nmigliore

[MadDog2020]

1 minute ago, nmigliore said:

Hopefully Bahl is the one who comes out and not Hatakka; I know it's a very small sample but the Devils have outscored the opposition 9-3 with him on the ice at five-on-five and he's looked good with Miller. He deserves a longer look, in my opinion. We already know who and what Bahl is.

We already know who this coach is too, and we know he won’t do the right thing.

[ButlerBulldog]

3 hours ago, jagknife said:

I found the game tapes VV has been watching instead of actual hockey.

  Hide contents

 

I’m convinced this could double as his tribute video when he returns after we eventually say goodbye 

Any Vanecek tribute video must include last night’s bizarre sequence in which he ended up flopping against the boards halfway between his net and the blue line.

[smelly]

I think Cordell does a nice job and is worth the subscription.  

His writeup of last night's debacle (at https://infernalaccess.substack.com/p/flames-5-devils-3-a-wasted-opportunity?r=6gyau&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web) included this succinct summary of where things stand.  We all already know this, but this gets down to brass tacks.

 

[MadDog2020]

1 minute ago, smelly said:

I think Cordell does a nice job and is worth the subscription.  

His writeup of last night's debacle (at https://infernalaccess.substack.com/p/flames-5-devils-3-a-wasted-opportunity?r=6gyau&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web) included this succinct summary of where things stand.  We all already know this, but this gets down to brass tacks.

 

That about sums it up.

[NJDevils1214]

1 minute ago, MadDog2020 said:

That about sums it up.

Hindsight's a B.

[smelly]

4 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Hindsight's a B.

The thing that most disappoints me is that Fitz knew that he was losing two competent vets on D and would be working at least one and maybe two rookies in on the back end, and he still didn't hedge his bets with some kind of goalie insurance in case VV and AS regressed (which was a very foreseeable scenario, even if not a certainty).  And here we are.

[NJDfan1711]

1 hour ago, smelly said:

The thing that most disappoints me is that Fitz knew that he was losing two competent vets on D and would be working at least one and maybe two rookies in on the back end, and he still didn't hedge his bets with some kind of goalie insurance in case VV and AS regressed (which was a very foreseeable scenario, even if not a certainty).  And here we are.

Of all the goalie hate that gets spewed around here, this is the part that makes absolutely no sense. What the hell is "goalie insurance"? It simply doesn't exist. The closest thing to that is what we already have - a group of three goalies, who, by committee, should be able to hold down the fort while our D corp is banged up; one guy who was a fringe starter in this league in VV, and two other guys (AS and ND) who are young and might have potential, but are still unproven minor leaguers. 

Now, yes, I understand everyone's issue with the goalies is that they simply aren't holding down the fort, and I'm not even here to argue that.  My problem is the other part of your statement - when you see that you've lost key defenseman, why are you trying to retrofit and fix that with "goalie insurance"? As a GM, your job is to assemble players on a team that work well together and win, and it's a lot like following a recipe to put together a meal that tastes good - in both scenarios you're essentially combining ingredients.  If you're a chef cooking a five-star meal and you run out of salt, you don't double up on the pepper hoping it all works out. You go get more salt. It may take you a little while to get it, and it may be more expensive, but you get it. If you're a GM and your star D-man goes down (and then another D-man after that goes down as well), you should be looking for replacement D-Men. 

When Dougie went down and it was very clear he wasn't coming back until maybe the playoffs at the earliest, that should have been a trigger for Fitz to get a competent D-man. I don't blame him for not bringing in another goalie because it's really just not feasible. Goalies are much more in demand and lower supply. 

Edited February 9 by NJDfan1711

[smelly]

54 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

Of all the goalie hate that gets spewed around here, this is the part that makes absolutely no sense. What the hell is "goalie insurance"? It simply doesn't exist. The closest thing to that is what we already have - a group of three goalies, who, by committee, should be able to hold down the fort while our D corp is banged up; one guy who was a fringe starter in this league in VV, and two other guys (AS and ND) who are young and might have potential, but are still unproven minor leaguers. 

Now, yes, I understand everyone's issue with the goalies is that they simply aren't holding down the fort, and I'm not even here to argue that.  My problem is the other part of your statement - when you see that you've lost key defenseman, why are you trying to retrofit and fix that with "goalie insurance"? As a GM, your job is to assemble players on a team that work well together and win, and it's a lot like following a recipe to put together a meal that tastes good - in both scenarios you're essentially combining ingredients.  If you're a chef cooking a five-star meal and you run out of salt, you don't double up on the pepper hoping it all works out. You go get more salt. It may take you a little while to get it, and it may be more expensive, but you get it. If you're a GM and your star D-man goes down (and then another D-man after that goes down as well), you should be looking for replacement D-Men. 

When Dougie went down and it was very clear he wasn't coming back until maybe the playoffs at the earliest, that should have been a trigger for Fitz to get a competent D-man. I don't blame him for not bringing in another goalie because it's really just not feasible. Goalies are much more in demand and lower supply. 

It absolutely does make sense.  And (to everyone's immense enjoyment I know) I have been explaining what I mean by that since spring time.

[NJDfan1711]

1 hour ago, smelly said:

It absolutely does make sense.  And (to everyone's immense enjoyment I know) I have been explaining what I mean by that since spring time.

Ok.

[2ELIAS6]

16 hours ago, devlman said:

Also, Toffoli is pretty terrible. There’s no way I see him coming back next year. You almost don’t know what to do with him this season. 

Which is weird because he started out phenomenal, have to wonder if he’s struggling. The biggest thing I can’t believe is how Meier turned out this far. I want to love the guy so bad he just doesn’t seem to bring much. Highest paid player on the team and he looks like nothing more than a third liner.