Sam Woo: Devils and Flyers Looking To Change Their Season’s Trajectory,

Not looking forward to seeing those awful jersey’s hit the ice

Not looking forward to seeing those awful jersey’s hit the ice
- Crushers68

They sure could have avoided the bulk of their criticism if they simply replaced "Jersey" with "Devils" eh? Oh well. It's only a 3rd jersey.

I'd be more worried about finding ways to generate traffic in front of the net. Minni, Wpg, Sens all generated their chances from shots off the wing with big bodies driving the net from the middle with speed. Devs have been playing more of a perimeter game and it isn't working. With 8 of their last 11 games seeing 2 goals or less, I can't help but feel this is a major missing component to their game. Fitz did his part this off-season, now it's time for Ruff to address how to time shots and opportunities in front of the net. We can blame the assistance coaches all we want, but Ruff has been at the helm of this terrible system.

I've personally never agreed with the notion that the Devils have been in a "never-ending rebuild". I honestly think that idea comes from the rushed messaging that Owners and GM's put out to a fanbase to keep them engaged and/or to secure a job in the first place ("I'll rebuild this team in 3 years so hire me" lmfao)

Most teams are already in deep trouble when the word rebuild gets thrown into their plans, but the Devils were in arguably one of the worst spots a team could be in when Lou handed the reigns to Shero. In 2014-2015, we had 3 players 21 and under play in the NHL - Reid Boucher, Stefan Matteau and Damon Severson - not exactly a young group that a new GM would be jumping to boast about. If you open it up to guys 25 and younger, it includes guys like Henrique, Larsson, Merill, and Josefson - guys who can undoubtedly fill a specific role, but not "rebuild on the fly" type guys.

In the pool at that time, it's guys like John Quenville, Steve Santini, Wood/Coleman (who nobody was necessarily extremely high on) among other guys who may or may not have a chance to get a cup of coffee.

Shero was essentially starting from ground zero with no true "futures" pieces to build around considering we were running one of the oldest teams in the league combined with a pretty brutal prospect pool. He did a pretty good job drafting relatively speaking considering he brought in guys like Zacha, Blackwood, McLeod, Bastian, Bratt, Nico, Smith, Govy, and Hughes.

Hell, I mean thats the backbone of our current team. Are there players in hindsight we'd rather have.... aboslutely(looking at you 2015 draft, or Charlie McAvoy), but to be fair, that's a lot of players that ended up making the league and some appear to have legitimate upside and/or fill an important role on a good team. The Taylor Hall Saga was ultimately the bright and dark spot of Shero's tenure as he got caught inbetween his initial plans and a moment in the sun. Luckily, that scenario landed us Mercer, but the fact remains that Hall got Shero's plans mixed up.

Fitz then found himself in a very enviable scenario considering he inherited a roster/prospect pool loaded with under 22 talent and was still considered to be in a rebuild. Shero laid the ground work for Fitz to have a successful GM run, unlike what Lou did for Shero. That's not to dismiss Fitz' work as he's done well and seems to have a good pulse on what the team needs moving forward, but the "never-ending rebuild" rhetoric doesn't sit with me due to all these reasons.

It's not never-ending, it's just the truth that we literally had nothing in the cupboard combined with an extremely old team. It was always going to take time; fans just get fed unrealistic expectations by Owners/GMs who have their own asses to look out for. Whether or not fans want to get caught up in that or set their own expectations is completely up to them. My expectations are to compete for the 9-10 spot in the conference this year which would have us fighting/just missing a wild card spot. Anything above that is a treat and below it is disappointing. I have higher expectations for next year and will raise them accordingly moving forward.

(Clearly, slow work day).

Get over the New Jerseys...
Many like them -I do .
second @@@@ about them does nothing they are wearing them . dont buy one of you dont like them .

Need to play better hockey.

ANYONE FROM JERSEY PROBABLY LOVES THESE NEW JERSEYS . AS WE DONT REALLY SAY
NEW JERSEY ANYWAY.

They will sell many of these. ON my list.

I'm guessing you guys have enjoyed, as much as I have, how it has taken the Rangers what feels like 15 minutes to rebuild their team back into a contender while my team builds on it's 9-10 years of floundering.

There have been too many blogs

[quote=thechezman]Get over the New Jerseys...
Many like them -I do .
second @@@@ about them does nothing they are wearing them . dont buy one of you dont like them .

Need to play better hockey.

ANYONE FROM JERSEY PROBABLY LOVES THESE NEW JERSEYS . AS WE DONT REALLY SAY
NEW JERSEY ANYWAY.

They will sell many of these. ON my list.

Glad you like them, they’re just not for me (and I AM from NJ-lived there for 35 years) The stripes remind me of prison attire. Hard pass

Panarin, Trouba, and Fox were “gifted” to the Rangers. Add the “lotto luck” of the draft and they just had to sit back and relax.

There have been too many blogs
- shvingter88

But Banana loves them.

I'm guessing you guys have enjoyed, as much as I have, how it has taken the Rangers what feels like 15 minutes to rebuild their team back into a contender while my team builds on it's 9-10 years of floundering.
- BOSS_TWEED

Rangers are going to have a tough time when their goaltending can't singlehandedly carry the team and their one good scoring line gets shut down.

Screw on-ice success, I'm only focused on the big debut of our god awful 3rd jersey. If they work in a Nico & Jack bobble head night, I'll be hooked on this team for another 35 years!

Screw on-ice success, I'm only focused on the big debut of our god awful 3rd jersey. If they work in a Nico & Jack bobble head night, I'll be hooked on this team for another 35 years!
- WayneZ

Subban and Nike are working on a shoe deal. Calling them The Slewfoots.

Get over the New Jerseys...
Many like them -I do .
second @@@@ about them does nothing they are wearing them . dont buy one of you dont like them .

Need to play better hockey.

ANYONE FROM JERSEY PROBABLY LOVES THESE NEW JERSEYS . AS WE DONT REALLY SAY
NEW JERSEY ANYWAY.

They will sell many of these. ON my list.






- thechezman

You work in the marketing department?

Screw on-ice success, I'm only focused on the big debut of our god awful 3rd jersey. If they work in a Nico & Jack bobble head night, I'll be hooked on this team for another 35 years!
- WayneZ

I think the failure this season is we weren’t given a team slogan to laugh about for the first month of the season when we are usually officially eliminated from playoff contention.

After we lose tonight I’m going to start studying draft prospects not named Shane Wright.

I think the failure this season is we weren’t given a team slogan to laugh about for the first month of the season when we are usually officially eliminated from playoff contention.

After we lose tonight I’m going to start studying draft prospects not named Shane Wright.
- smellmyfinger

I need to know which 9th overall bust we're taking.

I think the failure this season is we weren’t given a team slogan to laugh about for the first month of the season when we are usually officially eliminated from playoff contention.

After we lose tonight I’m going to start studying draft prospects not named Shane Wright.
- smellmyfinger

Joakim Kemell would be the dream pick, but he's rising fast. Best release in the draft imo. Probably guaranteed to be top 5. I wouldn't be surprised if he challenges Wright for #1 if he has a big world juniors and Wright continues to have a mediocre year. Savoie is a stud too. But likely need to win the lottery to get either of them

Knowing Fitz though, I guarantee guys like Conor Geekie and Juraj Slafkovsky interest him. Because big.

But Banana loves them.
- RubberBiscuitz

You’d love my banana.

No lineup changes from last game. Running it back. Hopefully the right players actually get the most ice time this time.

At least they are leaning into how stupid the jerseys are.

At least they are leaning into how stupid the jerseys are.
- Pomegrant

Omg

At least they are leaning into how stupid the jerseys are.
- Pomegrant

Full house for a rivalry game

It's amazing how putting Bratt on the first powerplay unit actually leads to zone time and a quality scoring chance. Our braintrust coaching staff must have worked really long and hard on that deployment.

Ouch since Bastian was claimed only tatar and johnsson has scored more than him