The Official New Jersey Devils Thread v2.0 | #FireEveryone

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Will have to replace him in Utica. I really feel like the ACL killed his momentum

[Rainmaker90]

https://twitter.com/instilettos_nhl/status/1661042149150818306?s=46&t=y7j1V1GMJY1RCwBXO9Ebjw

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[beekay414]

Danny Mac sticking around for now

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More contract projections.

Graves 5x5.1

Haula 3x3.5

Tatar 3x3.3

 

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Gritsyuk officially to ska. Two year deal. Earliest he can come over is age 24

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Didn't know this, but apparently Holtz had mono last year? 

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Players already signed for next season:
First, unless a miracle occurs, there will be no demotion of any current Devil to Utica next season.

What players who were in Utica will move up to NJ? IMO the answer to that involves a total of 3 possible players:
1) Akira Schmid - Unless Ruff has some kind of kindred affection for Mackenzie Blackwood he will either be traded or if that can't happen even for futures, he will not be offered a contract and will be allowed to walk as a free agent. Thus, Shmid's performance this season should have earned him a spot with NJ when camp breaks next season.
He will turn 23 in 4 days and be a 23-yr-old NHL roster goalie until some time during the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It will only be his 3rd year of professional hockey. As history shows, the hockey grave yards are filled with goalies who came onto the scene looking brilliant only to flare out like a flashbulb.
Fitz may see the need to acquire a solid vet for Utica to play with Daws and serve as a backup for NJ should Schmid prove to still need some more AHL development time. We don't know if anything in part of that scenario will come to pass. IMO opinion he is a NJ Devil.

2) Alexander Holtz - Alex's ELC slid for the 21-22 season. He was an outstanding AHL player that season. This year was the first of his 3-yr ELC. IMO, shared with many NJ observers, Alex was dealt a raw deal this season. We all know he wanted to be in NJ and we all know a large number in the fan base felt likewise. The problem is the Devils took a kid with huge promise and misused him. A 20-yr-old prospect with a top AHL season behind him either plays a lot of NHL games or he returns to the AHL and plays every day.

When NJ broke camp, Holtz was with them. He had a super camp playing with Hughes. The season opened and the line that Holtz played the preseason with was not together.

He was sent to Utica on 11/22/23 basically to get his legs back under game conditions. Utica had 3 games scheduled in 4 days between 11/23, 25, &, 26. Alex played all 3 and scored 2 goals and assisted on 2 more. He was recalled to NJ on 11/28.

On 2/17, he was again reassigned to Utica at his request. He had played a total of 19 games in NJ up to that date. He would play 2 games on 2/18 and 2/20. He was injured in that 2nd game. he had not recorded a point in either game.

He returned from injury on 3/5. In the 6 games that foloowed he scored 4 goals and assisted on 2 more. In the next 3 he was quiet on the score sheet and looked out of sorts.

Then he would disappear from the lineup for the rest of the regular season (9 games). At first he was getting a rest day, which became an illness, and finally reported to have been Mono.

He returned for the playoffs and was not the Holtz we knew. I am certain he was not really recovered and it showed in his game. He didn't score a goal, but picked up 5 assists.

In all he played 14 regular season games recording 6G/5A/11Pts. n 6 playoff games he had 5 Pts, all assists. That's 6G/11A/17Pts in 20 GP. Considering he would eventually be diagnosed with Mono we know he must have been playing while coming down with it. He then returned while still not having fully recovered to the player we know he is.

Alex is still young If the Devils expect to get what they want from the player they though he would be when they drafted him, they have to play this kid on a regular basis. They can either do that in New Jersey or in Utica. They cannot go back to using him occasionally and placing him in the pressbox more than he plays. He is still very young. He will be 21 when the season starts and won't turn 22 until 1/23. He has 2 seasons left on his ELC. They have time on the cheap to get this kid going. IF they really want this get to excel, it's either play him in the NJ Top 6 or let him be the Comets #1 until something happens in NJ and he's the first call-up who can step right in.

3) Nolan Foote - Nolan will turn 23 early next season (November, 29). He will be staring his 4th pro season with the 1st having been the '20-21 COVID aberration. Basically, the 2 pro seasons he's had in Utica are what he will be judged upon. He missed the last game of this season to an injury that cost him all of the playoffs as well. He had 2 call-ups with NJ in which he played 6 games and scored a goal. That made 5 goals and 2 assists in 19 NHL games. Promising? Yes. NJ next up? Questionable.

He's had 2 very respectable AHL seasons points wise.He's played just 55 games in both seasons with 32 points in '21-22 and 37 this season. The biggest difference this season from the prior was an increase from 14 goals to 20. A 5 point increase is not a big deal. You would have thought his numbers would have increased considerably. You might be able to excuse it due to the fact he played without any talented centers. However, Clarke played under the same circumstances and recorded 25 goals and 58 points while playing 13 more games. We don't know what Nolan's numbers would have been with those games. Nolan Has size at 6'3" and 201 lbs. He skates well while not excellent and lacks the kind of speed the Devils play with. He can be physical, but doesn't make it a regular part of his game. is 27 minutes in penalties were basically the every day 2-minute hockey penalties of the tripping, hooking, and holding variety.
He was not a physical force as you would expect a power forward to be. He was checked off the puck a lot and his efforts to force his way past opponents 1 on 1 along the boards with the puck usually failed and often left him laying on the ice. This particular hole in his game could cost him in NJ. He is not going to be a Top 6 forward. He will have to be physical and the ability to kill penalties would help. He's not a plus at that assignment.

If I had to choose at this very moment, he would be the one to get the first opportunity. NJ has more than a top 6 set of forwards. Holtz's chances of cracking that group right now are slimmer than Foote's chances of working into the bootom 6 especially if the Devils move on from any players in that current group like Wood or Bastian. Holtz would have to hope Jersey moves away on Tatar or Haula or both to open up the ice for him.

Other players the Devils have in Utica that could be considered top prospects:

1) Greame Clarke - For those who were thinking Graeme belonged in that group above, I would be shocked at this time if that were to be true at the moment. He lacks in every attribute that Holtz possesses and Alex can't force himself into the lineup.

Clarke is not a good puck handler. He doesn't like to pass the puck when he is in possession in the offensive zone, but he can't hold onto it vs. pressure. Eventually he realizes he has to pass and it's most often too late and he turns it over.
He gets stripped while skating with the puck.
He tries to stick handle into scoring spots and loses the puck.
He is weak trying to get the puck out of his own end either through passing or skating it out.
His defensive work there is even worse. Playing the body is not in his playbook and stick checks don't work against offensive players who can stick handle and or skate better than him.
He has a good shot and can score when he has a clear shot at the net. Unfortunately he can't create the space for himself very often.
Like the rest of the Comets forwards, he loses most board battles for the puck. That's if he actually engages at such. IMO he is guaranteed to be in Utica next season on the final year of his ELC. If he can improve upon the issues mentioned in this post, he may become one of the many scoring forwards destined to do it in the AHL as their skill sets don't translate to the next level.

2) Tyce Thompson - Some may accuse me of having selected Tyce as my #1 whipping boy. That is just not so. Tyce has laid every ounce of criticism upon himself. As mentioned earlier he entered this season after HOLDING OUT for a better contract as an RFA! Holding out based upon what? 1 point in 9 NHL games in 2 seasons? The fact he played all 4 seasons in the NCAA before signing and and then signing a 2-yr ELC and burning the first year off by virtue of playing 7 games with the Devils left him 1 more season to prove he deserved another contract.

He then spent most of that 2nd season injured after 2 games with the Devils. He would be assigned to Utica in time for him to play16 games at the end of the Comets season. He put up 15 points in those 16 games and 2 more in 5 playoff games. Did that make him so good he could hold out for a big raise above the ELC contract now expired? Apparently someone in New Jersey fell for it. He signed another 2-yr contract that 2nd of which would be a 1-way deal.
He made $175,000 dollars for one of the worst seasons by any Comets player who was supposed to produce for his team. He was 13th on the team in scoring. He had 7 goals:
#1 in game 3
#2 in game 6
#3 in game 12
#4 in game 20
#5 in game 23
#6 in game 25
#7 in game 35
He would go the next 37 regular season games and all 6 playoff games without another goal.
He recorded 19 assists bringing his point total to 26. Has 26 points earned him what will probably be the highest paid salary in Utica next season? A salary that will probably rank among the highest in the AHL at, DON'T GASP, $775,000!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only way that salary is acceptable is if he plays in New Jersey from start to finish next season. It would take a miracle for that to happen. It could happen. Miracles do happen.

Tyce Thompson will be 24 and a Utica Comet. Most players don't begrudge other players for negotiating contracts for more money than they make, but they expect that guy to show some semblance for why he got it. I don't thing anyone will say anything, but if Holtz, Clarke, Foote, Walsh, Schmelzer, and Halonen (along with Nemec and Stevens if either are here) have to play with this guy and he continues to play this poorly or not at least better than most of them it will be a hard pill for them to swallow.

I posted this earlier but the repetition fits here. Thompson skated like a mad man chasing down the puck and players with it, but whenever he caught up nothing happened. Have rarely seen a player skate harder and accomplish less than him.
He tried to be physical, but usually came out on the short end.
Never saw a player miss the net with his consistency.
He will be here and I hope he gets some counseling to help him cope with his disappointment and help him get his confidence back. Then he needs to do hard work on improving the basic hockey skill sets: stick handling, passing, skating with the puck in traffic, getting a better center of gravity on his skates (he can't be so easy to knock down and he can't keep losing his balance), shooting accuracy, taking hard passes (any passes) without them bouncing off his stick, learning how to take on an opponent entering his zone with the puck and not end up looking like a pylon that the opponent has to skate by, get with a hard working veteran pro who can give him some tips on how to achieve success in puck battles, ,and so much more. I don't like saying it but other than hard working (in spite of poor results) I would rank his season as the worst of the top 12 forwards on the team. He finished 14th in scoring. Johnsson who only played 36 games scored 30 points, Jack Dugan who was traded after 51 games had 11 goals and 27 points.

3) Reilly Walsh - Calling Reilly a top prospect might be pushing it at this point. He will be an RFA and the Devils would have to sign him with a significant raise. If they offer and he doesn't like it, he can file for arbitration. The only way he doesn't stay with them is if they don't offer the contract and he becomes a free agent.
He has been the Comets #2 scoring N.J. prospect the past 2 seasons. This season it was #2 overall and last season #5 overall behind DeLeo, Zetterlund, Greer, and Holtz. I think he gets signed and they hope to slide him down with a mob and hope he clears waivers.
He has his defects, but he is a decent AHL defender. He's not going to break onto the Devils roster, but he could be a right side call-up.

4) Simon Nemec - As an 18-yr-old first year NA pro, Simon proved to be a very talented young D-man and worthy of the #2 selection in the 2022 draft. He turned 19 mid-february and would still not be eligible to play in the AHL this coming season if he was a Canadian Jr. The same situation Josh Filmon faces and will put him back in Jrs for another season.
Simon has held his own against the much more mature and stronger AHL players, but he is still raw. The mistakes he makes down here, and they were still coming during the playoffs, will kill him in the NHL. His physicality is also lacking. Thus, he has lots of trouble with net front coverage, puck battles on the boards, and he is prone to hits. I'm not going to run the kid down and point out every defect. His positives outweigh the negatives. His hockey IQ is very high. He thinks the game on a high level which has helped his play as well as aided in keeping him safe. The only games he missed were when he was playing in the WJCs and 3 games after he returned when Dineen realized the kid needed a rest and he gave him a game off. For a kid his age his durability was amazing. I think his development has farther to go before he is NHL ma byal.It wouldn't hurt him to get a lot stronger either. They don't need to force this KID onto the roster and into the lineup. Another year with a lot more responsibility would be a much better path for him to follow and would be a wiser decision for the powers that be in NJ.

5) Nico Daws - Nico will be a Comet next year and most likely be #1. There is no way he is in NJ. He needs to build upon the success he earned the latter part of this season when Akira spent so much time in NJ. It's time for him to take the reins and be a legitimate #1. If he can do that it's possible that he Akira can be net partners again in the future.

That's it for top prospects in Utica. Most are still likely to be here again next season.

Next up other players on NJ contracts both already Comets and others to become such in part IV.

Bad Goalie watches and goes to like every utica game, so these were some of his thoughts he posted after the season . 

Pretty interesting to see how much lower he is on Clarke as an overall player compared to Holtz. 

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Part IV.

NJ contracts still on the books.

1) Michael Vukojevic - Vuk has been here the past 2 seasons and will definitely be back next year. It will be his final ELC season. He has yet to establish himself as a game day regular. He began the season playing 14 of the 1st 15 games. Then he was scratched for 5 of the next 6. Then he was back in the lineup for the next 9. Then he started rotating in and out for a bunch of games. Then in late January into February he played 9 more in a row, sat 2 , played 2, and on 2/18 broke his finger and was out for the season as the finger was surgically repaired requiring a pin to aid the healing process.
He played 37 games.
One more season and he becomes an RFA.

2) Brian Halonen - Brian will be in his final ELC season. He kept getting better as the season progressed. He was at 30 points with 17 goals when he was felled by Appendecitis before game 63 and missed the last 10 games. He would return for the playoffs and recorded 1 point, a goal. He was not at his best.

Can only hope the way he was playing before he had to be operated on for the appendix continues. As it is he still finished #8 in scoring after having played only 57 games. He was on pace to score 20 goals. If he managed that pace for a whole season, next year 25 would not be out of the question. He has a nose for the net and has a real good shot to go along with it.

3) Tyler Wotherspoon - Tyler has another year on the contract he signed with NJ before this season. He is a veteran workhorse on D and only missed games because he was called up by the Devils. He was Nemec's partner and mentor all season. Would be nice to watch that duo work together again next season. He will be paid $325K

4) Jeremy Groleau - Jer is much in the same situation as Vukojevich except he is an RFA. I get a good feeling he will get a contract with a bit of a raise. Like Michael he is an adequate D-man if paired with a stronger partner. He was paired with Russo or Walsh for much of the season. However, there were games when he got a much bigger role. He was paired with Nemec when Wotherspoon got called up. I'm not sure who was covering for the other, LOL. He was also paired with ECHL call-up Filip Gourley. That was definitely a situation in which he was carrying Gourley.

Down the home stretch Jeremy was in the lineup almost every night. He played 4 of the 6 playoff games and one of his 2 scratches was in place of Vilen. It wasn't the time to use Vilen in a must win situation against Toronto. I guess he was promised a game if he came over all the way from Finland. On the season he played 43 regular season games and recorded 10 points including 2 goals.

5) Zack Hayes - Zack was acquired in a trade with AHL Chicago for Jack Dugan. He just turned 24 on April 24th. He also has some size at 6'3" and 218 lbs.

He played 15 of the 16 games the Comets played after he arrived. He recorded 1 goal and 3 assists. He also played the first 3 of the 6 playoff games. Geertsen took his slot for the last 3 game vs. Toronto. He didn't get a point in his 3 games in the playoffs. He is an RFA and I have no idea what Dineen, Mac, and Fitz have in mind for him. He didn't jump off the ice at you when he was playing. He certainly can't fill the slots that may be left by Russo and Geertsen (Cover those 2 later)

6) Timur Ibragimov - Came to the Comets from San Jose in the Meier deal. He is an RFA. He will be a 3rd year pro. He arrived here after having spent the season playing 53 games with ECHL Wichita. He played 15 games for Utica and scored 3 goals and recorded 6 points. He played in 2 of the playoff games recording 1 assist. The Comets can find a lot better players than this kid. I don't see NJ using a contract on him. If they can talk him into an AHL deal, he'd be a decent depth player and could play regularly in Adirondack. He has played mostly in the ECHL before coming here so it's not something he'd likely oppose. On the other hand it wouldn't surprise me if he opted to go back to Russia. Then again, he never played in the KHL and with the situation in Russia, Adirondack might seem to be just fine. I also think he would get time in Utica.

7) Aarne Talvitie - It's no secret that becoming an RFA has led Aarne to make a career decision. There is no place for him in NA after the result of his injury finally determined that his game just isn't good enough. Having scored a paltry 3 goals and 14 points over 58 games is not satisfactory to him. Forget what NJ and the Utica brass thinks about it. He will return to Finland and play at home for as long as they find his game acceptable.
I respect the total effort he gave the Comets every time he stepped onto the the ice. No one worked harder regardless of the lack of production. He was a 2-way player and gave it everything he had. Good luck to you back home, Aarne. I only hope your replacement works as hard.

This man really put in some work lol. 

And he was right about Talvitie, who has already signed back home. 

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1) Topias Vilen - 20-yr-old, 6'1"/194 lb LD from Finland. He was 2021 5th Rd selection (#129) of the NJ Devils.
He has played 127 games in the Liiga. Those games will be applied to his professional games played when the AHL determines a player's veteran status. It's no problem right now.
In his single game in Utica, which I observed, he had good straight ahead speed. Right off the bat his nerves showed as the 1st time he touched the puck he looked up ice and passed the puck directly to a Marlie just outside the blue line. He got it together and was adequate in the ice time he got. His most impressive moment was when he caught up to a Marlie breaking in on Nico Daws. That Marlie had the whole neutral zone head start and Vilen broke up the play from behind just before he took his shot. Thus, my comment on his straight ahead speed.

Would have to see him over the course of several games before making any kind of assessment of his game. The Comets as a whole were poor defensively that night

2) Santeri Hatakka - 22-yr-old, 6'1" 192 lb LD from Finland (will turn 23 on Jan/15/2024). He was a 2019 round 6 (#184) by the San Jose Sharks.

He has played 1 full season in the San Jose system, 9 NHL-2A/41 AHL- 3/9. This past season he played 8 games with AHL San Jose (2A) and was injured and didn't play another game.
He was acquired by NJ in the Meier trade. NJ assigned him to Utica and he has been on the roster listed as injured from that point.

Next season will, in reality, be his 2nd professional season. I would guess the 2022-23 season will slide as injury limited his season to 8 games. Either way the new season will still see him on an ELC.
We have nothing to assess anything. He is to us, a rookie.

3) Danill Misyul - 6'3"/176 lb LD from Belarus, who will turn 23 on 10/20. He was a 2019 round 3 (#70) of the NJ Devils. He has played 184 games in the KHL over 5 seasons. He is 77 games from being classified as Veteran Exempt. With the AHL paying 72 game seasons that will give him 2 seasons in which he is free of Veteran status. His KHL offensive numbers are poor to say the least 21 Pts in 184 GP. I have nothing to make an opinion on other than statistics and the opinions of those from the NJ site who have actually seen him play. My most trusted poster on this subject is @Guadana. He has been high on this kid so I'm of the opinion he will be a good player. That's where it ends. My own assessment will come from his play in Utica.

My biggest concern is whether or not he has the European escape clause that so many players from Europe have in their contract. If they don't make the AHL team, they escape the AHL and return to Europe. Hatakka has already moved past that and Vilen says he has no issues playing in the AHL.

These 3 defenders, all on the left side, will be in competition for top 6 status. Wotherspoon Vukojevic, Groleau, Hatakka, Vilen, and Misyul are in competition for the starting 3 left spots. They won't be the only defenders to get a look either. There are always free agents given a look and who knows what NJ will do in off season trades that might result in another D-man or 2 in the Utica camp.

There are 2 new forwards we know will be on hand.

4) Chase Stillman - 20-yr-old, 6'1"/185 lb RW fresh out of the OHL. He was a 2021 1st Round selection (#29) of the NJ Devils. He is not a favorite of the NJ fan base, particularly those on HF Boards. We know he is guy who plays with a lot of energy and in the AHL that will mean being a real pest. Utica could use a couple of those types. They had, and hopefully will retain, Jayce Hawryluk who is very good at that task. His 29 points in '21-22 and 48 in '22-23 are inferior to the kind of production #1 selections usually come with. All that can be hoped for is that his work ethic can lead to a very strong NHL bottom 6 player. He'll get to put that theory to work in Utica next season. If it doesn't happen, he will play out his ELC and be let go.

5) TJ Friedmann - An undrafted 25-yr-old, 6'2/181 lb 5-yr NCAA Quinnipiac graduate student. I keep reading postd that say he is a center. The Quinnipiac roster lists him as a forward. Eliteprospects lists him as a RW. HockeyDB lists him as a RW. The Comets announced they signed forward TJ Friedmann. The Hockey News Network in St. Louis lists him as a RW. I guess we'll wait to see where DiNeen pencils him in. I hope he learned his lesson and won't try to force the square peg into the round hole for game after game a fter game all season as he did with Brian Pinho. If thie kid shows center isn't it . get him out on the wing. Adirondack is also a possibility if he can't crack the Utica roster. It helped Xavier Parent as he went PPG with the Thunder and made his way onto the Utica roster over the course of the last 13 games and 5 of the 6 playoffs. Some time in the ECHL for those not guaranteed anything can sometimes be very valuable.

I'm actually pretty interested in Hatakka and thought he was an interesting piece when we made the deal for Timo. 

[beekay414]

10 minutes ago, Forge said:

Bad Goalie watches and goes to like every utica game, so these were some of his thoughts he posted after the season 

Seems like he can't let some of his biases go on some of those dudes. Rips into Tyce for off ice stuff, critiques the hell out of Clarke but then blames the Devils organization for Holtz. 

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2 minutes ago, beekay414 said:

Seems like he can't let some of his biases go on some of those dudes. Rips into Tyce for off ice stuff, critiques the hell out of Clarke but then blames the Devils organization for Holtz. 

Don't think that he'd be ripping Tyce if Thompson actually played well. That's fairly common. Someone holds out then doesn't play well, they get skewered. The Leafs did it to Nylander and he's a really, really good player lol. If I thought Tyce Thompson was ever going to be a thing, I'd probably be upset, but I never quite understood the little bit of hype he got for a while. 

The devils did butcher Holtz this year, but there was more going on there, I think. If he really did have mono, I'm not sure iit made that much of a difference. But they treated him this year the same way they did Boqvist his first year and I'm not sure Boq ever recovered. The thing with Holtz is that he may just be a really good AHL player and that's the cap, so it would certainly color the glasses of someone who watches a whole lot of AHL games. 

[beekay414]

1 minute ago, Forge said:

Don't think that he'd be ripping Tyce if Thompson actually played well. That's fairly common. Someone holds out then doesn't play well, they get skewered. The Leafs did it to Nylander and he's a really, really good player lol. If I thought Tyce Thompson was ever going to be a thing, I'd probably be upset, but I never quite understood the little bit of hype he got for a while. 

The devils did butcher Holtz this year, but there was more going on there, I think. If he really did have mono, I'm not sure iit made that much of a difference. But they treated him this year the same way they did Boqvist his first year and I'm not sure Boq ever recovered. The thing with Holtz is that he may just be a really good AHL player and that's the cap, so it would certainly color the glasses of someone who watches a whole lot of AHL games. 

I just found it funny that he dug into Clarke so deeply despite the production but treated Holtz with kid gloves. That, too me, screams bias.

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Brunette to Nashville

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