Speaking of that, i feel bad for Boqvist. Its apparent hes still not ready, and keeps getting put in not so great positions to succeed. I wanted them to just keep him down in Bingo because he was playing really well in a top 6 role with PP time. Then they yank him back up for some reason to play on a 4th line. I hate the how they're handling this kid
- vlongo4419

Agreed. We are the youngest team in the NHL and certainly do not need to rush the youngsters.
Like you said, some guys Id rather see play top 6 minutes than 4th line up here.

Tyce Thompson is the new guy on the block. Where is Nolan Foote???

At what point does one player become more important than the team? Im sure the statistics would also confirm him in the lineup gave Devils a better chance to lose. For all we know, he might have also been poop during practice. And if you cant hack it in practice, then benching is the solution.
- Leniwm1

You’re not wrong. I can’t really defend it besides hoping he turns it around for the team now and as an asset moving forward. I shouldn’t have the thinking of “well we weren’t going to win anyway so play Gusev regardless” cuz you want the rest of the team to win.. it’s a good habit to get in during development. Just look at the sabres.

You’re not wrong. I can’t really defend it besides hoping he turns it around for the team now and as an asset moving forward. I shouldn’t have the thinking of “well we weren’t going to win anyway so play Gusev regardless” cuz you want the rest of the team to win.. it’s a good habit to get in during development. Just look at the sabres.
- MartysBetter88

Not sure if you listen to Kevin Bieska on NHL network. He said the same thing about Sabres. He said its poison to a young team that constantly loses and throughout all of the losing the kids are developing bad habits. Not sure how Sabres crawl out of this.

The devils have such amazing young talent. We cant (frank) this up. All the kids are playing amazing. I forgot who was Fitz and who was Shero. But I can't remember a time where the youngns carried this team.

Even with the losses, it seems the kids are still playing great regardless.

I think Ruff was such a great choice for the team we currently have.

Not sure if you listen to Kevin Bieska on NHL network. He said the same thing about Sabres. He said its poison to a young team that constantly loses and throughout all of the losing the kids are developing bad habits. Not sure how Sabres crawl out of this.

The devils have such amazing young talent. We cant (frank) this up. All the kids are playing amazing. I forgot who was Fitz and who was Shero. But I can't remember a time where the youngns carried this team.

Even with the losses, it seems the kids are still playing great regardless.

I think Ruff was such a great choice for the team we currently have.
- Leniwm1

I admit he’s not as bad as I thought he’d be. I’m not sold on how amazing our kids are. They could pan out. To me I feel like we have a B level pool. Hope they mature at least into b level players, with a few A and a few C.

Interesting Stephenson on VGK got suspended 3 games for elbowing and McJesus got a fine. Honestly the McJesus hit was worse IMO.

Interesting Stephenson on VGK got suspended 3 games for elbowing and McJesus got a fine. Honestly the McJesus hit was worse IMO.

So if gusev is claimed, and the devil's trade palmieri without taking a contract back, how close would the devil's be to the floor? Has to be pretty close I think

Yes we have subban, zajac and a couple others but most are on low cap hits

Interesting Stephenson on VGK got suspended 3 games for elbowing and McJesus got a fine. Honestly the McJesus hit was worse IMO.
- Queenie_5_hole

Superstars don't get suspended

2017 7th round pick D Matt Hellickson is headed to Binghamton for the rest of the season

So if gusev is claimed, and the devil's trade palmieri without taking a contract back, how close would the devil's be to the floor? Has to be pretty close I think

Yes we have subban, zajac and a couple others but most are on low cap hits
- dmarsden2988

I think there is some cap (frank)ery that can happen with Gusev that would be valuable to a playoff team because of the way the taxi squad rules work.

10 more days

Superstars don't get suspended
- dmarsden2988

Funny, I thought the same thing... But that can't be true since the league cares so much about player safety. Isn't that right? Just as Brad Marchand and Tom Wilson...

So if gusev is claimed, and the devil's trade palmieri without taking a contract back, how close would the devil's be to the floor? Has to be pretty close I think

Yes we have subban, zajac and a couple others but most are on low cap hits
- dmarsden2988

Per Capfriendly.com we are around $73M in salary and the floor is $60M. So it's not really close. So Goose's $4.5M isn't going to really change anything if he's claimed except give us more cap space.

Meanwhile Tampa Bay is rocking $98.5+M in salary with almost $18M in LTIR not counting against the cap.

The whole cap thing has become a con game...

Gusev has skills..He is a playmaker with a very good shot....

This season has been strange to say the leas. Long layoff for NJD .Hardly any camp. Covid stoppages. skill players get a pass. Lets hope he clears wavers ,goes to TAXI squad and finds his game..He has skill.

Gusev clears as expected

Gusev clears as expected
- vlongo4419

And Detroit puts Evgeny Svechnikov on wavers... 3 goals in 10 NHL games this year (plus two assists). Former 1st round pick and RW. That's 50% more goals then Taylor Hall in 26 fewer games!

And Detroit puts Evgeny Svechnikov on wavers... 3 goals in 10 NHL games this year (plus two assists). Former 1st round pick and RW. That's 50% more goals then Taylor Hall in 26 fewer games!
- Queenie_5_hole

I know he's been struggling but Evgeny was a pretty highly touted prospect. Wonder what's going on there and if it's worth giving him a shot.

I know he's been struggling but Evgeny was a pretty highly touted prospect. Wonder what's going on there and if it's worth giving him a shot.
- Pomegrant

At the cost of a minimum $ contract, why not?

At the cost of a minimum $ contract, why not?
- redmonsters

He’s making under $875,000. Seems like an inexpensive gamble. Kid has decent size and fits in age wise too.

In what world is Gusev a goal scoring winger?
- Feds91Stammer

Second half of last season he was over 1ppg, and was a 2 time KHL player of the year. No clue what happened, but he was a "has-been" at the very least.

At the cost of a minimum $ contract, why not?
- redmonsters

Same reason we don't claim anyone it seems. Except Dell..... I honestly thought someone would take a stab at DeAngelo. 4th highest scoring D last season, and has a cheap buyout of 600k if you decide you don't want him after this season. I figured a Canadian team (jets) would have tolerated his dumb US political tweets, but I was wrong. If he could get his head on straight, he could have been a very valuable pickup at virtually no risk.

As for Gusev, I bet he still gets traded at 50% retained with some performance based draft picks in the mix. Ruff hated the kid, and he only played two games north of 16 minutes, so why not give Tyce a chance to see what he can do down the stretch instead.

Palms is gaining some steam. Safe to say we won't have the same haul as last trade deadline, but he could be climbing up to a 2nd rd pick. I see him and the Bruins being an ideal fit, especially because most his goals are against them.

Per Capfriendly.com we are around $73M in salary and the floor is $60M. So it's not really close. So Goose's $4.5M isn't going to really change anything if he's claimed except give us more cap space.

Meanwhile Tampa Bay is rocking $98.5+M in salary with almost $18M in LTIR not counting against the cap.

The whole cap thing has become a con game...
- Queenie_5_hole

Absolutely. Every cap strapped teams suddenly has their overpaid veterans on bad contracts "retiring". Steen, Boychuck, Seabrook....

I don't want to call any one specific player out as a fraud, but when Barzal was clearly not an affordable player to keep, that seemed too convenient. Plus most players doing this are on teams that were over the cap going into the season. What Dr. would disagree with any aged players health concerns? Not a single guy plays a 15+ year career and doesn't have some lingering injuries that could be used as a legitimate retirement reason.

How long before Price/Suter/Ericsson/Parise/Bobrovski/Weber....etc all start making the same claim. It allows you to keep that AAV low, and have them retire before the fans completely hate them. Big win for the players but you can't say it is not being abused to a small extent.

Absolutely. Every cap strapped teams suddenly has their overpaid veterans on bad contracts "retiring". Steen, Boychuck, Seabrook....

I don't want to call any one specific player out as a fraud, but when Barzal was clearly not an affordable player to keep, that seemed too convenient. Plus most players doing this are on teams that were over the cap going into the season. What Dr. would disagree with any aged players health concerns? Not a single guy plays a 15+ year career and doesn't have some lingering injuries that could be used as a legitimate retirement reason.

How long before Price/Suter/Ericsson/Parise/Bobrovski/Weber....etc all start making the same claim. It allows you to keep that AAV low, and have them retire before the fans completely hate them. Big win for the players but you can't say it is not being abused to a small extent.
- bikeguy99

But not a violation of the spirit of the cap that offends Gary Bettman...

But not a violation of the spirit of the cap that offends Gary Bettman...
- Queenie_5_hole

Yup. Haha. I mean what Dr in the right mind would deny any of these veterans who addressed any concerns about the health risks of continually pushing their health/safety. I do think that the league may need to address this in some way. Maybe 25-50% of their cap hit remains on any player "retiring" on LTIR after the age of 35? I don't know what the answer is, but admit I am still very bitter about the punishment we received with the Kovi signing, meanwhile Luongo inked an identical deal that same month with not repercussions, and now every team is pulling this move.

At the end of the day, I remember looking up what our draft picks should have been, and the best asset we lost was the pick that resulted in Vrana, which sucks, but didn't really set us back much.

Same reason we don't claim anyone it seems. Except Dell..... I honestly thought someone would take a stab at DeAngelo. 4th highest scoring D last season, and has a cheap buyout of 600k if you decide you don't want him after this season. I figured a Canadian team (jets) would have tolerated his dumb US political tweets, but I was wrong. If he could get his head on straight, he could have been a very valuable pickup at virtually no risk.
- bikeguy99

Rangers signed him because they they could put up with him being a loud mouth and thought they could tone him down. Nothing you can do when the guy talks poop to his teammates and baits them into fights. Most of the time the "locker room cancer" stuff is poop fans and hack reporters talk about, but this guy is a real problem. Nobody wants to deal with this idiot.