Todd Cordell: Devils snap losing streak, pick up dramatic win over Predators

The devils really need to clean up their zone breakouts that was a major reason to why Nashville was able to control play yesterday the Devils consistently turn the puck over and made poor decisions with the puck... also I agree with Todd the devils have been screening their goalies way too much Henrique was the reason we lost to Chicago idk what's going on with the devils I know they are a bubble team at best but they are better then what we witnessed yesterday

We're now 16th in GF and 16th in GA... both amplified a bit since we're maybe a game or two down from average games played. Considering we have a top 5 goalie, being 16th in GA and being a game and a half down on everyone is not a good showing at all in terms of the defense of the team.

We're bottom 5 in defensive play in the league right now. We're feeling Larsson's lapse acutely. In terms of GA60 past 200 mins played, Auvitu is our best d-man (probably playing the easiest matchups) and Greene and Severson are among the league's worst. What's funny is Larsson is doing no better than Greene so it's like they're lost without each other, but given the nature of defensive pairings, it might be the "other guy" that's the problem.

If we had a Doughty/Weber type of guy back there, problem solved, right?

We're now 16th in GF and 16th in GA... both amplified a bit since we're maybe a game or two down from average games played. Considering we have a top 5 goalie, being 16th in GA and being a game and a half down on everyone is not a good showing at all in terms of the defense of the team.

We're bottom 5 in defensive play in the league right now. We're feeling Larsson's lapse acutely. In terms of GA60 past 200 mins played, Auvitu is our best d-man (probably playing the easiest matchups) and Greene and Severson are among the league's worst. What's funny is Larsson is doing no better than Greene so it's like they're lost without each other, but given the nature of defensive pairings, it might be the "other guy" that's the problem.

If we had a Doughty/Weber type of guy back there, problem solved, right?
- archromat

Weber actually isn't great in terms of suppressing shots/chances. His offensive game is better than his defensive game. Doughty, I'll agree with.

We're now 16th in GF and 16th in GA... both amplified a bit since we're maybe a game or two down from average games played. Considering we have a top 5 goalie, being 16th in GA and being a game and a half down on everyone is not a good showing at all in terms of the defense of the team.

We're bottom 5 in defensive play in the league right now. We're feeling Larsson's lapse acutely. In terms of GA60 past 200 mins played, Auvitu is our best d-man (probably playing the easiest matchups) and Greene and Severson are among the league's worst. What's funny is Larsson is doing no better than Greene so it's like they're lost without each other, but given the nature of defensive pairings, it might be the "other guy" that's the problem.

If we had a Doughty/Weber type of guy back there, problem solved, right?
- archromat

Larsson is a second pair guy at best on a good team. Can we wind back the clock and undo the trade please?

Weber actually isn't great in terms of suppressing shots/chances. His offensive game is better than his defensive game. Doughty, I'll agree with.
- Todd.Cordell

Shot suppression and chance suppression have a lot of nuances to them that are commonly overlooked. Weber's GA60 is #1 in the league with more than 200mins played, and he's at 0.56. It's not all Price... only other Montreal d in top 30 in this stat is Emelin, 1.27, which is really good as well... but 0.56 in this category playing first pairing minutes is amazing, no matter who's behind you.

If you're asking the nuances, you can't tell for sure, but I remember Roy used to tell his defenseman not to block shots but not to screen him so that he could see everything that came at him. That means his defense were all going to suffer in shot suppression, but if Roy's save percentage is going to end up being something like .980 with his best defenseman on the ice, then shot suppression doesn't mean a whole lot, does it?

Larsson is a second pair guy at best on a good team. Can we wind back the clock and undo the trade please?
- Iggysbff

No thanks, our record was terrible while Hall was injured.

No thanks, our record was terrible while Hall was injured.
- archromat

But...I said please...

I think part of the issue right now is they're playing way too loose. This is partly a result of personnel, but I think they just need to play more within the system. Schneider hasn't been great this year, so that's an issue as well, but he'll turn it around at some point, so I'm not really worried about that. It's odd man rushes, it's blown coverages, it's poor decisions under pressure with the puck in the defensive zone. The team just isn't playing "supportive" hockey right now.

I think part of the issue right now is they're playing way too loose. This is partly a result of personnel, but I think they just need to play more within the system. Schneider hasn't been great this year, so that's an issue as well, but he'll turn it around at some point, so I'm not really worried about that. It's odd man rushes, it's blown coverages, it's poor decisions under pressure with the puck in the defensive zone. The team just isn't playing "supportive" hockey right now.
- CaptCrankypants

I think bottom line, the devils are going to play well this season when they play the system well, when they don't, the games are going to look a lot like the Nashville game (to be clear, that's not a good thing, despite the lucky win). This team is also still two great players away from being a serious contender (a top pairing dman and another elite forward).

another 85 point season.. another 13th overall pick. ugh. if it comes down to that.. TRADE THE PICK with a player or prospect or whatever.. and grab a top tier player. We need a "Shattenkirk". We need a top line center/RW. We're not going to get either at 10th-15th overall. We can trade those crap-shoot picks for some under 28 year old established players.

lets keep in mind the group we have here. 5 rookies? tons of new players. lots of young, developing players. new system for half the team. With the compressed schedule, it doesn't allow for as many practices and even mental health days. So I think that makes the inconsistencies a little more understandable. Half the time they're learning on the fly during games. Yea everyone has the same deal, but half our team is new; Zacha, Wood, Lappin, Auvitu, Severson, Merrill.. all rookies or towards the start of their careers. So They're learning, and then just with team play.. we need actual practices to improve, and the schedule doesn't allow that.

zacha and a 3rd for shattenkirk

zacha and a 3rd for shattenkirk
- cu45161

No

zacha and a 3rd for shattenkirk
- cu45161

Why?

Even before we drafted him I wasn't keen on zacha, to me his numbers always seemed average, even in his overage year he put up average numbers, and I'm not one of these people who has a hard on for height, without the numbers to back it up, plus I feel that what we need is good D that can transition the puck, and players with skill, I feel we don't have enough of that in our squad or in our prospect pool.

In my opinion we have just as good prospects in the pipeline like John q, Blandisi, and McLeod that can all play centre and bring just as much as zacha but we don't have a shattenkirk.

PS. What do we think of Nick Hague, D, Mississauga (OHL) and Kailer Yamamoto, RW, Spokane (WHL).

Even before we drafted him I wasn't keen on zacha, to me his numbers always seemed average, even in his overage year he put up average numbers, and I'm not one of these people who has a hard on for height, without the numbers to back it up, plus I feel that what we need is good D that can transition the puck, and players with skill, I feel we don't have enough of that in our squad or in our prospect pool.

In my opinion we have just as good prospects in the pipeline like John q, Blandisi, and McLeod that can all play centre and bring just as much as zacha but we don't have a shattenkirk.

PS. What do we think of Nick Hague, D, Mississauga (OHL) and Kailer Yamamoto, RW, Spokane (WHL).
- cu45161

I'm actually ok with Zacha. I didn't like the pick when we made it and I wasn't crazy about it last year either. That said, he's an NHL player at 19 and if he's not lighting it up on the score-sheet, he's been strong defensively and he's held his own overall. That's rare for a 19 year-old. I wouldn't trade him right now unless you're getting something special in return. Shattenkirk is a great player, but he's about to be 28 and you'd have to get a guarantee he'd re-sign, assuming he would, it won't be cheap. Best bet is to wait until someone with a lot of good defenders decide they'd rather take 50 cents on the dollar than lose a guy for nothing in the expansion draft. Then maybe you can make a deal for someone using the extra picks the Devils have with a prospect thrown in. It won't be a Shattenkirk level player, but if you get solid top-4 defender, that'll be an improvement and you can get rid of John Moore.

It's more likely that we trade our 1st and a 2nd to move up and scoop someone like Hague.

Even before we drafted him I wasn't keen on zacha, to me his numbers always seemed average, even in his overage year he put up average numbers, and I'm not one of these people who has a hard on for height, without the numbers to back it up, plus I feel that what we need is good D that can transition the puck, and players with skill, I feel we don't have enough of that in our squad or in our prospect pool.

In my opinion we have just as good prospects in the pipeline like John q, Blandisi, and McLeod that can all play centre and bring just as much as zacha but we don't have a shattenkirk.

PS. What do we think of Nick Hague, D, Mississauga (OHL) and Kailer Yamamoto, RW, Spokane (WHL).
- cu45161

Mcleod isn't lighting up his league, in fact I think him and Zacha have both had similar years, when their year after being drafting is looked at so far.

It's more likely that we trade our 1st and a 2nd to move up and scoop someone like Hague.
- willschulme

What makes no sense is, that last year we could of had Chychrun at 12th. He is a lefty and is playing in the NHL now, but instead they pick Mcleod, those offensive may be limited based off what scouts have said/project and what he's done so far and looks to bring to the future.

Then we could of drafted a center this year, like a Rasmussen, but instead we may have to give up something to possibly even pick Hague.

Chychrun was gifted to us.

zacha and a 3rd for shattenkirk
- cu45161

wow

What makes no sense is, that last year we could of had Chychrun at 12th. He is a lefty and is playing in the NHL now, but instead they pick Mcleod, those offensive may be limited based off what scouts have said/project and what he's done so far and looks to bring to the future.

Then we could of drafted a center this year, like a Rasmussen, but instead we may have to give up something to possibly even pick Hague.

Chychrun was gifted to us.
- Devils9503

As was Provorov. He had 2 goals in 31 seconds the other night. Whoever said he was a better value pick was most likely right.

This team has their issues but they are pretty fun to watch.

Considering the weak showing in the Forbes NHL team evaluation you'd hope ownership wants to get us some free agents and make this team legit again. Lots of money to be made building a winner in the tri-state... maybe not...

Rasmussen has been fun to watch the last couple of years over here in the WHL, he is excellent at cleaning up pucks and scoring when in front of the net, and looks like he is clearly a cut above most everybody else is the league, with his positioning and skating, and does a good job on face-offs. I would like to see us be able to grab him but to me he kind of reminds me of Zajac. don't think he will be an elite scorer by any means but a possibly a good playmaker. IDK just my 2 cents on him if any one else has been looking at possible to 10 -15 draft picks this year, not sure we even will be in this range to draft him unless we trade up.

Most fun I'd had watching a game in long while. Yes, the underlying numbers, possession, etc. were terrible. But the win was great. Considering he was left out to dry most of the night, Kinkaid continues to be a great backup this year.

Its not that we're acutely missing Larsson specifically, we're acutely missing any B-grade defenseman in clearing the zone. Only Greene is reliable in his own end. Severson might get there one day, but with what he brings to the table offensively and that he's paired with Greene, it doesn't really matter. Sure, Shattenkirk would be nice, but he's UFA. No point this season, esp. with the expansion draft.