Slavkovsky will be a top 5 pick it’s unlikely he falls to New Jersey’s but if he does New Jersey is a good fit. He definitely won’t make it past philly tho

One winger that fits that description that might be a free agent this offseason is Evander kane. Not sure what sort of contract he will be getting offered or looking for but has been impressive with Edmonton. Could be a gamble worth exploring. I’d like to see him stay in Edmonton just not sure how realistic that is.

If Graves walks, I think you need a top left D. I also think you need Mid RD. They D went from OK with vets to ? with the young guys. It might be great down the line but if the Fwds are done, and I sorta agree with your thinking (I'd still add myself), your going to need better bodies. We cant wait an additional yr or 2 until these guys ready.

(And dare I say, sports gambling is legal in New Jersey…)

Hornqvist is a guy I would like if we added a veteran. He could be available in off-season as cap causality. JVR is a possibility too, but I would not be as psyched to add him.



If we are picking between 4-6, I would think Slafkovsky or Lambert could be there.

1. Wright/Cooley
2. Cooley/Wright
3. Nemec
4. Lambert
5. Slafkovsky

Something like that…

Fully agree. This is the depth chart without any additions. There are bound to be some moves.

I would even move a winger, an offensive d-man or picks out to add another young defensive d-man if we don’t resign Graves. Would ideally be someone who can move the puck from d-zone and play at the speed we want. I don’t think size matters. I want guys who can close gaps quickly and turn puck around quickly. Brock Faber, Jake Sanderson would be the ideal.

If our goaltending and defense are doing their job, these forwards will produce plenty of goals.

Yes we need a winger this offseason. Unless we want to be in a rebuild for another 4-5 years. In which case, Severson will be at the end of his prime, and 5 years of Bratt, Hischier, and Hughes will have been wasted.

But even now, as the youngest team in NHL, and youngest forward unit, we are creating plenty of scoring chances, getting plenty of shots and scoring plenty of goals. And pipeline will add a few guys from Holtz, Gritsyuk, Foote, Thompson, Clarke, Bardokov, Stillman, Salminen and a top pick in 2022. So I think we are in good shape.

I would add one or two into mix, preferably one that is good on pucks around net. But I don’t think we *need* to add a bunch of high priced guys.

Our Achilles heel has been goaltending. Adding a goalie and locking down a d-man or two should be priorities in my book.

That sounds like a job for James Neal! Isn’t Blackwood your future starting goalie? I know he’s struggling, but if you give him some time, I think he will turn this around. Also, I believe he needs a guy to learn from like Skinner in Edmonton. He has Smith, Sorokin has Varlamov, Wolf/ Vlader has Markstrom, Lankinen has Fleury, Berdin will have Hellebuyck, Dostal may have Gibson, Swayman has Ullmark, etc.

You mean like Schneider, Crawford and Bernier? Devils had somebody "for him to learn from" for the last 3 seasons. Two got broken and the other retired without warning.

Yah you need someone who can actually play even if it’s for a year. I think if they got a veteran to help Blackwood, you would see a huge difference in the way he plays.

Even though Mercer has emerged into a solid winger, I still think we need another goal-scoring winger

But I would say a goal-scoring winger is our biggest need outside of goaltending

All 3 of those guys were expected to play without issue is my point... You're asking Devils fans to just accept "4th time's the charm" with giving Blackwood a Vet backup and expecting them to not break immediately like they have the last 3 years.

Yeah….no more grizzle. And no more “veteran backups”. Blackwood hasn’t earned automatic starter status. We need a young guy to come in and be the #1. Let Blackwood earn it back.

I’d rather have 7-8 guys who can score 20+ than one guy who can score 40+.

“Goal-scoring” can be very unpredictable and chasing it can be a fools errand. Half the albatross contracts out there were “goal scorers” that had gone cold on new teams.

I think besides goaltending the biggest problem is ruff. Because the players have no chemistry with each other, he is constantly churning the lines. Even if something works it’s not that long before he breaks it up. If you look at contending teams their core have been playing with the same players on the same lines for years

Goaltending is obviously NJ’s biggest need. Anyone who disagrees is clearly not watching the games lol.

I personally would have winger at priority 2, though it is close. I don’t want the chance for another Vesey and Bastian playing with Nico situation again. I think NJ only has 2 top 6 wingers in the NHL right now (3 if you count Mercer) so for me I think upgrading Zacha’s roster spot would be my focus (though he has been playing well with Nico and Bratt so if he can keep that up than possibly not).

Plus I actually like our defence. I think Hamilton, Severson, Siegenthaler, and Graves is a solid top 4. It’s the bottom pair that worries me. I’d target upgrading the bottom pair.

So yeah goalie by far the biggest need. I can see the argument for D being a higher priority than winger. But at the end of the day I think he need an upgrade on both D and winger.

I forgot to add that a D like Dylan Demelo for the 3rd pair would be very ideal. I have no idea if he is available or not but that’s a player I would like on my team.

I think we are on same page. My priorities

1. Goalie -- someone to compete with Blackwood, same age...Samsonov, Vladar, etc. But could come from our pipeline if Daws really emerges in 2nd half.
2. Defensive d-man -- third pair lock-down guy to play with either Smith or Walsh. It could be Bahl, Okhotiuk...could be veteran Kulikov type signing.
3. Big winger -- a younger JvR or Patric Horqvist type...play on 3rd line, someone good around net. This is the role I had hoped Nolan Foote would play...or even Graeme Clarke.

And I never want to overspend on wingers. Guys like Laine often turn into guys like Skinner. The Burakovsky's turn into Lucic's. The Boeser's turn into James Neal. Eriksson, Zucker, Gallagher, Ladd, etc etc.

Yeah I think we’re on the same page. I’m leaning towards not wanting Boeser now because I’m scared he might turn into an overpayment and Neal is a good comparison of that.

I’ve always wanted someone like Burakovsky and Nichushkin so I’d be interested to see what some of the younger UFAs would cost. Also would like to go after Husso if he gets to free agency. For defence, I miss Kulikov lol. I’d be fine trading for someone (Zach Whitecloud) but yeah NJ doesn’t seem too far from competing

Jiricek too

Burakovsky
Nichushkin
Husso
Are all good adds

I'd like to include Marchment from Fla as a UFA and maybe a Lybushkin from Tor, who is a ufa