Ruff benched him for the end of the 1st because he got lazy on defensive coverage that lead to a goal. Nothing to do with his offensive play driving, which is what im talking about. Its fine if youre ignorant to the facts
- vlongo4419

NJD should've just drafted Kakko

Ruff benched him for the end of the 1st because he got lazy on defensive coverage that lead to a goal. Nothing to do with his offensive play driving, which is what im talking about. Its fine if youre ignorant to the facts
- vlongo4419

We can revisit this conversation at the end of the season. He is tracking for a sub .4 PPG average this season. You can tell me how efficient he is at "driving the offense" when our team in general is amongst the lowest scoring in the league, and Hughes will have an exponentially lower PPG than any other 1st line center in the league. He doesn't score. He doesn't have assists. Somehow he is driving the offense.

Not a surprise but Ghost clears waivers

We can revisit this conversation at the end of the season. He is tracking for a sub .4 PPG average this season. You can tell me how efficient he is at "driving the offense" when our team in general is amongst the lowest scoring in the league, and Hughes will have an exponentially lower PPG than any other 1st line center in the league. He doesn't score. He doesn't have assists. Somehow he is driving the offense.
- WayneZ

Dude you keep bringing up his PPG average when talking about driving the offense, and that's literally irrelevant. He is literally top 2 on the team in cf%, top 2 in xgf%, #1 in scf%, top 5 in hdcf%, and is the best shot contributor almost every single game. Thats literally the definition of driving offense. Bratt is the only player on the team who is even close to him. Not to mention, his transition numbers are elite and among the best in the league. You bringing up his PPG average is showing how unlucky and snakebitten him and his linemates have been, I mean he last night alone he set up Palms for 3 Grade A chances alone and Palms didnt bury any of them. Thats how its been for him all season long.

Does Jack need to be better? Yes of course, and he's only going to continue getting better(HES STILL ONLY 19, and has already shown growth from last season to this) but he also needs better shooting talent around him. To say hes not driving offense is just being ignorant to suite your narrative that he's not going to be elite like everybody thinks, which is also false. These numbers show that he is ready to explode offensively once we actually get shooters on this team.

We can revisit this conversation at the end of the season. He is tracking for a sub .4 PPG average this season. You can tell me how efficient he is at "driving the offense" when our team in general is amongst the lowest scoring in the league, and Hughes will have an exponentially lower PPG than any other 1st line center in the league. He doesn't score. He doesn't have assists. Somehow he is driving the offense.
- WayneZ

Ya can't get on these rookies too much. Hughes and Kakko have played 3/4 of a season last year, and the past 12 months has been a shiiiit show w/ this Covid. Wierd offseason, non existant training camp, no fans, inner division play only, etc....AND you can't make a true judgement on a player for at least 2-3 full seasons in NHL. As long as they are improving, that is all you can really ask. At least Kakko is playing w/ some studs right now, and go figure, he's starting to make an impact. No offense, but Hughes isn't exactly playing w/ any top talent..is he?

He's had a slower start to his career than many anticipated, but he's still trending upwards. He's a lot like Hischier in that when he's on the ice, the Devils generate a lot more scoring chances. It's not like he's invisible... you basically know it every time he's on the ice. He's a presence for sure. He's just not NHL lethal, yet.

TBH, the guy he had the best chemistry with this year is Miles Wood, but the Devils are convinced that Wood shouldn't be in the top six. Once the team sheds its ridiculous player politics, they'll finally match Hughes up with two grunts that support his play. Wood and McLeod are the two best grunts on this team aside Zacha, but Zacha is the team's monkey wrench now. This is probably Zacha's final form: a guy you shift up and down your line-up if you have injuries.

The kid's got star talent, zero doubt about that... the amount of penalties he draws alone justifies how much he annoys other teams with his buzzing around, but once he's well complemented, he's going to explode in production. We saw signs of it early in the season when he was playing with Wood during the whole taxi squad chaos.

The biggest mistake the team is making is putting Bratt with him. The two are too similar in play style in that they're both better with the puck on their stick than they are with it not on their stick. I get that Bratt is a pretty good pinball peg (catching passes well and dishing it well), but them two lack scoring.

I like Bratt's skill game, and he's real slick, but to be honest, you can't have a successful NHL team with Bratt, Hischier, and Hughes in your top six unless one of them suddenly develops a lethal wrist shot. (If Hughes developed a lot more zip on his shot, he's the best candidate). One of them has to go. Bratt would be the odd man out.
- archromat

Whether you look at Corsi, xgf, or actual gf Wood is arguably the worst line mate for Hughes.

Dude you keep bringing up his PPG average when talking about driving the offense, and that's literally irrelevant. He is literally top 2 on the team in cf%, top 2 in xgf%, #1 in scf%, top 5 in hdcf%, and is the best shot contributor almost every single game. Thats literally the definition of driving offense. Bratt is the only player on the team who is even close to him. Not to mention, his transition numbers are elite and among the best in the league. You bringing up his PPG average is showing how unlucky and snakebitten him and his linemates have been, I mean he last night alone he set up Palms for 3 Grade A chances alone and Palms didnt bury any of them. Thats how its been for him all season long.

Does Jack need to be better? Yes of course, and he's only going to continue getting better(HES STILL ONLY 19, and has already shown growth from last season to this) but he also needs better shooting talent around him. To say hes not driving offense is just being ignorant to suite your narrative that he's not going to be elite like everybody thinks, which is also false. These numbers show is that he is ready to explode offensively once we actually get shooters on this team.
- vlongo4419

This!!

Idk who hurt the guy posting negative stuff about Hughes but he needs some help ASAP

We can revisit this conversation at the end of the season. He is tracking for a sub .4 PPG average this season. You can tell me how efficient he is at "driving the offense" when our team in general is amongst the lowest scoring in the league, and Hughes will have an exponentially lower PPG than any other 1st line center in the league. He doesn't score. He doesn't have assists. Somehow he is driving the offense.
- WayneZ

I mean you could put prime Gomez in Hughes spot and we’d probably be looking at the same team. Hughes gets the puck in the attacking zone, he created chances, and yes he gets pushed off the puck sometimes too but the good far outweighs the bad. On top of that, this stretch since we came back in February is by far the toughest stretch these players have ever and will ever face. Young players need time to practice and we have no time to fix problems other than in-game.

This isn't in the context of yesterdays game. Baby Marchand was just being a poop disturber and that fine. But if you want to defend a guy who turned Mojo's brains into tapioca for absolutely no reason after the play was over on a blindside hit, your an idiot. He got 5 games for that and Mojo lost most of a season and had lingering effects longer.

Yes, Wilson has been suspended a lot because he is a complete POS dirty player.
The fact these guys are actually productive doesn't make them any less dangerous.
https://www.bing.com/vide...AE0BB9C1817D&&FORM=VDRVSR

This is not an acceptable hockey play. Stop blaming the victims.

If you make contact with someone's shoulder while targeting their head it doesn't make it a legal play. That's an idiotic argument. These are hits intended to injure players. It's retarded.
- Queenie_5_hole

I too hate losing, but I hate crying after a loss even more. We didn't show up physically, or mentally. Marchand did, and won in every category last night. Our problem is internal, and we need a guy like Marchand to spark our boys. The special teams sucked, and we let a tiny guy embarrass us physically too boot. Not acceptable, but the problem is internal. Stop blaming guys like Marchand, and start raising your expectations for how our boys respond. Don't like Marchand, then score when he is in the box, or beat the bark off him. Playing the victim is something I can't tolerate.

He isn't driving the offense. He was producing at a .34 PPG rate in his rookie season, and he is at .47 PPG through 34 games this season. Keep in mind, this is our "first line" center getting 1st unit PP time. Whether you just watch him on a shift to shift basis or you look at the numbers, he is pretty disappointing. The kid is fast and that is not debatable. The problem is he has terrible hockey sense. He loses the puck every time he tries to stick handle into the zone, he makes errant and ill-advised passes, he floats around the perimeter completely afraid of contact, he shoots the puck directly into defenders time and time again, and he is a defensive liability. He is weak on the draw, he does not have an NHL caliber shot, he is knocked off his feet nearly every single shift, and he simply isn't producing. Trust me, I want to the kid to be a star but, I'm looking at this strictly from a non-fan perspective. And I know he is young but so are Janne, Smith, and Sharangovich and they are all producing and excelling at their respective roles. Jack is 94% hype and 6% living up to that hype thus far in his career. I really hope he evolves into something greater but the numbers don't lie. He is exponentially closer to being the next Nails Yakupov than Austin Mathews.
- WayneZ

Jack is vastly improved from last season. His possession is up, his points are up, and he is showing steady growth. It's a great year to make some mistakes and learn. If we could finally get Nico back in action, his match-ups would be more favorable as well. We keep praising Zacha, while Hughes remains 14 points ahead in the +/-, and trails Zacha only by 3 assists. Zacha has 4 more seasons of working on his game, and hasn't shown a growth rate anywhere near Hughes only off-season. My only knock on the kid is his face-off. It is beyond disgusting at 34%.

I too hate losing, but I hate crying after a loss even more. We didn't show up physically, or mentally. Marchand did, and won in every category last night. Our problem is internal, and we need a guy like Marchand to spark our boys. The special teams sucked, and we let a tiny guy embarrass us physically too boot. Not acceptable, but the problem is internal. Stop blaming guys like Marchand, and start raising your expectations for how our boys respond. Don't like Marchand, then score when he is in the box, or beat the bark off him. Playing the victim is something I can't tolerate.
- bikeguy99

Sorry, I don't think Marchand going out and trying to injure our players and getting away with it is the type of player I'd want on this team or qualities in a player I find respectable.

I too hate losing, but I hate crying after a loss even more. We didn't show up physically, or mentally. Marchand did, and won in every category last night. Our problem is internal, and we need a guy like Marchand to spark our boys. The special teams sucked, and we let a tiny guy embarrass us physically too boot. Not acceptable, but the problem is internal. Stop blaming guys like Marchand, and start raising your expectations for how our boys respond. Don't like Marchand, then score when he is in the box, or beat the bark off him. Playing the victim is something I can't tolerate.
- bikeguy99

What Marchand did yesterday was completely fine and I agree with you that the Devils have a serious problem for our response and inability to deal with this. Bratt is the last guy in the world who should be leading the charge (although kudos to him). The Bruins pretty much did exactly what I would want my team to be able to do (although really the refs need to protect the goalies more).

All I'm saying is that the league does let 'star' players get away with a lot of things that cross the line. Connor McDavid just went out of his way to elbow a guy on the chin in what was a clear attempt to injury him and they gave him a fine. Sidney Crosby repeatedly bounced PK Subbans head on the ice during the cup finals and it wasn't even a called penalty. The league cares about money, stars and ratings a lot more then player safety.

I too hate losing, but I hate crying after a loss even more. We didn't show up physically, or mentally. Marchand did, and won in every category last night. Our problem is internal, and we need a guy like Marchand to spark our boys. The special teams sucked, and we let a tiny guy embarrass us physically too boot. Not acceptable, but the problem is internal. Stop blaming guys like Marchand, and start raising your expectations for how our boys respond. Don't like Marchand, then score when he is in the box, or beat the bark off him. Playing the victim is something I can't tolerate.
- bikeguy99

I agree to an extent, no one is willing to step up on the team outside of maybe Bastian because he’s fighting for a spot in the big leagues every shift. But don’t kid yourself, Marchand is just a more talented Cooke, both love trying to injure players and I would feel no sympathy if someone ended his career tomorrow.

What Marchand did yesterday was completely fine and I agree with you that the Devils have a serious problem for our response and inability to deal with this. Bratt is the last guy in the world who should be leading the charge (although kudos to him). The Bruins pretty much did exactly what I would want my team to be able to do (although really the refs need to protect the goalies more).

All I'm saying is that the league does let 'star' players get away with a lot of things that cross the line. Connor McDavid just went out of his way to elbow a guy on the chin in what was a clear attempt to injury him and they gave him a fine. Sidney Crosby repeatedly bounced PK Subbans head on the ice during the cup finals and it wasn't even a called penalty. The league cares about money, stars and ratings a lot more then player safety.
- Queenie_5_hole

And how did P.K. respond? I just want our guys to understand it is up to them to respond, and be accountable. If you leave it up the the NHL, you run the risk of being left a victim. Why not go back at Sid? He is 100x a better player, yet PK just took the abuse and was left with nothing. If a star wants to mess with our guys, it is a win. So stick up for yourselves, grab some coincidentals, and quit complaining about lack of discipline.

Look at our leaders by categories, and tell me it doesn't scream that this team has zero offense.

Goals: Wood (11)
Assists: Smith (19)
+/-: Kuokkanen (6)

On a team with two 1st overall centers, Palms, PK, Murray, Gusev...... And these are the guys leading the pack? We have serious problems offensively, and still can't seem to find any grit when things get rough? I have zero sympathy for the guys upset with Marchand. He did more in a period than most our stars can stomach in a months worth of work. I still like our new young core plenty, but we need guys to step up and get feisty against stars who seem to rack up points too easily, and bounce our heads off the ice for fun.

Your idea makes sense if this was the 90's still and you could just go rough a guy up and the refs would let you have it because "they had it coming". The problem with the league is the double standard in which star players get away with a lot because they are stars and they need their guys in the game. We're trying to win games and going for retribution plays is going to put us in the box and come with big suspensions. Yeah, Boston plays a tough game and has heavy hitters. Their guys play physical and they used that to expose our defense in the 3rd period and take advantage. I have no problem there. I have problems with Marchard jumping into a hit on our guy or punching Smith in the head repeatedly when he's down on the ice. There is a big difference between playing strong, physical hockey and being a goon.

Look at our leaders by categories, and tell me it doesn't scream that this team has zero offense.

Goals: Wood (11)
Assists: Smith (19)
+/-: Kuokkanen (6)

On a team with two 1st overall centers, Palms, PK, Murray, Gusev...... And these are the guys leading the pack? We have serious problems offensively, and still can't seem to find any grit when things get rough? I have zero sympathy for the guys upset with Marchand. He did more in a period than most our stars can stomach in a months worth of work. I still like our new young core plenty, but we need guys to step up and get feisty against stars who seem to rack up points too easily, and bounce our heads off the ice for fun.
- bikeguy99

One 1st overall pick is hurt and the other is 19yo playing with players who cant finish. Palms is nothing more than a 3rd liner on a team contending for a cup (fringe second liner), Murray has never been an offensive contributor, Gusev is not an NHL player and thats pretty obvious, and PK is not the player he once was and needs to reinvent his game to be more defensive minded. This team is young and lacking finishers, but there are some coming up through the pipeline.

If you want to complain about mediocrity and have had enough losing, please go be a sabres fan or one of the other 10 teams that have never won a cup.

And how did P.K. respond? I just want our guys to understand it is up to them to respond, and be accountable. If you leave it up the the NHL, you run the risk of being left a victim. Why not go back at Sid? He is 100x a better player, yet PK just took the abuse and was left with nothing. If a star wants to mess with our guys, it is a win. So stick up for yourselves, grab some coincidentals, and quit complaining about lack of discipline.

Look at our leaders by categories, and tell me it doesn't scream that this team has zero offense.

Goals: Wood (11)
Assists: Smith (19)
+/-: Kuokkanen (6)

On a team with two 1st overall centers, Palms, PK, Murray, Gusev...... And these are the guys leading the pack? We have serious problems offensively, and still can't seem to find any grit when things get rough? I have zero sympathy for the guys upset with Marchand. He did more in a period than most our stars can stomach in a months worth of work. I still like our new young core plenty, but we need guys to step up and get feisty against stars who seem to rack up points too easily, and bounce our heads off the ice for fun.
- bikeguy99

Well Crosby was sitting on PK so he responded by hitting the ice with his head repeatedly.

I have nothing with players having more grit then we show; but our team is not built that way. And in the case of Marchand and Wilson it's not the grit that's the problem its the intent to injury or sometimes the success of that mission.

Just happened to read your comment. Not trolling....I just don't watch Devils enough and was wondering how Hughes is doing. NYR dealing w/ growing pains as well w/ youngsters. Tough year and a half for rookies coming into the league.
- rrentz

he's better than last year, but still not great. people say it's cuz his linemates suck. I'm not convinced that's the problem. He's shifty and has a good stick, can make a dynamic play here or there, but the rest still needs to come along, which I hope will happen in the future.
If we combined Jack and Nico at this stage in their careers we might actually have a guy worth 7.25...

he's better than last year, but still not great. people say it's cuz his linemates suck. I'm not convinced that's the problem. He's shifty and has a good stick, can make a dynamic play here or there, but the rest still needs to come along, which I hope will happen in the future.
If we combined Jack and Nico at this stage in their careers we might actually have a guy worth 7.25...
- MartysBetter88

Nico just has to stay healthy. Geez, he seems to be hurt alot...no?

Your idea makes sense if this was the 90's still and you could just go rough a guy up and the refs would let you have it because "they had it coming". The problem with the league is the double standard in which star players get away with a lot because they are stars and they need their guys in the game. We're trying to win games and going for retribution plays is going to put us in the box and come with big suspensions. Yeah, Boston plays a tough game and has heavy hitters. Their guys play physical and they used that to expose our defense in the 3rd period and take advantage. I have no problem there. I have problems with Marchard jumping into a hit on our guy or punching Smith in the head repeatedly when he's down on the ice. There is a big difference between playing strong, physical hockey and being a goon.
- Pomegrant

I think you’re right about the league, but the team has to face the reality and it’s been what, 4 years of Marchand pulling bs with no response from us. I could handle losing last night if we at least stood up for ourselves, but it leaves a bad taste when we let a team walk all over us.

Your idea makes sense if this was the 90's still and you could just go rough a guy up and the refs would let you have it because "they had it coming". The problem with the league is the double standard in which star players get away with a lot because they are stars and they need their guys in the game. We're trying to win games and going for retribution plays is going to put us in the box and come with big suspensions. Yeah, Boston plays a tough game and has heavy hitters. Their guys play physical and they used that to expose our defense in the 3rd period and take advantage. I have no problem there. I have problems with Marchard jumping into a hit on our guy or punching Smith in the head repeatedly when he's down on the ice. There is a big difference between playing strong, physical hockey and being a goon.
- Pomegrant

With Wilson and Marchand being the only examples used, I'd say that your statement is wrong. Both players were large contributors in Stanley Cup wins quite recently. I am not saying we need a bottom 6 of players that can't put up a point, but we should be able to handle a 5'8" pest who gets in our players faces.

Well Crosby was sitting on PK so he responded by hitting the ice with his head repeatedly.

I have nothing with players having more grit then we show; but our team is not built that way. And in the case of Marchand and Wilson it's not the grit that's the problem its the intent to injury or sometimes the success of that mission.
- Queenie_5_hole

Haha. So what. Did he sit on him forever? Eventually you should have to pay the piper and Sid was let off the hook. Simple as that in my eyes.

I think you’re right about the league, but the team has to face the reality and it’s been what, 4 years of Marchand pulling bs with no response from us. I could handle losing last night if we at least stood up for ourselves, but it leaves a bad taste when we let a team walk all over us.
- rmdevil313

Exactly. People say this is the Dinosours way of thinking hockey. Anyone remember the Lightning putting out Bogo/Schenn/Goodroowe/Coleman/Maroon? They stood at the redline during warmups, and started the opening puck drop.

Every cup team has had some guys who sparked the team. Maybe in 20 years from now, we will look back and say how did this team not win with Gusev/Bratt/Hughes/Hischier...... But today we are getting beaten both on the score sheet and straight up physically, with no push back. You don't have to win a fight, but you do have to show up! Ehlers has 5 fights over the past 2 seasons for the Jets. Not sure he won a single one, but it sure sparked the team on those nights. I miss seeing that from the Devs.

Talvitie making his pro debut tonight for Bing

Haha. So what. Did he sit on him forever? Eventually you should have to pay the piper and Sid was let off the hook. Simple as that in my eyes.
- bikeguy99

The league and the refs let Sidney off the hook.

PK hits him when he can. But he also didn’t go after him in a cup finals to put his team in trouble because he’s not an idiot.