Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey, and everything else, with me and fellow subscribers. Today’s post was written by C.J. TURTORO. You can find him on Twitter @CJTDevil. In handling the New York Rangers, 5-2, after enduring a long layoff involving several confirmed cases of COVID; and beating Boston (again) on Thursday; the New Jersey Devils looked as good as they have at any point since their playoff run in 2018.
At this point, you can only play Goose if he starts producing. Give him a couple more games to see if it sparks him. Otherwise, he brings nothing to the table.... he's all offense. Sharangovich, while a great story and great for our future, has not produced at the NHL level; however, he can play some defense and kill penalties, unlike Goose.
Butcher will get his time. Although the points are not there, Subban is playing much better! This defense looks crazy better than everyone expected. (THANK YOU MB29 for making that a reality)
Would be looking for Fitzy to make a move, but the crazy schedule and not knowing if some of these guys are "for real" after only 11 games or a product of a hot team, the logjam is not such a bad thing. Injuries will come. There will be trades. Its inevitable.... but for now to many bodies is a good thing.
PS> Dream Trade: Eichel for 2 1st's Zacha and Butcher (Eichel wants out. Make the offer). Eichel-Hughes-Holtz in a season or two would be terrifying. A lot to give up but worth it... what you think?
I like those lines and, for the most part, agree with everything you said.
Lost me a bit on the Eichel proposal because I think it'll cost a lot more than that. He is a franchise player signed long-term. If and when the Sabres decide to listen I think it would take an extreme package like multiple high picks, Alexander Holtz and Damon Severson.
I love that they made Nico the captain! I just hope he doesn’t put too much pressure on himself now that he wears the C. I felt that happened a little with Patrik Elias, though that could’ve been because of Sutter for all I know.
This is a good question. I actually filled out the form (I forget who I picked to come out on d, probably Subban) and I can say I don't have a strong opinion on the subject, which in this case is a good sign because I do think we have 7 blue-liners capable of being regulars. But, I'm more interested in what the lineup looks like two years from now. Right now I think it's pretty uncontroversial to say that the blue-line is missing some of the high-end talent that we may be developing at forward. How that gets addressed is IMO the most important question for this organization going forward. That said, the bottom of the lineup still needs to be filled and ideally with the best, most cost effective role players possible. We have two defensemen in Murray and Kulikov who are UFAs at the end of the year, do we hold onto both, one of, or neither of them?
Should clarify that I do care who comes out because if it's Severson or Smith (for an extended stretch, especially since he's been gelling nicely with Severson) I'd be very annoyed, but I think they're safe and between the rest I'm resigned to Ruff needing his L-R pairs so if it's any of the other 5 dmen I'll shrug and hope it works out.
Its a good problem to have and one we haven't had in a long time but man is it difficult to decide who comes out after the depth guys have shown up in a big way.
I think Goose just needs some stability. Hopefully he clicks with Nico and they can provide another reliable scoring line. It seems like every other game there's a different line driving play and scoring goals, but we need more consistent scoring from our top players.
As the schedule starts to crunch and we play more back to backs, I expect Ruff to shuffle some of the younger guys in and out to avoid burnout
Johnsson-Jughes-Bratt
Gusev/Sharangovich-Hischier-Palmieri
Zacha-Zajac-Kuokkanen
Wood-McLeod-Bastian
Smith-Severson
Murray-Subban
Kulikov-Vatanen
At this point, you can only play Goose if he starts producing. Give him a couple more games to see if it sparks him. Otherwise, he brings nothing to the table.... he's all offense. Sharangovich, while a great story and great for our future, has not produced at the NHL level; however, he can play some defense and kill penalties, unlike Goose.
Butcher will get his time. Although the points are not there, Subban is playing much better! This defense looks crazy better than everyone expected. (THANK YOU MB29 for making that a reality)
Would be looking for Fitzy to make a move, but the crazy schedule and not knowing if some of these guys are "for real" after only 11 games or a product of a hot team, the logjam is not such a bad thing. Injuries will come. There will be trades. Its inevitable.... but for now to many bodies is a good thing.
PS> Dream Trade: Eichel for 2 1st's Zacha and Butcher (Eichel wants out. Make the offer). Eichel-Hughes-Holtz in a season or two would be terrifying. A lot to give up but worth it... what you think?
I like those lines and, for the most part, agree with everything you said.
Lost me a bit on the Eichel proposal because I think it'll cost a lot more than that. He is a franchise player signed long-term. If and when the Sabres decide to listen I think it would take an extreme package like multiple high picks, Alexander Holtz and Damon Severson.
Butcher has points in every game he’s played.
I love that they made Nico the captain! I just hope he doesn’t put too much pressure on himself now that he wears the C. I felt that happened a little with Patrik Elias, though that could’ve been because of Sutter for all I know.
Tier 3 Defense🤣
Thank you todd I needed a good laugh.
This is a good question. I actually filled out the form (I forget who I picked to come out on d, probably Subban) and I can say I don't have a strong opinion on the subject, which in this case is a good sign because I do think we have 7 blue-liners capable of being regulars. But, I'm more interested in what the lineup looks like two years from now. Right now I think it's pretty uncontroversial to say that the blue-line is missing some of the high-end talent that we may be developing at forward. How that gets addressed is IMO the most important question for this organization going forward. That said, the bottom of the lineup still needs to be filled and ideally with the best, most cost effective role players possible. We have two defensemen in Murray and Kulikov who are UFAs at the end of the year, do we hold onto both, one of, or neither of them?
Should clarify that I do care who comes out because if it's Severson or Smith (for an extended stretch, especially since he's been gelling nicely with Severson) I'd be very annoyed, but I think they're safe and between the rest I'm resigned to Ruff needing his L-R pairs so if it's any of the other 5 dmen I'll shrug and hope it works out.
Its a good problem to have and one we haven't had in a long time but man is it difficult to decide who comes out after the depth guys have shown up in a big way.
I think Goose just needs some stability. Hopefully he clicks with Nico and they can provide another reliable scoring line. It seems like every other game there's a different line driving play and scoring goals, but we need more consistent scoring from our top players.
As the schedule starts to crunch and we play more back to backs, I expect Ruff to shuffle some of the younger guys in and out to avoid burnout