Todd Cordell: On the Devils' woeful 5v5 play, Pavel Zacha, and the expansion draft

Todd Cordell: On the Devils' woeful 5v5 play, Pavel Zacha, and the expansion draft
- Todd.Cordell

Todd, you wouldn't be tempted to expose Zajac? I know you love him because of faceoffs and metrics, but you wouldn't be tempted to rid the team of that contract?

You've been a big supporter of giving the younger guys minutes, especially since they aren't contending, and I agree with that. But, theoretically, let's say Henrique is 1C and Zacha is 2C....I can't justify that cap hit of Zajac's as a 3C. And with Quenneville potentially coming up soon I'd rather put him in that slot.

Todd, you wouldn't be tempted to expose Zajac? I know you love him because of faceoffs and metrics, but you wouldn't be tempted to rid the team of that contract?

You've been a big supporter of giving the younger guys minutes, especially since they aren't contending, and I agree with that. But, theoretically, let's say Henrique is 1C and Zacha is 2C....I can't justify that cap hit of Zajac's as a 3C. And with Quenneville potentially coming up soon I'd rather put him in that slot.
- jersey1414

Based on what I've seen I'd say Zacha has a lot of work to do before he can be relied upon to play at a top-6 level.

theyre in position to capitalize on teams in bad expansion situations

ideally, similar to how the islanders capitalized on the bruins and blackhawks in cap trouble

I agree with you for the most. However I think the idea is keeping PA Parenteau is just silly. He is going to be traded for a 2nd or 3rd so keeping his is a waste. In his stead I would keep Sergei Kalinin. He seems to play in all situations and I think he would be a good player to keep around.
Plus, I would just keep Moore over Lovejoy simply cause of age and how weak our left side is. I am not saying our right is anything special, but players like Lovejoy are easy to find in FA; Moore at least is younger and plays on the weaker side.

Forwards (7) - Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique, Kyle Palmieri, Mike Cammalleri, Travis Zajac, Beau Bennett, Sergei Kalinin.

Defensemen (3) - Andy Greene, Damon Severson, John Moore.

G (1) - Cory Schneider.


Beyond that I would say I would be open to trading Mike Cammalleri but would need to get a 1st for him (2017 or 2018). This would leave open one last spot to protect; which, I guess I would use on whomever we except back for him (we would probably have to accept a dead weight contract for Cam to make him work financially for a team. Or even, maybe we would be taking on another NMC player from a Cam trade?) or Jacob Josefson. Who knows, maybe that final spot could just be a guy we take (along with a pick) to exploit a team that has something to lose in the draft

Zacha should have been sent down after game 9... he wasn't generating many shots. This whole year has essentially been a baptism by fire, which screws more players than it helps, so we'll see.

Zacha should have been sent down after game 9... he wasn't generating many shots. This whole year has essentially been a baptism by fire, which screws more players than it helps, so we'll see.
- archromat

especially when he's going to Patrik Stefan for advice ... 4 pts in his first 9 games though with 13 shots - he's got 3 pts since then (26 games) and 20 shots

Touch call at the time, seemed liek he was playing well thru the first 9

Based on what I've seen I'd say Zacha has a lot of work to do before he can be relied upon to play at a top-6 level.
- Todd.Cordell

Well I can't argue that. But I say play him consistently with Hall, Cammy, or Palmieri the rest of the year. Stop with the DSP, Bennett, Lappin, linemate nonsense and let's see what happens.

Bottom line: I think we know what Zajac is. He topped out with Parise and Kovy, but without that star power we know his ceiling. The jury is out on Zacha, so let's see what he can do.

It is time to throw in the towel. 40 games left, 10 against the top 4 teams in the division (all top 5 in the league), 13 against the top 7 teams. It is always tough to accept that your team is bad, but with the Metro being such a strong division, it is a good time to be a seller and get more draft picks.

On expansion draft. One point to be made. The Devils must expose at least 2 forwards that are signed and have played either 40 games this season or 70 in the last 2 seasons. They currently have 6 in this category: Hall, Zajac, Cammalleri, Palmieri, Henrique, and Smith-Pelley. As of this writing, the Devils must leave 2 of those 6 unprotected. RFAs like Josefson and Bennett do not count. Neither do UFAs. The Devils therefore must resign their UFAs/RFAs, or make some trades before the expansion draft or they will be forced to expose someone like Zajac (and Smith-Pelley)

Zacha should have been sent down after game 9... he wasn't generating many shots. This whole year has essentially been a baptism by fire, which screws more players than it helps, so we'll see.
- archromat

Was "sent down" an option or was it back to Juniors? As much as baptism by fire can hurt, being uncontested in Juniors isn't beneficial either.

This is going to sound dumb, but he almost seemed too focused on his two-way game. I mean, most young guys get sent down because they are too one dimensional, and I really think that defense became his primary focus in fear of getting demoted. I'd like to see him open it up a bit and create offense, but that's hard when you've got grinders on your wings.

I like that Hynes is encouraging him to shoot more. All the highlights we saw of him in juniors showed an awesome wrister. Hopefully, with the team out of contention, he can start to focus on his offensive production more--but Hynes needs to give him some help.

if we lose Lovejoy in the expansion draft I'll be really happy. Please take him.

Was "sent down" an option or was it back to Juniors? As much as baptism by fire can hurt, being uncontested in Juniors isn't beneficial either.

This is going to sound dumb, but he almost seemed too focused on his two-way game. I mean, most young guys get sent down because they are too one dimensional, and I really think that defense became his primary focus in fear of getting demoted. I'd like to see him open it up a bit and create offense, but that's hard when you've got grinders on your wings.

I like that Hynes is encouraging him to shoot more. All the highlights we saw of him in juniors showed an awesome wrister. Hopefully, with the team out of contention, he can start to focus on his offensive production more--but Hynes needs to give him some help.
- jersey1414

AHL was not an option

There are only 6 forwards who will likely be eligible to serve as the 2 exposed forwards who played 40/70 games barring a trade or an in-season extension for any of the 2017 UFA's or RFA's. (Zajac, Hall, Henrique, Palmieri, DSP and Camm). DSP is the obvious one to expose. The other for me would be Cammalleri. The positives of losing him are that he carries a $5 million cap hit, he will be 35 years old next year and looks to be on the decline, and he is injury prone. Each team can only lose 1 player, so alternatively they may lose a defenseman - either Lovejoy or Moore. If I'm Las Vegas, I would take Moore and not Cammalleri.

AHL was not an option
- Senor_Elias

Yeah, then IMO he had to stay. But I get the argument made for juniors, too.

Looks like tanking is really working as we are dropping in the standings daily.


Oh wait, they're actually trying to win

Never thought I'd be excited about the third rounder we got from Colorado for Gelinas but seems a little more valuable with the the Avs stinking up the joint.

Zacha should have been sent down after game 9... he wasn't generating many shots. This whole year has essentially been a baptism by fire, which screws more players than it helps, so we'll see.
- archromat

I don't think it was necessarily wrong to give him an extended look (depends on how much you value that 1 year off his ELC) but I definitely would have sent him to the WJC and then straight to Sarnia after that.

Never thought I'd be excited about the third rounder we got from Colorado for Gelinas but seems a little more valuable with the the Avs stinking up the joint.
- Queenie_5_hole

^good point!

Well I can't argue that. But I say play him consistently with Hall, Cammy, or Palmieri the rest of the year. Stop with the DSP, Bennett, Lappin, linemate nonsense and let's see what happens.

Bottom line: I think we know what Zajac is. He topped out with Parise and Kovy, but without that star power we know his ceiling. The jury is out on Zacha, so let's see what he can do.
- jersey1414

Here's Zacha's most common linemates:
10.8% EV HENRIQUE,ADAM - PALMIERI,KYLE - ZACHA,PAVEL
8.31% EV BENNETT,BEAU - SMITH-PELLY,DEVANTE - ZACHA,PAVEL
6.15% EV HALL,TAYLOR - PARENTEAU,PA - ZACHA,PAVEL
4.88% EV HALL,TAYLOR - PALMIERI,KYLE - ZACHA,PAVEL

Who he plays with isn't the issue.

Here's Zacha's most common linemates:
10.8% EV HENRIQUE,ADAM - PALMIERI,KYLE - ZACHA,PAVEL
8.31% EV BENNETT,BEAU - SMITH-PELLY,DEVANTE - ZACHA,PAVEL
6.15% EV HALL,TAYLOR - PARENTEAU,PA - ZACHA,PAVEL
4.88% EV HALL,TAYLOR - PALMIERI,KYLE - ZACHA,PAVEL

Who he plays with isn't the issue.
- rmdevil313

I'm not saying this is the fix. But some continuity would be nice. That's all.

Todd Cordell: On the Devils' woeful 5v5 play, Pavel Zacha, and the expansion draft
- Todd.Cordell

That third spot to protect a dman could be used on anyone. It all falls apart after Greene and severson.

especially when he's going to Patrik Stefan for advice ... 4 pts in his first 9 games though with 13 shots - he's got 3 pts since then (26 games) and 20 shots

Touch call at the time, seemed liek he was playing well thru the first 9
- Senor_Elias

Well to be fair he's been telling him to shoot more and so has Hynes and he's yet to listen to either

Hall-Coleman-Palmieri
Bennett-Zajac-PAP
Wood-Henrique-Lappin
Cammy-Kalinin-DSP
Zacha-Josefson-Gazdic

lines at todays practice

Well to be fair he's been telling him to shoot more and so has Hynes and he's yet to listen to either
- shvingter88

yea I don't get what the hell he's been doing the past 25 games, not hitting, not shooting

Hall-Coleman-Palmieri
Bennett-Zajac-PAP
Wood-Henrique-Lappin
Cammy-Kalinin-DSP
Zacha-Josefson-Gazdic

lines at todays practice
- bc8819

hynes is officially on the tank train