It warms the cockles of my heart to hear that Parise and Suter are bankrupting the Minnesota Wild.
- TheJerseyDevil1

did the new York post report this bankruptcy?

Kinda pissed Hockey's Future has us ranked 28th in the league in organizational strength. I think considering a lot of the guys we've recently graduated, we still have a decent amount of kids coming up with promise.

Even when you just look around from team to team on that site, it looks like we have move 7.0 and 7.5 guys than a lot of teams. And that is before this year's draft class has even been added. Not to mention most of our guys are already at the pro level, its not like they are just starting juniors.

...conspiracy!
- TheJerseyDevil1

Like who for example? Larsson I wouldn't count because he came in right away (except the benchwarming). Henrique has "graduated" but we've obviously have some differences on what his value is. Josefon & Tedenby? Those guys may end up being career AHL'ers. But for prospects, a lot of people forget these guys are prospects. Some of you are already penciling them in as our starting 6 on defense for the future.

One scout rates a guy completely different than another. But what prospects justify a better rating? Boucher, Merrill....that's about it in my book. Urbom is walking the line, Gelinas is in the same boat. As far as forwards go I'd say it's Boucher & Pietila, the rest are complete gambles. Matteau? He'll probably be a 3rd liner, does that count? I don't think it should since he was a 1st round pick & should've been the pick to forfeit.

Not picking on NJ's scouts or any other scout in particular, but NJ's prospects up front seem slim. Will one or two of those guys end up being a 20G/40P guy? Maybe. Will one or two end up being 20-30G/60P+ guys? Outside of Boucher you'd have to convince me one of the other guys will. So in my book that's 1 great FW prospect, 1 good prospect. Rest are avg-below avg. When you're taken 3rd round or later it's hard to consider you a good prospect unless you were a unanimous 1st rounder & then some off-ice issues knocked you down a few pegs.

Obviously guys break molds all the time, but even the supposed defensive prospect depth NJ supposedly boasts is arguable. Merrill looks like a possible top-pair guy, but I wouldn't peg anyone else above a 4-6 guy. One or two of them might crack 2nd pair, but other than that the rest could presumably be 3rd pair/7th d-men candidates. NJ has usually had guys who'd be 3rd pair on any other team excel in NJ with more minutes, but with the change in philosophy recently as far as system play, that's been exposed the last couple years.

In my honest opinion the only guys who should get top-pair minutes right now on this roster are Greene & Larsson because the sad fact is Larsson>Sal,A-Train, Zidlicky, Fayne, and Harrold. He's also arguably our best puckmover outside of Greene & Brodeur (which people often overlook). Zids is poop outside 4-5 games a year, I don't care what anyone says.

NJ's organizational ranking is right where it should be in my opinion. Most NJ fans seem high on guys (especially defensemen) that look like stretches to make a pro roster outside of NJ. Not trying to be a Richard, but they're prospects for a reason, and they're late picks for a reason. If Gelinas, Severson, Scarlett , and Helgeson become productive NHL'ers I'd be surprised. Even Urbom has had chances and has yet to crack the roster.

Even though I obviously have little faith in these guys all panning out like some of you do, I hope Lou just throws them all in the fire, moves Salvador, Volchenkov, Zidlicky & lets them grow & learn in the NHL. Obviously that's not realistic, but i've grown tired of this overrated D-corps (overrated amongst Devils fans).

Wedgewood & Clermont? NJ just shipped a 1st round pick for Schneider (not that I disagree with that move), but what does that say about how this organization feels about those prospects that supposedly a lot NJ fans felt solved the post-Brodeur issue in net? Now they may be backups or trade bait? Where did all the NJ fans who thought Wedgewood was going to be a Vezina candidate go to? Just saying.

funny I seem to remember this kid named brodeur getting past over by 19 teams, and the real funny part is calagary traded up to take trevor kidd in front of him?
- devfan30

wasnt larsson listed to go 1st in many mock drafts? but he sucks right?

did the new York post report this bankruptcy?
- devfan30

no the post is too busy trying to make stuff up to worry about true stories

^ is that a new record for longest post? Ha ha.

I generally agree with you though, prospects are prospects. There are very few times you can look at a prospect who has played almost no or no NHL games and say "this guy IS going to be great!"

wasnt larsson listed to go 1st in many mock drafts? but he sucks right?
- dmarsden2988

Did anybody watch the Devils/Flyers rerun that was on this past Thursday night? I watched the end of it with dinner and Larsson was friggen awesome that game!

I'm honestly very confident he's going to be very good if not great. People keep comparing him to guys like Ekman-Larsson and Karlsson but they have to realize Adam is 2-3 years younger than both of those guys. The difference between a 20 year old player and a 23 year old player is huge.

Like who for example? Larsson I wouldn't count because he came in right away (except the benchwarming). Henrique has "graduated" but we've obviously have some differences on what his value is. Josefon & Tedenby? Those guys may end up being career AHL'ers. But for prospects, a lot of people forget these guys are prospects. Some of you are already penciling them in as our starting 6 on defense for the future.

One scout rates a guy completely different than another. But what prospects justify a better rating? Boucher, Merrill....that's about it in my book. Urbom is walking the line, Gelinas is in the same boat. As far as forwards go I'd say it's Boucher & Pietila, the rest are complete gambles. Matteau? He'll probably be a 3rd liner, does that count? I don't think it should since he was a 1st round pick & should've been the pick to forfeit.

Not picking on NJ's scouts or any other scout in particular, but NJ's prospects up front seem slim. Will one or two of those guys end up being a 20G/40P guy? Maybe. Will one or two end up being 20-30G/60P+ guys? Outside of Boucher you'd have to convince me one of the other guys will. So in my book that's 1 great FW prospect, 1 good prospect. Rest are avg-below avg. When you're taken 3rd round or later it's hard to consider you a good prospect unless you were a unanimous 1st rounder & then some off-ice issues knocked you down a few pegs.

Obviously guys break molds all the time, but even the supposed defensive prospect depth NJ supposedly boasts is arguable. Merrill looks like a possible top-pair guy, but I wouldn't peg anyone else above a 4-6 guy. One or two of them might crack 2nd pair, but other than that the rest could presumably be 3rd pair/7th d-men candidates. NJ has usually had guys who'd be 3rd pair on any other team excel in NJ with more minutes, but with the change in philosophy recently as far as system play, that's been exposed the last couple years.

In my honest opinion the only guys who should get top-pair minutes right now on this roster are Greene & Larsson because the sad fact is Larsson>Sal,A-Train, Zidlicky, Fayne, and Harrold. He's also arguably our best puckmover outside of Greene & Brodeur (which people often overlook). Zids is poop outside 4-5 games a year, I don't care what anyone says.

NJ's organizational ranking is right where it should be in my opinion. Most NJ fans seem high on guys (especially defensemen) that look like stretches to make a pro roster outside of NJ. Not trying to be a Richard, but they're prospects for a reason, and they're late picks for a reason. If Gelinas, Severson, Scarlett , and Helgeson become productive NHL'ers I'd be surprised. Even Urbom has had chances and has yet to crack the roster.

Even though I obviously have little faith in these guys all panning out like some of you do, I hope Lou just throws them all in the fire, moves Salvador, Volchenkov, Zidlicky & lets them grow & learn in the NHL. Obviously that's not realistic, but i've grown tired of this overrated D-corps (overrated amongst Devils fans).

Wedgewood & Clermont? NJ just shipped a 1st round pick for Schneider (not that I disagree with that move), but what does that say about how this organization feels about those prospects that supposedly a lot NJ fans felt solved the post-Brodeur issue in net? Now they may be backups or trade bait? Where did all the NJ fans who thought Wedgewood was going to be a Vezina candidate go to? Just saying.
- FLdevilsFAN

That Kujawinski kid could be a steal just like Boucher is turning out to be. he was ranked to go in the first round by Button before the season started and kind of stayed the same but they saw something in him. I wouldn't be shocked if out of all the guys we drafted if he became a second liner. That's not to say I think he is a lock to be but he is another player that could be a diamond in the rough.

Did anybody watch the Devils/Flyers rerun that was on this past Thursday night? I watched the end of it with dinner and Larsson was friggen awesome that game!

I'm honestly very confident he's going to be very good if not great. People keep comparing him to guys like Ekman-Larsson and Karlsson but they have to realize Adam is 2-3 years younger than both of those guys. The difference between a 20 year old player and a 23 year old player is huge.
- MannySilvers

adam is more of a 2 way player than an offensive minded player like those 2

he will be very good and he has shown signs of getting better the more he plays, so they better not bench him

Like who for example? Larsson I wouldn't count because he came in right away (except the benchwarming). Henrique has "graduated" but we've obviously have some differences on what his value is. Josefon & Tedenby? Those guys may end up being career AHL'ers. But for prospects, a lot of people forget these guys are prospects. Some of you are already penciling them in as our starting 6 on defense for the future.

One scout rates a guy completely different than another. But what prospects justify a better rating? Boucher, Merrill....that's about it in my book. Urbom is walking the line, Gelinas is in the same boat. As far as forwards go I'd say it's Boucher & Pietila, the rest are complete gambles. Matteau? He'll probably be a 3rd liner, does that count? I don't think it should since he was a 1st round pick & should've been the pick to forfeit.

Not picking on NJ's scouts or any other scout in particular, but NJ's prospects up front seem slim. Will one or two of those guys end up being a 20G/40P guy? Maybe. Will one or two end up being 20-30G/60P+ guys? Outside of Boucher you'd have to convince me one of the other guys will. So in my book that's 1 great FW prospect, 1 good prospect. Rest are avg-below avg. When you're taken 3rd round or later it's hard to consider you a good prospect unless you were a unanimous 1st rounder & then some off-ice issues knocked you down a few pegs.

Obviously guys break molds all the time, but even the supposed defensive prospect depth NJ supposedly boasts is arguable. Merrill looks like a possible top-pair guy, but I wouldn't peg anyone else above a 4-6 guy. One or two of them might crack 2nd pair, but other than that the rest could presumably be 3rd pair/7th d-men candidates. NJ has usually had guys who'd be 3rd pair on any other team excel in NJ with more minutes, but with the change in philosophy recently as far as system play, that's been exposed the last couple years.

In my honest opinion the only guys who should get top-pair minutes right now on this roster are Greene & Larsson because the sad fact is Larsson>Sal,A-Train, Zidlicky, Fayne, and Harrold. He's also arguably our best puckmover outside of Greene & Brodeur (which people often overlook). Zids is poop outside 4-5 games a year, I don't care what anyone says.

NJ's organizational ranking is right where it should be in my opinion. Most NJ fans seem high on guys (especially defensemen) that look like stretches to make a pro roster outside of NJ. Not trying to be a Richard, but they're prospects for a reason, and they're late picks for a reason. If Gelinas, Severson, Scarlett , and Helgeson become productive NHL'ers I'd be surprised. Even Urbom has had chances and has yet to crack the roster.

Even though I obviously have little faith in these guys all panning out like some of you do, I hope Lou just throws them all in the fire, moves Salvador, Volchenkov, Zidlicky & lets them grow & learn in the NHL. Obviously that's not realistic, but i've grown tired of this overrated D-corps (overrated amongst Devils fans).

Wedgewood & Clermont? NJ just shipped a 1st round pick for Schneider (not that I disagree with that move), but what does that say about how this organization feels about those prospects that supposedly a lot NJ fans felt solved the post-Brodeur issue in net? Now they may be backups or trade bait? Where did all the NJ fans who thought Wedgewood was going to be a Vezina candidate go to? Just saying.
- FLdevilsFAN

Most prospects never reach the nhl. There are 210ish guys drafted every year, so who's to say one of ours will our won't make it? Ranking a team's prospect systems is just stupid because it says nothing about what a team will actually look like or how they will do in the future. The Oilers have had a top 5 system for like 5 years now, and look what it has gotten them.

adam is more of a 2 way player than an offensive minded player like those 2

he will be very good and he has shown signs of getting better the more he plays, so they better not bench him
- dmarsden2988

Yeah I by no means think he's ever putting up Karlsson numbers or anything like that, but the point is just that it's ridiculous to call him a bust when he's only 20 years old. especially considering he's actually been pretty good.

Puckdaddy has a "puck headlines" article every weekday which is just a compilation of articles from various websites and there are usually a couple worth reading. ILWT also writes some decent devils articles. If your looking for more stuff about prospects I would recommend the other site that Todd writes for. http://thehockeyguys.net/category/nhl/
- rmdevil313

I like Puck Daddy. Lambert annoys me from time to time but Wysh being a homegrown Devils fan evens it out in my book. I've heard Todd mention the hockey guys a bunch but I've never actually read it, I'll check it out tomorrow, gracias.

did the new York post report this bankruptcy?
- devfan30

even better

http://sports.yahoo.com/b...on-lockout-155615565.html

even better

http://sports.yahoo.com/b...on-lockout-155615565.html
- TheJerseyDevil1

omg, it's our fault that we're so poor that we cannot help but bankrupt other teams.

Like who for example? Larsson I wouldn't count because he came in right away (except the benchwarming). Henrique has "graduated" but we've obviously have some differences on what his value is. Josefon & Tedenby? Those guys may end up being career AHL'ers. But for prospects, a lot of people forget these guys are prospects. Some of you are already penciling them in as our starting 6 on defense for the future.

One scout rates a guy completely different than another. But what prospects justify a better rating? Boucher, Merrill....that's about it in my book. Urbom is walking the line, Gelinas is in the same boat. As far as forwards go I'd say it's Boucher & Pietila, the rest are complete gambles. Matteau? He'll probably be a 3rd liner, does that count? I don't think it should since he was a 1st round pick & should've been the pick to forfeit.

Not picking on NJ's scouts or any other scout in particular, but NJ's prospects up front seem slim. Will one or two of those guys end up being a 20G/40P guy? Maybe. Will one or two end up being 20-30G/60P+ guys? Outside of Boucher you'd have to convince me one of the other guys will. So in my book that's 1 great FW prospect, 1 good prospect. Rest are avg-below avg. When you're taken 3rd round or later it's hard to consider you a good prospect unless you were a unanimous 1st rounder & then some off-ice issues knocked you down a few pegs.

Obviously guys break molds all the time, but even the supposed defensive prospect depth NJ supposedly boasts is arguable. Merrill looks like a possible top-pair guy, but I wouldn't peg anyone else above a 4-6 guy. One or two of them might crack 2nd pair, but other than that the rest could presumably be 3rd pair/7th d-men candidates. NJ has usually had guys who'd be 3rd pair on any other team excel in NJ with more minutes, but with the change in philosophy recently as far as system play, that's been exposed the last couple years.

In my honest opinion the only guys who should get top-pair minutes right now on this roster are Greene & Larsson because the sad fact is Larsson>Sal,A-Train, Zidlicky, Fayne, and Harrold. He's also arguably our best puckmover outside of Greene & Brodeur (which people often overlook). Zids is poop outside 4-5 games a year, I don't care what anyone says.

NJ's organizational ranking is right where it should be in my opinion. Most NJ fans seem high on guys (especially defensemen) that look like stretches to make a pro roster outside of NJ. Not trying to be a Richard, but they're prospects for a reason, and they're late picks for a reason. If Gelinas, Severson, Scarlett , and Helgeson become productive NHL'ers I'd be surprised. Even Urbom has had chances and has yet to crack the roster.

Even though I obviously have little faith in these guys all panning out like some of you do, I hope Lou just throws them all in the fire, moves Salvador, Volchenkov, Zidlicky & lets them grow & learn in the NHL. Obviously that's not realistic, but i've grown tired of this overrated D-corps (overrated amongst Devils fans).

Wedgewood & Clermont? NJ just shipped a 1st round pick for Schneider (not that I disagree with that move), but what does that say about how this organization feels about those prospects that supposedly a lot NJ fans felt solved the post-Brodeur issue in net? Now they may be backups or trade bait? Where did all the NJ fans who thought Wedgewood was going to be a Vezina candidate go to? Just saying.
- FLdevilsFAN

Uhg. So much to read. But my response is that a lot of these issues you're raising about NJ's prospects: i.e. low probability that some of the high-end talent will pan out, possible overhyping of some guys. This is all stuff that other organizations deal with just as much as we do. I think a lot of teams' prospects have just as much of a chance to not pan out as ours but I still think we are better positioned (mostly from the defensive department, no question with forwards) than a lot of teams who were slotted ahead of us. Ultimately though its just a matter of opinion when looking at guys this young and raw

omg, it's our fault that we're so poor that we cannot help but bankrupt other teams.


- MrToast

Our poorness is contagious!

Our poorness is contagious!
- TheJerseyDevil1

To respond to FLdevilsFAN's post (don't want to stretch the page)

Our forward prospects are thin, no question. But its not as terrible as it seems. We basically have no center prospects, but all our centers are either young or locked up long term. We really don't need another for a while. We have Clowe for another 5, Elias for 3, Zubrus for 3, and Ryder for 2 on the wings. That leaves one spot open this year and one the following season in the top 9.

Defensively, I'd say you are forgetting Severson. He could be top pairing should he pan out. He's got all the tools. I'd still say Gelinas could still have top 4 potential, although he may be better suited for a 3rd pairing role. Santini could easily be a top 4 shutdown guy given the fact that he is a good skater and relatively mobile for a shutdown defender. Granted its a bit hard to tell at 18.

I don't think the Schneider move says anything about the goaltending prospects. I don't think the organization is terribly high on clermont to begin with, but if you look at starting goalies, they take a long time to develop. Rinne and Rask were both 26 by the time they were the sole starting goalie. That leaves wedgewood a good 5 years of development.

Our poorness is contagious!
- TheJerseyDevil1

Look out, Toronto...

I didn't feel like reading the prospect thing, but to me, the prospect being ranked so low is so overblown.

Our general core of our team is young. Zajac, Henrique, Loktionov, and Josefson are all around for the next four years or more, likely. Zajac is 28, the rest are under 25.

For the wingers, all of them right now are old. Clowe is really our only guy locked up for the long-term. This is really the only real concern for our team in the future in my opinion. We have a couple of boom-or-bust guys in Bell, Gavrus, and Boucher, a couple of guys like Pietila and Matteau who are almost surefire NHL players.

Defensively, we are solid, couple of darkhorses like Helgeson and Scarlett. With Schneider, we have our future goalie.

^ is that a new record for longest post? Ha ha.

I generally agree with you though, prospects are prospects. There are very few times you can look at a prospect who has played almost no or no NHL games and say "this guy IS going to be great!"
- MannySilvers

I definitely have him beat plenty of times..

our D prospects are just stacked. Sure, they won't all be top pairing dmen, but Merrill and Severson show a lot of promise. Then pretty much 5 or so other guys look to have mid-pairing potential (Gelinas, Urbom, Santini, Scarlett, Helgeson, Burlon) Thats 8 dmen that could potentially start in the NHL. If even 2 of them make it into the top 4 then I consider that success. .. and there's a high probability 2 of them will. The Santini pick tickles my innards. Merrill-Santini would be sick. Severson-Larsson. I mean what a top 4 that would be. Helgeson/Urbom-Gelinas as the 3rd pairing. That's 6 solid dmen, with some nice size too! One can only dream.

Could the season start already? I mean if were gonna have fans of other teams come troll about nonsense from the Post on blogs Todd has done a spectacular job on that pertain zero percent to the trolls' respective teams, can it at least be when we start our 82 game streak of doom?

Also, yes, we get it. Our prospect pool isn't that of Edmonton's or Tampa's.

adam is more of a 2 way player than an offensive minded player like those 2

he will be very good and he has shown signs of getting better the more he plays, so they better not bench him
- dmarsden2988

My only real problem with Pete, always (frank)ing Larsson over. Hope he plays 1st pair all year. Can't handle another year of Zid getting most ice time on D.

My only real problem with Pete, always (frank)ing Larsson over. Hope he plays 1st pair all year. Can't handle another year of Zid getting most ice time on D.
- NickA

Got to think if he doesn't Adam wont be a happy camper making negotiations difficult might even ask to be traded. He has a lot more talent then anyone we have, Greene might be a little better right now but Larsson can be galaxies better if we don't ruin him. What I am getting at is if I knew I was as good as him I wouldn't be happy not playing for a 36 year old turn over machine and to other guys who are so damn slow you could probably beat them in running shoes ( on the ice ).
On another note though I am excited to see if he has grown any he is going to be a big kid and still gets rocked around a bit. Wiki has him at 6'3 220 that would be ideal but the Devils site has him at 6'3 205 which I think he is probably closer to.

I definitely have him beat plenty of times..
- MartysBetter88