Todd Cordell: Devils drop battle of the backups, pick up 13th loss in 15 games

Now that he's putting the puck in with some regularity, it's hard not to like Zajac.

It's worth sucking no matter the draft class. Yes, you're talking about winning culture, but it's still worth it for any improvement in ceiling or chance at the top.

I'd be ok if they went winless to finish the season. Unfortunately, they play Philly twice, so I'll settle for going 2-7.

I'd be ok if they went winless to finish the season. Unfortunately, they play Philly twice, so I'll settle for going 2-7.
- CaptCrankypants

good point - agreed

While KK has put up remarkably similar numbers to Schneider this year he has been more inconsistent over the last two seasons. Last year when they needed him to take a heavy work load he really struggled. If the games are fairly meaningless why not give him more starts? If we ride Cory and he gets hurt people will lose their poop.

was on sportsnet.ca and they have an article on Hall up and I don't know if I like some of the things he is saying... I get he is under contract and we are under no obligation to trade him while he is under contract but what do you guys think about this :
“I just want to be on a good team,” he said. “Here in Jersey, the area’s great, great guys in this room, but I just want to be on a winning team. I want to be on a playoff team that has a chance to win a Cup here pretty soon.” ???

was on sportsnet.ca and they have an article on Hall up and I don't know if I like some of the things he is saying... I get he is under contract and we are under no obligation to trade him while he is under contract but what do you guys think about this :
“I just want to be on a good team,” he said. “Here in Jersey, the area’s great, great guys in this room, but I just want to be on a winning team. I want to be on a playoff team that has a chance to win a Cup here pretty soon.” ???
- blizzzard

Context? Was he saying that he feels Jersey is a place that can be competitive soon and he wants to help win, or is he saying I want to leave for a winning team?

was on sportsnet.ca and they have an article on Hall up and I don't know if I like some of the things he is saying... I get he is under contract and we are under no obligation to trade him while he is under contract but what do you guys think about this :
“I just want to be on a good team,” he said. “Here in Jersey, the area’s great, great guys in this room, but I just want to be on a winning team. I want to be on a playoff team that has a chance to win a Cup here pretty soon.” ???
- blizzzard

Can't blame him. I feel like we have to be right on the cusp by the time his contact is up or we'll have some serious decisions to make.

was on sportsnet.ca and they have an article on Hall up and I don't know if I like some of the things he is saying... I get he is under contract and we are under no obligation to trade him while he is under contract but what do you guys think about this :
“I just want to be on a good team,” he said. “Here in Jersey, the area’s great, great guys in this room, but I just want to be on a winning team. I want to be on a playoff team that has a chance to win a Cup here pretty soon.” ???
- blizzzard

Hate to disagree, but, I read that article, I think he was just being honest - and good for him. I hope all Devil players want to be on a winner and play meaningful games. I respect him more after reading that article.

was on sportsnet.ca and they have an article on Hall up and I don't know if I like some of the things he is saying... I get he is under contract and we are under no obligation to trade him while he is under contract but what do you guys think about this :
“I just want to be on a good team,” he said. “Here in Jersey, the area’s great, great guys in this room, but I just want to be on a winning team. I want to be on a playoff team that has a chance to win a Cup here pretty soon.” ???
- blizzzard

I can't blame him. I've always rolled my eyes a bit when people say NJ isn't an attractive team for free agents because it's a great place to live and has access to New York City. For years it was a well run organization and attracted a lot of players. Now? This team has been sucking pretty bad for 4 years now. We have a complete BS payroll, haven't signed a top free agent for quite a while. We are team building thru the draft that hasn't had a real standout draft pick to base that on. Anybody who's actually produced has been traded for picks like Stempniak or PAP (which is fine but we could use some players).

We've patched our D with cheap bottom pairing guys to the point we can't even shut teams down anymore. Fast, Attacking and Supportive is a myth. What the heck is supposed to make people want to stay here? Dino BBQ? An inexperienced coach with a crappy defensive scheme? The brilliance of cutting all ties to great past including running one of the greatest goalies in history to finish up with the Blues? This team has become a complete goat (frank). And if you think a good draft choice this year is going to give Taylor Hall the type of team he wants to play on your lying to yourself. Why stay here and watch your career die?

was on sportsnet.ca and they have an article on Hall up and I don't know if I like some of the things he is saying... I get he is under contract and we are under no obligation to trade him while he is under contract but what do you guys think about this :
“I just want to be on a good team,” he said. “Here in Jersey, the area’s great, great guys in this room, but I just want to be on a winning team. I want to be on a playoff team that has a chance to win a Cup here pretty soon.” ???
- blizzzard

Having players that don't want to be bad is a good thing.

I can't blame him. I've always rolled my eyes a bit when people say NJ isn't an attractive team for free agents because it's a great place to live and has access to New York City. For years it was a well run organization and attracted a lot of players. Now? This team has been sucking pretty bad for 4 years now. We have a complete BS payroll, haven't signed a top free agent for quite a while. We are team building thru the draft that hasn't had a real standout draft pick to base that on. Anybody who's actually produced has been traded for picks like Stempniak or PAP (which is fine but we could use some players).

We've patched our D with cheap bottom pairing guys to the point we can't even shut teams down anymore. Fast, Attacking and Supportive is a myth. What the heck is supposed to make people want to stay here? Dino BBQ? An inexperienced coach with a crappy defensive scheme? The brilliance of cutting all ties to great past including running one of the greatest goalies in history to finish up with the Blues? This team has become a complete goat (frank). And if you think a good draft choice this year is going to give Taylor Hall the type of team he wants to play on your lying to yourself. Why stay here and watch your career die?
- Queenie_5_hole

It takes time to rebuild. Shero inherited a pile of dog poo. Palmieri and Hall have been good additions. Shero needs to trade for a good young defensemen this offseason. He also needs to go hard after Shattenkirk. If he can manage both of those things it'll speed things up tremendously. I think that's his plan, too. He's been vocal about wanting to acquire more young players via trade.

I doubt he was poking at NJ team and more just about wanting to win...be somewhere, for the first time in his career, where he has a shot at really competing. Coming from Edmonton situation to NJ situation can't be easy.

I can't blame him. I've always rolled my eyes a bit when people say NJ isn't an attractive team for free agents because it's a great place to live and has access to New York City. For years it was a well run organization and attracted a lot of players. Now? This team has been sucking pretty bad for 4 years now. We have a complete BS payroll, haven't signed a top free agent for quite a while. We are team building thru the draft that hasn't had a real standout draft pick to base that on. Anybody who's actually produced has been traded for picks like Stempniak or PAP (which is fine but we could use some players).

We've patched our D with cheap bottom pairing guys to the point we can't even shut teams down anymore. Fast, Attacking and Supportive is a myth. What the heck is supposed to make people want to stay here? Dino BBQ? An inexperienced coach with a crappy defensive scheme? The brilliance of cutting all ties to great past including running one of the greatest goalies in history to finish up with the Blues? This team has become a complete goat (frank). And if you think a good draft choice this year is going to give Taylor Hall the type of team he wants to play on your lying to yourself. Why stay here and watch your career die?
- Queenie_5_hole

Also the payroll point is dumb. Free agency is a wasteland and signing old, declining players to big contracts is why the Devils are in this mess to begin with. Lou tried to patch the holes with duck tape (Clowe, Ryder, Havlat, Brunner, Cammalleri). We don't need more of that. If Shero had spent money in free agency we'd be a little less bad and have a lot less cap room for probably years down the road.

I make an exception for Shattenkirk because he's probably the best player going to hit free agency since Parise and Suter and the defense needs help so badly.

The payroll also gives the Devils the opportunity to use their cap space as an asset. Take a bad contract and get picks or prospects back for doing so.

So the payroll isn't a mess, it's a good thing. Don't be the person saying it just looks bad. Owners have deep pockets and there's no reason for them not to put more money into the team when it makes sense.

It takes time to rebuild. Shero inherited a pile of dog poo. Palmieri and Hall have been good additions. Shero needs to trade for a good young defensemen this offseason. He also needs to go hard after Shattenkirk. If he can manage both of those things it'll speed things up tremendously. I think that's his plan, too. He's been vocal about wanting to acquire more young players via trade.
- CaptCrankypants

really good article and its nice to see a player be so candid.


its extremely unfair that the devils organization is gonna bear the brunt of halls urgency to be on a good team after so many brutal years in edm. and while what u say about time to rebuild is totally true, i wonder how much thatll actually matter to him in the near future ?


id bet there'll be rumours or even potential trade requests if he finds himself in the same situation after next season.

that said, he was extremely loyal to edm regardless of the failures...

I think he is emotional and sometimes says things that make him maybe backtrack and reiterate like when he was firs traded here he didn't really say anything bad but he also wasn't exactly selling the excitment either. We need to get Fowler and or Ellis to better complete the spitfires team lol

Having players that don't want to be bad is a good thing.
- rmdevil313

I agree with that but should he be saying it ? Im not in the position to judge him but that stood out to me so I thought I would pass it on to you boys if you hadn't already seen it lol

I agree with that but should he be saying it ? Im not in the position to judge him but that stood out to me so I thought I would pass it on to you boys if you hadn't already seen it lol
- blizzzard

this

true or not, is it the right thing to say to the media?

how does it help make sheros job any easier? its not like he wasnt already aware. if anything its just added pressure to make immediate moves


or maybe its nothing

Also the payroll point is dumb. Free agency is a wasteland and signing old, declining players to big contracts is why the Devils are in this mess to begin with. Lou tried to patch the holes with duck tape (Clowe, Ryder, Havlat, Brunner, Cammalleri). We don't need more of that. If Shero had spent money in free agency we'd be a little less bad and have a lot less cap room for probably years down the road.

I make an exception for Shattenkirk because he's probably the best player going to hit free agency since Parise and Suter and the defense needs help so badly.

The payroll also gives the Devils the opportunity to use their cap space as an asset. Take a bad contract and get picks or prospects back for doing so.

So the payroll isn't a mess, it's a good thing. Don't be the person saying it just looks bad. Owners have deep pockets and there's no reason for them not to put more money into the team when it makes sense.
- CaptCrankypants

Certainly this team suffered a horrific run of bad free agent signings but it's not like there haven't been plenty of very good free agent signings in this league. Yeah, they're expensive and you usually don't get the top productive years but it's certainly one of the tools for building.

Having money to spend and having cap space is an asset. Ownership has demonstrated ZERO interest in spending money here or in Philly for the 76ers. Maybe Shero is signing guys like Schlemko, Moore and Lovejoy because ownership didn't want him to pony up their money for Goligoski or Yandle (or Shattenkirk).

With Lou Lams and Vanderbeek you knew you had guys who put the hockey first. Maybe to a fault. With the current ownership the attraction was the stadium (which they've said) and the jury is very much out about if they care about the on ice product or not.

was on sportsnet.ca and they have an article on Hall up and I don't know if I like some of the things he is saying... I get he is under contract and we are under no obligation to trade him while he is under contract but what do you guys think about this :
“I just want to be on a good team,” he said. “Here in Jersey, the area’s great, great guys in this room, but I just want to be on a winning team. I want to be on a playoff team that has a chance to win a Cup here pretty soon.” ???
- blizzzard

DOOMED

We will be a different looking team come September. Mark my words. Good times will come again.

We will be a different looking team come September. Mark my words. Good times will come again.
- SnipeDevil6

Additions:
Tomas Tatar
TJ Oshie
Cam Fowler
Shattenkirk

Additions:
Tomas Tatar
TJ Oshie
Cam Fowler
Shattenkirk


- SnipeDevil6

I got a crisp five dollar bill that says not one of those guys is in a Devi's sweater next season. Anyone in on that action?

I got a crisp five dollar bill that says not one of those guys is in a Devi's sweater next season. Anyone in on that action?
- Queenie_5_hole

Oh yeah. Big time

DOOMED
- shvingter88

never gets old