Todd Cordell: Three New Jersey Devils question marks heading into the 2019-20 season

Another guy which I feel is a huge question mark is Ty Smith. He is definitely flying under the radar considering all the other story lines in Devil land, but I think this kid may steal the show. I thought he looked ready last year, and with the extra time in the minors, I think he is primed to blow up. I can’t wait to see what he does.

Boqvist’s stock also took a nose dive after Gusev was signed. I still hope this is the year he opens eyes as well.

I'm not worried about nj screw the oddmakers, if the devils had cory in his prime right now they would make something else up lols. Cory was fine in WCs..the fact is that they have the depth of a playoff team so I think they are better than a bubble team, at least a playoff team..of course the hall factor is very real because he is the big producer idk if nj would be more than a bubble team if he puts up say 60 instead of his usual 80 or more points

Boqvist’s stock also took a nose dive after Gusev was signed. I still hope this is the year he opens eyes as well.
- WayneZ

Love the addition of Gusev, just hope it doesn’t push Boqvist out of the lineup. If he’s good enough and shows up at training camp he will make the roster no doubt. Never been this excited for the season to start!! I think Ray Ray may have one more move up his sleeve, but I’m very happy with what we have as of now. Only question mark is Hall and if I’ll have to buy a new jersey if he’s leaving...

Congrats on the position for the rockets Todd!

You’ve provided us great content for years and it’s nice to see you get recognized. Hope you can still post here.

So is Todd working towards a managerial role some day ?

https://www.facebook.com/...5/posts/2327393780641469/

Anybody else seen this garbage? No way should we do this. Nor would I think we have the cap space.

https://www.facebook.com/144628805584655/posts/2327393780641469/

Anybody else seen this garbage? No way should we do this. Nor would I think we have the cap space.
- Bragg18

Wow, its on the internet so it must be true....in Winnipeg's best dream this happens. So stupid a rumor

Hello Todd, congrats on the move with Kelowna! I hope you stick around here however.

Cap space would be fine now. Years later we wouldn't, if Hall re-signs. And then we wouldnt have the space to sign some guys AND we woildnt have any top 32 picks for years! But you never know. If severson is moved then maybe we sign Gardiner, since one of our 4 righties wouldnt be moved to the left anymore. We could really go 100% balls deep this season with many eventual expensive talented players still on ELCs and Hall costing half as much as he will next year. This really is the year to spend like crazy and see what happens.

So is Todd working towards a managerial role some day ?
- cu45161

Let's hope so. We easily have the best writer on this site. Congrats on the move Todd. Kelowna is beautiful!

Boqvist’s stock also took a nose dive after Gusev was signed. I still hope this is the year he opens eyes as well.
- WayneZ

Nobody's value has changed. They each have yet to play a regular season NHL game. It is just nice to finally have some competition within the roster!

Any chance Zacha sees some time at goaltender this season?

I’m comfortable with Cory and McKenzie. The issue is there is no one else in the system who seems close to NHL ready... or NHL quality. So even if both guys play fine but somebody gets an injury we will be at risk.

https://www.facebook.com/144628805584655/posts/2327393780641469/

Anybody else seen this garbage? No way should we do this. Nor would I think we have the cap space.
- Bragg18

I wouldn’t mind paying a hefty price for Laine but I don’t see why we’d offer three 1st, Severson and some minor pieces for a guy we could just offer sheet for basically the same price. I mean Severson is important and worth at least a first round pick.

Plus I think you’d need to send back a forward like wood or Zacha.

Hart was a 48th draft pick & Blackwood 42nd. Just about every stat they were similar except for quality start percentage. Blackwood was way better & Hart was not. Philly didn't have anywhere close to the injury issues that we did so Hart had a much better team in front of him. I am sooooo confused why Hart is already being crowned the next Brodeur & just about everyone is questioning Blackwood. Philly's veteran goalie is Elliot. Schneider is so much better than Elliot that they shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath. So why in the world is Philly's goal tending a strength & ours highly doubted & questioned??? Everyone has Philly as a playoff team because of goal tending strength & we're the bubble team if we can get good goal tending. That's about as retarded as it gets.

Hall's health. Arthroscopic surgery is a joke. It shouldn't even be called a surgery. If we were in a playoff race he'd have had Arthroscopic done immediately & been back in 3-4 weeks. Every yr in the past he's been on a crappy team. You don't push thru injury at the risk of making it worse when you're on a bad team. When your a playoff team u push thru it. So this injury crap is being taken way to far.

With good goal tending even if Hall is out we are still a playoff team. Schneider finished up 6-6-2, Blackwood 10-10-0 mostly with no Hall, Bratt missing the last month, MoJo Boyle Lovejoy sold, Nico & Palms missing games, Agostino and Stafford spending a most of time in the top 6, with Wood Palmieri & Coleman making us 1 of the most penalized team in the league, Qville McLeod Lappin Pietila all contributing no offense, Gabriel a regular in the lineup, Wood's broken foot, Yakovlev playing left wing, Vatanen out & Carrick playing 20+ a night in a top 4 role, etc etc. If they can play .500 hockey thru that they can certainly be at .650 which is where some of the best teams in the league are at.

This team is being extremely understimated!!!

Hart was a 48th draft pick & Blackwood 42nd. Just about every stat they were similar except for quality start percentage. Blackwood was way better & Hart was not. Philly didn't have anywhere close to the injury issues that we did so Hart had a much better team in front of him. I am sooooo confused why Hart is already being crowned the next Brodeur & just about everyone is questioning Blackwood. Philly's veteran goalie is Elliot. Schneider is so much better than Elliot that they shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath. So why in the world is Philly's goal tending a strength & ours highly doubted & questioned??? Everyone has Philly as a playoff team because of goal tending strength & we're the bubble team if we can get good goal tending. That's about as retarded as it gets.

Hall's health. Arthroscopic surgery is a joke. It shouldn't even be called a surgery. If we were in a playoff race he'd have had Arthroscopic done immediately & been back in 3-4 weeks. Every yr in the past he's been on a crappy team. You don't push thru injury at the risk of making it worse when you're on a bad team. When your a playoff team u push thru it. So this injury crap is being taken way to far.

With good goal tending even if Hall is out we are still a playoff team. Schneider finished up 6-6-2, Blackwood 10-10-0 mostly with no Hall, Bratt missing the last month, MoJo Boyle Lovejoy sold, Nico & Palms missing games, Agostino and Stafford spending a most of time in the top 6, with Wood Palmieri & Coleman making us 1 of the most penalized team in the league, Qville McLeod Lappin Pietila all contributing no offense, Gabriel a regular in the lineup, Wood's broken foot, Yakovlev playing left wing, Vatanen out & Carrick playing 20+ a night in a top 4 role, etc etc. If they can play .500 hockey thru that they can certainly be at .650 which is where some of the best teams in the league are at.

This team is being extremely understimated!!!
- Gio's Devil's

Some really good points. I mean poop always goes bad in hockey but this team looks good on paper.

BTW- starting to get nervous Ray Ray is kicking the tire on Laine and other big names because he doesn’t think he’s signing Taylor Hall.

Wow. Hold up just one sec, Gio.

Look, I’ve been a pretty objective and friendly Flyers fan that pokes around here and various other fan forums on this site. I’ve lauded the Devils significantly for their moves the past few months. I think they have a ton of potential and will be quite good very soon. but I gotta step in and pump the brakes for you here.

Hart’s numbers were significantly better in juniors than Blackwood’s. That’s where Hart got his fame. He did even better AFTER he was drafted. Hart would have been a 1st rounder if he entered the draft a year later. An early one at that. As it was, many dubbed him the steal of the draft.

Dude, look at what Hart accomplished in juniors. There isn’t even a comparison between the two. The save% and GAA in the juniors wasn’t even that close. Blackwoods 3 years were .902, .906, and .921 with GAA of 2.98, 3.09, and 2.72. Hart was .918, .927, and .947 with GAA of 2.14, 1.99, and 1.60. Hell, Hart’s 1.60 GAA was almost a half puck better than 2nd place. He also played tremendous for team Canada. He won CHL goalie of the year twice (first person to do that). He was both the WHL’s goalie of the year, AND player of the year. “In parts of five seasons, he boasts a 116–46–19 record, with a 2.01 GAA, a .927 save percentage and 26 shutouts. The latter tied for most in CHL history”

I have no idea how these two’s careers will pan out. Maybe you’ll end up with the better goalie. But this isn’t happenstance. This isn’t Devils hate. I mean really, since when do people paint Philly, especially their goaltending situation, in a good light.

Hart Received his accolades for a damn good reason.

As for Elliot, yeah, he’s not very good. He’s also the back up (are we really comparing back ups?), and Hart is hungry for as many starts as they’ll feed him. The kid might not be Marty (who is?), but he does have that ‘killer’ attitude that elites like Brodeur had. He wants the pressure.

Wow. Hold up just one sec, Gio.

Look, I’ve been a pretty objective and friendly Flyers fan that pokes around here and various other fan forums on this site. I’ve lauded the Devils significantly for their moves the past few months. I think they have a ton of potential and will be quite good very soon. but I gotta step in and pump the brakes for you here.

Hart’s numbers were significantly better in juniors than Blackwood’s. That’s where Hart got his fame. He did even better AFTER he was drafted. Hart would have been a 1st rounder if he entered the draft a year later. An early one at that. As it was, many dubbed him the steal of the draft.

Dude, look at what Hart accomplished in juniors. There isn’t even a comparison between the two. The save% and GAA in the juniors wasn’t even that close. Blackwoods 3 years were .902, .906, and .921 with GAA of 2.98, 3.09, and 2.72. Hart was .918, .927, and .947 with GAA of 2.14, 1.99, and 1.60. Hell, Hart’s 1.60 GAA was almost a half puck better than 2nd place. He also played tremendous for team Canada. He won CHL goalie of the year twice (first person to do that). He was both the WHL’s goalie of the year, AND player of the year. “In parts of five seasons, he boasts a 116–46–19 record, with a 2.01 GAA, a .927 save percentage and 26 shutouts. The latter tied for most in CHL history”

I have no idea how these two’s careers will pan out. Maybe you’ll end up with the better goalie. But this isn’t happenstance. This isn’t Devils hate. I mean really, since when do people paint Philly, especially their goaltending situation, in a good light.

Hart Received his accolades for a damn good reason.

As for Elliot, yeah, he’s not very good. He’s also the back up (are we really comparing back ups?), and Hart is hungry for as many starts as they’ll feed him. The kid might not be Marty (who is?), but he does have that ‘killer’ attitude that elites like Brodeur had. He wants the pressure.
- Hesh_

That's all pretty reasonable and there is no denying Hart has put up much better numbers in the WHL then Blackwood in the OHL. But I think Gio's question is a little relevant when you look at last years numbers:

If you look at last years AHL stats they are almost identical:
Blackwood in 20 games: .902 save% with a 2.95 GAA
Hart in 18 games: .902 save% with a 3.05 GAA

If you look at last years NHL stats they are very close as well:
Blackwood in 23 games: .918 save% and a 2.61 GAA
Hart in 31 games: .917 save% and a 2.83 GAA

It's a small sample, but it would seem the most relevant stats.

I understand there is more reason to be excited by Hart and I think it's also relevant that Blackwood put up some ugly numbers in the AHL prior. But I think there you hit the nail on the head that you never know how careers are going to pan out. Goaltenders are really hart to predict.

I also think the Devils are getting some carry over from the HORRIFIC decision to go into the season with Keith Kinkaid and Eddy Lack as their tandem. They bet heavy that Schneider would recover from hip surgery and be OK quickly and he was clearly not ready.

Imagine thinking junior accomplishments matter.

Imagine thinking junior accomplishments matter.
- Pomegrant

Why wouldn't they?

Why wouldn't they?
- willschulme

See Reid Boucher

Imagine thinking junior accomplishments matter.
- Pomegrant

Well that's succinct.

It's that time of year again..
Todd will have to forgive my spam.

I have a few openings in my "hockeybuzz" yahoo fantasy league, and always offer it up to Devils fans first.

No cash, 20 teams, large rosters, lots of stats.
Live snake draft, no keepers, date TBD. Drafts usually take over 2 hours and can really make or break your season as much as any other league. It's an experience.

Message me if you're interested.