As the devils are finally starting to show some development and identity within the franchise, they seem to have a good problem. That being, a core I would feel comfortable keeping intact for the next decade or so, but not enough roster spots for the abundance of solid assets they have collected during what feels like almost a decade-long rebuild. Its always good to have guys that can be called up or fill-in, but theres a point where it becomes absurd to keep so many nhl-caliber players out of an NHL lineup. Or, have guys with top-6 ability/potential getting 4th line minutes.
I think there is going to have to be a point where the devils trade 1-3 of these guys + some early round picks in order to maximize talent in the nightly lineup. Not trying to make an EA NHL style trade here where you just trade you last 5 years of 6th round picks for a superstar; however, I think all of the guys on the left side are of a relatively high caliber, and I wanted to visually organize the full extent of NHL-caliber assets within the franchise at this moment.
Left Side are players I would be willing to trade. The top ones in "left wing" I would prefer not to trade, but would be willing to do so as a part of a monumental deal/upgrade. E.g. if you wanted to trade sevo for hamilton or something, That would clearly be an upgrade. Just an example dont get mad please.
Bottom left, under 'scratches,' are the real issue, where the devils have about 10 FWD and 2 D that have either already proven that they can be full-time NHLers, or appear very likely to be full time-NHLers in the next 1-2 years. The level of potential varies of course, with Mercer and Boqvist seeming to have the most offensive upside, and top-6 potential. I would say they are at least B+ prospects if we are considering Holtz Nico and Hughes to be A or A+ prospects/assets.
Right side are the untouchable pieces in Nico, Holtz Hughes, Blackwood, Smith.
Center are players that are probably considered dead weight, or will not be on the team when their contracts expire in 1-2 years. I imagine they have very little trade value at this point in comparison to all of the guys on the left side.
You should try to move some future to acquire a big splashy offensive winger. Thinking about maybe someone like Meier in SJ or Landeskog this summer if he becomes available. I mean you have the goalie, a solid d corp but you clearly need a top winger that you could actually but his face on tickets or something. At least you have a pretty decent center core of Hischier, Hughes, Zacha.... Future is bright and you're not missing a lot NJ's fans. There is a light at the end of the tunnel
Very solid analysis. I agree. The biggest issue is there isn’t much in the D pipeline to move the needle.
Mukhamadullin and Bahl looked decent enough tbh... You also have Smith... You could maybe target one in this year TDL by moving Wood for example who at this point becomes very expendable given the abundance of role players in your bottom 9
These are the main needs for the Devils in my opinion
1. Big Scoring LW next to Hughes (Ovi type player)
2. 2-way/defensive LHD behind Smith
3. 3rd line Energy penalty killer (Hyman/Coleman type player)
Mukhamadullin and Bahl looked decent enough tbh... You also have Smith... You could maybe target one in this year TDL by moving Wood for example who at this point becomes very expendable given the abundance of role players in your bottom 9
The left side has some prospects, the right side is barren!
These are the main needs for the Devils in my opinion
1. Big Scoring LW next to Hughes (Ovi type player)
2. 2-way/defensive LHD behind Smith
3. 3rd line Energy penalty killer (Hyman/Coleman type player)
I think the devils could certainly benefit from having another sniper in the top 6 such as filip forsberg. That said, I would probably put that as #2 on my list of needs. I think they would benefit much more from the acquisition of a legit 200 ft defensemen. Obviously they dont grow on trees, but they dont necessarily have to go out there and try to trade for victor hedman either. I always think of Jake Muzzin when I think of a guy that isnt a star, but he is big enough and talented enough to contribute in any situation. Of course, Muzzin is a little too long in the tooth to align with the devils current contention trajectory. Hes just the style of player that comes to mind when I think of needs. I was really hoping they would find a way to pry sergachev from TBL last summer, but that was very wishful thinking.
lastly, I think they have more than enough guys that can become great penalty killers. They already have Nico and Zacha. It seems like Maltsev, Mcleod, Sharangovich, Bastian, and Kuokkanenen all seem to show promise there. Equally, those are the kind of guys that previously established teams go out looking for. The Coleman situation is kind of a perfect example. He was a guy built for the playoffs, but he had to go to a team like TBL to show how valuable he really can be.
I think the devils could certainly benefit from having another sniper in the top 6 such as filip forsberg. That said, I would probably put that as #2 on my list of needs. I think they would benefit much more from the acquisition of a legit 200 ft defensemen. Obviously they dont grow on trees, but they dont necessarily have to go out there and try to trade for victor hedman either. I always think of Jake Muzzin when I think of a guy that isnt a star, but he is big enough and talented enough to contribute in any situation. Of course, Muzzin is a little too long in the tooth to align with the devils current contention trajectory. Hes just the style of player that comes to mind when I think of needs. I was really hoping they would find a way to pry sergachev from TBL last summer, but that was very wishful thinking.
lastly, I think they have more than enough guys that can become great penalty killers. They already have Nico and Zacha. It seems like Maltsev, Mcleod, Sharangovich, Bastian, and Kuokkanenen all seem to show promise there. Equally, those are the kind of guys that previously established teams go out looking for. The Coleman situation is kind of a perfect example. He was a guy built for the playoffs, but he had to go to a team like TBL to show how valuable he really can be.
Thinking about it some more, I agree. I think we need that 200 ft defensemen. Im looking towards the draft for that. Hughes, Edvinsson, Power are some players we could get. I don't know too much about their playing styles but I think they could develop into a quality top 4 dman. As for the sniper/power forward next to Hughes, maybe Wood or Foote (most likely Foote). I don't think we have to worry about it too much. And for that penalty killer, we probably need a veteran guy with them since Zajac is likely going to leave/retire.
1. A top 4 D-man
2. Back-up goalie
3. A net front big body for PP
4. And bottom-6 right-shot energy forward
5. A veteran 4C / faceoff specialist
Fitz seems to be pretty grounded in the reality that you need more than one legitimate goalie in the modern nhl. I dont think they will shy away from bringing in talent at backup goalie going forward. Honeslty I wouldn't even be too mad about signing wedgewood to a 2 year deal under 2 million per season. If not, you can go into the open market and see what the price is for a guy like raanta or something. I am not a shero hater by any means, but one of the big gripes I had with him was how he handled the goaltending situations the last two years. Even if he wanted to keep Cory in the system, you need an insurance policy/contingency plan. You just cant rely on somebody like that, and it was unfair to let a young blackwood face so much rubber on an almost nightly basis. In my eyes you dont need to go out an pay a guy like Khudobin 5+ million dollars to be "the best backup" or whatever, but you need a legitimate backup for sure. I wouldnt expect that to cost more than 3.5 million per year.
Fitz seems to be pretty grounded in the reality that you need more than one legitimate goalie in the modern nhl. I dont think they will shy away from bringing in talent at backup goalie going forward. Honeslty I wouldn't even be too mad about signing wedgewood to a 2 year deal under 2 million per season. If not, you can go into the open market and see what the price is for a guy like raanta or something. I am not a shero hater by any means, but one of the big gripes I had with him was how he handled the goaltending situations the last two years. Even if he wanted to keep Cory in the system, you need an insurance policy/contingency plan. You just cant rely on somebody like that, and it was unfair to let a young blackwood face so much rubber on an almost nightly basis. In my eyes you dont need to go out an pay a guy like Khudobin 5+ million dollars to be "the best backup" or whatever, but you need a legitimate backup for sure. I wouldnt expect that to cost more than 3.5 million per year.
I agree with all of that. I'd rather have 2a and 2b. One young developing goalie and one cheap veteran.
An ideal world would be using #2 pick on another goalie, see Daws or Schmid take next step into #3 role and sign Wedgewood or similar as #2.
Devil a aimé ceci.
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