I absolutely love the idea of bringing Pasta onto the Devils he would be a great fit and one of the best possible players to pair with Hughes, especially now with Holtz in question. I am not feeling the same way about Helle as he will be older and I feel like he is overrated. I think Blackwood will really rebound this year and prove himself to be the full time starter. Maybe he doesn’t but he probably will and I think they will already have him as their starter by then. I really like Wood and Bastian so I hope they don’t leave but Bastian is replaceable as much as I don’t want to see him leave but Wood is a bit more unique. I am worried about the Bratt situation I really hope Fitz can figure that out next summer and not mess up as he is not easy to replace

Even given that this is in the future, I don't think the forward logjam is going to be resolved to the point that we're willing to take on the other Boqvist by then. We'd have to have some sort of disaster scenario in which most of our prospect forwards don't work out, and in those circumstances I don't think we'd be willing to give up "picks and prospects" in the first place.

My issue is that this would be the softest team in playoff history. Whether you like it or not, the playoffs are a different season than the regular season. You need to be physical and durable. Ur probably gonna have to keep wood and haula and maybe even add another physical guy up front. The biggest guy on this forward core is Foote and he doesn’t play physical enough. Plus we are losing graves who was our most physical dman. Okytyiuk would have to be in the lineup bc the d core is also a bit soft. Not the biggest issue though bc they are still big but needs more physicality. More focused on the forward group

Every team that loses in playoffs, they say, "We were too soft."
Every team that wins, people say, "they played hard, physical game."

I think its all baloney.

Yes, you need heavier players to wear down opponents. But was Colorado a physical grinder team? (not really)...those Tampa teams? (not really)...St Louis a little bit, Washington had size, Pittsburgh had some size, but weren't a heavy, physical team. The Blackhawks teams were skilled, skated well on both sides. LA Kings had some thumpers and grinders.

The game is developing into more skating/skill based league. It just is.

The Devils lineup last year had plenty of size...we are just young. In 2021-22, we were the youngest team in NHL, but the 5th largest (see elite prospects team comparisons). 14 of 16 playoff teams had smaller teams. Going forward, we can always add a grinder or two. But get the skill there first.

I’m gonna disagree with you 1000% on the fact that the past Stanley cup champions weren’t physical. They were definitely physical. At the very least a few players. This team has no guys that will drop the gloves or that will lay a massive hit. Let alone forecheck hard. Especially after taking out McLeod Bastian haula who are our only physical players. It’s not baloney that physical teams are successful. Stamps played a physical game. Tampa entire second, third and fourth line. Mackinnon rantanen Landy were all physical. Not to mention other guys. St. Louis Perron played extremely physical. Their bottom six was brutal in terms of physicality. Brayden schenn played extremely physical in that run. Caps had ovi Wilson oshie, their entire fourth line led by smith pelley and their backend was extremely physical. There is so much hard evidence that the winning teams were physical. This team will be a player in the regular season. But as Steve dangle said on his podcast the other day, the playoffs are a different season and different teams are successful in the postseason. I don’t wanna debate anymore if physical teams are successful in the playoffs bc they are 1000% needed to get far in the playoffs and win a cup