I think you should read what he wrote again, then reply with something that actually makes sense.
- rmdevil313

Just in case you don't recognize a little ribbing.. That's all it was... Relax there turbo.

How many 1st pick’s is Gary supposed to give you ??? You going for the Oil record ??
- dozerD10

We had Hall, it was our right. Seasons with Hall only have two outcomes, playoffs or lotto wins, there is no in between.

Hey Todd,

Now that the season is officially over for NJ, do you think they will decide on a GM/coach soon to get a head start on the draft, player evaluations for next year? If so, have you herd anything?

Doesn't make sense to keep interim tag on Fitzgerald unless they are leaning towards someone else. If they are leaning elsewhere, why delay hiring while we plan for draft / next year unless the person they are looking at is contractually bound to a team until they are eliminated from the playoffs.

Thanks for your insight.
- Devils622

Not sure if they'll decide on a coach soon or not, but they have been interviewing people, even some currently under contract. As for GM i expect the interim tag to be removed from Fitz eventually, as Friedman mentioned in his 31 thoughts a couple weeks ago that Fitz seems to be secure.

As for the draft, Fitz in his zoom call yesterday said they have already been having deep dives into the draft and prospects since back in March when the season shut down and have already been interviewing players over video call, so they're way out in front on that area. Back to our team, he also said that they will start doing player and coach evaluations now that the season is officially finished for us. So he seems to be on top of everything.

All in all they dont really need to make a coaching decisions any time soon because we're still likely 4-5 months away from any franchise decisions needing to be made(aka the draft), so there isnt really any rush. I'd like them to get it done sooner rather than later, but the next few months are going to be dead months for the team

Just in case you don't recognize a little ribbing.. That's all it was... Relax there turbo.
- dozerD10

No I do, but its usually funnier if it actually makes sense with the comment you quote, which is why I told you to give it another try.

Not sure if they'll decide on a coach soon or not, but they have been interviewing people, even some currently under contract. As for GM i expect the interim tag to be removed from Fitz eventually, as Friedman mentioned in his 31 thoughts a couple weeks ago that Fitz seems to be secure.

As for the draft, Fitz in his zoom call yesterday said they have already been having deep dives into the draft and prospects since back in March when the season shut down and have already been interviewing players over video call, so they're way out in front on that area. Back to our team, he also said that they will start doing player and coach evaluations now that the season is officially finished for us. So he seems to be on top of everything.

All in all they dont really need to make a coaching decisions any time soon because we're still likely 4-5 months away from any franchise decisions needing to be made(aka the draft), so there isnt really any rush. I'd like them to get it done sooner rather than later, but the next few months are going to be dead months for the team
- vlongo4419

I agree. Everything I read points to Fitz staying which is why I question that he is still interim. Due diligence with coach is great but a coach like Gallant may be turned off by being interviewed by interim GM. He has had some rough firings so taking a job from a guy that the owners don’t want to commit to may be a gamble he doesn’t want to make.

I agree. Everything I read points to Fitz staying which is why I question that he is still interim. Due diligence with coach is great but a coach like Gallant may be turned off by being interviewed by interim GM. He has had some rough firings so taking a job from a guy that the owners don’t want to commit to may be a gamble he doesn’t want to make.
- Devils622

Definitely agree. If Fitz is their guy, which pretty much every sign is pointing towards that, then just remove the interim tag. I know Fitz doesnt care about having the tag, but it could absolutely play a role in having someone like Gallant want to come coach here or not.

On Gallant, do we know if hes good with young teams? I feel like hes usually with more establisbed teams. Maybe Florida was younger?

On Gallant, do we know if hes good with young teams? I feel like hes usually with more establisbed teams. Maybe Florida was younger?
- MartysBetter88

From everything i've read about him he'd be very good for a team with young players because he's a players coach. He has a set plan/structure that he wants his team to play towards, and can get tough when he needs to, but he usually loosens the reigns a bit and lets the players be free and play their style. I think he'll be good for a guy like Jack in that while he will want him to be responsible without the puck, he'll get him in the right positions to succeed and give him the leeway to just let him go and do his thing. It seems like he just knows how to get the best out of his players

Ultimately, it is fair in that the odds are not changed and the Devils are not really hurt by this at all. That said, it is disappointing that the NHL was perfectly fine in changing the draft system to take away our chance of winning the top pick without any reservation BUT doesn't want to remove the 8 additional playoff teams from the lottery.

The bottom 7 teams are getting Richard. We don't get to see our team play again and we were NOT eliminated from earning a playoff spot when the season ended. Montreal is in but they were arguably more of a tire fire then us. I know you have to draw the line somewhere but if you are going to draw that line to benefit a bunch of teams shouldn't we get some benefit as well?

The benefit is Gary Bettman didn't screw us more.
- Queenie_5_hole

The real question is what happens to our plethora of excellent pending draft picks. What does Van have to accomplish for us to retain their 1st in the upcoming draft (I doubt many will argue that their current pick will be a higher selection then Tampa's 1st next year). Obviously we retain Foote, and the dev's still qualifying for the Lottery is fantastic.

Then there is the Vat's trade with many variables. He hasn't even played a single game and was traded while injured. I could see that being a contentious matter

In my opinion, they should have closed out the total 82 game season, and had a best of 3 1st rd, best of 5 second rd, best of 5 conference final, and best of 7 Stanley final. The teams deserving to playin post season would qualify, and the fate rest in those franchises hands. Allowing 24 teams is a touch rediculess, and this would have resolved all the wildly stipulated trade constraints. But eh, at least hockey will be back!

If the Devils get 1OA pick, we all know they are gonna pick the wrong guy just like Nico and Jack.
- Itsjustarash

Nico>Patrick
Hughes>Kakko

I am not complaining. If Van had that pick, they'd of done the same thing. Petterson may be the best of Nico's draft class, and at 6th he was a steal. But only time will tell. Keep trolling tho bud. Hopefully we get someone good with your Canucks 1st rd selection this draft!

From everything i've read about him he'd be very good for a team with young players because he's a players coach. He has a set plan/structure that he wants his team to play towards, and can get tough when he needs to, but he usually loosens the reigns a bit and lets the players be free and play their style. I think he'll be good for a guy like Jack in that while he will want him to be responsible without the puck, he'll get him in the right positions to succeed and give him the leeway to just let him go and do his thing. It seems like he just knows how to get the best out of his players
- vlongo4419

so it would make sense to throw the kitchen sink at him.. since most of our players that matter are young and developing into what would benefit the franchise -owners- to be super productive franchise players capable of perennial playoff births/revenue.. right?

so it would make sense to throw the kitchen sink at him.. since most of our players that matter are young and developing into what would benefit the franchise -owners- to be super productive franchise players capable of perennial playoff births/revenue.. right?
- MartysBetter88

Absolutely. If the owners are serious about wanting to compete and get this franchise back to consistently being at the top of the division and making deep playoffs runs then i'd overpay the hell out of him if it would get him here. Get him in here, let him implement his system, and let this team grow together under him

Wow, Guerin went 5th overall? I didn’t remember that. He has something in common with Zacha.....high first rounder for a 3rd liner (2nd line tweener)
- Crushers68

Comparing Zacha to Guerin is horrible. No offense. Guerin was a very frequent higt 20's goal scorer. Hit 30 a couple times and even put up 41 one year. He was tough and a fiery competitor. Vastly superior player to Zacha.

The only more successful player form Guerin's draft class in the first round is Mats Sundin taken first overall. The only first round all star players in that draft are Bobby Holik (drafted by the Whalers) and Olaf Kolzig.

Interestingly the other stand out players in 1985 draft were Niklas Lindstrom taken 3rd round/53rd, Sergei Fedorov 4th round/74th and Pavel Bure taken round 3th/113th overall. In addition to Lindstrom and Fedorov Detroit also nabbed Vladimir Kostantinov in the 11th round at 221 overall. Talk about a franchise altering draft....

Still the point is Billy G was a good pick and a hell of a player... and a bit of douche bag for forcing Lou Lams to trade him. I was at one of his last Devil games and you could tell he just refused to put any effort into playing.

Comparing Zacha to Guerin is horrible. No offense. Guerin was a very frequent higt 20's goal scorer. Hit 30 a couple times and even put up 41 one year. He was tough and a fiery competitor. Vastly superior player to Zacha.

The only more successful player form Guerin's draft class in the first round is Mats Sundin taken first overall. The only first round all star players in that draft are Bobby Holik (drafted by the Whalers) and Olaf Kolzig.

Interestingly the other stand out players in 1985 draft were Niklas Lindstrom taken 3rd round/53rd, Sergei Fedorov 4th round/74th and Pavel Bure taken round 3th/113th overall. In addition to Lindstrom and Fedorov Detroit also nabbed Vladimir Kostantinov in the 11th round at 221 overall. Talk about a franchise altering draft....

Still the point is Billy G was a good pick and a hell of a player... and a bit of douche bag for forcing Lou Lams to trade him. I was at one of his last Devil games and you could tell he just refused to put any effort into playing.
- Queenie_5_hole

You could be right. My point was, Billy always left me wanting more just like Zacha. Plus his contract demands were ridiculous to me at the time

Friedman just released a new 31 thoughts, talked about our GM and coaching situation:

9. Buffalo owner Kim Pegula announced this week that GM Jason Botterill will return. I checked in on New Jersey, but the Devils are not yet ready to make any proclamations. Interim GM Tom Fitzgerald said earlier this week that “the organization has been fantastic to me. They are allowing me to be the GM of this team, whether it’s an interim tag or not.”

But I do think ownership is continuing its search at the executive level. Admittedly, I find it hard to read and am not sure about where this will go. Personally, I feel that, at some point, you have to make your call and end the uncertainty.

10. As for the coaching search, word is the Devils are eyeing at least four candidates. I believe that includes incumbent Alain Nasreddine, along with Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette and John Stevens. There may be one more. The wrinkle here is that Fitzgerald did the initial interviews, and will any of them want him as their boss should they be choice? It’s also possible ownership will want a conversation before any decision is made. It’s a unique time to try and hire someone.

Friedman just released a new 31 thoughts, talked about our GM and coaching situation:

9. Buffalo owner Kim Pegula announced this week that GM Jason Botterill will return. I checked in on New Jersey, but the Devils are not yet ready to make any proclamations. Interim GM Tom Fitzgerald said earlier this week that “the organization has been fantastic to me. They are allowing me to be the GM of this team, whether it’s an interim tag or not.”

But I do think ownership is continuing its search at the executive level. Admittedly, I find it hard to read and am not sure about where this will go. Personally, I feel that, at some point, you have to make your call and end the uncertainty.

10. As for the coaching search, word is the Devils are eyeing at least four candidates. I believe that includes incumbent Alain Nasreddine, along with Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette and John Stevens. There may be one more. The wrinkle here is that Fitzgerald did the initial interviews, and will any of them want him as their boss should they be choice? It’s also possible ownership will want a conversation before any decision is made. It’s a unique time to try and hire someone.
- vlongo4419

TBH the holdup for someone like Gallant could be that he doesn't know who the next GM will be. Definitely seems like our team would be interesting for Gallant to work with, but there is a lack of direction with this organization right now with no leadership and possibly an ownership group that is too involved with the hockey side of things.

You could be right. My point was, Billy always left me wanting more just like Zacha. Plus his contract demands were ridiculous to me at the time
- Crushers68

The contract thing was definitely out of hand at a time when players really didn't have the same leverage they have now. Billy was a tough guy to deal with from an organizational perspective. I was pissed we had to trade him but I liked Jason Arnott.

TBH the holdup for someone like Gallant could be that he doesn't know who the next GM will be. Definitely seems like our team would be interesting for Gallant to work with, but there is a lack of direction with this organization right now with no leadership and possibly an ownership group that is too involved with the hockey side of things.
- rmdevil313

Yeah, no idea what is up with this ownership group.

I'd expect them to try and make some real progress in naming a GM and hiring a coach since there is nothing else going on. But outside of firing Shero and saying they want to win sooner it doesn't seem like they've done dinky doo.

Stating the obvious, but I really hope we hit with the Vancouver pick, and/or Foote becomes at least a GOOD 3rd line player. Was watching some Coleman video, and the guy emerged as the perfect 3rd line player, let alone the perfect 3rd line player for our particular team. AND he could spot on the top lines if needed. Yes, he probably would've only had 45 points this year, his 3rd full NHL season. Yea he'll be 29 in November, but he would've given us potentially 6+ more years of at least 45 points/season + leadership role + physical play. We know Foote is decent, but the skating concerns me, same with Bahl. meh. And what's with phase 2 of the lottery? Why not stop after 1? If play-in team "F" wins the a lotto, then why have another draft with the other play-in teams that didn't win? If you end up finishing the play-in round at slot F, that's what you earned. The lotto is random anyway, so you randomly earned slot F, when there's a chance you shouldn't have even been in the lottery in the first place!!!----potential Penguins! Maybe I'm missing something.

Stating the obvious, but I really hope we hit with the Vancouver pick, and/or Foote becomes at least a GOOD 3rd line player. Was watching some Coleman video, and the guy emerged as the perfect 3rd line player, let alone the perfect 3rd line player for our particular team. AND he could spot on the top lines if needed. Yes, he probably would've only had 45 points this year, his 3rd full NHL season. Yea he'll be 29 in November, but he would've given us potentially 6+ more years of at least 45 points/season + leadership role + physical play. We know Foote is decent, but the skating concerns me, same with Bahl. meh. And what's with phase 2 of the lottery? Why not stop after 1? If play-in team "F" wins the a lotto, then why have another draft with the other play-in teams that didn't win? If you end up finishing the play-in round at slot F, that's what you earned. The lotto is random anyway, so you randomly earned slot F, when there's a chance you shouldn't have even been in the lottery in the first place!!!----potential Penguins! Maybe I'm missing something.
- MartysBetter88

Foote will become a 3rd line guy at the very least, and sooner than you think. His skating is better than it looks (must big guys have a lumbering appearance). On the PP he will be a serious threat. Yes, Coleman was an outstanding 3rd line guy for us. He did it all, and never took a night off. I miss him, but that trade return was simply too good.
Bahl, certainly has a high ceiling in terms of physicality and shutdown ability, but he certainly needs to develop in the AHL. Hopefully he can play a large role for Bing next season.
And ya, the lottery system is going to be very interesting. If the top goalie prospect Askarov, is available, would you consider using the canucks pick on him? 1st goalies taken in drafts go back from Spencer Knight, Olaf Lindbom, Jake Oettinger, Carter Hart, iilya samsanov, Thatcher Demko, Zach Fucale, Andrei Vasilevskei, John Gibson, Jack Campbell, Mikko Koskinen..... Considering most goalies take a few years to develop, I would ignore the first 2-3 years, but after that it looks like a risk worth taking!

On principle, I hate that I'm rooting against the Pens if this playoff tournament comes to pass. The Habs, 10pts out of a playoff spot with 11 games to play, have NO business being able to knock a 40-23-6 team out of contending for the Cup. They had 71 regular season games to do that and failed. Go swing golf clubs. It will be an absolute travesty if they do. But we need them to in case AZ loses their matchup. Every spot matters. Maybe the NHL did it this way because the gap in the West from 12th to 8th seed is closer at 7pts, so technically Chicago would have a chance.. with their 12 games to play.. but with 3 teams ahead of them it's so unrealistic regardless.
The tourny should be seeds 6 through 11, not 5-12.
Even looking at the point differences between 5th and 6th seed teams.. FIVE pts between 6th seed Preds and 5th Oilers, and FIVE pts between 6th seed Hurricanes and 5th seed Penguins. The Penguins and Oilers are being shat on with this format.

And the response is- well if they're so much better then they should just beat the 12th seed teams and all is fine.. if the crappy team beats them then they deserve to win! No.. no.. because everyone is coming off 2+ months of no hockey/momentum. This best of 5 is a complete crapshoot.
I think star-power will prevail.. but so will teams who's players have taken the best care of themselves in the time off. Veteran experience will help too. The only way the Habs beat Pitt is by some bounces OR their younger guys are just fleeter of foot, OR Price steals it. I just see their defense getting skated over by the Pens. What's Guentzel's status?? he should be back for this right?
Chicago vs. Edmonton will be more interesting, but again.. Chicago shouldn't even be in this thing, and Edmonton shouldn't have to play their way into the playoffs.. they already did that during the 70-game regular season!

ridiculous. Should be 6-11 seeds. ..but hey, this gives us the opportunity to get an even better pick from Arizona, though it could likely be a worse pick. something to root for.
I'm looking forward to watching.. it's just such a sham for those 5th seed teams.

Can the Devils fans stop responding to the non Dev fans, they come in here once a year around the draft or when a star is traded like they know something about are team, just ignore them.

Can the Devils fans stop responding to the non Dev fans, they come in here once a year around the draft or when a star is traded like they know something about are team, just ignore them.
- cu45161

It's almost like it's an open forum or something.