May 7, 2025 • 36 mins
Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald definitely has his work cut out for him as they approach free agency in July.
By Sam Woo and Nick Villano
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By Sam Woo and Nick Villano
http://JoinOurCrew.com
https://pucksandpitchforks.com
https://www.LetsGoDevils.com
RATE, REVIEW, AND SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-go-devils-podcast/id1371371669 #NJDevils #NHL #LetsGoDevils #LGD #Devils #NewJersey #NCAA #AHL
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/let-s-go-devils-podcast--2862943/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Happy Devils Wednesday. This is the State of the Fan Address,
Episode three hundred. Did you hear that? Nick? It's episode
three hundred. Bet you didn't know that before. The podcast
streaming live on Facebook Live, YouTube Live x live Man
(00:39):
which Seawan the Let's Go Devil's Network coming to your
live live front the Pine Time Radio studios inside the Bunker,
North and South Jersey talking Devil's Hockey as the playoffs continue.
There is no offseason with us Nick and put Fucks
and pitchforks dot Com.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
No, absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
No.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I took two days off and I felt like I
was off for a month because I I don't take
much time off from this. We just keep keep going,
keep going, and and we're back at it. We're full force, uh,
full steam ahead, you know we. I had an article
go up just a few minutes ago by Jenny Streeter
(01:24):
talking about three players that are not going to that
shouldn't be on the team next year. Three players the
Devil should do everything they can to kind of hit
the bricks.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Kid. I didn't read the article, but I'm gonna guess
which three fashion lazare.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You can't can't give away It's in an article, but
I think you're over too. Okay, I wrote, I wrote
about the guys who will definitely not be there, and
I don't think those ours on that list. I think
there's a if the injury that he dealt with means
that there's an outside chance that he's back.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Okay, all right, Well there's the teaser, there's the cliffhanger.
Go to pucksinpitchfords dot com.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
But yeah, these are guys under contract for next year.
That should be Gonzo. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Well, I have a lot of opinions right now watching
the playoffs, wondering what the Devils are gonna do in
the offseason to kind of improve their team. We learned
a lot during the Carolina series.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, that article is up on Pucks and pitchforks dot com.
Three things we learned from that Carolina beat down?
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yeah, well, I said something couple I think a couple
times on the podcast, and I think the Devils this
is what they lack, except for the exception of Timo Meyer,
who became you know when there the attention came on
(03:17):
him during the playoffs, crashing the net, going hard to
the net, making the goaltender pay in case some invern
contact and one team that does that. Well, are the
Florida Panthers sure about that? Well? It's effective, it always works,
(03:45):
It always can turn the series around when you need to.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Well, that game is currently two two and the Panthers
are down one on in the series. So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
But the Panthers, Stanley Cup and one other team hasn't
done it. It's as sixty seven.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I get it. But we're talking about right now. What
have you done for me lately? Sam?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Come on, Nick, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?
Crashing the net and disturbing the goaltender? Is? It is
so basic? The Devils are just too nice. That's the
problem that they had against the Carolina Argons, who, by
the way, beat the Washington Capitals, coming back to one
(04:40):
to beat them. And you know, I like the Florida
Panthers model. I don't know if the Devils have the
personnel to replicate it, but if you're going into the
offseason the bottom six, they need players that can cause chaos,
(05:02):
can change the tide of the game, the narrative just
by being a little nasty. And I think that's what
the Devils need right now. They're just too nice. They've
got a lot of the you know, they've got Jack Cues,
They've got Nico Heisher, They've got quite a nice you know,
(05:23):
the blue line. You know, despite the injuries, goaltending is
not an issue for at least next year, I don't think.
But I just like to see some snarkiness, snarl Brad
mar Shant type players come on to the New Jersey
(05:47):
Devils because again against the Carolina Hurricanes, you know, they
they crashed into march them no problem.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I mean we literally knocked their goalie out of the series.
Like I don't like, you know what I mean, Like
I don't know to tell you you know what I mean?
Like Timo Meyer is that guy? I do think they
could use another one, another one like you said on
the bottom six, Like who plays like Timo Meyer? Who
could score goals by crashing the net. And they I
(06:24):
think they thought Stephan Nason was gonna be that guy.
But Steven Nason's more of a weight for his opportunities guy,
not a crash the net guy. Like he's gonna be
a net front presence and then bank it, you know,
either tipping a goal or get a rebound in for
a goal. But he's not going to crash the net
(06:44):
like Meyer does. I just don't think the Panthers. I
think the Panthers model is when you chase and fail,
and I almost see the Devils did part of that
this year, right, because like, if you think about the
Devil's as the first half, they look like the Flota
Panthers for part of it. They were hitting people, they
(07:07):
were knocking people out, were suppressing shots, they were smothering teams.
I think the problem with that same is you get
hurt playing that way, and I don't think the Devils
have the right strength and conditioning to do that. Like,
I just don't what does.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
That mean, the right strength and condition You're saying that
we need new trainers.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I'm not saying we need new trainers. I just think
you need if I mean, you lose a lot of
speed when you play that way, or straight line speed.
There's some speed in the peripherals, but you lose a
lot of straight line speed, and the Devils need straight
line speed. I there's a lot of things that I
(07:51):
noticed this year that I just don't have enough information
to put into an article. But it's something that I'm
really like, I'm curious about. You know, there's a lot
of like these really like tactical things about the season
that that I just noticed. For one, Luke Hues didn't
(08:15):
have the the he he He had a lot of
twenty mile per hour bursts, but not a lot of
twenty two and twenty three mile per hour bursts, which
tells me and I think that has to do with
the off you know, the the shoulder injury that probably
lingered all season, and also the Sheldon keif system. I
think those two things kind of changed how he played.
(08:38):
But like you didn't see the coast to coast that
that Luke Ues did multiple times in the Lindy Ross season,
and even under Travis Screen for those couple of months,
Dougie Hamilton's shot is lesser. It's still probably one of
the top in the top fifteen percent of the league,
which is in the top five percent of league. Like
there's a big difference there. I think when when you're
(09:00):
looking at what went wrong for the Devils this year,
you know, it's just.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Like I think, I sorry, Nick, I respects, I've heard enough.
Finished my sentence, Okay, finish your sentence.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I I think the guys, for one, I think Fitzgerald
swung I missed on a lot of the types of
guys he was getting. The philosophy was right, the the
execution was wrong. I think you needed one of Paul
Cotter or Stephan Mason. I think you needed I don't
think you could have gone on into the season with Jackies,
(09:45):
nikoa Hesher, Eric Halla and Curtis as Is your center.
It's like that just that just wasn't It wasn't the
right philosophy, right, You needed another center. You need and
I agree, like you do need a guy who's going
to crash the net from the center position, a guy
who's gonna jump up into the play, and and like
Dawston Mercer, he's just not there, like this is not
(10:08):
what he is. He also said in his post game
that he or in his postseason press conversely, doesn't want
to play center, which is bizarre to me, Like you
would think that you would want to play center, but
say doesn't want He said he'd rather play wing. I think,
like your priority, like the weird thing, the priorities. They
need a center, they a center, And the problem is
(10:31):
like the guys that would be perfect for this are
going to be impossibly expensive, Like Ryan O'Reilly would have
been great but they're asking for a psychotic amount for
Ryan O'Reilly over in Nashville, you know, and and uh,
I'm trying to like I gotta like really dive in.
But there's there's a couple of guys like listen, like, uh,
(10:54):
you know, the least have Max Domi. I think that's
a guy that's like interesting. I know Max Domi is
like a very hit or misplay, but he's the type
of player that like scores clutch goals and that's kind
of like what you need. And I think he'd be
like a really good guy in the third line, you know,
like that kind of center who's just gonna and like
Max Stummy's kind of small, but he plays big. I
(11:15):
think that's the kind of guy that you're looking for, saying,
And I think like that that works. So as you
get one of them, you don't want to over you know,
over indulge on them just because you do need more
skill in this lineup. Yeah. Yeah, when when you realize
that Alex Holtz failed and you moved on from him,
(11:36):
and you know, you you spent your offseason prioritizing guys
like hotter guy like Stephen Nason's one of the slowest
players in the league. I don't know if you know that,
Like he is one of the slowest players in the league.
So it just it doesn't mesh well with some of
(11:57):
what the Devils are trying to do. And then you
also have like a lot so like you at times
you would pull out on Jack Hughes's line and Nason
on Niko Heisha's line, and they're both slowing those lines down.
And I think you need to bring speed up to
the top six. And I know I want. I did
write about tempering expectations for our Sinny Kritzik, who signed
(12:19):
with the Devil's officially this week. But he's a guy
who's skating can match Hughes or Hesher on those top
six lines. Whether that is enough in the North American
game to keep him in the top six, I'm not sure.
He's twenty four years old. This isn't like a typical
prospect we're talking about. This is a guy who who
(12:40):
has professional experience and has been doing this at a
high level. But I do think you need one more
speedy winger just to kind of you don't want to
go too small with it. But like I've always liked ethnicu.
I think he's on Chicago. He's kind of played his
(13:01):
way out of the NHL, though, But somebody like that time,
like a six foot three guy who's got blazing speed.
You know, maybe they trade for riccard Racal, who I
think is a really good fit for this team. But again,
the again, we're looking at these guys who like really
really fit the Devils, and they're just like incredibly expensive.
(13:22):
And the guys that you would have wanted, you would
have targeted those teams are like, you know, you wanted
some of the guys maybe on the Ducks, but the
Ducks say they want to be a playoff team next year,
so they're not gonna be trading guys or selling guys.
Obviously you wanted Brady Kachuk, but the Senders think that
they're on the up, so they're not trading Brady Kachuck.
(13:45):
You know, I'm trying to think of like some of
the other guys, Like there's some guys in the Blues,
like Jordan Kiro would have been fantastic for this team.
But the Blues made the playoffs and and that had
one of the most exciting games we've ever seen in
Game seven of the first round. So they're not trading
any other players away. They're not selling. You know, you're
looking at all these opportunities and Sam correct me if
(14:08):
I'm wrong, But am I looking at like the least
amount of sellers we've had in a long time in
this league?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
At Chicago?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Has nothing you want? Like I was looking at Chicago's
roster yesterday, I want nothing on that team.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
All right, let's back up here, because I want to
go back to why I disagree with you. You're talking
about you were talking about Luke U's going twenty miles
per hour versus twenty two to twenty four miles per hour.
What was the a something speed or whatever you're talking about,
(14:47):
the straight straight line, Yeah, straight line. Look, I'm all
about pushing the tempo, but that will fail in the
playoffs because it would not be the team would not
be he built for the playoffs because teams will clutch
grab you can get away with a lot more physicality.
You can slow that down immediately and it'll be ineffective.
(15:11):
And I think that's part of the reason why the
Devils were ineffective, because they couldn't they couldn't get their
speed on because they're worn out by the third period.
And we even saw that against Carolina in the double
overtime that just they got out shot.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I understand, but they didn't get outside in the third period.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
They blew as the game. As the game went along,
Carolina just dominated, absolutely donated. They couldn't even.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
You're playing with every guy was hurt on that team.
Pretty much.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Excuses I'm just saying. I'm just saying the team needs
to bulk up even more. But on the bottom, Sid agree.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
The problem is these shoulder injuries are gonna cause you
to where you can't poke up like your bulking season
is now much shorter. Right if Jack Hughes is rehabbing
until training camp.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Wait, who has shoulder injuries? It's just the Huge Brothers.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Right, No, it's the Huge Brothers. It's Peshi, it's Nemetz
is still doing he didn't go to World because he's
still dealing with his shoulder injury.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
It's I wasn't paying attention to the exit interviews with
with all the injuries and surgeries or whatever. So forgive
me for that.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But you know there's quite a few shoulder injuries.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Then we again that we have to ask the reason
why or.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Shoulder surgery. So it's five guys dealing shoulder injuries and
probably more. San Terry Hataka had had the shoulder injury
and was most of the season, and now he's not
even in your system. He left, he went, he went
to play overseas, which is the sane to me.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
But Jackus shoulder injury, I mean, was that a freak
accident you think with jack or or was it wearing
terror or a little bit of both.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
But I think Luke's is wearing tear. I think that
Luke got hurt in the offseason, rested for as long
as he could, he came back, and he was hurt
the whole year. I think the same thing goes for
Simon Nemetz. I think Pattis was wearing tear. He said
he hurted in Game one. But and then you have Bratt,
who I think was wearing tear. I think they're just
(17:42):
you know, you're and Bratt, Like, here's the thing about
brad Is. Brad had eighty hits this year. He was
the only player in the league with eighty hits and
eighty points. So he's hitting people and he got a
shoulder injury, you know, so you're I agree the Devils
had to add the right type of physical physicality in
(18:03):
the offensive zone. But you don't want to like like
a lot of guys that go out and get Ryan
Raves and like that's not the right move for this team,
you know, or they'll go out and get like you know,
are you gonna pay nine million dollars to get Brad
Marshan at his age? Like that's a mistake. You know.
Are you gonna go out and spend nine million dollars
(18:24):
in Sam Bennett? Again, I think that's a mistake. I
like Sam Beneant' is a player, but he's not a
nine million dollar player, you know. And and he's plays
the type of game that's gonna get you hurt him hurt,
like you know what I mean. Like he I think,
you know, he plays a little bit of a an
on the edge game. I think it's I don't think
he's as dirty as people say he is. I think
(18:46):
that's just like the Florida Panthers of it all, right,
Like they just think everybody kind of plays that way.
But I do think he plays the type of physical
game that's gonna break him down and somebody's gonna give
him like a sixty million dollar cont I just don't.
I want no part of that. So this is an
interesting offseason because a lot of people have a lot
(19:07):
of money, but like Mitch Marner is available, Sam Bennett's
gonna get a lot of money. There's a couple of
guys out there that are going to break the bank.
And then you also have to remember that now every
GM saying I'm kind of interested in in in offer sheets,
(19:28):
so you know, people are gonna be saving their money
for those as well, you know. So I think that
there's an opportunity here for the Devils to kind of
swoop in and get some of those like guys in
the middle, you know where where in some years, a
guy like what's his name, Tyler Bertuzzi is breaking the
bank with Chicago. I think the Devils could sneak in
(19:50):
and get him for a little bit cheaper than what
he would have you know, he's under contract in Chicago,
but a guy like him, I haven't jumped into the
free agency pool yet. I gotta do that, but I
I that's where I want to be. I want to
be in the middle, and I think that that will
(20:11):
have to make some moves just to get there. Because
Luke U's his contract is up, So I think he's
gonna get a big contract of at least eight million
dollars a year. You're gonna be left with like nine
to ten million dollars to spend on your entire bottom
six on a backup goalie. Even if it's dogs that
take some million dollars away from it. There's a lot.
There's a lot that the those have to do this offseason.
(20:32):
I think you gotta move a guy like a plot
or you definitely. I mean, I think they're buying out haula.
I think they're just gonna cut their losses there because
I don't think anybody's gonna trade for him. And honestly,
I think you might go back to Finland, Like I just,
I just he was so bad this year. I don't know.
We might get a PTO right, like somebody might give
him like a you know, the Kevin Lebank treatment. I
(20:58):
am curious. I was about this the other day. Do
you think Kevin Lebonc could have just continued playing as
well as he did in the preseason in the Devil's system?
Like do you think there was a system maadic part
of that to it? Because he didn't play that well
in Columbus.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
I I think it was a nice story.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
I felt like he was like the Tommy DeVito. You know,
it was a very nice story that he was ripping
it up or Jeremy Lynn. You know, but that's just
preseason got the bag. But uh, it was just preseason
and it was a nice story.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah, yeah, I don't disagree. I do think he would
have done better than some of the fourth line players
we had, but you know, probably doesn't move the needle much.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
I think he would have done better with the Devils
than Columbus. I mean, Columbus is Columbus, you know, and
and you know again he went for a better deal
for himself and you know, it is what it is.
But you know, getting back to Sam Bennett, I mean,
(22:13):
the reason why he's going to command that kind of money,
Nick is those players are hard to find. They're very
hard to find.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
They don't last usually.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I don't care about last. I'm caring about now, you know,
and look look up a lot. What do we do
with him? You can buy him out. Eventually, you can
trade him, you know, if it doesn't work out. But
so far, yeah, so far, Jack Hughes isn't lasting the
(22:47):
entire season. You know same with Luke Hughes this year.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Well, I mean Luke qu'es is that's like a one
time thing and he did last most of the season.
He just missed the first month.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
He was conditioning and he got hurt. To me, that's
a red flag. How do you how do you how
do you get hurt lifting weights?
Speaker 2 (23:11):
There's the we don't have the entire story there, so
I think that that one's a uh, what.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Wasn't that like he was training, but we don't know
how he got hurt. Did he fall, did he run
into something? Did he was he lifting and like his
shoulder failed, Like there's a lot of different ways you
could get hurt during.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Oh, I thought he was lifting weights and he got
and he got hurt.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Did that come out? I don't. I don't remember seeing that,
so I'll take your word for it, but I don't
remember that.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
That's that's what I remember hearing.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And if that's the case, yeah, that is a little concerning.
But I'm concerned about the surgeries because they're not gonna
like I just don't think you're gonna be able to
bulk and Jack Hughes, especially the bulk Luke Hues is
a bigger guy than Jackues. He six to one I think,
so he's just like built bigger, but he's still slender
(24:03):
compared to Brenda Dylan, you know what I mean. So,
I uh, that's where I think. That's where I'm at
with this team. I just think that they're I agree
with you, they need that piece. I don't know who
it is yet because I haven't I haven't jumped in.
(24:23):
It's unfortunate that they haven't drafted a guy like that.
They've been so focused on defense for the past four
years in a draft that you don't have a guy
like that that you've drafted right, that you've developed. I
thought Herman Draft could be that guy, and then they
traded him for Brian Dumelin.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
So there's a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
There's a lot to do. That to do list is long, Sam.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Oh, it is long again. I'll say it again. You
had Logan Cooley right there. I think he would have
been a great right, yeah, you know, but that's.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Never pretty small. That doesn't help what you're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Yeah, but it helps think what the third center. I mean,
he's a mini Jacks, you know.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
But right again, they'd be much better off right now
with Logan Cooley than Nevitts. But Nevits look good. But
I don't want to take anything away from it.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
He looked really No, it's not to take it away
from him. It's just you know, at the time period,
you knew he had Casey, you know, and.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I just Luke. That was the thing is Luke kues.
He was clearly a very good player.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
But I think the bottom six was small. That's I
think that's what it boils down to, Like for let's
not bring the Tutars back, the Lizars and and even
bashing he was too slow, you know, Cotter he could stay.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
But yeah, I like Cotter. I think Cotter is a
really good piece.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
I just think he was getting used to a.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Lot of things. He's he's not He's never going to
be a consistent car. Whatud he end up with? He
with like sixteen goals this year.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Something like that. I think long term, if they can
sign Cody Glass, I think that would be that would
be helpful. I wouldn't mind having Cody Glass start, you know,
be on the fourth line next season.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
But I think you got what's that. I think they
take a pay cut. Pay cut two point three or
two point six something like that. I would give a
three year deal at like two mm hmm. But if not,
(26:41):
if not, I think you gotta like you're I mean,
he's a restricted free agent. Do they have control? And
I do want him back. I think a full season
in the system, I think he'd be more consistent. But yeah,
go ahead, I kind of cut you off to where
you're making your point.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah again in an ideal world, because I haven't looked
at the salary cap, you know whatever. But I think
Cody Glass would be excellent on the fourth line as
a fourth line center. And if you can bring in
somebody on the second line and move you could play
around with the third line. But they need more scoring
(27:20):
from the bottom six, and they and and you're not
gonna wear down teams with small guys. You know, you
gotta roll all four lines, you know, defensively, I love
I love what they did. But Dylan's hurt, Covid Savage
is hurt. They're they're locked to multi year deals. You
(27:45):
know what happens there. You know that's a concern. Uh,
Pesci's locked long term. Same with Dougie Hamilton. Don't mind that.
Luke Hughes, look the whole Quinn Hughes buzz. If you're
gonna get Quinn, you better lock down Luke now. You
(28:07):
should lock down lou now, because if he really wants
to play with his brothers, you would have Jack and
Luke for at least what five for five five years?
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Five more years? Yeah, And.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I don't even know what to make of that whole
bank who you know. The Rutherford thing, I think he's
trying to put more pressure off of himself and putting
him more on Tom Fitzgerald to do something.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Probably, I think I think part of it is he's
trying to warn his fan base like this, this might happen.
You know, I'm kind of like losing. But he also
came out and said like nothing would happen until next year.
But they say these things. I also, I'm not convinced
(28:56):
I wrote about this him. I'm not convinced the Devil's
would be the only team in on him. I think
Detroit would trade for Quinn Hughes thinking they can resign them.
I think Toronto would trade for Quinn Hughes thinking they
can resign them. You gotta remember, like Jim Hughes worked
for Toronto for like ten years, but during some of
Quinn Hughes's formidable years, so he probably spent a lot
(29:17):
of time in Toronto rooted for Toronto, probably because you know,
Dad works for that team. I'm rooting for the team
that dead works for. And I think Vegas is always
just a team that can somehow convince players to resign.
You know, you remember Noah Hannafan. They made the big
trade for Noah Hannafane's Well he's gonna resign it, He's
(29:38):
gonna sign in Tampa. He wants to go to Tampa.
Well would you make that move? He sends for eight
years in Vegas for not like a crazy number. So
I just think the Devils can't go into this too confident.
I think you have to go into the Quinn Hughes
things with a little bit of fear, little bit of
(30:00):
fear that you could drop the ball on this.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Did you read on that?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
I did.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
I liked I really liked his article.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yeah, I mean it made a lot of sense. The
trade was all, but I think it was one piece
too many from what I remember. And I think people
are failing to put like there's gonna be like another
NHL player in there, whether it's a lot, whether it's
Hamilton beyond like, but again, like if I told you
that they traded a first, a twenty twenty six first
Dawston Mercer and someone Nemits for Quid Hughes tomorrow, would
(30:33):
you be upset?
Speaker 1 (30:36):
No?
Speaker 2 (30:38):
I don't think I would be either. I would be like, dang,
that's a lot. But like, this is a this is
a Norris caliber defenseman. Every year you're getting two extra
years of him. You know that costs Like all these
people saying we'll just wait till he gets a free agency. Hey,
I just laid out a couple of teams that could
beat you there and then he never gets the free agency.
(30:59):
But even if it's a guarantee that he's get into
free agency, that means you're going two more years, two
more prime Nicohastie years, two more prime Jack Hughes. Here's
two more prime, Timo Myers, two more prime just for
brat years without this guy on the roster who would
elevate you to a championship level team. So you know,
(31:22):
and I do need to think they you know, it
gets complicated because you have to edit forward. But if
you give them Dougie Hamilton back, you know, it's kind
of a wash, right. It would be hard to lose
Hamilton and Nemets because what used to be a strength
(31:42):
on the right side is now kind of all of
a sudden the weakness because you're gonna be without COVID
seven debout the year. Seamus Casey doesn't really seem like
he was ready to be a full time NHL or
And like you said, Brett Pasch is dealing with injuries.
So you know there's a risk there, but it's not
(32:03):
a risk not worth taking, right, But I think that's it, Tame.
I think we we we do a quick one for
three hundred and and.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
It was definitely not a quick one. They went by fast.
It's definitely not a quick one. We're over the thirty
minute mark, just so you're aware.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Okay, great, Yeah, I'm ready for bucks.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Yeah, why don't you plug ahead?
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I got an article from Jersey Joe it's going to
be coming out within the hour talking about Quinn Hughes
talking about our Sidney Grid six. So take a look.
That's going to be up before ten o'clock. I have
an article that came out yesterday that talked about what
went wrong with the or the lessons learned and the
(32:55):
Devil's are no last night's was I regrated Tom fit
Gerald's twenty twenty four off season. I gave new grades
the signings like Tomas Star or trades are Johnnykovi Savitch.
So go check that out. We have the Quinn Hughes
article that I just talked about. We have the the
what you know what the Devil's learned from the Carolina
(33:17):
series that I talked about Vinnie Breezy as an article out. Uh,
you know, the guys are rolling, we're hitting, We're hitting
the gas. We're gonna be going full steam ahead. It's
gonna be great.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Well, I have nothing to plug. I'm in my off
season mode, all right, total, just doing nothing, lazy. Yeah,
you know what, it is a long season when you
do this, Nick and you you should know, it's a
long season. And even though the season kind of fell
short of where we wanted to be. I wanted to
(33:57):
be in the third round this year.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Yeah, of this season.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Reflecting back, and this is my last point, I think
the Devil's made progress forward. What makes it hard is
not knowing what the future is because of these injuries
that have happened and and surgeries and whatnot, and we
(34:26):
shall see. We shall see what the Devils do. But
one thing for certain, I do like Sheldon Kief a lot.
I really do.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
I think you have the right coach. That's the way
that came out that the Devils went after Mike Sullivan.
I realize Mike Sullivan hasn't won a rounds it's like
twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
I think he's overrated.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
To be honest, I think he's a good coach. But
like I like Sheldon Kief too, So I mean I
think we're good shape.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
This is where where this is me trolling and trash
talking Ranger fans now that Mike Sullivan's on the team.
On their team, Uh, how can you not win Stanley
Cups with Maulkin and and and Crosby in their primes.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
And honestly, like, I think the Rangers are more than
a coach away from being good. Yeah, their rosters the mass.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Yeah, they've relied on Schasterken for so long. And when
Shasterkin finally came back down to reality after he signed
that contract, Uh, they got work to do.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Peggy Iggy, it's their friend, Stan Fisher would call him.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
We gotta get Stan. In the off season, because that
man had me laughing. I was dying just he he
went like hard at the Rangers. When Stan is mad,
he's at his greatest, like that time with Gary Bettman
(35:57):
asking him about Nashville.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah, hopefully future Hall of Famers stand Fisher, hopefully.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
I we should start that campaign this summer. Maybe I
should be annoying about it. Anyway, we should start sending letters.
All right, all right, we gotta go, but I will
last second plug. Thank you, Ted, Drink and Kruger. We'll
make winning memories together. One cored a time. Go to
pucksopitchforks dot com. Until next time, Let's go Devils
Happy Devils Wednesday. This is the State of the Fan Address,
Episode three hundred. Did you hear that? Nick? It's episode
three hundred. Bet you didn't know that before. The podcast
streaming live on Facebook Live, YouTube Live x live Man
(00:39):
which Seawan the Let's Go Devil's Network coming to your
live live front the Pine Time Radio studios inside the Bunker,
North and South Jersey talking Devil's Hockey as the playoffs continue.
There is no offseason with us Nick and put Fucks
and pitchforks dot Com.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
No, absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
No.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I took two days off and I felt like I
was off for a month because I I don't take
much time off from this. We just keep keep going,
keep going, and and we're back at it. We're full force, uh,
full steam ahead, you know we. I had an article
go up just a few minutes ago by Jenny Streeter
(01:24):
talking about three players that are not going to that
shouldn't be on the team next year. Three players the
Devil should do everything they can to kind of hit
the bricks.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Kid. I didn't read the article, but I'm gonna guess
which three fashion lazare.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You can't can't give away It's in an article, but
I think you're over too. Okay, I wrote, I wrote
about the guys who will definitely not be there, and
I don't think those ours on that list. I think
there's a if the injury that he dealt with means
that there's an outside chance that he's back.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Okay, all right, Well there's the teaser, there's the cliffhanger.
Go to pucksinpitchfords dot com.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
But yeah, these are guys under contract for next year.
That should be Gonzo. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Well, I have a lot of opinions right now watching
the playoffs, wondering what the Devils are gonna do in
the offseason to kind of improve their team. We learned
a lot during the Carolina series.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, that article is up on Pucks and pitchforks dot com.
Three things we learned from that Carolina beat down?
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yeah, well, I said something couple I think a couple
times on the podcast, and I think the Devils this
is what they lack, except for the exception of Timo Meyer,
who became you know when there the attention came on
(03:17):
him during the playoffs, crashing the net, going hard to
the net, making the goaltender pay in case some invern
contact and one team that does that. Well, are the
Florida Panthers sure about that? Well? It's effective, it always works,
(03:45):
It always can turn the series around when you need to.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Well, that game is currently two two and the Panthers
are down one on in the series. So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
But the Panthers, Stanley Cup and one other team hasn't
done it. It's as sixty seven.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I get it. But we're talking about right now. What
have you done for me lately? Sam?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Come on, Nick, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?
Crashing the net and disturbing the goaltender? Is? It is
so basic? The Devils are just too nice. That's the
problem that they had against the Carolina Argons, who, by
the way, beat the Washington Capitals, coming back to one
(04:40):
to beat them. And you know, I like the Florida
Panthers model. I don't know if the Devils have the
personnel to replicate it, but if you're going into the
offseason the bottom six, they need players that can cause chaos,
(05:02):
can change the tide of the game, the narrative just
by being a little nasty. And I think that's what
the Devils need right now. They're just too nice. They've
got a lot of the you know, they've got Jack Cues,
They've got Nico Heisher, They've got quite a nice you know,
(05:23):
the blue line. You know, despite the injuries, goaltending is
not an issue for at least next year, I don't think.
But I just like to see some snarkiness, snarl Brad
mar Shant type players come on to the New Jersey
(05:47):
Devils because again against the Carolina Hurricanes, you know, they
they crashed into march them no problem.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I mean we literally knocked their goalie out of the series.
Like I don't like, you know what I mean, Like
I don't know to tell you you know what I mean?
Like Timo Meyer is that guy? I do think they
could use another one, another one like you said on
the bottom six, Like who plays like Timo Meyer? Who
could score goals by crashing the net. And they I
(06:24):
think they thought Stephan Nason was gonna be that guy.
But Steven Nason's more of a weight for his opportunities guy,
not a crash the net guy. Like he's gonna be
a net front presence and then bank it, you know,
either tipping a goal or get a rebound in for
a goal. But he's not going to crash the net
(06:44):
like Meyer does. I just don't think the Panthers. I
think the Panthers model is when you chase and fail,
and I almost see the Devils did part of that
this year, right, because like, if you think about the
Devil's as the first half, they look like the Flota
Panthers for part of it. They were hitting people, they
(07:07):
were knocking people out, were suppressing shots, they were smothering teams.
I think the problem with that same is you get
hurt playing that way, and I don't think the Devils
have the right strength and conditioning to do that. Like,
I just don't what does.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
That mean, the right strength and condition You're saying that
we need new trainers.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I'm not saying we need new trainers. I just think
you need if I mean, you lose a lot of
speed when you play that way, or straight line speed.
There's some speed in the peripherals, but you lose a
lot of straight line speed, and the Devils need straight
line speed. I there's a lot of things that I
(07:51):
noticed this year that I just don't have enough information
to put into an article. But it's something that I'm
really like, I'm curious about. You know, there's a lot
of like these really like tactical things about the season
that that I just noticed. For one, Luke Hues didn't
(08:15):
have the the he he He had a lot of
twenty mile per hour bursts, but not a lot of
twenty two and twenty three mile per hour bursts, which
tells me and I think that has to do with
the off you know, the the shoulder injury that probably
lingered all season, and also the Sheldon keif system. I
think those two things kind of changed how he played.
(08:38):
But like you didn't see the coast to coast that
that Luke Ues did multiple times in the Lindy Ross season,
and even under Travis Screen for those couple of months,
Dougie Hamilton's shot is lesser. It's still probably one of
the top in the top fifteen percent of the league,
which is in the top five percent of league. Like
there's a big difference there. I think when when you're
(09:00):
looking at what went wrong for the Devils this year,
you know, it's just.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Like I think, I sorry, Nick, I respects, I've heard enough.
Finished my sentence, Okay, finish your sentence.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I I think the guys, for one, I think Fitzgerald
swung I missed on a lot of the types of
guys he was getting. The philosophy was right, the the
execution was wrong. I think you needed one of Paul
Cotter or Stephan Mason. I think you needed I don't
think you could have gone on into the season with Jackies,
(09:45):
nikoa Hesher, Eric Halla and Curtis as Is your center.
It's like that just that just wasn't It wasn't the
right philosophy, right, You needed another center. You need and
I agree, like you do need a guy who's going
to crash the net from the center position, a guy
who's gonna jump up into the play, and and like
Dawston Mercer, he's just not there, like this is not
(10:08):
what he is. He also said in his post game
that he or in his postseason press conversely, doesn't want
to play center, which is bizarre to me, Like you
would think that you would want to play center, but
say doesn't want He said he'd rather play wing. I think,
like your priority, like the weird thing, the priorities. They
need a center, they a center, And the problem is
(10:31):
like the guys that would be perfect for this are
going to be impossibly expensive, Like Ryan O'Reilly would have
been great but they're asking for a psychotic amount for
Ryan O'Reilly over in Nashville, you know, and and uh,
I'm trying to like I gotta like really dive in.
But there's there's a couple of guys like listen, like, uh,
(10:54):
you know, the least have Max Domi. I think that's
a guy that's like interesting. I know Max Domi is
like a very hit or misplay, but he's the type
of player that like scores clutch goals and that's kind
of like what you need. And I think he'd be
like a really good guy in the third line, you know,
like that kind of center who's just gonna and like
Max Stummy's kind of small, but he plays big. I
(11:15):
think that's the kind of guy that you're looking for, saying,
And I think like that that works. So as you
get one of them, you don't want to over you know,
over indulge on them just because you do need more
skill in this lineup. Yeah. Yeah, when when you realize
that Alex Holtz failed and you moved on from him,
(11:36):
and you know, you you spent your offseason prioritizing guys
like hotter guy like Stephen Nason's one of the slowest
players in the league. I don't know if you know that,
Like he is one of the slowest players in the league.
So it just it doesn't mesh well with some of
(11:57):
what the Devils are trying to do. And then you
also have like a lot so like you at times
you would pull out on Jack Hughes's line and Nason
on Niko Heisha's line, and they're both slowing those lines down.
And I think you need to bring speed up to
the top six. And I know I want. I did
write about tempering expectations for our Sinny Kritzik, who signed
(12:19):
with the Devil's officially this week. But he's a guy
who's skating can match Hughes or Hesher on those top
six lines. Whether that is enough in the North American
game to keep him in the top six, I'm not sure.
He's twenty four years old. This isn't like a typical
prospect we're talking about. This is a guy who who
(12:40):
has professional experience and has been doing this at a
high level. But I do think you need one more
speedy winger just to kind of you don't want to
go too small with it. But like I've always liked ethnicu.
I think he's on Chicago. He's kind of played his
(13:01):
way out of the NHL, though, But somebody like that time,
like a six foot three guy who's got blazing speed.
You know, maybe they trade for riccard Racal, who I
think is a really good fit for this team. But again,
the again, we're looking at these guys who like really
really fit the Devils, and they're just like incredibly expensive.
(13:22):
And the guys that you would have wanted, you would
have targeted those teams are like, you know, you wanted
some of the guys maybe on the Ducks, but the
Ducks say they want to be a playoff team next year,
so they're not gonna be trading guys or selling guys.
Obviously you wanted Brady Kachuk, but the Senders think that
they're on the up, so they're not trading Brady Kachuck.
(13:45):
You know, I'm trying to think of like some of
the other guys, Like there's some guys in the Blues,
like Jordan Kiro would have been fantastic for this team.
But the Blues made the playoffs and and that had
one of the most exciting games we've ever seen in
Game seven of the first round. So they're not trading
any other players away. They're not selling. You know, you're
looking at all these opportunities and Sam correct me if
(14:08):
I'm wrong, But am I looking at like the least
amount of sellers we've had in a long time in
this league?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
At Chicago?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Has nothing you want? Like I was looking at Chicago's
roster yesterday, I want nothing on that team.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
All right, let's back up here, because I want to
go back to why I disagree with you. You're talking
about you were talking about Luke U's going twenty miles
per hour versus twenty two to twenty four miles per hour.
What was the a something speed or whatever you're talking about,
(14:47):
the straight straight line, Yeah, straight line. Look, I'm all
about pushing the tempo, but that will fail in the
playoffs because it would not be the team would not
be he built for the playoffs because teams will clutch
grab you can get away with a lot more physicality.
You can slow that down immediately and it'll be ineffective.
(15:11):
And I think that's part of the reason why the
Devils were ineffective, because they couldn't they couldn't get their
speed on because they're worn out by the third period.
And we even saw that against Carolina in the double
overtime that just they got out shot.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I understand, but they didn't get outside in the third period.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
They blew as the game. As the game went along,
Carolina just dominated, absolutely donated. They couldn't even.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
You're playing with every guy was hurt on that team.
Pretty much.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Excuses I'm just saying. I'm just saying the team needs
to bulk up even more. But on the bottom, Sid agree.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
The problem is these shoulder injuries are gonna cause you
to where you can't poke up like your bulking season
is now much shorter. Right if Jack Hughes is rehabbing
until training camp.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Wait, who has shoulder injuries? It's just the Huge Brothers.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Right, No, it's the Huge Brothers. It's Peshi, it's Nemetz
is still doing he didn't go to World because he's
still dealing with his shoulder injury.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
It's I wasn't paying attention to the exit interviews with
with all the injuries and surgeries or whatever. So forgive
me for that.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But you know there's quite a few shoulder injuries.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Then we again that we have to ask the reason
why or.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Shoulder surgery. So it's five guys dealing shoulder injuries and
probably more. San Terry Hataka had had the shoulder injury
and was most of the season, and now he's not
even in your system. He left, he went, he went
to play overseas, which is the sane to me.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
But Jackus shoulder injury, I mean, was that a freak
accident you think with jack or or was it wearing
terror or a little bit of both.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
But I think Luke's is wearing tear. I think that
Luke got hurt in the offseason, rested for as long
as he could, he came back, and he was hurt
the whole year. I think the same thing goes for
Simon Nemetz. I think Pattis was wearing tear. He said
he hurted in Game one. But and then you have Bratt,
who I think was wearing tear. I think they're just
(17:42):
you know, you're and Bratt, Like, here's the thing about
brad Is. Brad had eighty hits this year. He was
the only player in the league with eighty hits and
eighty points. So he's hitting people and he got a
shoulder injury, you know, so you're I agree the Devils
had to add the right type of physical physicality in
(18:03):
the offensive zone. But you don't want to like like
a lot of guys that go out and get Ryan
Raves and like that's not the right move for this team,
you know, or they'll go out and get like you know,
are you gonna pay nine million dollars to get Brad
Marshan at his age? Like that's a mistake. You know.
Are you gonna go out and spend nine million dollars
(18:24):
in Sam Bennett? Again, I think that's a mistake. I
like Sam Beneant' is a player, but he's not a
nine million dollar player, you know. And and he's plays
the type of game that's gonna get you hurt him hurt,
like you know what I mean. Like he I think,
you know, he plays a little bit of a an
on the edge game. I think it's I don't think
he's as dirty as people say he is. I think
(18:46):
that's just like the Florida Panthers of it all, right,
Like they just think everybody kind of plays that way.
But I do think he plays the type of physical
game that's gonna break him down and somebody's gonna give
him like a sixty million dollar cont I just don't.
I want no part of that. So this is an
interesting offseason because a lot of people have a lot
(19:07):
of money, but like Mitch Marner is available, Sam Bennett's
gonna get a lot of money. There's a couple of
guys out there that are going to break the bank.
And then you also have to remember that now every
GM saying I'm kind of interested in in in offer sheets,
(19:28):
so you know, people are gonna be saving their money
for those as well, you know. So I think that
there's an opportunity here for the Devils to kind of
swoop in and get some of those like guys in
the middle, you know where where in some years, a
guy like what's his name, Tyler Bertuzzi is breaking the
bank with Chicago. I think the Devils could sneak in
(19:50):
and get him for a little bit cheaper than what
he would have you know, he's under contract in Chicago,
but a guy like him, I haven't jumped into the
free agency pool yet. I gotta do that, but I
I that's where I want to be. I want to
be in the middle, and I think that that will
(20:11):
have to make some moves just to get there. Because
Luke U's his contract is up, So I think he's
gonna get a big contract of at least eight million
dollars a year. You're gonna be left with like nine
to ten million dollars to spend on your entire bottom
six on a backup goalie. Even if it's dogs that
take some million dollars away from it. There's a lot.
There's a lot that the those have to do this offseason.
(20:32):
I think you gotta move a guy like a plot
or you definitely. I mean, I think they're buying out haula.
I think they're just gonna cut their losses there because
I don't think anybody's gonna trade for him. And honestly,
I think you might go back to Finland, Like I just,
I just he was so bad this year. I don't know.
We might get a PTO right, like somebody might give
him like a you know, the Kevin Lebank treatment. I
(20:58):
am curious. I was about this the other day. Do
you think Kevin Lebonc could have just continued playing as
well as he did in the preseason in the Devil's system?
Like do you think there was a system maadic part
of that to it? Because he didn't play that well
in Columbus.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
I I think it was a nice story.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
I felt like he was like the Tommy DeVito. You know,
it was a very nice story that he was ripping
it up or Jeremy Lynn. You know, but that's just
preseason got the bag. But uh, it was just preseason
and it was a nice story.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah, yeah, I don't disagree. I do think he would
have done better than some of the fourth line players
we had, but you know, probably doesn't move the needle much.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
I think he would have done better with the Devils
than Columbus. I mean, Columbus is Columbus, you know, and
and you know again he went for a better deal
for himself and you know, it is what it is.
But you know, getting back to Sam Bennett, I mean,
(22:13):
the reason why he's going to command that kind of money,
Nick is those players are hard to find. They're very
hard to find.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
They don't last usually.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I don't care about last. I'm caring about now, you know,
and look look up a lot. What do we do
with him? You can buy him out. Eventually, you can
trade him, you know, if it doesn't work out. But
so far, yeah, so far, Jack Hughes isn't lasting the
(22:47):
entire season. You know same with Luke Hughes this year.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Well, I mean Luke qu'es is that's like a one
time thing and he did last most of the season.
He just missed the first month.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
He was conditioning and he got hurt. To me, that's
a red flag. How do you how do you how
do you get hurt lifting weights?
Speaker 2 (23:11):
There's the we don't have the entire story there, so
I think that that one's a uh, what.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Wasn't that like he was training, but we don't know
how he got hurt. Did he fall, did he run
into something? Did he was he lifting and like his
shoulder failed, Like there's a lot of different ways you
could get hurt during.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Oh, I thought he was lifting weights and he got
and he got hurt.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Did that come out? I don't. I don't remember seeing that,
so I'll take your word for it, but I don't
remember that.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
That's that's what I remember hearing.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And if that's the case, yeah, that is a little concerning.
But I'm concerned about the surgeries because they're not gonna
like I just don't think you're gonna be able to
bulk and Jack Hughes, especially the bulk Luke Hues is
a bigger guy than Jackues. He six to one I think,
so he's just like built bigger, but he's still slender
(24:03):
compared to Brenda Dylan, you know what I mean. So,
I uh, that's where I think. That's where I'm at
with this team. I just think that they're I agree
with you, they need that piece. I don't know who
it is yet because I haven't I haven't jumped in.
(24:23):
It's unfortunate that they haven't drafted a guy like that.
They've been so focused on defense for the past four
years in a draft that you don't have a guy
like that that you've drafted right, that you've developed. I
thought Herman Draft could be that guy, and then they
traded him for Brian Dumelin.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
So there's a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
There's a lot to do. That to do list is long, Sam.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Oh, it is long again. I'll say it again. You
had Logan Cooley right there. I think he would have
been a great right, yeah, you know, but that's.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Never pretty small. That doesn't help what you're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Yeah, but it helps think what the third center. I mean,
he's a mini Jacks, you know.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
But right again, they'd be much better off right now
with Logan Cooley than Nevitts. But Nevits look good. But
I don't want to take anything away from it.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
He looked really No, it's not to take it away
from him. It's just you know, at the time period,
you knew he had Casey, you know, and.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I just Luke. That was the thing is Luke kues.
He was clearly a very good player.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
But I think the bottom six was small. That's I
think that's what it boils down to, Like for let's
not bring the Tutars back, the Lizars and and even
bashing he was too slow, you know, Cotter he could stay.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
But yeah, I like Cotter. I think Cotter is a
really good piece.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
I just think he was getting used to a.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Lot of things. He's he's not He's never going to
be a consistent car. Whatud he end up with? He
with like sixteen goals this year.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Something like that. I think long term, if they can
sign Cody Glass, I think that would be that would
be helpful. I wouldn't mind having Cody Glass start, you know,
be on the fourth line next season.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
But I think you got what's that. I think they
take a pay cut. Pay cut two point three or
two point six something like that. I would give a
three year deal at like two mm hmm. But if not,
(26:41):
if not, I think you gotta like you're I mean,
he's a restricted free agent. Do they have control? And
I do want him back. I think a full season
in the system, I think he'd be more consistent. But yeah,
go ahead, I kind of cut you off to where
you're making your point.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah again in an ideal world, because I haven't looked
at the salary cap, you know whatever. But I think
Cody Glass would be excellent on the fourth line as
a fourth line center. And if you can bring in
somebody on the second line and move you could play
around with the third line. But they need more scoring
(27:20):
from the bottom six, and they and and you're not
gonna wear down teams with small guys. You know, you
gotta roll all four lines, you know, defensively, I love
I love what they did. But Dylan's hurt, Covid Savage
is hurt. They're they're locked to multi year deals. You
(27:45):
know what happens there. You know that's a concern. Uh,
Pesci's locked long term. Same with Dougie Hamilton. Don't mind that.
Luke Hughes, look the whole Quinn Hughes buzz. If you're
gonna get Quinn, you better lock down Luke now. You
(28:07):
should lock down lou now, because if he really wants
to play with his brothers, you would have Jack and
Luke for at least what five for five five years?
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Five more years? Yeah, And.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I don't even know what to make of that whole
bank who you know. The Rutherford thing, I think he's
trying to put more pressure off of himself and putting
him more on Tom Fitzgerald to do something.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Probably, I think I think part of it is he's
trying to warn his fan base like this, this might happen.
You know, I'm kind of like losing. But he also
came out and said like nothing would happen until next year.
But they say these things. I also, I'm not convinced
(28:56):
I wrote about this him. I'm not convinced the Devil's
would be the only team in on him. I think
Detroit would trade for Quinn Hughes thinking they can resign them.
I think Toronto would trade for Quinn Hughes thinking they
can resign them. You gotta remember, like Jim Hughes worked
for Toronto for like ten years, but during some of
Quinn Hughes's formidable years, so he probably spent a lot
(29:17):
of time in Toronto rooted for Toronto, probably because you know,
Dad works for that team. I'm rooting for the team
that dead works for. And I think Vegas is always
just a team that can somehow convince players to resign.
You know, you remember Noah Hannafan. They made the big
trade for Noah Hannafane's Well he's gonna resign it, He's
(29:38):
gonna sign in Tampa. He wants to go to Tampa.
Well would you make that move? He sends for eight
years in Vegas for not like a crazy number. So
I just think the Devils can't go into this too confident.
I think you have to go into the Quinn Hughes
things with a little bit of fear, little bit of
(30:00):
fear that you could drop the ball on this.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Did you read on that?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
I did.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
I liked I really liked his article.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yeah, I mean it made a lot of sense. The
trade was all, but I think it was one piece
too many from what I remember. And I think people
are failing to put like there's gonna be like another
NHL player in there, whether it's a lot, whether it's
Hamilton beyond like, but again, like if I told you
that they traded a first, a twenty twenty six first
Dawston Mercer and someone Nemits for Quid Hughes tomorrow, would
(30:33):
you be upset?
Speaker 1 (30:36):
No?
Speaker 2 (30:38):
I don't think I would be either. I would be like, dang,
that's a lot. But like, this is a this is
a Norris caliber defenseman. Every year you're getting two extra
years of him. You know that costs Like all these
people saying we'll just wait till he gets a free agency. Hey,
I just laid out a couple of teams that could
beat you there and then he never gets the free agency.
(30:59):
But even if it's a guarantee that he's get into
free agency, that means you're going two more years, two
more prime Nicohastie years, two more prime Jack Hughes. Here's
two more prime, Timo Myers, two more prime just for
brat years without this guy on the roster who would
elevate you to a championship level team. So you know,
(31:22):
and I do need to think they you know, it
gets complicated because you have to edit forward. But if
you give them Dougie Hamilton back, you know, it's kind
of a wash, right. It would be hard to lose
Hamilton and Nemets because what used to be a strength
(31:42):
on the right side is now kind of all of
a sudden the weakness because you're gonna be without COVID
seven debout the year. Seamus Casey doesn't really seem like
he was ready to be a full time NHL or
And like you said, Brett Pasch is dealing with injuries.
So you know there's a risk there, but it's not
(32:03):
a risk not worth taking, right, But I think that's it, Tame.
I think we we we do a quick one for
three hundred and and.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
It was definitely not a quick one. They went by fast.
It's definitely not a quick one. We're over the thirty
minute mark, just so you're aware.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Okay, great, Yeah, I'm ready for bucks.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Yeah, why don't you plug ahead?
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I got an article from Jersey Joe it's going to
be coming out within the hour talking about Quinn Hughes
talking about our Sidney Grid six. So take a look.
That's going to be up before ten o'clock. I have
an article that came out yesterday that talked about what
went wrong with the or the lessons learned and the
(32:55):
Devil's are no last night's was I regrated Tom fit
Gerald's twenty twenty four off season. I gave new grades
the signings like Tomas Star or trades are Johnnykovi Savitch.
So go check that out. We have the Quinn Hughes
article that I just talked about. We have the the
what you know what the Devil's learned from the Carolina
(33:17):
series that I talked about Vinnie Breezy as an article out. Uh,
you know, the guys are rolling, we're hitting, We're hitting
the gas. We're gonna be going full steam ahead. It's
gonna be great.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Well, I have nothing to plug. I'm in my off
season mode, all right, total, just doing nothing, lazy. Yeah,
you know what, it is a long season when you
do this, Nick and you you should know, it's a
long season. And even though the season kind of fell
short of where we wanted to be. I wanted to
(33:57):
be in the third round this year.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Yeah, of this season.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Reflecting back, and this is my last point, I think
the Devil's made progress forward. What makes it hard is
not knowing what the future is because of these injuries
that have happened and and surgeries and whatnot, and we
(34:26):
shall see. We shall see what the Devils do. But
one thing for certain, I do like Sheldon Kief a lot.
I really do.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
I think you have the right coach. That's the way
that came out that the Devils went after Mike Sullivan.
I realize Mike Sullivan hasn't won a rounds it's like
twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
I think he's overrated.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
To be honest, I think he's a good coach. But
like I like Sheldon Kief too, So I mean I
think we're good shape.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
This is where where this is me trolling and trash
talking Ranger fans now that Mike Sullivan's on the team.
On their team, Uh, how can you not win Stanley
Cups with Maulkin and and and Crosby in their primes.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
And honestly, like, I think the Rangers are more than
a coach away from being good. Yeah, their rosters the mass.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Yeah, they've relied on Schasterken for so long. And when
Shasterkin finally came back down to reality after he signed
that contract, Uh, they got work to do.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Peggy Iggy, it's their friend, Stan Fisher would call him.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
We gotta get Stan. In the off season, because that
man had me laughing. I was dying just he he
went like hard at the Rangers. When Stan is mad,
he's at his greatest, like that time with Gary Bettman
(35:57):
asking him about Nashville.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah, hopefully future Hall of Famers stand Fisher, hopefully.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
I we should start that campaign this summer. Maybe I
should be annoying about it. Anyway, we should start sending letters.
All right, all right, we gotta go, but I will
last second plug. Thank you, Ted, Drink and Kruger. We'll
make winning memories together. One cored a time. Go to
pucksopitchforks dot com. Until next time, Let's go Devils
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