McLeod called up, hopefully he's in the lineup for tonight. Also looks like Hughes is fine after having food poisoning or something like that last game.

McLeod called up, hopefully he's in the lineup for tonight. Also looks like Hughes is fine after having food poisoning or something like that last game.
- Pomegrant

He certainly didn't get food poisoning at Hobby's Deli, conveniently located just around the corner from the stadium. They only use the freshest ingredients and serve high quality food at a fair price. Seems down right cheap compared to the arena.

Try the pastrami!

https://www.hobbysdeli.com/soup.php


You can park nearby across from 218 Halsey Street for just $7!
That way your near Hobby's and the Rock.

Easy In, Easy Out!

What is Hayden doing there, he is so (frank)ing bad.

This team needs 3 defensemen even if we kept Sami.

Is NJ going to be able to bring in 3 decent UFA?

Sell Simmonds, Sami, Coleman, Palms, and call it what it is. A failure and the rebuild is just beginning.

Welcome back Cory.

What more can you say about Coleman.

What more can you say about Coleman.
- Pomegrant

It's stupid how good he is on the penalty kill.

Welcome back Cory.
- Queenie_5_hole

I've been impressed at how he's settled in. Should get some quality looks with Domingue injured.

This team needs 3 defensemen even if we kept Sami.

Is NJ going to be able to bring in 3 decent UFA?

Sell Simmonds, Sami, Coleman, Palms, and call it what it is. A failure and the rebuild is just beginning.
- FLdevilsFAN

How do you figure? I count Subban, Butcher, Severson and Carrick. I feel like Smith is all but a lock. Even assuming Greene is gone, we will still have a healthy competition between Bahl and Ohkotyuk as possible rookies out of camp. Misyul and Walsh are there too.

How do you figure? I count Subban, Butcher, Severson and Carrick. I feel like Smith is all but a lock. Even assuming Greene is gone, we will still have a healthy competition between Bahl and Ohkotyuk as possible rookies out of camp. Misyul and Walsh are there too.
- willschulme

Theres absolutely no reason to rush our prosepcts who are clearly not ready to play in the NHL, it'll only stunt their development. Barring anybody stepping up big time in camp and making a big leap i dont think any D prospect besides Smith have a chance to make the roster

I dont think Smith is a lock at all to make. He has a solid chance but he was not good at all in camp in September where he clearly was not ready for the pro game. Idk if the nerves got to him because he was expected to make the team or what, but it looked like he took a step back from his camp he had the year we drafted him. And he has only been decent/good, not great, so far this year for Spokane. He was nowhere near impressive at the world juniors, to the point where he was benched almost the entirety of the 2nd half/3rd period of the gold medal game, even though it looked like his defensive game has improved. He's been slipping down the rankings on a lot of scouts NHL prospect rankings. He could probably use a year in Bingo to gain strength and adjust to the pro game, but again, hes by far the most likely one to make the team.

People are way too high on Bahl and i have no idea where its coming from. He's a decent prospect but outside of his size hes nothing special, and hes still atleast a year away from breaking the Devils roster. He'll likely need a year or 2 in Bing until hes ready.

Walsh is likely gonna stay in college for his senior year, it sucks because theres a chance we could lose him as a free agent but its probably the best for him to stay

Okhotyuk is set for Bingo for a few years, and Misyul will be there too if he comes over from Russia, but nobody knows what he'll do. Either way both of these guys are multiple years away

We are absolutely going to need to bring in a D or two in the offseason. Our pipeline likely wont be sending us any answers for atleast another year or two and the worst thing we can do is rush these guys and potentially ruin them when our pipeline is already thin at the position

Theres absolutely no reason to rush our prosepcts who are clearly not ready to play in the NHL, it'll only stunt their development. Barring anybody stepping up big time in camp and making a big leap i dont think any D prospect besides Smith have a chance to make the roster

I dont think Smith is a lock at all to make. He has a solid chance but he was not good at all in camp in September where he clearly was not ready for the pro game. Idk if the nerves got to him because he was expected to make the team or what, but it looked like he took a step back from his camp he had the year we drafted him. And he has only been decent/good, not great, so far this year for Spokane. He was nowhere near impressive at the world juniors, to the point where he was benched almost the entirety of the 2nd half/3rd period of the gold medal game, even though it looked like his defensive game has improved. He's been slipping down the rankings on a lot of scouts NHL prospect rankings. He could probably use a year in Bingo to gain strength and adjust to the pro game, but again, hes by far the most likely one to make the team.

People are way too high on Bahl and i have no idea where its coming from. He's a decent prospect but outside of his size hes nothing special, and hes still atleast a year away from breaking the Devils roster. He'll likely need a year or 2 in Bing until hes ready.

Walsh is likely gonna stay in college for his senior year, it sucks because theres a chance we could lose him as a free agent but its probably the best for him to stay

Okhotyuk is set for Bingo for a few years, and Misyul will be there too if he comes over from Russia, but nobody knows what he'll do. Either way both of these guys are multiple years away

We are absolutely going to need to bring in a D or two in the offseason. Our pipeline likely wont be sending us any answers for atleast another year or two and the worst thing we can do is rush these guys and potentially ruin them when our pipeline is already thin at the position
- vlongo4419

I learned from this. You need to comment more often.

I learned from this. You need to comment more often.
- MartysBetter88

Im just trying to keep it real and not have the fanboy blinders on. We're "behind" where we should when it comes to our defensive pipeline, and thats why this deadline is incredibly important and why the owners comments on wanting to "win now" is unsettling for me. We arent ready to push to the corner and start being a contender, its still gonna take more time. Ray was slow building us in the right direction, i just hope now we don't try to bandaid fix our way to being competitive because its not gonna end well.

It absolutely sucks losing and im tired of it, but when looking through our pipeline i have no issue with using another year or two piling more prospects into it through the draft and offloading rentals. We have some guys that are coming along nicely and some nice complimentary players coming, but outside of Smith, our hopeful "game changing" prospects are already here and still need more time to grow. Having two 1sts in this upcoming draft is really good though, just hope we nail the picks up. Maybe we can add a third 1st at the deadline(Vats maybe) and sell of a couple other rentals to hopefully atleast recoup a 2nd and 3rd.

How do you figure? I count Subban, Butcher, Severson and Carrick. I feel like Smith is all but a lock. Even assuming Greene is gone, we will still have a healthy competition between Bahl and Ohkotyuk as possible rookies out of camp. Misyul and Walsh are there too.
- willschulme

Because I don’t count prospects as being all number #1 dmen like most fans.
These are all guys that are a few years away from making meaningful contributions. This team doesn’t draft well outside of the obvious home run picks. I’m not expecting them to all come in, lock down spots, and be top tier dmen. Dmen traditionally take longer to develop as well.

If this team is in “win now” mode and expects more as the owners say, then they need a solid 3 dmen to even think that their defense is better and worthy of a playoff spot.

If they’re willing to realize that they’re not in “win now” mode, Jack is 18-19 years old, etc., then they can sell all these guys off and get assets for a proper rebuild.

All the guys you mentioned are not a “plus” for the organization. They’re anchors. Other than Smith, Bahls and the other prospects. Who are just that. Prospects.

The only way the D gets decent is if we get a better defensive coordinator and manage to sign some quality defenders. Like at least two. Which seems unlikely.

But if Vats and Greene are both gone we will be lucky to tread water.

The other issue is as nice as Jack and Nico are this team lost Hall and it’s true elite talent. Granted it wasn’t working this year but the team still needs high end forwards.

How do you figure? I count Subban, Butcher, Severson and Carrick. I feel like Smith is all but a lock. Even assuming Greene is gone, we will still have a healthy competition between Bahl and Ohkotyuk as possible rookies out of camp. Misyul and Walsh are there too.
- willschulme

Yea outside of Severson, those guys do nothing for me. I think Severson is an OK 2nd pair guy. Subban, Butcher, Carrick are all 4-7 players. Butcher and Carrick are a wash, unless with a competent partner they'd flourish but idk. Subban isn't very good at all, regardless of his price tag. He's a #5 in my eyes. So we have a #4 in Severson, #5 in Subban, and 6/7s in Carrick and Butcher.
Then we're going to add Smith and any other prospect, who will also be #6s to start. Vatanen is a 2nd pair guy. Greene is a 3rd.

so even if we have all these guys, it's still lacking not just 1, but 2 top-pairing guys. And no one to really even be the rock on the 2nd pair.. as I don't consider Vatanen to be that, though he's not bad.

we have an under-average defense. it is what it is. Palmieri will be 29 soon, and Coleman is 28. I'm still ok keeping those 2 guys. We can still tank with them, or if Nico and Jack take steps forward next year, and we add pieces, we can be a playoff team in the next 1-5 years, where those 2 guys will still be useful.
It remains to be seen if Hughes can be a successful 2nd, let alone 1st line center at the NHL. He's young is a fact, so it's also a fact that we don't yet know if he can be a 60-80pt center in this league. So I have a hard time centering the rebuild around an 18yr old unknown.

If Holtby is available do we go after him? He'll already somehow be 31 next September.

What we need is Gallant..

Yea outside of Severson, those guys do nothing for me. I think Severson is an OK 2nd pair guy. Subban, Butcher, Carrick are all 4-7 players. Butcher and Carrick are a wash, unless with a competent partner they'd flourish but idk. Subban isn't very good at all, regardless of his price tag. He's a #5 in my eyes. So we have a #4 in Severson, #5 in Subban, and 6/7s in Carrick and Butcher.
Then we're going to add Smith and any other prospect, who will also be #6s to start. Vatanen is a 2nd pair guy. Greene is a 3rd.

so even if we have all these guys, it's still lacking not just 1, but 2 top-pairing guys. And no one to really even be the rock on the 2nd pair.. as I don't consider Vatanen to be that, though he's not bad.

we have an under-average defense. it is what it is. Palmieri will be 29 soon, and Coleman is 28. I'm still ok keeping those 2 guys. We can still tank with them, or if Nico and Jack take steps forward next year, and we add pieces, we can be a playoff team in the next 1-5 years, where those 2 guys will still be useful.
It remains to be seen if Hughes can be a successful 2nd, let alone 1st line center at the NHL. He's young is a fact, so it's also a fact that we don't yet know if he can be a 60-80pt center in this league. So I have a hard time centering the rebuild around an 18yr old unknown.

If Holtby is available do we go after him? He'll already somehow be 31 next September.

What we need is Gallant..
- MartysBetter88

I agree prospects need more time and most importantly we need a quality coach. I love Palms and Coleman, but I do not see their primes aligning with this team, so, and only if, an offer is too good to refuse scenario arises they should be moved.