Todd Cordell: Schneider, young guns shine as Devils avoid season sweep from Rangers

Oh wow I completely forgot about Speers

Very good to see the young players doing well

How is Bastian playing?

It's great seeing zacha perform when he is confident, hopefully he stays healthy, sometimes you see flashes of Elias in him

Very good to see the young players doing well

How is Bastian playing?

It's great seeing zacha perform when he is confident, hopefully he stays healthy, sometimes you see flashes of Elias in him
- dmarsden2988

Not too well from what I've seen. He was doing as well as McLeod for a while, but while McLeod took off, Bastian fell off a bit. Still ok though.

Still need a near overhaul on the blue line and another elite forward. Hopefully the Devils can find that gem in the draft and Shero can make some moves to shore up the back end both in FA (Shattenkirk) and through a trade.

I've been pretty impressed with the drafting under Shero so far, though. He's picking the right kind of players, just think he needs to understand what a blue-liner is in today's NHL and what makes that position important (hint: it's not being big and physical).

Very good to see the young players doing well

How is Bastian playing?

It's great seeing zacha perform when he is confident, hopefully he stays healthy, sometimes you see flashes of Elias in him
- dmarsden2988

Don't think he has Elias's offensive upside, but he's kind of the opposite of Wood (in a good way). He generally understands where to be on the ice and he's not all that flashy. He's a guy I really hope can make a jump next season with more experience under his belt.

Have to be thankful to the Hockey gods for not getting swept by your biggest rival and having Arizona, Detroit and Vancouver all win to make the 2 points tolerable.

Nice to see Wood & Co. stand up for themselves too.

Sure it's kind of meaningless but it was still fun....

Bastian is a 6'4 2015 RW.
He was A captain for OHL All stars this year.
PLays on a line with NJD 1st round pick Mcleod .

big , strong power forward. 19yrs old .

The best part is Speers , Mcleod are BOTH RW....

Hall -Zajac - Mcleod
Henrique - Zacha - Speers
Quenneville - Blandisi - Palmieri
Wood -Coleman - Noesen

getting younger and better.

The best part is Speers , Mcleod are BOTH RW....

Hall -Zajac - Mcleod
Henrique - Zacha - Speers
Quenneville - Blandisi - Palmieri
Wood -Coleman - Noesen

getting younger and better.
- thechezman

Mcleod is a center and being big doesn't mean a whole lot if you can't produce in juniors.

Also Bastian didn't play on a line with Mcleod at all this season. Mcleod played a lot with Tippett, Spencer Watson, and I believe Trent Fox. Bastian has been playing center this season.

The best part is Speers , Mcleod are BOTH RW....

Hall -Zajac - Mcleod
Henrique - Zacha - Speers
Quenneville - Blandisi - Palmieri
Wood -Coleman - Noesen

getting younger and better.
- thechezman

It is unlikely that Palms will ever slot in below McLeod and certainly not Speers. You really see Noesen on this team long term?

Don't think he has Elias's offensive upside, but he's kind of the opposite of Wood (in a good way). He generally understands where to be on the ice and he's not all that flashy. He's a guy I really hope can make a jump next season with more experience under his belt.

-CaptCrankypants

I don't think anyone ever saw him as being nearly as skilled as Elias or having the potential to produce offensively similar to Elias.

From what I recall of the draft, he was seen as power forward type with top 6 potential, but not 1st line potential. Someone that has a ceiling of a 2nd line scoring winger that could put up 20-25 goals and 40-50 points. I personally saw him more as a Zubrus type player much more than anything close to the player Elias ever was. I'd see him as a success if he can become a middle 6 guy that can put up a stat line of 15-15-30 in a good year.

Mcleod is a center and being big doesn't mean a whole lot if you can't produce in juniors.

Also Bastian didn't play on a line with Mcleod at all this season. Mcleod played a lot with Tippett, Spencer Watson, and I believe Trent Fox. Bastian has been playing center this season.

-CaptCrankypants

Bastian is listed as a RW. He's definitely been used as a center at times this year, but he's a natural RW, was drafted as such, and when he makes the jump to play professionally, he'll almost surely be utilized as a RW seeing as that's where the organization lacks depth the most. On top of that, we actually have decent depth at center throughout the organization right now. We have Zajac, Henrique, Zacha, Blandisi, Josefson, Quenneville, Coleman all having gotten time NJ. Then you have Kujawinski in Albany along with Kevin Rooney. We also have McLeod, Gignac and Seney in their respective junior leagues and then lastly, you got Kerfoot in the NCAA, who hopefully signs an NHL contract once his season is over with Harvard despite the manufactured controversy over whether he'll hold out until after the August 15th deadline in order to become an NHL free agent.

15 15 in a good year? He nearly has that as a 19 year old rookie... you are clearly underestimating his offensive skills. I see him as a barkov/Kopitar light. His shot is great and with confidence you see him making good plays. He is very smart defensively as well. I say his potential is ok 1st line center top 2nd line center

15 15 in a good year? He nearly has that as a 19 year old rookie... you are clearly underestimating his offensive skills. I see him as a barkov/Kopitar light. His shot is great and with confidence you see him making good plays. He is very smart defensively as well. I say his potential is ok 1st line center top 2nd line center
- TwoPumpChump91

I was clearly referring to Nathan Bastian and his potential as an NHL player, which is whom CaptCrankypants was talking about.

Not sure why you think I'd be that down on Zacha, who has been looking much improved over the last month or so. I believe he is currently up to 5 consecutive games with a point now. He looks like hell end up with just shy of 25 points this year after barely producing anything during the middle of the season up until the end of January/early February. I think next year we could see him really start to improve and possibly put up 40+ points, maybe more depending on who he plays with and if he can find chemistry with some linemates.

I agree that he has 1C potential. I think he could put up a stat line of 25-45-70 in his best years if he reaches his full potential and is given elite players to play with. I'd be disappointed if he becomes anything less than a consistent 20-30-50 type player. I see him putting up 25-35-60 on a regular basis so long as he's not given anchors as linemates though.

Todd Cordell: Schneider, young guns shine as Devils avoid season sweep from Rangers
- Todd.Cordell

Really enjoyed watching the young guys play and put up a fight. However, most of that comment is geared towards the forwards. Our back end is older, slower, and not nearly as hopeful moving forward IMO.

Oh, and Schneids was a beast last night.

I don't think anyone ever saw him as being nearly as skilled as Elias or having the potential to produce offensively similar to Elias.

From what I recall of the draft, he was seen as power forward type with top 6 potential, but not 1st line potential. Someone that has a ceiling of a 2nd line scoring winger that could put up 20-25 goals and 40-50 points. I personally saw him more as a Zubrus type player much more than anything close to the player Elias ever was. I'd see him as a success if he can become a middle 6 guy that can put up a stat line of 15-15-30 in a good year.



Bastian is listed as a RW. He's definitely been used as a center at times this year, but he's a natural RW, was drafted as such, and when he makes the jump to play professionally, he'll almost surely be utilized as a RW seeing as that's where the organization lacks depth the most. On top of that, we actually have decent depth at center throughout the organization right now. We have Zajac, Henrique, Zacha, Blandisi, Josefson, Quenneville, Coleman all having gotten time NJ. Then you have Kujawinski in Albany along with Kevin Rooney. We also have McLeod, Gignac and Seney in their respective junior leagues and then lastly, you got Kerfoot in the NCAA, who hopefully signs an NHL contract once his season is over with Harvard despite the manufactured controversy over whether he'll hold out until after the August 15th deadline in order to become an NHL free agent.
- ATLL765

He's listed at RW, but on an interview with Devils Insiders last summer, their coach said he planned on playing him at center, and if you look at his stat line for the season, he's taken the 3rd most face-offs on the team. I agree it's likely he moves back to RW in the AHL, though.

On the center depth, I agree they have a good amount, although I like Henrique more as a LW, Quenneville is essentially a LW at this point, and who knows where Zacha ends up long-term. I think Kerfoot is a LW as well.

Very good to see the young players doing well

How is Bastian playing?

It's great seeing zacha perform when he is confident, hopefully he stays healthy, sometimes you see flashes of Elias in him
- dmarsden2988

What happened to Elias?!
Did he retire?
He was a great player.

What happened to Elias?!
Did he retire?
He was a great player.
- Sabresfan88

Not officially. He was supposed to make a come back early this year and it just dragged on and on with little to no updates other then he trains at prudential center and is working out and trying to be ready. He might make an appearance one last time ( although he likely wont top his last performance if he does want to go out on a good note ) fans do deserve to see Patty suit up for one more game to properly send him off

Not officially. He was supposed to make a come back early this year and it just dragged on and on with little to no updates other then he trains at prudential center and is working out and trying to be ready. He might make an appearance one last time ( although he likely wont top his last performance if he does want to go out on a good note ) fans do deserve to see Patty suit up for one more game to properly send him off
- blizzzard

He had his send off last year. Not sure I expect him to be back at all, pretty sure that decision had to be made by March 1st. He will be back when they retire his number obviously. Unless maybe he plans on getting ready and suiting up next season, who knows. Lingering injuries with older players is hard to gauge.