Josh Biringer: Bahl's New Contract, Timo's Sweet Spot, and the Competitive Bottom 6

The lineup seems pretty locked in tbh, and while the top 9 is interchangeable, there's really not much competition there.

Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Bratt-Hughes-Toffoli
Palat-Haula-Holtz

Seems pretty locked in as the top 9, with the wingers positioned to be moved around. Honestly depends on if Holtz earns his way up into the top 6.

The only real competition is Foote/Nosek for the 4LW spot as McLeod and Bastian are also locked(if McLeod is cleared).Lazar and one of Foote/Nosek will be the extras. Clarke would need to be absolutely lights out to even have a chance at making the team, which I dont see happening, but I could see him being the first call up if a top 9 winger goes down. As for Stillman, theres essentially zero chance he gets a single game on the team this season. He's not good lol. Could be potentially be a 4th line grinder a few years from now? Sure, but that's not happening this season. Still can't believe we wasted a 1st round pick on him. Brutal.

Outside of injures or bringing someone else in, the roster is pretty set in stone imo. We have a clear cut 14 forwards, 7 D, and 2 goalies that will be on the opening night roster. Nemec was the only real question I had, but it's pretty clear now that he's starting in Utica unless he goes bananas in camp/preseason(will likely be the first call-up first on D though).

The Stillman pick is still baffling when you look at their overall draft plan of taking players with the highest potential upside most of the time. Even in picks like Mukhammadulin you saw a guy who wasn't the most sure fire to make the NHL but had something about him that could make him stand out from the rest. I just don't really understand using 1st round picks on guys who project at best to be 3rd line checkers when you can get quality depth guys for cheap every year through trade/FA.

The Stillman pick is still baffling when you look at their overall draft plan of taking players with the highest potential upside most of the time. Even in picks like Mukhammadulin you saw a guy who wasn't the most sure fire to make the NHL but had something about him that could make him stand out from the rest. I just don't really understand using 1st round picks on guys who project at best to be 3rd line checkers when you can get quality depth guys for cheap every year through trade/FA.
- Pomegrant

Stillman pick is a good one. There was nobody taken after him within 10 spots that would make me say otherwise.
And even if he busts hes an nhl bloodline… you dont know who his dad was buds with on the devils draft table that swayed them to pick him.

Stillman pick is a good one. There was nobody taken after him within 10 spots that would make me say otherwise.
And even if he busts hes an nhl bloodline… you dont know who his dad was buds with on the devils draft table that swayed them to pick him.
- Theathletic is for libs

PROBABLY SOMEONE THAT KNEW WE NEEDED A REPLACEMENT FOR MCLEOD

I agree with Josh’s methodology for the top six and would also assume Toffoli edged out Palat BUT I keep wondering if Lindy is over his Haula with Hughes obsession.

Stillman pick is a good one. There was nobody taken after him within 10 spots that would make me say otherwise.
And even if he busts hes an nhl bloodline… you dont know who his dad was buds with on the devils draft table that swayed them to pick him.
- Theathletic is for libs

He was an awful pick lol. He was projected to go in the mid-to-late 3rd round, and his stock as a prospect has only fallen since being drafted(models have him at a 4% chance of becoming a full time NHLer). He played on a very very good team that went to the memorial cup this year and still couldn't produce at a PPG clip, in his D+2. He was out-produced by players who went undrafted lol. His ceiling is Bastian, which is not what you want out of a 1st round pick. That's a replaceable player. You could make an argument that he's a not even a top 15 prospect in the system lol.

In saying all that, he will certainly get multiple chances to play for the Devils in the future solely based off of the draft capital used on him. They'll try to jam him in to justify the pick.

wondering if Lindy is over his Haula with Hughes obsession.
- Queenie_5_hole

I think the depth in our top 6 will force the issue

I think the depth in our top 6 will force the issue
- Crushers68

For sure, agree.

I think Ruff constantly tinkered with Haula and Palat next to Hughes last year out of necessity. We only had 1 legit top 6 winger prior to the deadline. So he had the freedom of moving those guys up the lineup. We have 3 legit top line wingers now. There's no need to move either Haula or Palat into the top 6 unless injuries happen. And if anything, it'd be Mercer being moved to L3. Not Toffoli.

From interviews it seems that Jack really enjoyed playing with Haula which is probably most of the reason to as why Lindy put him on his line so much last season. I'm guessing Toffoli scoring a lot of goals will probably change his mind next year.

Why are Toffoli and Palat even being compared in the first place lol. Palat is mid af and Toffoli is flat out superior to him in essentially every aspect of the game(and they don't even play the same position. Palat is strictly a LW and Toffoli is strictly a RW). What in the world is that about.

Palat is our worst contract for sure, but let's see how he does in a season without a huge injury. Plus, in the playoffs the way our forward group is constructed that any point one of our lines is going to be able to feast on whatever matchup they get.

I am just going to wait and see with the line up as I am sure there will be a curveball

Timo nico
Bratt hughes haula
Toffoli mercer

The other wingers mix and match

I’m not crazy about Stillman either but he was 29th overall. It’s not like the 2021 draft was some incredibly deep pool. Most years you’re lucky to get an NHL player outside the top 10. It’s very common that draft picks that late don’t turn out to be anything of value.

Palat is our worst contract for sure, but let's see how he does in a season without a huge injury. Plus, in the playoffs the way our forward group is constructed that any point one of our lines is going to be able to feast on whatever matchup they get.
- Pomegrant

For sure, I fully expect him to be better this year. It'd be hard to not be lol. If he bounces back to being ~75-80% of what he was in Tampa and Holtz takes the step everybody wants/expects, this team has the best top 9 in the league.

He was an awful pick lol. He was projected to go in the mid-to-late 3rd round, and his stock as a prospect has only fallen since being drafted(models have him at a 4% chance of becoming a full time NHLer). He played on a very very good team that went to the memorial cup this year and still couldn't produce at a PPG clip, in his D+2. He was out-produced by players who went undrafted lol. His ceiling is Bastian, which is not what you want out of a 1st round pick. That's a replaceable player. You could make an argument that he's a not even a top 15 prospect in the system lol.

In saying all that, he will certainly get multiple chances to play for the Devils in the future solely based off of the draft capital used on him. They'll try to jam him in to justify the pick.
- vlongo4419

Again,.. i see no one drafted after him in about 10 spots that looks to be a better pick. I get it late first round pick should be an allstar hall of famer and not a third/fourth line grind player but sheesh

I’m not crazy about Stillman either but he was 29th overall. It’s not like the 2021 draft was some incredibly deep pool. Most years you’re lucky to get an NHL player outside the top 10. It’s very common that draft picks that late don’t turn out to be anything of value.
- jtylerm

Agreed

The fact that we, as Devil's fans, are arguing about who is going to round out our incredible forward group to help us win the Cup, instead of arguing about how we need to improve the team just to make the playoffs, makes me smile.

Again,.. i see no one drafted after him in about 10 spots that looks to be a better pick. I get it late first round pick should be an allstar hall of famer and not a third/fourth line grind player but sheesh
- Theathletic is for libs

I can count 6 players immediately just from looking at the draft board that i'd much rather have over Stillman. Zach Dean the very next pick is a much better prospect, he has the potential to be a 2nd liner. Olen Zellweger 5 picks after is a great pick, he has a chance to be very good for the Ducks and could be one of the steals of that draft(the way we think of Casey is the way they think of Zellweger). Shai Buium and especially Daniil Chayka are promising potential middle pairing D. Scott Morrow is potentially a top 4 D for the Canes. Zack Ostapchuk could become a middle 6 forward with scoring upside. They're all in the next 11 picks after Stillman and all have significantly higher upside. A little further down, a guy like Logan Stankoven who went middle of the 2nd is looking like he is going be an absolute stud(he was projected to be a 1st round pick). Todd Cordell's discord was screaming their heads off for us to take him or Zellweger when the Devils were on the clock at that pick.

I'd rather always take a swing on upside(like Mukhamadullin) and potentially miss then take a safe 4th line grinder with zero upside, with literally any pick, let alone a late 1st. You can sign 4th line grinders every single year in free agency or trade for one for a middle round pick. You need to be drafting to try to hit gold and find gems. Which is what the team has typically done recently. But Fitz made a bad pick there, it is what it is. There's no need to try to defend him and justify it. It wont change that it was, and still very much is, a bad pick.

You saw it this year with our draft. Someone like Hameenaho as an example, who was our 2nd round pick, is instantly a better prospect in our pipeline than Stillman. He has skating issues but you can clearly see the upside and see the path to him being a middle 6 forward for this team if he can improve his skating at all.

If only hindsight was our draft team

I can count 6 players immediately just from looking at the draft board that i'd much rather have over Stillman. Zach Dean the very next pick is a much better prospect, he has the potential to be a 2nd liner. Olen Zellweger 5 picks after is a great pick, he has a chance to be very good for the Ducks and could be one of the steals of that draft(the way we think of Casey is the way they think of Zellweger). Shai Buium and especially Daniil Chayka are promising potential middle pairing D. Scott Morrow is potentially a top 4 D for the Canes. Zack Ostapchuk could become a middle 6 forward with scoring upside. They're all in the next 11 picks after Stillman and all have significantly higher upside. A little further down, a guy like Logan Stankoven who went middle of the 2nd is looking like he is going be an absolute stud(he was projected to be a 1st round pick). Todd Cordell's discord was screaming their heads off for us to take him or Zellweger when the Devils were on the clock at that pick.

I'd rather always take a swing on upside(like Mukhamadullin) and potentially miss then take a safe 4th line grinder with zero upside, with literally any pick, let alone a late 1st. You can sign 4th line grinders every single year in free agency or trade for one for a middle round pick. You need to be drafting to try to hit gold and find gems. Which is what the team has typically done recently. But Fitz made a bad pick there, it is what it is. There's no need to try to defend him and justify it. It wont change that it was, and still very much is, a bad pick.

You saw it this year with our draft. Someone like Hameenaho as an example, who was our 2nd round pick, is instantly a better prospect in our pipeline than Stillman. He has skating issues but you can clearly see the upside and see the path to him being a middle 6 forward for this team if he can improve his skating at all.
- vlongo4419

Totally agree and not defending the pick. Just saying we've seen Fitzy (and presumably the scouting department) be a little surprising in some of their decisions. Sometimes quite good, sometimes not so much. I mean Nemec was rather shocking and I wonder if they would have still taken him even if Slafkovsky wasn't taken by Montreal. Taking Big Shak was a surprise and it seems like it was a rather good surprise pick. So I sort of throw Stillman in there as an odd choice but maybe they had some good reasons... but of course not everything works out. Not to mention Stillman seemed to bring some attributes (like toughness) that Fitzy knew the Devils needed.

Overall, I feel like our drafting has been quite good albeit somewhat unconventional; so while I agree that Chase stands out as questionable move and not an encouraging prospect, I just don't dwell on it and hope to one day see him on the fourth line knocking some Ranger or Flyer on their butt or punching them in the snot locker. If not... then we are still fine.

Totally agree and not defending the pick. Just saying we've seen Fitzy (and presumably the scouting department) be a little surprising in some of their decisions. Sometimes quite good, sometimes not so much. I mean Nemec was rather shocking and I wonder if they would have still taken him even if Slafkovsky wasn't taken by Montreal. Taking Big Shak was a surprise and it seems like it was a rather good surprise pick. So I sort of throw Stillman in there as an odd choice but maybe they had some good reasons... but of course not everything works out. Not to mention Stillman seemed to bring some attributes (like toughness) that Fitzy knew the Devils needed.

Overall, I feel like our drafting has been quite good albeit somewhat unconventional; so while I agree that Chase stands out as questionable move and not an encouraging prospect, I just don't dwell on it and hope to one day see him on the fourth line knocking some Ranger or Flyer on their butt or punching them in the snot locker. If not... then we are still fine.
- Queenie_5_hole

Exactly, our drafting really has been quite good as of late. Which is why it makes the Stillman pick seem even worse lol. I wouldnt say Nemec was a bad pick, but he was definitely taken ahead of players who are/were seen as better, but he was drafted with his upside being a top pair defenseman. He had all of the tools to where it seemed like he'd be a top 4 guy at worse. Mukhamadullin was a bad pick in the sense that it was a reach, but you still had the potential upside that if everything hits right with him, theres a chance he's a top 4 or even top pair D. Even Holtz, like Nemec he was taken over some guys who people would prefer, but you saw the upside of Holtz being a legit 40 goal threat if he hit his upside(he can still be that).

All of those guys had justifications and significant upside that could be seen as to why they were taken where they were. There is/was zero justification for taking Stillman where we did, and the team themselves even said that they took him because they felt they needed 'depth forwards' and toughness in the system. His ceiling is a Nate Bastian replacement. I'm sorry, but thats garbage reasoning for using a 1st round pick on him lol. You dont draft for team needs, especially when that kid might not even have a shot at making your team for 3, 4, or 5 years after being drafted. You should be taking swing after swing on upside, especially when there is still a ton of talent on the board at the end of the 1st.

Like i said prior, he will definitely get multiple shots at making the team down the road solely based off of the draft capital we invested in him. But man, we threw away a 1st round pick for absolutely no reason. Why are we trying to force this narrative of him being a dark horse this season when there's literally zero chance of that happening? People tried to do the same thing with Walsh too.

So with Hellebuyck seemingly off the market, it now seems that Boston is going to keep both of Ullmark and Swayman. After the Sway arb case they're only ~350k over the cap, and can easily get under by sending someone like Ian Mitchell to the AHL. So barring something unexpected, it seems more and more likely that we move into next season with Vanecek and Schmid as the tandem, and Kallgren as the 3rd if someone gets hurt.

A few yrs ago we were one of the worst. Now legit Cup contenders. Amazing stuff.

We got a new pp, only fitting to bring in some Bahls