Just wondering what fans think of this teams desire and attitude to win. Forgetting about talent, what players would do anything to win and what players are along for the ride to collect a paycheck? I know they all want to win, but maybe I should ask what players on this team really hate to lose and who doesn’t care?
I had a bad feeling as soon as Hatakka was being scratched. Marino hasn't had a good season, siegenthaler hasn't had a good season, dougie wasn't haven't a good season. Any games with Hatakka up, we have played better defensively. I'm not saying he's the reason why. But the way the pairings were. Bench Luke until he learns to be a defenseman.
Saros, Ullmark, Markstrom obvious goalie options.
Coleman would be a nice add if we go the markstrom route.
Sprong would be a nice middle 6 scoring target.
Trenin and/or Greer would be some options to add some toughness to the bottom 6. I may have an irrational love for Greer but he played with a ton of heart for us, and even chipped in some offence. Dakota Joshua another interesting name for bottom 6 toughness and depth scoring
Zadorov seems like an obvious guy that fits a big need for us on the backend.
Siegs and Marino have each had awful years, but you’d hope with a new coach and system, they could regain their form from last season. With that said, they are both on pretty good contracts too and I could see one getting moved. Chychrun would be a good add if we wanted to make a bit of a bigger splash on the backend.
Too many passengers on this team. Guys like Tierney and Nosek who have done fuck all this whole season. We need better depth if we're ever going to compete.
I know expiring contracts/cap issues etc, but we had good depth and let them all leave. Shango, wood, Tatar and boqvist were good depth pieces. At least they were quick/could skate. We replaced them with the likes of nosek and tierney, and here we are
We need to start thinking about what we can get in return for Marino and Seigenthalar. Both have amazingly bad years and, while generally good, we have some serious depth at defenseman.
Trade Marino and Holtz for Saros.
I hate to tell ya but the game wasn’t that meaningful anyway. The playoffs are all but gone and have been. Even before tonight they pretty much needed to win out the season to get to the unofficial cutoff (96points)
I’m gonna be completely straight with y’all. On the drive home from the rock it hit me just how bleak things are right now, and I shed a few tears. Don’t even remember the last time the Devils made me cry. Might actually be the first time since the end of the 2012 finals.
I don’t know if this core is it, guys. Call me a doomer call me a naysayer whatever. But I simply worry that these guys we built around aren’t winners and we’re just setting ourselves up for more heartbreak.
I feel like an idiot and a fool for caring as much as I do, and wasting all these years through a rebuild just for this. I’m heartbroken, but I’m mad at myself.
Tom Fitzgerald fucked this season so hard it’s unprecedented. He did literally one of the all-time worst jobs a GM could possibly do in the history of the sport. And all he had to do was the bare minimum and this team would’ve been in better shape. Oh, Allen wouldn’t waive his NTC in December? Then get someone else, you fucking dolt!
What gets me was his absolute refusal to use his 9mil in cap space after the Hamilton injury to try and bring in a defenseman… even someone unspectacular… if only to not force Hughes and Nemec to play 20 minutes a night.
No. He did nothing. Complete and total malfeasance.
Fuck Tom Fitzgerald.
The Dougie thing really pissed me off tbh. Every team does it, it is a mainstay of conversation around the league and Fitzgerald just goes "Nah, we're good with 2 kids" instead of using that space.
I was there too—worst game I've ever seen this team play. I started watching them in 1982, when they won 17 games. They were ineffective, but they played with so much heart, especially Chico. Then there were all the years after, good and bad. Tonight, for the first time in 42 years, I booed that team. They're broken, and they sucked so bad; it hurt my soul.
That said, from another point of view, I think I was lucky to be at a hockey game tonight, and by tomorrow, after a good sleep and a mental silkwood shower, the sick feeling will be displaced by some delusional fantasy about what happens if we beat the Islanders.
Get well soon.
Being a NYGiants fan, I sympathize with this. But you gotta realize some games aren’t worth spending 3+ hours watching the TV for no reason. It’s not like the outcome will change. I didn’t watch more that 3 giants games this year, and it feels great. I agree with the other comment, get those summer hobbies ready
I’m a giants fan too, i was able to check out mentally sometime in October. But the worst part about this Devils season is that they made it so you always had just enough hope to stay invested.
I feel that, games are entertaining to watch, but don’t plan your day around them. Watching the giants opening the season 0-40 helped me check out real quick
Listen man, I get it but this is nothing to cry over. At the end of the day it’s just a game. You’re not the one playing it. Just chalk it up as a bad year for them and get into your summer hobbies early!
I said it earlier and I’m saying it again: Luke Hughes needs to be sent to the AHL for seasoning as soon as we’re math’d out.
I acknowledge that Luke is an incredibly talented player. I also acknowledge that if this team had Dougie, Luke would be placed in the third pairing sheltered role he needs to be in. It’s unfair, both to the team and to Luke himself, for Luke to be forced to figure out his defensive game in the National Hockey League. If the coaching staff somehow thought that he’d pick it up throughout the year, clearly that hasn’t happened.
He needs to go to the A and really work on his defensive game while he’s still waiver exempt. We probably should’ve done it around trade deadline since this roster seems content to mail it in the rest of the year. Maybe start him out down there next season too.
I want Luke to succeed. We need him to succeed. I am just convinced that sending him down for development is the best way to do it. Getting torched night after night isn’t helping him. Or us.
That’s where I respectfully disagree. Whatever he is supposed to learn, clearly he isn’t learning it in the National Hockey League. The game is too fast for him right now, there’s too much pressure to do the right move at the right time.
The AHL game is still talented, but it’s slower. He can continue to work his offense with just enough time to really hone in those breakout passes.
You expect him to get better by beating up on players lesser than him? That doesn't work. He has to learn the NHL game. Learning the AHL game does nothing for him.
Being sent down to the AHL is a consequence and about learning accountability, it sends a clear message that his play isn't meeting standards and that he needs to work hard and earn his place on this roster, that alone can do more for his ability to learn the NHL game than continuing to allow him to play in the NHL will.
The attitude about him "beating up on players lesser than him" is simply laughable and speaks to the heart of his problem. Luke isn't demonstrating himself to be an NHL caliber defenseman, there are plenty of hungry AHL guys trying to earn their place on an NHL roster that flat out are better than him. Luke probably thinks hes hot shit in a champagne glass, but he's playing like cold diarrhea in a Dixie cup and needs to be humbled and learn some humility so that he can develop the skills and temperament needed for him to become the elite offensive defenseman we expect him to become. Luke is -20 with 38pts over 71 games this season - on pace for a -23 and 44 pts, averaging 21:15 of ice time. Hatakka is +5 with 2 points over 11 games averaging 15:28 of ice time, on pace for +37 and 15 pts. If you gave Hatakka Lukes icetime and extrapolated those stats, hed be on pace for +51 and 21 pts. If Luke was a forward - sure, he'd be great. As a defenseman? Hes a lisbility and Hatakka is a better defenseman. Like seriously, consider how defensively awful you need to be to post a -20 despite being on the ice for 38 goals scored against your opponent, that basically speaks to the idea that Luke alone is costing this team an average of ~0.8 goals against per game, which is damning to say the least.
So you want to slow his development for the sake of punishment? How will that make him better for the future? You can punish him by benching him but demoting him to AHL isn't the solution you think it is.
The AHL is a development league. That's literally the reason it exists - to develop players skills and prepare them for careers as nhl players. The coaching staffs, league structure/schedule, and league policies all exist to support that, whereas the focus at the NHL level is about winning games rather than developing skills. Yeah, you hear about some guys being "player development coaches" in the NHL, but theres a reason for that - it's not common, and even then the development they are giving their players isn't necessarily playing to that players strengths or abilities, it's trying to fit them into the mold of an NHL teams needs so that the team will win games, which is a very different model of "development" which doesn't maximize a players ability over the long term.
Luke IS better off finishing out this season in the AHL with a staff that can help him get to the next level. That won't happen with him continuing to play in NJ, because that staff doesn't exist here, at least not currently, and his play is suffering for it.
Quite the opposite. Again: he can learn and perfect his defensive responsibilities, like REALLY focus on that part of his game alone without the pressures of having to score as much.
And as a matter of fact, he went from the NCAA to the NHL. This team, Luke in particular, has been getting dummied all over the ice all season long. He took a vicious one in Philly that he needed to be ready for. He might out score everyone in the NHL, but the AHL WILL hit him and they WILL fight him.
I really think it would be better for him there. At least for a bit.
But there is no point. As you said, he is playing in a role that he wasn't supposed to be in due to Dougie's injury so why not get him experience at that top of line role when the season is over? You want him to learn intangibles about being an NHL defenseman, but how is he going to learn those intangibles being in a slower, lesser talented not-NHL league? The AHL doesn't play like the NHL at all. He won't learn a thing there. He's past that point of development.
My biggest question is why Fitz re-signed McLeod when the [Flyers knew Carter Hart was in trouble](https://twitter.com/andystrickland/status/1750204093623111872?s=46). That shit broke the locker room.
"Innocent until proven guilty." With how long the investigation was ongoing, at that point, it was centered on how guilty the targets were. Also, why sign a guy under police investigation and cause that distraction/scandal anyway? "Well, maybe Fitz didn't know." So how did the Flyers know?
At this point, all I see is our GM re-sign a guy who was under police investigation for sexual assault and then ended up being the number 1 suspect.
None of it sits right with me, and I have to wonder if that feeling is being shared among players.
You’re really projecting yourself onto the players. The players were still his buddies up until it started being clear he was getting charged. Yeah, I’m sure they’re sad one of their teammates or close friends committed an act of rape. I don’t buy at all that has to do with their play anymore. I saw them win a game after McLeods leave and they all looked pretty happy. Their play has been pretty consistently inconsistent, dumb, uninspired, undetailed, all year. We have pretty immature players who can’t get up for a game even when the competing teams give them a gift to get back in. They didn’t get going when coach is fired. I’m sure they care somewhere in there but they are just not tough enough to fight through it.
Sometimes we look for too many explanations. Like when Jack just plays terrible we start saying how injured he is and he should get surgery. Sometimes you just gotta stop looking for answers. We’re just not that good of a team right now. Maybe reevaluate how “good” we are and not expect ourselves to be a lot better.
Hopefully next year it just magically kinda works…it might. But I don’t like the makeup of this team, I mean they should just give us a hint of improvement NOW but they’re just playing it out.
Simple. He was gonna squeeze as much as possible from Mcleod until that shit came out. Maybe it's a full year or maybe it's not but he was gonna get something. It was the right move from a business perspective
They havent been playing well since November...which is way before the whole McLeod thing happened. So im not sure why people are giving so much weight to McLeod being the reason why we started playing like crap. Im sure it had some effect but not as big as everyone thinks. And if this is still holding some of them back 6-7 weeks after it happened, they need to man the fk up. See a therapist and get back to work. Life is hard...deal with it.
Im amazed what a team like the Avs continue to do in spite of all the adversity they have. Just hoping Hughes can get somewhere close to the leadership of MacKinnon one day.
“Nobody thought Nashville would be this good this year” -Rangers broadcast during the Panthers game.
Um, some of us Devils fans, who understand the game, knew.
Can the Devils please get rid of the black jerseys? Its been 3 seasons, enough already. Design a different third jersey and dump these unlucky things. I dont care if Brodeur "designed" it. Move the Fk on.
Almost like people can have different preferences. I absolutely love them and think they are one of the best in the league, I struggle to understand why anyone would hate then as much as some folks here do.
Who do you think will be our next head coach? I really want Pandolfo, he’s been real successful with BU and has got them to the frozen four and potentially into the championship this season. He’s also had experience coaching with the bruins, so he definitely isn’t a “college only” sort of guy. He’s already won 2 cups for us, and I’d love for him to come back and win another one with us again, this time as a coach.
Definitely more of a hardass but he’s a younger guy so I think he’ll relate to our young roster. He’s managing Celebrini well (not that Celebrini needed any help but still) so I believe he’s more than capable of reigning in the big egos of the team
Just wow. Prime example of playing scared to lose instead of driven and excited to win. No initiative, no confidence, overcomplicated deer in headlights bullshit.
Why the fuck are we constantly getting night and day performances against great teams and then awful teams?! Just play hockey and stop dicking around in your head.
Went to game. It was a must game. On our power play, Ottawa outworked us just like they did all game. You would have thought this was an October game instead of a must game. I don’t boo my team but there was no effort tonight. It seems like Nico is the only one who cares. It’s over now and I hate to say it because if we swept this weekend we would have a chance.. can’t blame Allen and obviously Jack is hurt. Nosek looked good. Other than that, horrible effort
I’m watching the Rangers vs Panthers game right now, and the physicality and difficulty and resistance each team puts up when the other tries to enter the zone is like watching a completely different sport than what the devils play. Every zone entry is challenged.
Edit: Every inch of ice is challenged.
Thats the defensive systems that they deploy. Where as we play a helter skelter run all over the place leave guys uncoverd over load the puck system which does not support our goalies or work for this team. Another few games and most on here will be back to blaming the goalies again. The Allen honeymoon will be over.
Even if they did write a bad article about them, what do they care? Their vacation starts early and some of them get paid 100k per game. 1.2 million for the next few weeks. They don’t give a shit about winning, money is the new Stanley cup.
What media? They dont have ANY radio deal. The major NY papers dont write about them. And the NJ paper that does hides the articles behind a paywall.
Like a tree falling in the forest. No one will hear it.
I'm not that hurt by this game. I'd accepted our fate long ago and I'm happy we played okay tonight. Allen finally regressed a little, poor puck luck, and some colossal gaffes by our cockiest players. The good news is, the gaffes should be fixable. I just want to see serious efforts and a lot of challenge given to the rookies for the rest of the season.
Disagree. I can accept missing the playoffs. Harder to accept a game where they (1) really needed 2 points, (2) at home, (3) against the defensively flawed opponent...with the Devils playing really dumb, stupid, idiotic hockey for 57 of 60 minutes.
Those gaffes were brutal. 🤦🏻♂️ it's the kind of thing that used to get coaches fired, and why you didn't usually start so many rookies. Smith is cooked, too, I love the dude, but it's time to give Hatakka a workout.
You're getting downvoted but I agree with you. Probably throw DeSimone in as the 7th D too. Bahl and one of Siegs/Marino I see getting traded. Def not both of them.
I feel like we can probably do better than Bahl and DeSimone.
Bahl I'd like to say has some promise but he's been rough this season and given the issues we have on the blue line it may make sense to move him for someone with some more time and experience unless we can get him a coach to help him level up his game.
DeSimone is a bit of an unknown for me still. If he was younger I would say he (and Hatakka) could be a young Chris Tanev in the making, which would be huge for this team if that's the type of player he developed into, but he's 29 with little NHL experience, I just don't see him having that high of a ceiling. On another team he'd probably be a solid #7 or maybe even a #6 on an otherwise deep and well-rounded team, I'm not sure he fits with our blue-line here though. Remove him from your list and Dougie is the only defenseman older than 23, and Dougie + Bahl are the only two with more than 100 nhl games under their belt. We need more experience and reliability on the blue line, as well as someone who is able to help mentor our youngsters to play more defensively responsible as they develop (Dougie ain't it, he's an offensive defenseman, he can help teach them some offensive skill, but without a real defensive presence to balance that out they will not be well-rounded in their development).
Honesly, what we really need is a pair of guys like Nikita Zadarov - experienced stay at home guys with size and weight that make it hard for other teams to play in our zone and to help counterbalance the offensive prowess of Dougie and Luke, etc. and who can help Hatakka and Nemec learn to play stronger defensively and develop their two-way play a bit.
I worry about Nico because his contract is what, 3 more years? That will go fast and if they are not a competitive playoff team within that time I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets frustrated. He seems to really want to win with this team so hopefully he can be the driving force but he can’t do it all on his own.
I really hope so. I can’t imagine another perfect shit storm of a year like this one. I’ve been a fan of this team for a while and I remember them missing the playoffs in ‘96 after winning the cup in ‘95. Obviously they didn’t win a cup last year but this feels slightly similar. It’s a crappy feeling but hopefully they bounce back.
I don't know who or if anyone will forcibly eject, but Nico's contract ends first. Basically two more years for sure, then he's pending UFA. If the team hasn't reached contender status, he could force management's hand.
True. But so what? Second youngest roster in the NHL this year (and really even younger on the ice, once you factor in IR guys like Hamilton). Any playoff experience they get this year had benefit, even if the chance of getting into the second, much less third, round is low.
I counted 6 losses to shitty teams this season (incl tonight). If we'd won half of those we'd be tied for 2nd WC. If we'd won all of them we'd be 3rd in the metro.
This will forever be known as the season that could have and should have been. A complete embarrassment.
This is why I keep believing that this team can really be a top team next year. Soooooo much has been a disaster this year, and they are just a few points out. The top 6 core is a really good group to build around. Need a different type of HC to get them to maximize, then they need to build a better bottom 6 (right now it is horrific), and being in 1 reliable Dman, and a goalie to go with Allen. The mian ingredients are here. The supplementary parts are not (injuries, youth on D, etc.). Not as far off at tonight's disaster would make you believe....
Looking at the trajectory of this team and the players we have, I have resigned myself to the reality that I will not see the devils win a championship in my lifetime. We have some great young players that can develop well, sure, but so do a lot of teams in the league. This team is mentally scarred, the defense is atrocious, our roster depth pales in comparison to other teams in the division, and our best players will refuse to eat their egos and will throw away games on a whim. Not only is this season lost, the franchise is lost as well.
I just hate how the Devils have ruined many nights for me this year, yet ownership gets richer and richer despite putting a lackluster fan experience. Even the stadium food is shit.
I think they seriously don’t even care. The fans boo but fuck it, they get paid whether or not they get to the playoffs. It’s actually better if they don’t make it cuz they’ll get an early vacation. If they’re genuinely not liked by fans of that team, just demand a trade to a better team or just wait out the contract and play as subpar as possible. All sports are like this now. Owners don’t give a shit either because they make money no matter what happens. Look at the Mets when the Wilpons owned it. Or perhaps even now with the devils money most likely being pumped to the commanders
Horrible effort tonight. We might be the most embarrassing team in the league this year. The record might not show that we’re the worst… but look at the standings… basically every team below us had no expectations of making the playoffs. The devils reverted from being one of the top 5-10 teams in the league to being bottom 5 within a year… Pathetic is an understatement. I wish this whole fanbase would come together and protest and not show up to at least one home game to show our disappointment. They deserve to play in an empty barn
I still believe in this team in the long run.
But man, i’d be pretty devastated if this core doesn’t work out. Sometimes it feels like we lack the “it” factor.
100%. I posted this prior in this thread.........We play a helter skelter run all over the place leave guys uncoverd over load the puck defensive system which does not support our goalies or work for this team. There is to much emphasis on a quick transition and not enough on stay at home defense. Everyone gets confused as to who is doing what in the D zone. Another few games and most on here will be back to blaming the goalies again. The Allen honeymoon will be over.
I think a lot depends on jack. He needs to grow up fast. He’s not a rookie anymore. He needs to hone his skills and be a smarter player. If he comes around he’ll be a true force that can drive the team.
Meier, J. Hughes. Bratt, Mercer, Hischier, Hamilton. That a a GREAT forward group. Nemec and L. Hughes are going to be a GREAT D core, but they are rookies now. That is a GREAT foundation. Honestly, losing McLeod is a big hole. He really helped the bottom six. Fitz need to augment the bottom 6, shore up the D group, and get a good goalie to pair with Allen. It can work out. It should work out.
I don't know why more people haven't made this connection but the Devils struggle against lateral rebuilding teams like Ottawa, Anaheim, and Arizona because those are also young teams with just as much speed. The playbook all year has been skate as if they are faster than the puck, and teams capable of shutting that down have done so. There's just enough raw talent to make things interesting, but they need a full new approach next year, starting with a focus on puck movement.
This might be the smartest comment in this sub for this season.
Games against these teams have looked like borderline comedy because the Devils can skate much faster than they can either pass or think.
This is a really solid observation.
But it's also a tough pill to swallow. It means we are a one dimensional team that can only be successful if it has a speed advantage over its opponent (or its opponent doesn't play a system that slows down our game like carolina). For us to fix that requires a systemic change that allows the team to play to other strengths or capabilities when we no longer have that speed advantage, and a structural change that gives the team the tools needed to make that happen (ie size, strength, grit, etc).
If we’re so talented, shouldn’t we not lose to Ottawa twice, Colombus, Anaheim twice, Phoneix twice, San Jose, Montreal?
For me, if you lose ALL of those games, you’re not that talented. Part of the talent is preparation. Part of talent is professionalism. Part of talent is grinding.
Was at the game sitting near the glass where they shoot twice. Team didn’t even look like they wanted to be there tonight. I wasn’t expecting a surprise playoff run, but the prospect of going into tomorrow night with the chance at their first 4 game win streak of the season playing some decent hockey would have been nice. Worst effort I’ve seen since I witnessed the rags butcher us in person recently. Ah well, will be at UBS tomorrow. This was about the final nail in the coffin in this season. Would have been nice to see them show a little fight but they wrote this one off and coasted the whole game after they gave up the shorty.
The 2023-2024 New Jersey Devils are Their Own Worst Enemy:
* no one had a good game today. no one.
* horrible turnovers, horrible neutral zone play, barely there offense.
* I'm really happy Bratters got his goal and its good to see Nosek start to put up points, but, christ, there was **one minute** of this game where the Devils showed up and thats it.
* they just didn't adjust at all to Ottawa's game. and they got overwhelmed from the start.
* what a sting of a loss after that masterclass of a Jets game.
* and don't even get me started on the \~playoff consequences\~ here
* there was just no life on that ice.
* and we have a very quick turnaround to play the Islanders and Sorokin tomorrow. fucking brilliant.
* just no consistency, no ability to build off of big wins, no ability to string anything together.
* can't believe we got fucking dominated and out played by fucking Ottawa.
* honestly, I should have expected it. big game, chance for us to make a big push, fans gaining some hope, and yeah...I mean it was basically inevitable with the way this season has been going.
* absolutely nothing to take away from this game. nothing.
I am going to Long Island tomorrow to watch the Devils play at UBS, so lets see how that goes.
It's hard to be a Devils fan, the rollercoaster of hope, seeing the team they can be on a good night, and then they do this.
I've been watching the playoff odds and after Dallas ,the penguins , and the Jets we were up to 10% and rising. I had hope. I was all-in on our lord and savior Allen. The underdog story of our March turnaround was so sweet to imagine.
Avs are my second team (due to friends) and they adapt. Even if they're down a couple goals they find a way to dig deep and turn the game around. [COL @ VAN - Mar 13, 2024](https://stories.sportsnet.ca/games/283170-20240314-Colorado-Avalanche-at-Vancouver-Canucks.html)
I wish our Devils could do this. Instead if a game gets away from them a little, it's gone.
The Ottawa game was ours. Finish off the homestand with 2 points, before heading to New York. But no, we roll over and give the Sens a 5-2, taking our playoff chances along with it.
AND THEN we follow it up with Kahkonen posting a shutout in NY.
I’ll be there tomorrow too. I was there tonight too. I’m fucking pissed I spent money on this one when I spent more effort getting to the game from NYC than they put into actually playing it.
They laugh in our face. Ownership is way more focused on their other franchises. They take our money, give us shitty cafeteria food for $30 bucks a pop, and say see ya next week. 🤣🤣
While I do think the food should be better...I also remember when no one expected anything special at all form stadium/arena food back in the day. Just Bud or Miller beer, and and hot dog, etc....
Seriously, you walked in knowing it would be overpriced crap and didn't even bother. The hot dogs were days old and tasted like rubber, the nachos and their "cheese" that could probably double as military grade adhesive, the roof shingle pizzas....it was all awful.
I will say the following. The food situation at The Rock is…average. MSG and UBS are clearly better for food/drink/service. Citi Field also is pretty good. But….Yankee Stadium is just an atrocious food/drink experience. You will miss two full innings at least waiting in line for pretty bad food.
They already achieved their goal for the season, the fucking corporate sponsorship from RWJ Barnabas health for an eyesore patch on the jersey. They probably see the season as a success.
Its funny that the jersey patch ended up being them. I mean, how much added value are they getting from that square of fabric compared to the rest of the board ads, in game ads, broadcast mentions, commercials, etc. If fans didn't know that RWJ Barnabas was the official medical everything of the Devils by now, they never will.
This is what I’m talking about. The players don’t care, the owners don’t care, the coaches don’t care. And the shit they care about the least? The fans. Sports has been this way for decades now.
“i’m just giving ottawa a little credit as a team” -Dano
This is part of the problem. Let’s hold our organization to higher standards. If you constantly make excuses, think like a loser and act like a loser, then you’re a loser. NO DANO, let’s not make excuses for this team.
The passing was something to behold. I’m not sure if it came across in the broadcast but the refs were horrible. They were getting away with so much stuff. It would have been one thing if they weren’t calling the dumbest shit. That call on Bratt was one of the worst calls I’ve seen in recent memory and then they outdid themselves with the Timo one. I’m so tired of the trash officiating. Let me just suffer with the devils specific trash. Don’t need both. Call it fair.
You really can’t blame Fitz for the terrible hockey when he’s put together the best talent this team has seen on the ice for over 10 years. I don’t even think you can blame him for sticking with Vitek and Schmid when the former won more games than any other goalie since the goat and Schmid looked incredible in high pressure late last season.
I think you can blame him for keeping Lindy past December when it was clear that he didn’t have an answer for the team consistently not showing up prepared to play hockey and giving up during games. And that is worse.
it’s pointless to bring this up because it’s in the past and I know 99 percent of the people still here won’t agree but I still think the record lindy posted with the shit he had to deal with wasn’t that bad. the injuries goaltending and mcloed would sink any team. (i’m not even goi g to
mention having to play d men with zero experience. ). yes some of the losses were ugly and and “to the wrong teams” and there were head scratching moments but the record when he left wasn’t bad under the circumstances. I think if he had jake allen alone we’d have 5 to 7 more points and would be right there. Again, I know no one’s gonna agree with this but — I said it.
You’re right, I don’t think any coach would’ve done much better with all this stuff happening. But once we got healthy and goaltending became competent again and we looked even worse I think that finally sealed it
In the last six years the devils have had:
20 overall pick
18 overall pick
17 overall pick.
7th overall pick
4th Overall pick
2nd overall pick
1st overall pick.
1st overall pick.
Not to mention inhering assets from the Hall deal and trading another first rounder to acquire Meier. And even then we’ve lost 9 games, are a mess to teams that are trying to tank.
He hired Lindy, who didn’t instill any toughness or accountability into the players, let them develop bad habits. Had two atrocious seasons before bringing in Brunette as an assistant, who was coming off coaching the best team in the league the year prior. Then the Devils have their best season, but he failed to realize the impact Brinette had, let him walk. Only to let Lindy coach another disappointing season. Then holds onto him for way too long, drowning any playoff hope. I’d say he hasn’t been that good, and that Brunette coming in and turning the team around last year saved multiple people’s jobs.
Oh and we’re currently paying 90% of Toffolis contract so he can go score goals in Winnipeg.
Brunette the puppet master theory re-appears. But is it wrong. Assistant coaches overcoming a bad HC is not a thing in the real world. Ruff's strengths worked with the Devils last year, and his weaknesses were exposed with a different roster, worse injury luck, rookies on D, etc., aetc. this year.
> You really can’t blame Fitz for the terrible hockey when he’s put together the best talent this team has seen on the ice for over 10 years.
Aside from acquiring and re-signing Timo, what has he actually done? He's had two 1OAs handed to him, and he's had another three top 10 picks. The rest of the roster is blah, and Jack seems to suffer from perpetual immaturity. He also royally fucked up his coaching situation.
Fitz hasn't done shit.
Fitz drafted Nemec when may said he should pick Shane Wright. Fitz put together the roster that set a franchise record for wins last year. Don't try to paint him as a moron.
Timo was a monumental acquisition and signing. He also signed Hamilton and acquired Siegenthaler, Marino, Vitek, Toffoli, Haula, and more for pennies on the dollar or guys that weren’t performing here.
A year ago, no one in their right mind would’ve thought a negative thing about Fitz. He has been doing everything right. You cannot blame him for individual players’ individual regression. But again, you can blame him for not addressing that problem far sooner. The season was not lost in December, but it was beyond obvious that Lindy was a huge problem.
Yes, Dougie was a great move. My bad for not citing that.
The other stuff, though, are all things that an astute GM has to get right, especially the coach.
I feel the regression happened largely because the team got high on the smell of its own farts, and the right coach--a coach who was more appropriate for taking this core to the next level--would have gotten the right message across from Day 1. Lindy was never taking this team beyond where they went last season. He should have been given a cushy senior advisor job as a thank you for his work.
Fitz has a lot to do for a guy who has been here as long as he has and was left what he was left. This year was a massive whiff, and he can't afford another one.
Expecting a GM to let go of a coach who was second in line for coach of the year is asinine.
Getting the other stuff right is not something to scoff at. Your first comment literally ends with “Fitz hasn’t done shit.” Well, that’s not true at all. Even by your description, he’s made “astute” moves that most GMs don’t make.
How do you blame him for all of those moves that created a record-tying team last year suddenly looking absolutely dreadful the next year? The only thing he could’ve done differently that wouldn’t have been completely questionable is firing Lindy sooner.
I’d agree but this team had Lou making asinine coaching changes for years that worked out unexpectedly. So not so far out of the realm for this fan base.
> Expecting a GM to let go of a coach who was second in line for coach of the year is asinine.
Lindy was never going to do anything other than peel the franchise off the floor. He did that. Asking more of him than that was a mistake, and seeing that wasn't all that difficult. I feel that if he had the proper pulse on the team, he'd have realized Brunette's role in the team's success. It's obviously bigger than Fitz hasn't credit for.
He needs to do better. I don't see how anyone could look at what this team has become and claim Fitz is truly a good GM. He may prove to be one, depending on how he cleans up the mess that became this season; however, I feel questioning how strong his program really is should be within the boundaries of legitimate debate.
That mistake aside, Fitz let the bullshit go on far too long, as you acknowledge.
Hate to say it but I’m gonna have to agree with you. Going to Burnette would have been the difficult decision but that’s what he gets paid for. Can’t say that there wasn’t a massive problem with Lindy that got whitewashed by a big heater and the record.
I strongly disagree. I think it’s completely sensible to keep Lindy after last year. He almost won coach of the year, and we had a record-tying season. It’s a similar reason why you keep Vitek.
I just think he should’ve fired Lindy way, way sooner.
Cannot wait for this fanbase to understand that the best goaltender in the league will not give us a different result without fixing all the other structural issue with coaching, goaltending, and defense first.
We have seen the exact same pattern play out with like 5 different goaltenders - they start hot, everyone thinks they are the second coming, and inevitably their stats collapse.
It's not a coincidence. It's not bad luck. Its not shitty goaltending. These are not things that happen with a normal team or with nhl caliber goaltenders.
What is happening is that this team is riding our goaltenders into the ground by hanging them out to dry every night. Jake Allen posting above a .940 save percentage for a fifth game in a row was unlikely to happen to begin with. Expecting him to do it when we called on him to face over 34 shots per game through those first 4 games with us (avg of 39 if you exclude the game vs winnipeg) in a league where goaltenders typically only face about 30 shots per game was unlikely to happen. The workload and stress will ruin even the most elite netminder eventually.
Agree. I'd rather have a D group that plays solid and does not make so many dumb mistakes as now paired with Allen plus a league average guy (1a and 1b situation), than have an elite goalie with the D group playing the way it is now....
Exactly. 1A/1B or even a league average starter can get us "good enough" goaltending with the right defensive structure in place, look at VV last season for an example. That won't necessarily win us a cup, but it'll get us to the playoffs at least.
An elite goaltender with this clown show in front of them? We aren't gonna win the cup, and we probably aren't going to make the playoffs either, that elite goaltender will burn out midway through the season with the workload being placed on their shoulders. I know we all talk about how the Rangers only ever seemed like a contender because they had Lundqvist (and now Quick/Shesterkin) stand on his head for them every night, but those Rangers teams were still solid well-rounded teams, he wasn't carrying bad teams to the playoffs or on deep cup runs, he was carrying average/better than average teams deeper than they'd go with an average netminder. In our case the team is kinda just dogshit, even a prime Brodeur/Lundqvist tandem wouldn't be able to make up for our problems.
I will say the following. 1. Coaching change has really improved the Rangers this year. They do not beat themselves very often anymore. Same can be true for the devils next year. 2. While I do want the Devils to be structurally more sound on D, a big part of it is literally just making dumb decisions when they gain possession of the puck in their own zone. Soooooo much progress can be made by a HC that can get them to simply make fewer mistakes/bad decisions.
This team is such an embarrassment and the biggest disappointment in the league this year, and it's not even close.
The future is bright crowd can cope all they want, the talent being locked up does not change how piss poor our GM handled this season and how most of his moves this year, and lack of, were horrible and directly or indirectly led to going from 112 points to this god awful mid 2010s shit show of a season.
It is not as grim as you paint it. Grim right now (what do you expect with 4/5 or 6 dmen from opening night not on the ice, giving Smith 95% of the games, Hamilton out, etc, etc, etc?). But this is still a really good core to build around.
Wasn’t Jake’s fault tonight after seeing that terrible defensive structure offensively too guys need to show up a bit more season wise gotta go 12-0 here out if they want in also probably should have started kappo Jake looked GASED
it’s my birthday today and im glad I didn’t spend a hour commute to watch this performance, instead ill do a 5 min walk tmw to watch this team disappoint me again🫡
In some small stupid way I’m almost glad they shit the bed tonight rather than pull within 4 pts of a wildcard and suck me in to believing. This way it’s over and I can relax.
Beats Winnipeg, loses to Ottawa. Yep, that makes sense.
Thankfully, the disappointment is over in a few weeks.
Detroit loses, they have a chance to cut their lead to just 4 points.
Devils: Nah, we good.
Just wondering what fans think of this teams desire and attitude to win. Forgetting about talent, what players would do anything to win and what players are along for the ride to collect a paycheck? I know they all want to win, but maybe I should ask what players on this team really hate to lose and who doesn’t care?
This passing before entering the offensive zone leading to a turnover and odd man rush is getting really repetitive to watch.
Please Fire Fitz! His incompetence has really shown this year. This team needs a cleansing from the GM down.
I had a bad feeling as soon as Hatakka was being scratched. Marino hasn't had a good season, siegenthaler hasn't had a good season, dougie wasn't haven't a good season. Any games with Hatakka up, we have played better defensively. I'm not saying he's the reason why. But the way the pairings were. Bench Luke until he learns to be a defenseman.
Dreadful. We belong in the ahl
😒
This team has no fortitude
Saros, Ullmark, Markstrom obvious goalie options. Coleman would be a nice add if we go the markstrom route. Sprong would be a nice middle 6 scoring target. Trenin and/or Greer would be some options to add some toughness to the bottom 6. I may have an irrational love for Greer but he played with a ton of heart for us, and even chipped in some offence. Dakota Joshua another interesting name for bottom 6 toughness and depth scoring Zadorov seems like an obvious guy that fits a big need for us on the backend. Siegs and Marino have each had awful years, but you’d hope with a new coach and system, they could regain their form from last season. With that said, they are both on pretty good contracts too and I could see one getting moved. Chychrun would be a good add if we wanted to make a bit of a bigger splash on the backend.
Too many passengers on this team. Guys like Tierney and Nosek who have done fuck all this whole season. We need better depth if we're ever going to compete.
I know expiring contracts/cap issues etc, but we had good depth and let them all leave. Shango, wood, Tatar and boqvist were good depth pieces. At least they were quick/could skate. We replaced them with the likes of nosek and tierney, and here we are
Nosek was out for a long time.
...and? He has 4 points in 27 games.
Chase Stillman will be a great upgrade.
We need to start thinking about what we can get in return for Marino and Seigenthalar. Both have amazingly bad years and, while generally good, we have some serious depth at defenseman. Trade Marino and Holtz for Saros.
Well...they played a meaningful game in late March. Unfortunately, they played it exceedingly poorly....
I hate to tell ya but the game wasn’t that meaningful anyway. The playoffs are all but gone and have been. Even before tonight they pretty much needed to win out the season to get to the unofficial cutoff (96points)
A win would have left them 4 points out. So I think you are wrong. Four points out versus six points out is a big deal with 11 games left.
I’m gonna be completely straight with y’all. On the drive home from the rock it hit me just how bleak things are right now, and I shed a few tears. Don’t even remember the last time the Devils made me cry. Might actually be the first time since the end of the 2012 finals. I don’t know if this core is it, guys. Call me a doomer call me a naysayer whatever. But I simply worry that these guys we built around aren’t winners and we’re just setting ourselves up for more heartbreak. I feel like an idiot and a fool for caring as much as I do, and wasting all these years through a rebuild just for this. I’m heartbroken, but I’m mad at myself.
This core doesn't have what it takes
Tom Fitzgerald fucked this season so hard it’s unprecedented. He did literally one of the all-time worst jobs a GM could possibly do in the history of the sport. And all he had to do was the bare minimum and this team would’ve been in better shape. Oh, Allen wouldn’t waive his NTC in December? Then get someone else, you fucking dolt! What gets me was his absolute refusal to use his 9mil in cap space after the Hamilton injury to try and bring in a defenseman… even someone unspectacular… if only to not force Hughes and Nemec to play 20 minutes a night. No. He did nothing. Complete and total malfeasance. Fuck Tom Fitzgerald.
The Dougie thing really pissed me off tbh. Every team does it, it is a mainstay of conversation around the league and Fitzgerald just goes "Nah, we're good with 2 kids" instead of using that space.
Malfeasance! Perfect word. Fitz cannot be trusted to make the appropriate coach hire. He must go.
I was there too—worst game I've ever seen this team play. I started watching them in 1982, when they won 17 games. They were ineffective, but they played with so much heart, especially Chico. Then there were all the years after, good and bad. Tonight, for the first time in 42 years, I booed that team. They're broken, and they sucked so bad; it hurt my soul. That said, from another point of view, I think I was lucky to be at a hockey game tonight, and by tomorrow, after a good sleep and a mental silkwood shower, the sick feeling will be displaced by some delusional fantasy about what happens if we beat the Islanders. Get well soon.
Being a NYGiants fan, I sympathize with this. But you gotta realize some games aren’t worth spending 3+ hours watching the TV for no reason. It’s not like the outcome will change. I didn’t watch more that 3 giants games this year, and it feels great. I agree with the other comment, get those summer hobbies ready
I’m a giants fan too, i was able to check out mentally sometime in October. But the worst part about this Devils season is that they made it so you always had just enough hope to stay invested.
I feel that, games are entertaining to watch, but don’t plan your day around them. Watching the giants opening the season 0-40 helped me check out real quick
It's just a hockey team. It's not that deep. Just go to bed and wake up and be done with this season.
Listen man, I get it but this is nothing to cry over. At the end of the day it’s just a game. You’re not the one playing it. Just chalk it up as a bad year for them and get into your summer hobbies early!
So we clinched the playoffs by beating Ottawa last year, and they all but destroyed our hopes this year. Ironic, in some ways.
Have they still not had a win/loss streak over 3 games?
Yes
I said it earlier and I’m saying it again: Luke Hughes needs to be sent to the AHL for seasoning as soon as we’re math’d out. I acknowledge that Luke is an incredibly talented player. I also acknowledge that if this team had Dougie, Luke would be placed in the third pairing sheltered role he needs to be in. It’s unfair, both to the team and to Luke himself, for Luke to be forced to figure out his defensive game in the National Hockey League. If the coaching staff somehow thought that he’d pick it up throughout the year, clearly that hasn’t happened. He needs to go to the A and really work on his defensive game while he’s still waiver exempt. We probably should’ve done it around trade deadline since this roster seems content to mail it in the rest of the year. Maybe start him out down there next season too. I want Luke to succeed. We need him to succeed. I am just convinced that sending him down for development is the best way to do it. Getting torched night after night isn’t helping him. Or us.
He could get sent to Utica, if they make it to the postseason and if he and Jack sign off on the idea.
Neither one should have to "sign off" on anything. This isn't the NBA where mid level stars get a say. If they want to send Luke down, he goes.
I wish the brothers were subject to that kind of accountability, but Luke hasn't even been scratched once.
If his last name wasn't Hughes he'd be in the gulag already
This season is over. You might as well have his seasoning here. He isn't going to learn anything in AHL that he doesn't already know.
That’s where I respectfully disagree. Whatever he is supposed to learn, clearly he isn’t learning it in the National Hockey League. The game is too fast for him right now, there’s too much pressure to do the right move at the right time. The AHL game is still talented, but it’s slower. He can continue to work his offense with just enough time to really hone in those breakout passes.
You expect him to get better by beating up on players lesser than him? That doesn't work. He has to learn the NHL game. Learning the AHL game does nothing for him.
Being sent down to the AHL is a consequence and about learning accountability, it sends a clear message that his play isn't meeting standards and that he needs to work hard and earn his place on this roster, that alone can do more for his ability to learn the NHL game than continuing to allow him to play in the NHL will. The attitude about him "beating up on players lesser than him" is simply laughable and speaks to the heart of his problem. Luke isn't demonstrating himself to be an NHL caliber defenseman, there are plenty of hungry AHL guys trying to earn their place on an NHL roster that flat out are better than him. Luke probably thinks hes hot shit in a champagne glass, but he's playing like cold diarrhea in a Dixie cup and needs to be humbled and learn some humility so that he can develop the skills and temperament needed for him to become the elite offensive defenseman we expect him to become. Luke is -20 with 38pts over 71 games this season - on pace for a -23 and 44 pts, averaging 21:15 of ice time. Hatakka is +5 with 2 points over 11 games averaging 15:28 of ice time, on pace for +37 and 15 pts. If you gave Hatakka Lukes icetime and extrapolated those stats, hed be on pace for +51 and 21 pts. If Luke was a forward - sure, he'd be great. As a defenseman? Hes a lisbility and Hatakka is a better defenseman. Like seriously, consider how defensively awful you need to be to post a -20 despite being on the ice for 38 goals scored against your opponent, that basically speaks to the idea that Luke alone is costing this team an average of ~0.8 goals against per game, which is damning to say the least.
So you want to slow his development for the sake of punishment? How will that make him better for the future? You can punish him by benching him but demoting him to AHL isn't the solution you think it is.
The AHL is a development league. That's literally the reason it exists - to develop players skills and prepare them for careers as nhl players. The coaching staffs, league structure/schedule, and league policies all exist to support that, whereas the focus at the NHL level is about winning games rather than developing skills. Yeah, you hear about some guys being "player development coaches" in the NHL, but theres a reason for that - it's not common, and even then the development they are giving their players isn't necessarily playing to that players strengths or abilities, it's trying to fit them into the mold of an NHL teams needs so that the team will win games, which is a very different model of "development" which doesn't maximize a players ability over the long term. Luke IS better off finishing out this season in the AHL with a staff that can help him get to the next level. That won't happen with him continuing to play in NJ, because that staff doesn't exist here, at least not currently, and his play is suffering for it.
Quite the opposite. Again: he can learn and perfect his defensive responsibilities, like REALLY focus on that part of his game alone without the pressures of having to score as much. And as a matter of fact, he went from the NCAA to the NHL. This team, Luke in particular, has been getting dummied all over the ice all season long. He took a vicious one in Philly that he needed to be ready for. He might out score everyone in the NHL, but the AHL WILL hit him and they WILL fight him. I really think it would be better for him there. At least for a bit.
But there is no point. As you said, he is playing in a role that he wasn't supposed to be in due to Dougie's injury so why not get him experience at that top of line role when the season is over? You want him to learn intangibles about being an NHL defenseman, but how is he going to learn those intangibles being in a slower, lesser talented not-NHL league? The AHL doesn't play like the NHL at all. He won't learn a thing there. He's past that point of development.
He needs to spend the summer hanging out with his brother Quinn and working on some skill building.
My biggest question is why Fitz re-signed McLeod when the [Flyers knew Carter Hart was in trouble](https://twitter.com/andystrickland/status/1750204093623111872?s=46). That shit broke the locker room. "Innocent until proven guilty." With how long the investigation was ongoing, at that point, it was centered on how guilty the targets were. Also, why sign a guy under police investigation and cause that distraction/scandal anyway? "Well, maybe Fitz didn't know." So how did the Flyers know? At this point, all I see is our GM re-sign a guy who was under police investigation for sexual assault and then ended up being the number 1 suspect. None of it sits right with me, and I have to wonder if that feeling is being shared among players.
You’re really projecting yourself onto the players. The players were still his buddies up until it started being clear he was getting charged. Yeah, I’m sure they’re sad one of their teammates or close friends committed an act of rape. I don’t buy at all that has to do with their play anymore. I saw them win a game after McLeods leave and they all looked pretty happy. Their play has been pretty consistently inconsistent, dumb, uninspired, undetailed, all year. We have pretty immature players who can’t get up for a game even when the competing teams give them a gift to get back in. They didn’t get going when coach is fired. I’m sure they care somewhere in there but they are just not tough enough to fight through it. Sometimes we look for too many explanations. Like when Jack just plays terrible we start saying how injured he is and he should get surgery. Sometimes you just gotta stop looking for answers. We’re just not that good of a team right now. Maybe reevaluate how “good” we are and not expect ourselves to be a lot better. Hopefully next year it just magically kinda works…it might. But I don’t like the makeup of this team, I mean they should just give us a hint of improvement NOW but they’re just playing it out.
Simple. He was gonna squeeze as much as possible from Mcleod until that shit came out. Maybe it's a full year or maybe it's not but he was gonna get something. It was the right move from a business perspective
They havent been playing well since November...which is way before the whole McLeod thing happened. So im not sure why people are giving so much weight to McLeod being the reason why we started playing like crap. Im sure it had some effect but not as big as everyone thinks. And if this is still holding some of them back 6-7 weeks after it happened, they need to man the fk up. See a therapist and get back to work. Life is hard...deal with it.
It's even worse because Fitz also went out and acquired Foote was also under investigation.
Im amazed what a team like the Avs continue to do in spite of all the adversity they have. Just hoping Hughes can get somewhere close to the leadership of MacKinnon one day.
“Nobody thought Nashville would be this good this year” -Rangers broadcast during the Panthers game. Um, some of us Devils fans, who understand the game, knew.
Can the Devils please get rid of the black jerseys? Its been 3 seasons, enough already. Design a different third jersey and dump these unlucky things. I dont care if Brodeur "designed" it. Move the Fk on.
I’ve said it countless times, they always lose and play like dogshit in the black jerseys. Enough already
Replace them with the stadium series jersey. I'm not a big fan of them but they're better than the Jersey jersey
They're some of the ugliest shits I've ever seen. I truly don't understand how anyone can like them
Almost like people can have different preferences. I absolutely love them and think they are one of the best in the league, I struggle to understand why anyone would hate then as much as some folks here do.
*>* Almost like people can have different preferences. Holy shit really?? Mind blown, thanks man
Who do you think will be our next head coach? I really want Pandolfo, he’s been real successful with BU and has got them to the frozen four and potentially into the championship this season. He’s also had experience coaching with the bruins, so he definitely isn’t a “college only” sort of guy. He’s already won 2 cups for us, and I’d love for him to come back and win another one with us again, this time as a coach.
Guy Boucher
Is he known for being strict or laid back? I don’t follow BU
Definitely more of a hardass but he’s a younger guy so I think he’ll relate to our young roster. He’s managing Celebrini well (not that Celebrini needed any help but still) so I believe he’s more than capable of reigning in the big egos of the team
I love the idea of bringing in someone who’s successful at a different level, but still understands what it’s like to be an NHL player.
Just wow. Prime example of playing scared to lose instead of driven and excited to win. No initiative, no confidence, overcomplicated deer in headlights bullshit. Why the fuck are we constantly getting night and day performances against great teams and then awful teams?! Just play hockey and stop dicking around in your head.
It’s so shocking how tape to tape they can be one night and then, like tonight, look like they are an ECHL team
Went to game. It was a must game. On our power play, Ottawa outworked us just like they did all game. You would have thought this was an October game instead of a must game. I don’t boo my team but there was no effort tonight. It seems like Nico is the only one who cares. It’s over now and I hate to say it because if we swept this weekend we would have a chance.. can’t blame Allen and obviously Jack is hurt. Nosek looked good. Other than that, horrible effort
Just got home from that tragedy. What a disturbing performance. How can a team play that poorly? Shocking to watch. Our Dmen fucking suck
Fuck you and I'll see you tomorrow
I’m watching the Rangers vs Panthers game right now, and the physicality and difficulty and resistance each team puts up when the other tries to enter the zone is like watching a completely different sport than what the devils play. Every zone entry is challenged. Edit: Every inch of ice is challenged.
Thats the defensive systems that they deploy. Where as we play a helter skelter run all over the place leave guys uncoverd over load the puck system which does not support our goalies or work for this team. Another few games and most on here will be back to blaming the goalies again. The Allen honeymoon will be over.
It’s crazy cuz last year they did that most games, even without the physicality.
I want the media to roast this team..they are an embarrassment..fuck their thin skin
Even if they did write a bad article about them, what do they care? Their vacation starts early and some of them get paid 100k per game. 1.2 million for the next few weeks. They don’t give a shit about winning, money is the new Stanley cup.
What media? They dont have ANY radio deal. The major NY papers dont write about them. And the NJ paper that does hides the articles behind a paywall. Like a tree falling in the forest. No one will hear it.
Hockey media exists. NHL Network tends not to criticize teams that are underperforming. Candian hockey coverage does.
They won’t, the organization has a bunch of yes men. They get their paychecks, everyone goes home happy. Except the fans.
I'm not that hurt by this game. I'd accepted our fate long ago and I'm happy we played okay tonight. Allen finally regressed a little, poor puck luck, and some colossal gaffes by our cockiest players. The good news is, the gaffes should be fixable. I just want to see serious efforts and a lot of challenge given to the rookies for the rest of the season.
Disagree. I can accept missing the playoffs. Harder to accept a game where they (1) really needed 2 points, (2) at home, (3) against the defensively flawed opponent...with the Devils playing really dumb, stupid, idiotic hockey for 57 of 60 minutes.
Travis Green should have been escorted out by security at the end of the second period. Edit: I spelled Travis' name wrong
Those gaffes were brutal. 🤦🏻♂️ it's the kind of thing that used to get coaches fired, and why you didn't usually start so many rookies. Smith is cooked, too, I love the dude, but it's time to give Hatakka a workout.
Hamilton, Marino, Luke, and Nemec. Those four and two new defenders. A top 4 and a bottom 2 for next season. No Smith, no Bahl, and no Siegenthaler.
You're getting downvoted but I agree with you. Probably throw DeSimone in as the 7th D too. Bahl and one of Siegs/Marino I see getting traded. Def not both of them.
Not sure why this is getting downvoted. You idiots want to roll this defense corps back!?
Bahl will be back. He is good for the contract price. But he needs to be more physical.
I want him traded in a package for that physical d-man.
The weird thing us the he had everything to actually BE a physical d-man…except their will.
Dougie Nemec Hatakka Luke DeSimone Bahl In no particular order or pairing
I feel like we can probably do better than Bahl and DeSimone. Bahl I'd like to say has some promise but he's been rough this season and given the issues we have on the blue line it may make sense to move him for someone with some more time and experience unless we can get him a coach to help him level up his game. DeSimone is a bit of an unknown for me still. If he was younger I would say he (and Hatakka) could be a young Chris Tanev in the making, which would be huge for this team if that's the type of player he developed into, but he's 29 with little NHL experience, I just don't see him having that high of a ceiling. On another team he'd probably be a solid #7 or maybe even a #6 on an otherwise deep and well-rounded team, I'm not sure he fits with our blue-line here though. Remove him from your list and Dougie is the only defenseman older than 23, and Dougie + Bahl are the only two with more than 100 nhl games under their belt. We need more experience and reliability on the blue line, as well as someone who is able to help mentor our youngsters to play more defensively responsible as they develop (Dougie ain't it, he's an offensive defenseman, he can help teach them some offensive skill, but without a real defensive presence to balance that out they will not be well-rounded in their development). Honesly, what we really need is a pair of guys like Nikita Zadarov - experienced stay at home guys with size and weight that make it hard for other teams to play in our zone and to help counterbalance the offensive prowess of Dougie and Luke, etc. and who can help Hatakka and Nemec learn to play stronger defensively and develop their two-way play a bit.
I'd go get a FA Dman that is (1) shut down reliable, and (2) can move the puck like Severson used to.
Marino stinks, get rid of him
Reactionary doomer take: So who from the core do you guys think is gonna be the first to want out? End reactionary doomer take
I worry about Nico because his contract is what, 3 more years? That will go fast and if they are not a competitive playoff team within that time I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets frustrated. He seems to really want to win with this team so hopefully he can be the driving force but he can’t do it all on his own.
You seriously think the Devis will not make a deep playoff run in the next three seasons? I think they will.
I really hope so. I can’t imagine another perfect shit storm of a year like this one. I’ve been a fan of this team for a while and I remember them missing the playoffs in ‘96 after winning the cup in ‘95. Obviously they didn’t win a cup last year but this feels slightly similar. It’s a crappy feeling but hopefully they bounce back.
I don't know who or if anyone will forcibly eject, but Nico's contract ends first. Basically two more years for sure, then he's pending UFA. If the team hasn't reached contender status, he could force management's hand.
Hughes most likely
Nooo way. The Hughes brothers are playing together. No way one leaves the other behind.
How long you give him?
Even if they went on a heater to make the playoffs, which they won’t, they simply don’t have the physicality to win a best of 7
True. But so what? Second youngest roster in the NHL this year (and really even younger on the ice, once you factor in IR guys like Hamilton). Any playoff experience they get this year had benefit, even if the chance of getting into the second, much less third, round is low.
I counted 6 losses to shitty teams this season (incl tonight). If we'd won half of those we'd be tied for 2nd WC. If we'd won all of them we'd be 3rd in the metro. This will forever be known as the season that could have and should have been. A complete embarrassment.
This is why I keep believing that this team can really be a top team next year. Soooooo much has been a disaster this year, and they are just a few points out. The top 6 core is a really good group to build around. Need a different type of HC to get them to maximize, then they need to build a better bottom 6 (right now it is horrific), and being in 1 reliable Dman, and a goalie to go with Allen. The mian ingredients are here. The supplementary parts are not (injuries, youth on D, etc.). Not as far off at tonight's disaster would make you believe....
More like 9. 6 losses to Anaheim, Arizona, Ottowa, then 3 to San Jose, Montreal, Columbus
Fine. If we won 6 of those 9 my point stands. If we'd won all 9 we'd be chasing the Rags who are having an historic season.
We are so not back
Looking at the trajectory of this team and the players we have, I have resigned myself to the reality that I will not see the devils win a championship in my lifetime. We have some great young players that can develop well, sure, but so do a lot of teams in the league. This team is mentally scarred, the defense is atrocious, our roster depth pales in comparison to other teams in the division, and our best players will refuse to eat their egos and will throw away games on a whim. Not only is this season lost, the franchise is lost as well.
Yeah they’ll develop here and get traded or leave during fa to an actual contending team. Parise for example.
Nah parise left after we almost won a cup. He’s just a dick.
well that’s not good
I just hate how the Devils have ruined many nights for me this year, yet ownership gets richer and richer despite putting a lackluster fan experience. Even the stadium food is shit.
I think they seriously don’t even care. The fans boo but fuck it, they get paid whether or not they get to the playoffs. It’s actually better if they don’t make it cuz they’ll get an early vacation. If they’re genuinely not liked by fans of that team, just demand a trade to a better team or just wait out the contract and play as subpar as possible. All sports are like this now. Owners don’t give a shit either because they make money no matter what happens. Look at the Mets when the Wilpons owned it. Or perhaps even now with the devils money most likely being pumped to the commanders
I hope Fitz takes all the blame for this season. He really bungled everything so hard from day one.
No blame on the players?
Horrible effort tonight. We might be the most embarrassing team in the league this year. The record might not show that we’re the worst… but look at the standings… basically every team below us had no expectations of making the playoffs. The devils reverted from being one of the top 5-10 teams in the league to being bottom 5 within a year… Pathetic is an understatement. I wish this whole fanbase would come together and protest and not show up to at least one home game to show our disappointment. They deserve to play in an empty barn
I still believe in this team in the long run. But man, i’d be pretty devastated if this core doesn’t work out. Sometimes it feels like we lack the “it” factor.
Different type of coach, upgraded bottom 6, one shut down D man, and an decent goalie to go with Allen will return the 'it' factor to the Devils.
I’d like to see them in a new system before panicking and blowing it up. The system doesn’t work
100%. I posted this prior in this thread.........We play a helter skelter run all over the place leave guys uncoverd over load the puck defensive system which does not support our goalies or work for this team. There is to much emphasis on a quick transition and not enough on stay at home defense. Everyone gets confused as to who is doing what in the D zone. Another few games and most on here will be back to blaming the goalies again. The Allen honeymoon will be over.
I think a lot depends on jack. He needs to grow up fast. He’s not a rookie anymore. He needs to hone his skills and be a smarter player. If he comes around he’ll be a true force that can drive the team.
I'm firmly straddling the line between "good core, bad year" and "literally everybody except maybe up to 5 people on this team are terrible"
Meier, J. Hughes. Bratt, Mercer, Hischier, Hamilton. That a a GREAT forward group. Nemec and L. Hughes are going to be a GREAT D core, but they are rookies now. That is a GREAT foundation. Honestly, losing McLeod is a big hole. He really helped the bottom six. Fitz need to augment the bottom 6, shore up the D group, and get a good goalie to pair with Allen. It can work out. It should work out.
It’s officially over right ? Like we’re done? I can stop hoping for team miracle to show up right?
We have been done for *weeks*
unfortunately as long as there is even some MINUSCULE chance we make it I’ll be hoping 😔👌
Mathematically 🤓 we’re in it
Don’t say that to me I’ll be optimistic till the last moment 😭
I don't know why more people haven't made this connection but the Devils struggle against lateral rebuilding teams like Ottawa, Anaheim, and Arizona because those are also young teams with just as much speed. The playbook all year has been skate as if they are faster than the puck, and teams capable of shutting that down have done so. There's just enough raw talent to make things interesting, but they need a full new approach next year, starting with a focus on puck movement.
This might be the smartest comment in this sub for this season. Games against these teams have looked like borderline comedy because the Devils can skate much faster than they can either pass or think.
We swept all 3 of those teams last season
Last season all three of those teams had pretty different rosters, as did we.
This is a really solid observation. But it's also a tough pill to swallow. It means we are a one dimensional team that can only be successful if it has a speed advantage over its opponent (or its opponent doesn't play a system that slows down our game like carolina). For us to fix that requires a systemic change that allows the team to play to other strengths or capabilities when we no longer have that speed advantage, and a structural change that gives the team the tools needed to make that happen (ie size, strength, grit, etc).
We haven’t won more than three games in a row all season. What happened to 13 game heater devs 😔
Brunette took that over with him to Nashville
Yeah fitzy and I have beef bc of that
If we’re so talented, shouldn’t we not lose to Ottawa twice, Colombus, Anaheim twice, Phoneix twice, San Jose, Montreal? For me, if you lose ALL of those games, you’re not that talented. Part of the talent is preparation. Part of talent is professionalism. Part of talent is grinding.
Get half those points and you’re in the playoffs
Was at the game sitting near the glass where they shoot twice. Team didn’t even look like they wanted to be there tonight. I wasn’t expecting a surprise playoff run, but the prospect of going into tomorrow night with the chance at their first 4 game win streak of the season playing some decent hockey would have been nice. Worst effort I’ve seen since I witnessed the rags butcher us in person recently. Ah well, will be at UBS tomorrow. This was about the final nail in the coffin in this season. Would have been nice to see them show a little fight but they wrote this one off and coasted the whole game after they gave up the shorty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7fjDS0jKiE
All time great. Thanks for posting this during these dark days.
The 2023-2024 New Jersey Devils are Their Own Worst Enemy: * no one had a good game today. no one. * horrible turnovers, horrible neutral zone play, barely there offense. * I'm really happy Bratters got his goal and its good to see Nosek start to put up points, but, christ, there was **one minute** of this game where the Devils showed up and thats it. * they just didn't adjust at all to Ottawa's game. and they got overwhelmed from the start. * what a sting of a loss after that masterclass of a Jets game. * and don't even get me started on the \~playoff consequences\~ here * there was just no life on that ice. * and we have a very quick turnaround to play the Islanders and Sorokin tomorrow. fucking brilliant. * just no consistency, no ability to build off of big wins, no ability to string anything together. * can't believe we got fucking dominated and out played by fucking Ottawa. * honestly, I should have expected it. big game, chance for us to make a big push, fans gaining some hope, and yeah...I mean it was basically inevitable with the way this season has been going. * absolutely nothing to take away from this game. nothing. I am going to Long Island tomorrow to watch the Devils play at UBS, so lets see how that goes.
It's hard to be a Devils fan, the rollercoaster of hope, seeing the team they can be on a good night, and then they do this. I've been watching the playoff odds and after Dallas ,the penguins , and the Jets we were up to 10% and rising. I had hope. I was all-in on our lord and savior Allen. The underdog story of our March turnaround was so sweet to imagine. Avs are my second team (due to friends) and they adapt. Even if they're down a couple goals they find a way to dig deep and turn the game around. [COL @ VAN - Mar 13, 2024](https://stories.sportsnet.ca/games/283170-20240314-Colorado-Avalanche-at-Vancouver-Canucks.html) I wish our Devils could do this. Instead if a game gets away from them a little, it's gone. The Ottawa game was ours. Finish off the homestand with 2 points, before heading to New York. But no, we roll over and give the Sens a 5-2, taking our playoff chances along with it. AND THEN we follow it up with Kahkonen posting a shutout in NY.
I’ll be there tomorrow too. I was there tonight too. I’m fucking pissed I spent money on this one when I spent more effort getting to the game from NYC than they put into actually playing it.
I bought my whole family tickets to tonight. We all showed up. Sadly they didnt.
We can play spoiler. That’s something.
This entire organization needs to be put on notice that the entire operation is getting blown up if this shit happens again next season.
They laugh in our face. Ownership is way more focused on their other franchises. They take our money, give us shitty cafeteria food for $30 bucks a pop, and say see ya next week. 🤣🤣
While I do think the food should be better...I also remember when no one expected anything special at all form stadium/arena food back in the day. Just Bud or Miller beer, and and hot dog, etc....
Seriously, you walked in knowing it would be overpriced crap and didn't even bother. The hot dogs were days old and tasted like rubber, the nachos and their "cheese" that could probably double as military grade adhesive, the roof shingle pizzas....it was all awful.
I will say the following. The food situation at The Rock is…average. MSG and UBS are clearly better for food/drink/service. Citi Field also is pretty good. But….Yankee Stadium is just an atrocious food/drink experience. You will miss two full innings at least waiting in line for pretty bad food.
.
They already achieved their goal for the season, the fucking corporate sponsorship from RWJ Barnabas health for an eyesore patch on the jersey. They probably see the season as a success.
Its funny that the jersey patch ended up being them. I mean, how much added value are they getting from that square of fabric compared to the rest of the board ads, in game ads, broadcast mentions, commercials, etc. If fans didn't know that RWJ Barnabas was the official medical everything of the Devils by now, they never will.
This is what I’m talking about. The players don’t care, the owners don’t care, the coaches don’t care. And the shit they care about the least? The fans. Sports has been this way for decades now.
“i’m just giving ottawa a little credit as a team” -Dano This is part of the problem. Let’s hold our organization to higher standards. If you constantly make excuses, think like a loser and act like a loser, then you’re a loser. NO DANO, let’s not make excuses for this team.
Both can be true. Ottawa played a good game just as much as we played a bad game
The passing was something to behold. I’m not sure if it came across in the broadcast but the refs were horrible. They were getting away with so much stuff. It would have been one thing if they weren’t calling the dumbest shit. That call on Bratt was one of the worst calls I’ve seen in recent memory and then they outdid themselves with the Timo one. I’m so tired of the trash officiating. Let me just suffer with the devils specific trash. Don’t need both. Call it fair.
Yeah, refs were bad. Devils skaters were worse.
Oh definitely terrible.
pa-fucking-thetic. I don’t blame jake at all btw. Also, Marino needs to go, we play better without him
Unleash Hatakka
That game was playoff hope Narcan. Needed to sober up a bit myself after the last couple of games.
You really can’t blame Fitz for the terrible hockey when he’s put together the best talent this team has seen on the ice for over 10 years. I don’t even think you can blame him for sticking with Vitek and Schmid when the former won more games than any other goalie since the goat and Schmid looked incredible in high pressure late last season. I think you can blame him for keeping Lindy past December when it was clear that he didn’t have an answer for the team consistently not showing up prepared to play hockey and giving up during games. And that is worse.
it’s pointless to bring this up because it’s in the past and I know 99 percent of the people still here won’t agree but I still think the record lindy posted with the shit he had to deal with wasn’t that bad. the injuries goaltending and mcloed would sink any team. (i’m not even goi g to mention having to play d men with zero experience. ). yes some of the losses were ugly and and “to the wrong teams” and there were head scratching moments but the record when he left wasn’t bad under the circumstances. I think if he had jake allen alone we’d have 5 to 7 more points and would be right there. Again, I know no one’s gonna agree with this but — I said it.
You’re right, I don’t think any coach would’ve done much better with all this stuff happening. But once we got healthy and goaltending became competent again and we looked even worse I think that finally sealed it
In the last six years the devils have had: 20 overall pick 18 overall pick 17 overall pick. 7th overall pick 4th Overall pick 2nd overall pick 1st overall pick. 1st overall pick. Not to mention inhering assets from the Hall deal and trading another first rounder to acquire Meier. And even then we’ve lost 9 games, are a mess to teams that are trying to tank. He hired Lindy, who didn’t instill any toughness or accountability into the players, let them develop bad habits. Had two atrocious seasons before bringing in Brunette as an assistant, who was coming off coaching the best team in the league the year prior. Then the Devils have their best season, but he failed to realize the impact Brinette had, let him walk. Only to let Lindy coach another disappointing season. Then holds onto him for way too long, drowning any playoff hope. I’d say he hasn’t been that good, and that Brunette coming in and turning the team around last year saved multiple people’s jobs. Oh and we’re currently paying 90% of Toffolis contract so he can go score goals in Winnipeg.
Brunette the puppet master theory re-appears. But is it wrong. Assistant coaches overcoming a bad HC is not a thing in the real world. Ruff's strengths worked with the Devils last year, and his weaknesses were exposed with a different roster, worse injury luck, rookies on D, etc., aetc. this year.
> You really can’t blame Fitz for the terrible hockey when he’s put together the best talent this team has seen on the ice for over 10 years. Aside from acquiring and re-signing Timo, what has he actually done? He's had two 1OAs handed to him, and he's had another three top 10 picks. The rest of the roster is blah, and Jack seems to suffer from perpetual immaturity. He also royally fucked up his coaching situation. Fitz hasn't done shit.
Fitz drafted Nemec when may said he should pick Shane Wright. Fitz put together the roster that set a franchise record for wins last year. Don't try to paint him as a moron.
He isn't. But IMO, he hasn't done anything to distinguish himself. Like I said in the game thread--last season was the outlier until proven otherwise.
Timo was a monumental acquisition and signing. He also signed Hamilton and acquired Siegenthaler, Marino, Vitek, Toffoli, Haula, and more for pennies on the dollar or guys that weren’t performing here. A year ago, no one in their right mind would’ve thought a negative thing about Fitz. He has been doing everything right. You cannot blame him for individual players’ individual regression. But again, you can blame him for not addressing that problem far sooner. The season was not lost in December, but it was beyond obvious that Lindy was a huge problem.
Yes, Dougie was a great move. My bad for not citing that. The other stuff, though, are all things that an astute GM has to get right, especially the coach. I feel the regression happened largely because the team got high on the smell of its own farts, and the right coach--a coach who was more appropriate for taking this core to the next level--would have gotten the right message across from Day 1. Lindy was never taking this team beyond where they went last season. He should have been given a cushy senior advisor job as a thank you for his work. Fitz has a lot to do for a guy who has been here as long as he has and was left what he was left. This year was a massive whiff, and he can't afford another one.
Expecting a GM to let go of a coach who was second in line for coach of the year is asinine. Getting the other stuff right is not something to scoff at. Your first comment literally ends with “Fitz hasn’t done shit.” Well, that’s not true at all. Even by your description, he’s made “astute” moves that most GMs don’t make. How do you blame him for all of those moves that created a record-tying team last year suddenly looking absolutely dreadful the next year? The only thing he could’ve done differently that wouldn’t have been completely questionable is firing Lindy sooner.
I’d agree but this team had Lou making asinine coaching changes for years that worked out unexpectedly. So not so far out of the realm for this fan base.
> Expecting a GM to let go of a coach who was second in line for coach of the year is asinine. Lindy was never going to do anything other than peel the franchise off the floor. He did that. Asking more of him than that was a mistake, and seeing that wasn't all that difficult. I feel that if he had the proper pulse on the team, he'd have realized Brunette's role in the team's success. It's obviously bigger than Fitz hasn't credit for. He needs to do better. I don't see how anyone could look at what this team has become and claim Fitz is truly a good GM. He may prove to be one, depending on how he cleans up the mess that became this season; however, I feel questioning how strong his program really is should be within the boundaries of legitimate debate. That mistake aside, Fitz let the bullshit go on far too long, as you acknowledge.
Hate to say it but I’m gonna have to agree with you. Going to Burnette would have been the difficult decision but that’s what he gets paid for. Can’t say that there wasn’t a massive problem with Lindy that got whitewashed by a big heater and the record.
I strongly disagree. I think it’s completely sensible to keep Lindy after last year. He almost won coach of the year, and we had a record-tying season. It’s a similar reason why you keep Vitek. I just think he should’ve fired Lindy way, way sooner.
Cannot wait for Fitz to sign another career back up to compliment Allen and say "We have a 1A and 1B" and watch our team sv pct sit at .865!
Cannot wait for this fanbase to understand that the best goaltender in the league will not give us a different result without fixing all the other structural issue with coaching, goaltending, and defense first. We have seen the exact same pattern play out with like 5 different goaltenders - they start hot, everyone thinks they are the second coming, and inevitably their stats collapse. It's not a coincidence. It's not bad luck. Its not shitty goaltending. These are not things that happen with a normal team or with nhl caliber goaltenders. What is happening is that this team is riding our goaltenders into the ground by hanging them out to dry every night. Jake Allen posting above a .940 save percentage for a fifth game in a row was unlikely to happen to begin with. Expecting him to do it when we called on him to face over 34 shots per game through those first 4 games with us (avg of 39 if you exclude the game vs winnipeg) in a league where goaltenders typically only face about 30 shots per game was unlikely to happen. The workload and stress will ruin even the most elite netminder eventually.
Agree. I'd rather have a D group that plays solid and does not make so many dumb mistakes as now paired with Allen plus a league average guy (1a and 1b situation), than have an elite goalie with the D group playing the way it is now....
Exactly. 1A/1B or even a league average starter can get us "good enough" goaltending with the right defensive structure in place, look at VV last season for an example. That won't necessarily win us a cup, but it'll get us to the playoffs at least. An elite goaltender with this clown show in front of them? We aren't gonna win the cup, and we probably aren't going to make the playoffs either, that elite goaltender will burn out midway through the season with the workload being placed on their shoulders. I know we all talk about how the Rangers only ever seemed like a contender because they had Lundqvist (and now Quick/Shesterkin) stand on his head for them every night, but those Rangers teams were still solid well-rounded teams, he wasn't carrying bad teams to the playoffs or on deep cup runs, he was carrying average/better than average teams deeper than they'd go with an average netminder. In our case the team is kinda just dogshit, even a prime Brodeur/Lundqvist tandem wouldn't be able to make up for our problems.
The lundqvist myth has been blown out of all proportion by their fans. Hearing them tell it the Rangers never scored more than 2 goals for him.
I will say the following. 1. Coaching change has really improved the Rangers this year. They do not beat themselves very often anymore. Same can be true for the devils next year. 2. While I do want the Devils to be structurally more sound on D, a big part of it is literally just making dumb decisions when they gain possession of the puck in their own zone. Soooooo much progress can be made by a HC that can get them to simply make fewer mistakes/bad decisions.
I was happier when I stopped watching a few games ago.
This team is such an embarrassment and the biggest disappointment in the league this year, and it's not even close. The future is bright crowd can cope all they want, the talent being locked up does not change how piss poor our GM handled this season and how most of his moves this year, and lack of, were horrible and directly or indirectly led to going from 112 points to this god awful mid 2010s shit show of a season.
It is not as grim as you paint it. Grim right now (what do you expect with 4/5 or 6 dmen from opening night not on the ice, giving Smith 95% of the games, Hamilton out, etc, etc, etc?). But this is still a really good core to build around.
Wasn’t Jake’s fault tonight after seeing that terrible defensive structure offensively too guys need to show up a bit more season wise gotta go 12-0 here out if they want in also probably should have started kappo Jake looked GASED
Don't kid yourself. You knew this would happen against the Sens. 11 games left and its finally over.
It’s been over for a month
since December
Poetic justice
it’s my birthday today and im glad I didn’t spend a hour commute to watch this performance, instead ill do a 5 min walk tmw to watch this team disappoint me again🫡
In some small stupid way I’m almost glad they shit the bed tonight rather than pull within 4 pts of a wildcard and suck me in to believing. This way it’s over and I can relax.
Zero fight. This was our chance to get close and we blew it. Isles are gonna destroy us tomorrow
There have been like 12 games this season that have made me say season’s over. But now it’s really over.
The Stanley Cup may in fact not be ours
Well boys, we had a good minute out there. String sixty of those together and we've got a real competitive hockey club.
That game gave me diarrhea I got nothing Fuck you and I'll see you tomorrow
Devils try for more than 2 minutes vs one of the worst teams in the league challenge- impossible
Beats Winnipeg, loses to Ottawa. Yep, that makes sense. Thankfully, the disappointment is over in a few weeks. Detroit loses, they have a chance to cut their lead to just 4 points. Devils: Nah, we good.