he's a guy who wears a suit in his twitter picture to make him seem legit and he just steals other stuff from people on twitter then speculates as if it's fact.
- Pomegrant

Like i said, he has his sources and has been right on things in the past while being the first to report them. He's not as accurate as the big boys, but hes not like Ek either lol. Lets give Friedman poop too, because he fell for it as well.

Like i said, he has his sources and has been right on things in the past while being the first to report them. He's not as accurate as the big boys, but hes not like Ek either lol. Lets give Friedman poop too, because he fell for it as well.
- vlongo4419

true, true. shame on him because that account has "parody" in the description lol.

true, true. shame on him because that account has "parody" in the description lol.
- Pomegrant

Yeah definitely. He was probably just scrolling through twitter fast and didnt fully look into it. I guess someone told him because after a minute or two he deleted it lol

Yup trade him and vatanen

Get all the first rounders possible
- shvingter88

I say keep Palms going into next season. If we can acquire another 1st for Vats, thats plenty. Palms will likely fetch a 1st at next years deadline, and who the heck would round off our 4 RW's without palms in the lineup???? Even with Palms its a weak RW that will force some Lefty's to that side:

Gusev Hisch Palms
Boq Hughes Bratt
Wood Zacha Merkley
Seney Zajac Hayden/Rooney

Clearly the Dev's will need to target a UFA or two, and hope for Foote, or one of our upcoming draft picks to be NHL ready. Just can't imagine shipping Palms at this point in time.

I want to watch tonight to see Hirschier with Hughes. But Domingue is in goal. Tough decision.

I want to watch tonight to see Hirschier with Hughes. But Domingue is in goal. Tough decision.
- devilspep

I give you permission to skip the game and watch highlights.

Louis Domingue vs. St. Louis is 0-2-0 with a 3.86 GAA.

Small sample but he stinks.

John Hayden back in because this team has more tank in it than the Camden
Aquarium.

Devils sleep with the fishes.
- Queenie_5_hole

Dev's are 3-14-3 when any goalie not named Blackwood gets the start. Devs are currently 28th, but I think Loius can help us get to 29 or 30th.

Dev's are 3-14-3 when any goalie not named Blackwood gets the start. Devs are currently 28th, but I think Loius can help us get to 29 or 30th.
- bikeguy99

We wont catch Detroit for bottom. But could be second to last!

We wont catch Detroit for bottom. But could be second to last!
- Leniwm1

Doubt it. Kings and Sens are definitely worse than us and SJ is on their way too.

The more I think about it, the more I like the Coleman trade. Foote AND what could be 20th overall. So many teams to watch now.. .root for AZ to lose, VAN to make the playoffs, other bottom teams to win.. and whatever other picks we get for Vatanen and Simmonds.

which is why I'm keeping Palms unless the return is a near guaranteed 60pt prospect. .. or Byram. Otherwise, I see no harm in keeping everything Palmieri brings for the top line RW to go with Hischier. Him and Hischier work well together, and we're trying to build around Nico and Hughes, so why not keep a 30g winger that has some grit to his game? We have Gusev for the 2nd line.. Palmieri for the top line.. then kids literally EVERYWHERE else except for Zajac. The return for Palmieri has to be greater than what we're giving up, or at least projected to be greater. I don't want a 20th overall pick that may not be as good in his prime as even a 34 year old Palmieri that could help us win a Cup. It's playing the odds and doing the math, in my opinion.

Coleman is a more understandable move, Vats too.. but Palmieri is a guy I think we should keep.
- MartysBetter88

Agree completely. I like Todd’s writing a lot, but he seems to be pushing this idea that every player loses their value as soon as they hit 30. Palmieri is an extremely consistent scorer and exactly the kind of guy we’d want on the roster. If he’s a free agent in 18 months and we have to give him more than he might be worth moving forward, so what? We’re going to be one of the lower payroll teams anyway. it’s not like he’s gonna be looking for 8m/year.

It’s nice the Devils have three 1s at the moment, but I’d rather have Palmieri moving forward than another one, especially if it’s from a playoff team. Coleman was much less proven and was a good sell high candidate, even if I’m sad to see him go. Palmieri just wouldn’t make sense.

Agree completely. I like Todd’s writing a lot, but he seems to be pushing this idea that every player loses their value as soon as they hit 30. Palmieri is an extremely consistent scorer and exactly the kind of guy we’d want on the roster. If he’s a free agent in 18 months and we have to give him more than he might be worth moving forward, so what? We’re going to be one of the lower payroll teams anyway. it’s not like he’s gonna be looking for 8m/year.

It’s nice the Devils have three 1s at the moment, but I’d rather have Palmieri moving forward than another one, especially if it’s from a playoff team. Coleman was much less proven and was a good sell high candidate, even if I’m sad to see him go. Palmieri just wouldn’t make sense.
- Sashamook

At age 30 I'd give Palmieri 6mil/5yrs.. without thinking too much into it.

man.. remember when we signed Brian Rolston instead of Gionta? Good times lol.

It's because Lou's scouting did almost nothing for the majority of his time here outside of a few great franchise players. We already have a lot of promising young players coming up through the system in the time Shero was here than in the last 10 years of Lou.
- Pomegrant

Real question: do the Devils have much more promising talent than they did under Lou? Or are we just sufficiently removed from Lou that we can now see how many of his picks were busts, while few of Shero’s picks have played long enough to earn that title? I have no idea if there were high expectations for Josefson or Quenneville or Matteau early on. I think there were for Larsson and Merrill, but I could be wrong.

I would have hoped that, after 5 years under Shero, some of those promising young players would have actually made the jump to being NHL good.
Nico has been great from the start and keeps getting better but part of the reason he started so strong is because he got to play with two high quality players in Hall and Palmieri. The Devils are no longer able to bring a guy up and put him in a position to succeed, especially if they trade Palms.

To be clear, I am NOT saying that Shero’s picks are busts. Just that they have not yet proven they won’t be. The Devils haven’t been great at developing young talent for more than a decade, so if guys haven’t shown anything yet, I’m skeptical they’ll be able to grow much in our system, but maybe that’s unfair.

I also don’t think it’s great that most of our young guys will already be onto their third NHL coach this offseason, but that’s a different issue.

Here is a not so much fun fact about the Devils lack of ability to scout and draft wisely.

Since the 2005 NHL draft there has been only 4 players drafted by the New Jersey Devils that have amassed 100 total NHL points.

Honestly this stat blew my mind and if we ever wonder why we are where we are as an organization this says it all.
- Shadyron

5, and Nico needs one point and then it’s 6. Not that that’s any better.

Trade wood for a 3rd
Vats for a 2nd and promising d prospect
Palms for a first, conditional 3rd (becomes a 2nd if team wins cup) and top prospect

And that gets the devils 4 first round picks and back into rounds 2 and 3.

Of course every player drafted is a bust. DOOMED.

Real question: do the Devils have much more promising talent than they did under Lou? Or are we just sufficiently removed from Lou that we can now see how many of his picks were busts, while few of Shero’s picks have played long enough to earn that title? I have no idea if there were high expectations for Josefson or Quenneville or Matteau early on. I think there were for Larsson and Merrill, but I could be wrong.

I would have hoped that, after 5 years under Shero, some of those promising young players would have actually made the jump to being NHL good.
Nico has been great from the start and keeps getting better but part of the reason he started so strong is because he got to play with two high quality players in Hall and Palmieri. The Devils are no longer able to bring a guy up and put him in a position to succeed, especially if they trade Palms.

To be clear, I am NOT saying that Shero’s picks are busts. Just that they have not yet proven they won’t be. The Devils haven’t been great at developing young talent for more than a decade, so if guys haven’t shown anything yet, I’m skeptical they’ll be able to grow much in our system, but maybe that’s unfair.

I also don’t think it’s great that most of our young guys will already be onto their third NHL coach this offseason, but that’s a different issue.
- Sashamook

Yes, we were one of the worst organizations in terms of prospect pool if not the worst. The "first" Shero draft is still controlled by Lou and why we ended up with Zacha, who by the way is a consistent NHL player. The other players are still 22 and younger, but we've had Bratt crack the lineup too. Sure, getting 1st overall picks playing in the lineup makes it obvious that the draft is better, but think about how many of the other 1st round picks before Lou actually became NHL players. It's not many.

In the past we traded picks away because we didn't have a good scouting department and what we did draft was bad. Already we have multiple players being NHL contributors and a lot of solid prospects in the pipeline. When did Lou trade away depreciating assets to get young prospects? Almost never.

Yes, we were one of the worst organizations in terms of prospect pool if not the worst. The "first" Shero draft is still controlled by Lou and why we ended up with Zacha, who by the way is a consistent NHL player. The other players are still 22 and younger, but we've had Bratt crack the lineup too. Sure, getting 1st overall picks playing in the lineup makes it obvious that the draft is better, but think about how many of the other 1st round picks before Lou actually became NHL players. It's not many.

In the past we traded picks away because we didn't have a good scouting department and what we did draft was bad. Already we have multiple players being NHL contributors and a lot of solid prospects in the pipeline. When did Lou trade away depreciating assets to get young prospects? Almost never.
- Pomegrant

I really enjoyed Lou trading down for tedenby and jj and nothing to show for it

I really enjoyed Lou trading down for tedenby and jj and nothing to show for it
- shvingter88

yup. trade down for an extra 3rd and get nothing.

I feel like we look really really bad.

I feel like we look really really bad.
- MartysBetter88

Should be a fun 3 years.

I feel like we look really really bad.
- MartysBetter88

Relax, Butcher is out, more minutes for Mueller!

Relax, Butcher is out, more minutes for Mueller!
- smellmyfinger

Mueller is the solution!

Should be a fun 3 years.
- rmdevil313

i was thinking just next year, but didn't want to be melodramatic.. you're probably not wrong. .. especially if 80% of our forwards are 24 and under with no actual NHL talent to learn from. . but who knows what will happen.

i was thinking just next year, but didn't want to be melodramatic.. you're probably not wrong. .. especially if 80% of our forwards are 24 and under with no actual NHL talent to learn from. . but who knows what will happen.
- MartysBetter88

Well Hischier, Hughes, Blackwood and Zajac are the only ones that have good odds on being here after 3 seasons, so thats a lot of holes to fill.

she's always smiling