Quick Message to all Devils Fans

Forums/Armchair-GM

Page 1 of 1

Created by: iforgotmyname

Team: 2021-22 New Jersey Devils

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 8, 2021

Published: Jun. 8, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

I've been reading a lot of the comments and seeing these posts. First off, I love the energy from the group.

But one thing that I keep seeing is Devils fans comment "why trade for so-and-so when we can get him in FA." or "we'll just wait for FA thanks but no thanks" on these players with 1 year left.

Listen, I agree that some of these mock trades are overpayments for 1 year rentals....but as a fanbase we need to understand something. We never sign big named FAs. It just doesn't happen. Literally the last UFA we gave a big contract to was Mike Cammalleri in 2012. Mike ****ing Cammalleri.

Most of our big moves in the past have been via trade or FA. I agree that the majority of these Marner, Reilly, Seth Jones trades are too high of a price tag. But we also never win in FA, EVER. If we want a superstar or a star like those players, we need be aggressive in trades, not sit around for FA because we just won't win. Regardless of how much money we throw at top FAs. (Shattenkirk as a quick example). We've been sitting on cap space for like 4-5 years now and haven't really made a big splash other than trading for Hall.

I do think we are still a young team and probably wont be competitive for 2 more years, but that still doesnt mean we should wait around 2 years before going after some stars.

Idk just my 2 cents. Curious what the boys think.

Cheers,

Buyouts

Cory Schneider: $2,000,000

Recapture Fees

Ilya Kovalchuk: $250,000

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2021
2022
2023

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
13	$81,500,000	$42,961,930	$0	$3,332,500	$38,538,070

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Johnsson, Andreas $3,400,000$3,400,000 LW, RW UFA - 2	Hischier, Nico $7,250,000$7,250,000 C UFA - 6
Wood, Miles $2,750,000$2,750,000 LW UFA - 1	Zacha, Pavel $2,250,000$2,250,000 C, LW UFA - 1
Bratt, Jesper $2,750,000$2,750,000 RW, LW UFA - 1	Hughes, Jack $925,000$925,000 ($2,850,000$3M) C UFA - 1
Maltsev, Mikhail $809,167$809,167 ($82,500$82K) C, LW UFA - 1	Boqvist, Jesper $925,000$925,000 C, LW RFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Butcher, Will $2,822,764$2,822,764 LD UFA - 1	Subban, P.K. $9,000,000$9,000,000 RD UFA - 1	Blackwood, Mackenzie $2,800,000$2,800,000 G UFA - 2
Smith, Ty $863,333$863,333 ($400,000$400K) LD/RD RFA - 2	Severson, Damon $4,166,666$4,166,666 RD UFA - 2

Jun. 8, 2021 at 11:22 p.m.

csick

KFTW

Joined: Jul. 2018

Posts: 42,987

Likes: 23,981

Make sense but as long as the top prospects don’t go anywhere. Use anyone else

iforgotmyname and Devil liked this.

Jun. 8, 2021 at 11:23 p.m.

Devsfan25

Joined: Jul. 2017

Posts: 4,322

Likes: 1,338

Completely agree. I think too many Devs fans are also banking on every prospect panning out. U need veteran pieces surrounding the young guys cuz even if u do manage to make the playoffs, u would get killed in the playoffs with no veteran presence

iforgotmyname liked this.

Jun. 8, 2021 at 11:24 p.m.

NHLfan10506

Joined: May 2019

Posts: 40,237

Likes: 18,368

Agree with what you are saying. Not sure if there is specific trade you had in mind. But another thing to consider is that 2021-22 is unlikely to be a cup run season so it doesn’t make sense to buy a rental that is likely to walk at end of year.

Besides, Fitzy has, on multiple occasions, stated fairly clearly that he is not going to go after rentals or big name free agents. He wants young players that are in the Hughes, Hischier, Bratt, Smith age cohort.

iforgotmyname and Devil liked this.

Jun. 8, 2021 at 11:26 p.m.

Devil

Speak of the Devil

Joined: Nov. 2017

Posts: 23,936

Likes: 26,436

You made some great points here but this is what I think

Devils are in a position where they shouldn't pay a high price for a rental like Johnny G or Rielly. I know NJ isn't known to sign big name free agents, but money talks. And with Fitz as GM, I think it's more likely he makes a splash in free agency compared to Lou or Ray. Personally, I don't want the Devils to go aggressive in free agency and sign the top free agents. I wouldn't mind signing mid tier free agents like Adam Larsson, Blake Coleman, Johnathan Bernier.

But I do agree Devils should go for the trade approach. Fitz has done a great job with trades and he should continue that trend. If he can get a good deal on a superstar, then go for it, if not, then stay put. In my opinion, Devils have an amazing young core with guys like Hughes, Nico, Holtz, Sharangovich, Foote, Mercer, Bratt, and the list goes on. I would like the Devils to stay put for the most part, but make some minor moves and build through the draft. We don't want to be in a position like the Rangers when we can't pay our young guys.

Thanks for bringing this discussion up

iforgotmyname liked this.

Jun. 8, 2021 at 11:27 p.m.

iforgotmyname

Thread Starter

Joined: Apr. 2017

Posts: 305

Likes: 78

Quoting: NHLfan10506

Yeah I've seen him say that. I still think the likes of Marner, Reilly, and Seth Jones are fairly young so im totally fine if Fitzy went after them (as long as we had a shot at signing them long term)

Once these 1-year rentals get to FA, we just won't ever be frontrunners. I think one day we will once we become competitive, but i think trading for marquee players will help with that in the next 1-2 years

Jun. 9, 2021 at 12:36 a.m.

nmarc13

Joined: Jun. 2021

Posts: 158

Likes: 63

I agree with you bro i just think we need one more big piece other than the one we get with the 4th pick this year to add to the core of hughes hischier smith blackwood and this years 4th pick and then i think we should trade for that last piece. u look at a team like tampa they got 5 big pieces (stamkos point kucherov hedman vasilevskiy) colorado (mackinnon rantanen makar landeskog byram) boston (bergeron pastrnak marchand mcavoy krejci)

iforgotmyname liked this.

Jun. 9, 2021 at 8:34 a.m.

Smitty426

Joined: May 2016

Posts: 6,827

Likes: 1,977

The reason I use the "no thanks line" is because it's more polite than saying no "F'in way would I do that trade" . It avoids a bunch of back n forth. The expectation in most cases that the player would sign here is not real. But the goofy value just blows my mind.

iforgotmyname liked this.

Jun. 9, 2021 at 11:32 a.m.

NHLfan10506

Joined: May 2019

Posts: 40,237

Likes: 18,368

Quoting: Smitty426

The art of declining a trade can be a delicate one.

nmarc13, Smitty426 and iforgotmyname liked this.

Jun. 9, 2021 at 12:10 p.m.

polock_mark

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 27

Likes: 4

In short if the devils cannot attract free agents in the top couple of tiers, they aren’t going anywhere. The organizations which compete are able to build through the draft, make strategic trades and attract free agents. If you eliminate even one of the three, you become prone to the risks of each: the draft is far from a sure thing and takes years, trades are difficult to win on a consistent basis to build a team and FA require paying a premium and eliminate cap flexibility.

IMO, the devils need to do the following over the next 2-3 year to get out of their current cycle.

1) Continue to build through the draft, given the state of their roster, trading top 20 picks is a bad idea. Even with the influx of talent coming, it’s hard to say the devils will have the top 9 / top 4 talent to win.

2) Use trades to trim their surplus of young, unproven players for middle 6 and second pair players which address the gaps in the roster. The devils have drafted an extra 10 players on the last 5 drafts and all of them will develop to be nhlers on winning teams.

3) Leverage cap space to pay a slight premium for shorter term contracts with FA starting next year. It is easier to get players to stay when you are winning and to maintain flexibility go long term with the players that fit.

Jun. 9, 2021 at 2:05 p.m.

#10

Smitty426

Joined: May 2016

Posts: 6,827

Likes: 1,977

Quoting: NHLfan10506

The art of declining a trade can be a delicate one.

You aint kiddin

Jun. 9, 2021 at 2:07 p.m.

#11

Smitty426

Joined: May 2016

Posts: 6,827

Likes: 1,977

Quoting: polock_mark

all true, grabbing a star through a trade wouldn't hurt (ala Hall) as noted in #2

Jun. 9, 2021 at 2:13 p.m.

#12

NHLfan10506

Joined: May 2019

Posts: 40,237

Likes: 18,368

Quoting: polock_mark

Great points - but I do not think draft, trades and UFAs are three co-equal pieces. First two are far more important.
And most important is development of young players. That is Fitzy's specialty.

For me it is:
1. Player Development
2. Draft (and the patience that comes with building through draft)
3. Trades (or better yet, get the timing of trades right)
4. UFAs (only to fill holes)

How many good teams today have core players that were acquired as UFA?
I have no problems skipping out on big name UFAs...as long as we get the first three right, we will be fine.

Page 1 of 1

DISPLAY SETTING

BETTING ODDS

LOCALE

ARCHIVE

CBA

CALCULATORS

FANTASY HOCKEY TOOLS

TOOLS

PLAYERS

WESTERN CONFERENCE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

INTERACTIVE FEATURES

Forums/Armchair-GM