Todd Cordell: New Jersey Devils: Still Winless

I just want to punch Deboer in the face!!!

When do they play Buffalo?

Todd Cordell: New Jersey Devils: Still Winless
- Todd.Cordell

Todd, I think you're spot on. Most Devils fans recognize the issues with the D, especially Zid. With the exception of Greene they look old and slow...which they are. Sal is a solid contributor but due to no fault of his own he is in over his head against the top players.

The issue I see dates back to how the Devils actually got Zid. He wasn't playing in Minnesota and became an issue in their locker room and was angry with management. I wonder if that has anything to do with his spot in the lineup. He is by far the worst d-man on this team.

As for DeBoer...I don't think firing him is the answer right now but I would like to see some urgency out of him. I know he has a bit of a calming influence but I'd like to see him call some people out or challenge them the way he does with Larsson. That being said, this is Lou we're talking about and we all know his track record. He did not look too pleased last night that's for sure.

Todd, I think you're spot on. Most Devils fans recognize the issues with the D, especially Zid. With the exception of Greene they look old and slow...which they are. Sal is a solid contributor but due to no fault of his own he is in over his head against the top players.

The issue I see dates back to how the Devils actually got Zid. He wasn't playing in Minnesota and became an issue in their locker room and was angry with management. I wonder if that has anything to do with his spot in the lineup. He is by far the worst d-man on this team.

As for DeBoer...I don't think firing him is the answer right now but I would like to see some urgency out of him. I know he has a bit of a calming influence but I'd like to see him call some people out or challenge them the way he does with Larsson. That being said, this is Lou we're talking about and we all know his track record. He did not look too pleased last night that's for sure.
- jersey1414

Zid has been better than A-train, Harrold and Larsson IMO. Not saying much since those players have been downright dreadful this season.

I do agree with you Todd that Deboer will take the most of the blame when he's not the only one but can Lou Lam really fire himself? He brings in older, slower players that are still making good money (Clowe,Ryder,Jagr) while letting players like Grabovski, Raymond etc etc sign lesser deals elsewhere. At least we got Brunner

Zid has been better than A-train, Harrold and Larsson IMO. Not saying much since those players have been downright dreadful this season.
- Rseen

Zid is not as bad as everybody makes him out to be...compared to Volchenckov and Salvador he's 10x better. He is what he is, he'll make mistakes but plays hard and right now is our best offensive defenseman.

I do agree with you Todd that Deboer will take the most of the blame when he's not the only one but can Lou Lam really fire himself? He brings in older, slower players that are still making good money (Clowe,Ryder,Jagr) while letting players like Grabovski, Raymond etc etc sign lesser deals elsewhere. At least we got Brunner
- Gambi99

Pete is a great coach and his coaching is allowing this team to compete as much as they can. the problem is the team has no offense. This is all on Lou he panicked when Kovi left and signed mediocre to bad players to terrible contracts. The problem lies with Lou and he shouldn't have traded for Scneider. you have another capable goalie in Marty and could have signed a decent backup to go along with him. The main problem is you guys lack a acouple of guys who can score goals consistently and until that's addressed you will be losing games by one o two goals often.

Zid has been better than A-train, Harrold and Larsson IMO. Not saying much since those players have been downright dreadful this season.
- Rseen

I don't understand the hate for Harrold. No, he doesn't do anything great but he's not a liability back there like the others you mentioned. And of all the defensemen we have he is by far the only one with speed.

IMO, if the Devils do fire DeBoer nobody would benefit more than Larsson. He just looks so hesistant out there. You have to wonder if DeBoer's benching is getting to his head where now he is so concerned with making a mistake.

On D I would:

Get Fayne into lineup and bench Volchie.

Send Larsson to AHL and bring up Gelinas.

Put a forward on IR (Carter?) and bring up Merrill. Go with the following pairings:

Greene-Fayne
Sal-Gelinas
Merrill-Zids


Alot changes but what is Lou waiting for on Gelinas and Merrill. Gelinas has played 2 full yrs in AHL. Merrill played 3 years in college.

Larsson has been bad. He made 4 bad D plays last night alone. He creates no offsense except to throw a weak shot into a crowd.

Larsson has been bad. He made 4 bad D plays last night alone. He creates no offsense except to throw a weak shot into a crowd.
- ChuckNJ

That's what all of our D-men do. This is our in-zone offense.

On D I would:

Get Fayne into lineup and bench Volchie.

Send Larsson to AHL and bring up Gelinas.

Put a forward on IR (Carter?) and bring up Merrill. Go with the following pairings:

Greene-Fayne
Sal-Gelinas
Merrill-Zids


Alot changes but what is Lou waiting for on Gelinas and Merrill. Gelinas has played 2 full yrs in AHL. Merrill played 3 years in college.

Larsson has been bad. He made 4 bad D plays last night alone. He creates no offsense except to throw a weak shot into a crowd.
- ChuckNJ

let's see you get used the way Larsson has and see how well you do. I agree he hasn't been the player we seen in pre season but what can you expect when Pete is setting him up to fail.

let's see you get used the way Larsson has and see how well you do. I agree he hasn't been the player we seen in pre season but what can you expect when Pete is setting him up to fail.
- blizzzard

I don't see Pete setting Larsson up to fail. He paired him with the Devils best D man. He took him off the PK a few games ago. Pete did not bench him last night.

Right now, Larsson's skating is terrrible, He will not skate the puck out of the D zone, He gets beat wide like Kane did last night. He has numerous D giveaways. He gets his shot block too often.

Every team in the Metro division, except for Penguins, has a rocky start. If we make a move or two, wake the eff up, and score some goals, we would finish in the top 3 in our division.

Hi Friends!

Pete is a great coach and his coaching is allowing this team to compete as much as they can. the problem is the team has no offense. This is all on Lou he panicked when Kovi left and signed mediocre to bad players to terrible contracts. The problem lies with Lou and he shouldn't have traded for Scneider. you have another capable goalie in Marty and could have signed a decent backup to go along with him. The main problem is you guys lack a acouple of guys who can score goals consistently and until that's addressed you will be losing games by one o two goals often.
- mighty13duck

I don't think it's the as much a problem with the forwards as you want to. Other then JT I wouldn't take any of the Islanders over Elias. The problem is getting the puck out of our zone clean and fast. Our transition game right now is horrible. It's hard for the forwards to get more then 20 shots a game when 90% of the time they aren't getting the puck on their sticks from the D. Also If we had any type of shot from the back end we would also create more oppertunities and scoring chances but even guys with no heart at all will willingly step in front of a wrister from the point to block it.

I don't see Pete setting Larsson up to fail. He paired him with the Devils best D man. He took him off the PK a few games ago. Pete did not bench him last night.

Right now, Larsson's skating is terrrible, He will not skate the puck out of the D zone, He gets beat wide like Kane did last night. He has numerous D giveaways. He gets his shot block too often.
- ChuckNJ

Kane is faster then every player on our team no matter what Chico says. Same with Wheeler and they are both bigger guys. This is Larsson's third year maybe if the past two season's Pete didn't ruin his confidence he wouldn't be having these problems now when he is finally maybe starting to get some good chances.

Pete is a great coach and his coaching is allowing this team to compete as much as they can. the problem is the team has no offense. This is all on Lou he panicked when Kovi left and signed mediocre to bad players to terrible contracts. The problem lies with Lou and he shouldn't have traded for Scneider. you have another capable goalie in Marty and could have signed a decent backup to go along with him. The main problem is you guys lack a acouple of guys who can score goals consistently and until that's addressed you will be losing games by one o two goals often.
- mighty13duck

Not the problem at all.

The forwards have new combos every period. Players are playing at their secondary positions for no reason. He doesn't ice the best defense. DeBoer has handled the roster terribly so far.

I don't think it's the as much a problem with the forwards as you want to. Other then JT I wouldn't take any of the Islanders over Elias. The problem is getting the puck out of our zone clean and fast. Our transition game right now is horrible. It's hard for the forwards to get more then 20 shots a game when 90% of the time they aren't getting the puck on their sticks from the D. Also If we had any type of shot from the back end we would also create more oppertunities and scoring chances but even guys with no heart at all will willingly step in front of a wrister from the point to block it.
- blizzzard

Bailey Grabner and Nielson are three younger players that I would take over Elias and most other GMs as well. You can add KO and a few others as well but those may be a little more debatable.

Not the problem at all.
- rmdevil313

Whats the problem then?

Bailey Grabner and Nielson are three younger players that I would take over Elias and most other GMs as well. You can add KO and a few others as well but those may be a little more debatable.
- mighty13duck

Your being nice, there are a lot more I would take......some Devil fans are having a hard time realizing that the Islanders are an up-and-coming team with tons of young talent. I'm jealous!!

I know that Kowalsky is looked at as an up and coming coach by many organizations in the NHL. I'm sure it wont take many more losses before he takes over for Deboer.

Bailey Grabner and Nielson are three younger players that I would take over Elias and most other GMs as well. You can add KO and a few others as well but those may be a little more debatable.
- mighty13duck

I am talking about today not for 3 years down the road as Elias is 37. You can't seriously tell me you think either of Grabner or Nielson are better then Elias.He outscored both of them last year on a non play off team.

Not the problem at all.

The forwards have new combos every period. Players are playing at their secondary positions for no reason. He doesn't ice the best defense. DeBoer has handled the roster terribly so far.
- rmdevil313

Agreed...the one major problem with Deboer is that he NEVER keeps the lines the same so there is hardly ever good chemistry with the forwards....now on defense well lets just say Pete has a hard-on for the vets (same can be said for the forwards)

Need to make the best of what we have and i don't think Pete and the rest of the coaching staff is doing that right now. Should he be fired; probably not it's still early in the season. And i don't think a new coach will get better results. None of these lines seem to be developing any chemistry together except that first one. Coach needs to put some lines together that will start producing quickly or he'll be gone. Maybe we should start by getting rid of Dave Barr behind the bench and get someone who can coach the damn PP!