De la section Devils (ils sont classés 2ème derrière Chicago pour la plus grande amélioration) :
« Les Devils semblent de nouveau être un bon pari pour les séries éliminatoires et c’est principalement grâce à l’ajout d’un gardien. Jacob Markstrom est considéré comme un titulaire moyen et c’est une sacrée amélioration pour cette équipe en particulier. La différence entre Markstrom et Jake Allen par rapport à Allen et Kaapo Kahkonen est énorme. »
L’ajout de Brett Pesce et de Brenden Dillon à la ligne bleue devrait contribuer à renforcer cette position. Ce duo représente une belle amélioration défensive par rapport à John Marino et Kevin Bahl; tous deux devraient bien s’associer aux futurs défenseurs étoiles des Devils tout en facilitant la vie des gardiens de but de l’équipe.
En attaque, les changements de New Jersey se sont surtout faits dans les six derniers. Le trio composé de Stefan Noesen, Tomas Tatar et Paul Cotter devrait au moins apporter un peu plus de substance que les gars qu’ils remplacent.
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xxfatpigxx
8 Comments
[https://archive.ph/qIjDO](https://archive.ph/qIjDO)
For the boys
After reading, it seems weird for the writer to call Markstrom an « average goalie », but everything else that was said we definitely knew. Only spending 11 million and being #2 is a win in itself. Thanks, Fitz. All we need now is good health.
Hard to argue with this when we’ve clearly addressed our two biggest needs that completely sunk our season last year. It does suck how much money we had to spend on the UFA defenseman, but totally understand why and how it was spent.
We’re still in a very good cap situation long term if you look at the year-by-year on PuckPedia (RIP CapFriendly). I just hope we can still afford a potential top 6 forward at the deadline if the right one comes available.
I refuse to get high on our own supply like last summer. We have seen what a season of worst case scenarios can turn into. I don’t believe the devils will be that unlucky to have that happen two years in a row but you never know. That being said with the additions considered you would think that the goals against go down considerably. Offence will also go up if everyone stays healthy but it can remain where it’s at and it’s still a playoff teams level of offence.
It was the difference between making and missing last year. Devils just couldn’t keep bad games close enough to get any points out of them while a team like the isles were constantly falling ass backwards into points because they were keeping games close (even if a lot of it was losing leads and going to overtime). Last year devils needed to be on their game to have a chance to win. If they were off, the goalies were letting in a goal within ten minutes and chasing the whole game. I remember they played Washington early in the year and went down 3-0. They had a killer 2nd period and went up 4-3 after 2 periods. They ended up losing 6-4. A team with 2 average starters and 3 complete pairs doesn’t do that, and that should be the difference this season. So even if they aren’t much better than last year and guys still struggle they should be able to at least hang on to be a playoff team. But if guys like Mercer and sieg bounce back and Hamilton comes back in form they should be safely in a divisional playoff spot.
Devils have the pieces in place. Now we just need to do the work. I know last season was a cluster fuck of bad luck when it comes to injuries. But we had many games where the guys who did suit up looked like they were asleep out there.
Last year the hype was high and I think a lot of the team just expected everything to go well. This year I really hope to see everyone putting in the work. I want to see Jack step up and be the leader he should be. Put the ego aside until you’ve actually done something. I can’t wait to see Luke and Simon and their growth. Especially now that we have some more size on the defense.
And ofc I can’t wait to see Markstrom and what he can do with this team in front of him. I know we’re hungry to win. But it isn’t just going to be handed to us. Hopefully this year we can stay healthy and put in the work to live up to what this team can be!
I still believe our biggest off season move was getting an actual head coach.
Now put it together on the ice lol
Okay, but if it doesn’t scold the Devils for not kowtowing to the demands of the dumbest Rangers fans in the name of parity, is it even a New York Times article?
First time the Athletic gave the Devils any credit