So our expectations as fans should just accept the team spinning tires every single year until they magically don't suck?
- Pomegrant

Yes, cause that's a rebuild. The team is gonna suck so you have little expectations until they can prove otherwise.

To be fair, a large part of why our rebuild is taking so long is we haven’t had superstar players fall into our lap like many teams (we’ll see about Jack. He’ll be a star at least). Zacha and McLeod have been pretty poopty players for where they were drafted. Nico is good, but he’s no MacKinnon. To rebuild a franchise you gotta draft players that can carry and lead it, and build around them. Crosby/malkin/fleury/letang, kane/toews/seabrook/Keith, OV/backstrom etc.
obviously you have to also make the right trades, but drafting valuable assets is a part of making that possible.

Nico is good, but he’s no MacKinnon.
- MartysBetter88

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
- Pomegrant

Checks out imo

Checks out imo
- shvingter88

I'm checked out. How many more months of this we got?

I'm checked out. How many more months of this we got?
- Pomegrant

Too many.

I'm checked out. How many more months of this we got?
- Pomegrant

Maybe we get another poopty Jersey reveal to break up the time.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
- Pomegrant

You guys have issues lol. I stated the obvious for the sake of making the point that our rebuild has taken longer in part because we haven’t had Macs or Crosbys fall to us at 1st overall. Can’t make a rational point without Nico patriots coming to defend something that’s not remotely an attack. So weird.

I stated the obvious for the sake of making the point that our rebuild has taken longer in part because we haven’t had Macs or Crosbys
- MartysBetter88

We have a Mac(kenzie) and he hasn’t done anything for our rebuild…

You guys have issues lol. I stated the obvious for the sake of making the point that our rebuild has taken longer in part because we haven’t had Macs or Crosbys fall to us at 1st overall. Can’t make a rational point without Nico patriots coming to defend something that’s not remotely an attack. So weird.
- MartysBetter88

Why didn't we just take MacKinnon when we drafted Hischier, I agree.

You guys have issues lol. I stated the obvious for the sake of making the point that our rebuild has taken longer in part because we haven’t had Macs or Crosbys fall to us at 1st overall. Can’t make a rational point without Nico patriots coming to defend something that’s not remotely an attack. So weird.
- MartysBetter88

Except we technically do have our Mac in Hughes? And hes breaking out and becoming a star faster than it took Mac. Mac didnt break out and become a PPG or better player "until" he was 22. Hughes is doing so at 20. Not really a good argument at all lol. MacKinnon was literally Nico his first 4 years lol. I dont understand what the point is supposed to be...

Except we technically do have our Mac in Hughes? And hes breaking out and becoming a star faster than it took Mac. Mac didnt break out and become a PPG or better player "until" he was 22. Hughes is doing so at 20. Not really a good argument at all lol. MacKinnon was literally Nico his first 4 years lol. I dont understand what the point is supposed to be...
- vlongo4419

The point was our rebuild- which began several years ago- not when we drafted Hughes- consisted of players that weren't franchise-changers. Hischier is a good player. Will he make or break any franchise? Remains to be seen, but so far no I don't think he's lifting a team out of the bottom by himself like many other top picks have done. You people zero-in on anything anyone says about Hischier. I'm not saying he's a bad player . If he busts out and turns into a 100pt MacKinnon.. well color me and any other soul completely shocked.

This is going back all the way to 2012 with Matteau.. then Quenneville, then when we finally get a top 10 pick in 2015 we start it off with Pavel Zacha. Hard to rebuild when you flop on the first pick. Then McLeod 12th overall the following year. The next year our 1st overall pick is what appears to be so far a good 2nd line center in Hischier (forgive me that it remains to be seen if he can be more year to year.. in the most traditional understood sense of what a true #1 center is, as if a good 2nd line center is somehow not a valuable good player ). Then Ty Smith 4 year ago.. probably a good pick, but again.. isn't going to lift the franchise overnight.

I'm not blaming the Devils for not having a crystal ball- I'm just explaining the obvious reasons why the rebuild has taken so long. It's not because of fairy dust.. but because we haven't landed franchise-altering players until Jack Hughes just 3 years ago.

The problem is that you're focused on our good players needing to be better instead of our bad players needing to be better. Teams aren't carried by one or two players you still need to have pieces around them. We're seeing Nico and Jack play really well in games but the lack of talented wingers is really showing. That coupled with lack of depth in the 3rd/4th lines and defense as well as having league worst goaltending contributes to us losing a lot of games.

I think you're trying to say the team didn't take the guys in their draft years that had the highest immediate impact but what other players in their draft are doing that on teams as thin as ours? In Nico's draft year it was Nico or Nolan and we all know how Patrick is doing right now. It absolutely hindsight bias if you think we should've taken Cale Makar.

The Nico hate is stupid because the guy just had an 11 game point streak, routinely blocks shots, plays good defense, generates offense despite having crap linemates. Why do you care so much about Hischier's draft position? First overall pick just means you have the first shot at players, that's it. There isn't some magically stat line that all 1st overall picks are required to hit to be considered good.

Why are you expecting more from him instead of more from the other players? We have Zacha, Sharangovich, Tatar, Kuokanen, and McLeod all producing virtually nothing this year but nobody talks about them being bad. Johnsson and Mercer have been good at times but inconsistent producers.

I'm not even talking analytics here but when you watch the games what do you see from Nico? I feel like we're not watching the same player.

The point was our rebuild- which began several years ago- not when we drafted Hughes- consisted of players that weren't franchise-changers. Hischier is a good player. Will he make or break any franchise? Remains to be seen, but so far no I don't think he's lifting a team out of the bottom by himself like many other top picks have done. You people zero-in on anything anyone says about Hischier. I'm not saying he's a bad player . If he busts out and turns into a 100pt MacKinnon.. well color me and any other soul completely shocked.

This is going back all the way to 2012 with Matteau.. then Quenneville, then when we finally get a top 10 pick in 2015 we start it off with Pavel Zacha. Hard to rebuild when you flop on the first pick. Then McLeod 12th overall the following year. The next year our 1st overall pick is what appears to be so far a good 2nd line center in Hischier (forgive me that it remains to be seen if he can be more year to year.. in the most traditional understood sense of what a true #1 center is, as if a good 2nd line center is somehow not a valuable good player ). Then Ty Smith 4 year ago.. probably a good pick, but again.. isn't going to lift the franchise overnight.

I'm not blaming the Devils for not having a crystal ball- I'm just explaining the obvious reasons why the rebuild has taken so long. It's not because of fairy dust.. but because we haven't landed franchise-altering players until Jack Hughes just 3 years ago.
- MartysBetter88

Nobody lifts a franchise overnight except Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Austin Matthews. Jack Eichel was insanely talented from day 1 and it still didnt make an impact on the Sabres. Hell, the Oilers have arguably 2 of the best 5 players in the world and are still struggling to make the playoffs or have any type of success when they get there. You know why thats the case? Because they have absolutely zero depth and surrounding talent. Your point still makes absolutely zero sense lol. You're seemingly blaming our 1st overall picks, especially Nico, when the blame should be on not actually having any help for them

Its not about our 1st overall picks, theyre living up to the expecatations. Nico was projected to be a good two-way top 6 center, exactly what he is. Jack was projected to be a franchise center, and we see him on the verge of becoming that. We need to surround them with talent to help them succeed, which outside of Bratt we havent done, at all. We have 1 top 6 winger on the current roster and we only have 1 projected top 6 winger (Holtz) in the system. We have a single other winger in the system who is projected to produce at a top 6 level. The issue is not our 1st overall picks, the issue is that that we havent drafted and developed any help for them. Its not even about the 1st round picks. The bigger issue is that we arent hitting on picks beyond the 1st as much as we should be. Blame it on poor drafting or blame it on poor player development, but thats the issue.

Like look at the top wingers drafted in our system right now.

On the roster:

Bratt - legit top 6/top line
Sharangovich - middle 6, 3rd liner without Hughes
Bastian - 4th liner
Zacha - lol. Drafted as a center, but 3rd liner winger at best
Boqvist - bottom 6 at best
Studenic - 3rd liner/bottom 6
Wood - bottom 6
Thompson - bottom 6
Mercer - we can include him because he can be a top 6/2nd line winger but he was drafted to be a middle 6 center and will probably stay our 3C.

AHL/Prospects:

Holtz - projected top 6
Gritsyuk - hopeful middle 6
Foote - hopeful 3rd liner
Clarke - hopeful middle 6
Zetterlund - hopeful bottom 6
Stillman - projected bottom 6/3rd line
Salminen - hopeful bottom 6

The rest are just whatever

Where is the help for our franchise pillar centers? There isnt any...

Shero traded away multiple 2nds and 3rds in trades that just havent worked out, and those are high value picks for rebuilding teams. And in combination with that, when we keep our 2nds and 3rds, we havent been hitting on them like we should be. We've left a lot of talent on the board with multiple late 1sts or 2nd/3rd round picks. That's the reality here.

Lines tonight:

Zacha-Hischier-Bastian
Shara-Hughes-Bratt
Johnsson-Mercer-Tatar
Vesey-Boqvist-Kuok

Siegs-Sevo
Graves-Subban
Smith-White

Gillies

I saw Gritsyuk made the Russian Olympic team. Wonder if he'll get play time. Would like to watch him play a bit.

womp womp

Over/under 0.5? that boqvist scores again this season….

Over/under 0.5? that boqvist scores again this season….
- Banana_Hammock

I root for Boqvist but he doesn't have any offensive upside. Obviously he's only playing because of injures.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Devils are trailing after outplaying the opposing team. Shocker.

Over/under 0.5? that boqvist scores again this season….
- Banana_Hammock

He averages 1 every 10 games or so. I'd say he gets in about 20 more games this season. I'm feeling 3 for a final goal total.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Devils are trailing after outplaying the opposing team. Shocker.
- vlongo4419

Are you saying Gillies paddling the puck into his own net was not what he was supposed to do?

Are you saying Gillies paddling the puck into his own net was not what he was supposed to do?
- Pomegrant

The problem is that you're focused on our good players needing to be better instead of our bad players needing to be better. Teams aren't carried by one or two players you still need to have pieces around them. We're seeing Nico and Jack play really well in games but the lack of talented wingers is really showing. That coupled with lack of depth in the 3rd/4th lines and defense as well as having league worst goaltending contributes to us losing a lot of games.

I think you're trying to say the team didn't take the guys in their draft years that had the highest immediate impact but what other players in their draft are doing that on teams as thin as ours? In Nico's draft year it was Nico or Nolan and we all know how Patrick is doing right now. It absolutely hindsight bias if you think we should've taken Cale Makar.

The Nico hate is stupid because the guy just had an 11 game point streak, routinely blocks shots, plays good defense, generates offense despite having crap linemates. Why do you care so much about Hischier's draft position? First overall pick just means you have the first shot at players, that's it. There isn't some magically stat line that all 1st overall picks are required to hit to be considered good.

Why are you expecting more from him instead of more from the other players? We have Zacha, Sharangovich, Tatar, Kuokanen, and McLeod all producing virtually nothing this year but nobody talks about them being bad. Johnsson and Mercer have been good at times but inconsistent producers.

I'm not even talking analytics here but when you watch the games what do you see from Nico? I feel like we're not watching the same player.
- Pomegrant

I was focused on our 1st round picks and named them all as being reasons the rebuild is taking as long as it is. I’m not playing the hindsight game and saying we should have done (referencing Makar), just saying the guys we’ve landed in the draft haven’t made an immediate impact (I don’t expect Hischier or Jack to carry a franchise in their first 3 years), which is part of why it’s taken long.

I can’t say it enough. I’m not hating on Nico. I keep defending that cuz you guys interpret any criticism as hating and have an irrational zealous reaction to defend him against something that’s not meant as an attack. I think he’s a good 2nd line center at this point in his young career. I think he was given the C too young. I think hefty deals for any young player not putting up big points is something I’m iffy on in general.

I expect more from him cuz I would expect more from any young player that was projected to be the best among his peers in the draft. Tatar isn’t a reason why our rebuild is taking long. Who you draft in general is of course a huge part of how a team’s rebuild unfolds.. but a first overall.. or 6th.. a team only gets so many opportunities to pick that high, so you gotta hope that player pans out to be good enough to be a significant part of improving a team.

When I watch the games I see Nico is responsible on both ends, takes care of the puck and limits turnovers, is good enough in the circle, and can make some good plays, decent hand-eye. I don’t see him creating something out of nothing due to not having brilliant playmaking ability or speed, don’t see him protecting the puck with his body due to having average size and strength, don’t see him sniping cuz he’s not a sniper. I see a good 2nd line center. That’s nothing to scoff at for a 22yr old. I don’t get how that’s hating.

First pro hatty for Zetterlund tonight in a 4-2 win for Utica