I hate ESPN+. I am not paying them to watch my local team Eff ESPN!
- redmonsters

Yeah it's pretty annoying tbh. Atleast it's not Leah Hextall calling the game this time though

I was in NJ for Thanksgiving and had to watch the game on hulu+ in the local market which is (frank)ing stupid. Also, the streaming service is garbage. the commercials would run longer than the breaks and cut into play.

I don't really think Blackwood has been sharp this game but this defense is embarrassing. Lots of players deep on every play and nobody covering any passing lanes. What am I even watching.

Yeah it's pretty annoying tbh. Atleast it's not Leah Hextall calling the game this time though
- vlongo4419

I mentioned to my son who is away at college, he sent me a link to stream it for free. I asked him if it was legal, got the hands in the air emoji. Actually now sorry I watched....

I don't really think Blackwood has been sharp this game but this defense is embarrassing. Lots of players deep on every play and nobody covering any passing lanes. What am I even watching.
- Pomegrant

You are watching a young team that is poorly coached IMO....

Yeah it's pretty annoying tbh. Atleast it's not Leah Hextall calling the game this time though
- vlongo4419

I want to root for Leah to succeed but she’s hard to listen to.

His new contract is disgusting. Has done nothing to earn it.
- DRW1991

And he’s injury prone

And he’s injury prone
- shvingter88

He also kicks puppies and slaps old ladies.

I want to root for Leah to succeed but she’s hard to listen to.
- TurdFergeson

She sucks.

it's crazy how playing Hughes at center and having four balanced lines actually leads the team to playing well.

He also kicks puppies and slaps old ladies.
- smellmyfinger

I just knew it

This is all assuming they’re both 65-80pt centers, assuming Nico can consistently hover around 65 and Hughes around 80. Anything less than that and these deals handed out based on hope and expectation will look as silly as I feel they are now.
Hughes only recently started looking like an NHL level player and we give him 8x8 lol.. assuming he’ll continue to improve (which he should). Maybe this is a common thing in the league and I just never paid attention cuz the devils never had such young talent to sign.

Corey Masisak reporting the extension is 8x8. Absolute steal if thats true, going to age very well.
- vlongo4419

You think a guy being paid $8 million a year for 8 years who has played in 120 games and has 55 points and is a steal!?

That's a half million less a year than what Leon Draisaitl makes!

My God what would he had made if he was actually impressive!?

You think a guy being paid $8 million a year for 8 years who has played in 120 games and has 55 points and is a steal!?

That's a half million less than what Leon Draisaitl makes!

My God what would he had made if he was actually impressive!?
- stevens87

this is the exact thing that Chiarelli did in which he signed Draisaitl for a big contract before he was a great player. Right now 8.5 looks great for him, but at the time it was signed people question how he didn't get him signed for cheaper especially since he didn't use his lack of arbitration rights and RFA status to negotiate him down.

It's not a hard concept to figure out that the team is saying that they are willing to pay money for the play Hughes will become, not who he is right now. This is a market correction in which teams would just pay players based on their past performances rather than projections of who they will be. You can see all of these old vet contracts around the league in which older players who got paid more money than what they are worth because of past years of prime production.

Paying Hughes too much right now is so you don't have to pay him even more after the fact or being forced to just lose him to free agency. What if they have a bridge deal and Hughes becomes one of the best players in the league. Then they could easily be forced into play 9-10+ mil for a player for his prime years but also during the years in which decline will start. Why pay more for his best years when you could just front load the growing years and have a reasonable cap hit during his best seasons.

Basically, the old way of thinking paying people for what they have done is dumb. You should be paying players based on what they will achieve. Paying 3rd/4th liners ~4mil per season because they had a good post season once and the title of Stanley Cup Champion is dumb. Using players RFA status to force them to get paid less even though they are good players is dumb. Getting paid because you're a veteran and now you deserve your money is dumb.

This is a market correction in which teams are giving players money up front to cut out the messy process of RFA negotiations that often leave players wanting to move on from their teams. Maybe Hughes won't be worth the contract in the end, but literally all players might not be worth what they are signed for which is why the original criticism is bad in the first place.

The Devils model clearly shows that Hughes will be worth this contract in the future. He may or may not be by the end of it. You definitely don't have a model of anything except maybe a beer can pyramid.

this is the exact thing that Chiarelli did in which he signed Draisaitl for a big contract before he was a great player. Right now 8.5 looks great for him, but at the time it was signed people question how he didn't get him signed for cheaper especially since he didn't use his lack of arbitration rights and RFA status to negotiate him down.

It's not a hard concept to figure out that the team is saying that they are willing to pay money for the play Hughes will become, not who he is right now. This is a market correction in which teams would just pay players based on their past performances rather than projections of who they will be. You can see all of these old vet contracts around the league in which older players who got paid more money than what they are worth because of past years of prime production.

Paying Hughes too much right now is so you don't have to pay him even more after the fact or being forced to just lose him to free agency. What if they have a bridge deal and Hughes becomes one of the best players in the league. Then they could easily be forced into play 9-10+ mil for a player for his prime years but also during the years in which decline will start. Why pay more for his best years when you could just front load the growing years and have a reasonable cap hit during his best seasons.

Basically, the old way of thinking paying people for what they have done is dumb. You should be paying players based on what they will achieve. Paying 3rd/4th liners ~4mil per season because they had a good post season once and the title of Stanley Cup Champion is dumb. Using players RFA status to force them to get paid less even though they are good players is dumb. Getting paid because you're a veteran and now you deserve your money is dumb.

This is a market correction in which teams are giving players money up front to cut out the messy process of RFA negotiations that often leave players wanting to move on from their teams. Maybe Hughes won't be worth the contract in the end, but literally all players might not be worth what they are signed for which is why the original criticism is bad in the first place.

The Devils model clearly shows that Hughes will be worth this contract in the future. He may or may not be by the end of it. You definitely don't have a model of anything except maybe a beer can pyramid.
- Pomegrant

Leon was essentially a PPG player in his season he got his new contract. 77 in 82. I guess you can say the same thing about Hughes. 3pts in 2 games! Huge turn around.

You think a guy being paid $8 million a year for 8 years who has played in 120 games and has 55 points and is a steal!?

That's a half million less a year than what Leon Draisaitl makes!

My God what would he had made if he was actually impressive!?
- stevens87

The only thing i read here is that your peanut brain is too small to understand what buying on potential is, and this deal is trying to get ahead of the curve 2-3 years down the road.

If he gets a 2 or 3 year bridge and hits the potential that everybody is expecting him to hit, then hes asking for 9.5-10M. Theres a reason why the analytic community out there likes the deal. Honestly not hard to understand, but i guess you're too stupid to think of the big picture?

The only thing i read here is that your peanut brain is too small to understand what buying on potential is, and this deal is trying to get ahead of the curve 2-3 years down the road.

If he gets a 2 or 3 year bridge and hits the potential that everybody is expecting him to hit, then hes asking for 9.5-10M. Theres a reason why the analytic community out there likes the deal. Honestly not hard to understand, but i guess you're too stupid to think of the big picture?
- vlongo4419

Jeez, you think I’m too stupid too?

Devils are really doubling down on this “pay the kids before they’ve done anything” strategy??

20 goals in 120 games for Hughes, and they’re falling all over themselves to hand him $8M x 8 years. Why not wait a few months? Do you honestly think he’ll be worth significantly more than that at year’s end? Doubtful

I’d argue they could have saved a bunch of $$ by being more patient with Hughes and Hischier

Nico has 22 goals over the last THREE seasons, yet no lessons have been learned

The only thing i read here is that your peanut brain is too small to understand what buying on potential is, and this deal is trying to get ahead of the curve 2-3 years down the road.

If he gets a 2 or 3 year bridge and hits the potential that everybody is expecting him to hit, then hes asking for 9.5-10M. Theres a reason why the analytic community out there likes the deal. Honestly not hard to understand, but i guess you're too stupid to think of the big picture?
- vlongo4419

So he's get a three year deal at 5 million per, goes out and proves he's an elite player then you pay him 5 year deal at 10 million per year. The total cost of the two contracts? 65 million. Just one million more.

All you have right now is that you HOPE he becomes an elite player and hope is not a good strategy!

How's that Hishier contract looking so far?

Jeez, you think I’m too stupid too?
- MartysBetter88

Not at all, because you acknowledged he took a big step and should continue to improve. And you actually watch him play. The idiots are the people who barely watch him play and box score watch to make opinions, also known as results based analysis, which is incredibly dumb specifically in instances like this.

Pretty much everybody except the haters are expecting Hughes to be a PPG player, and the analytics back it up full force. Right now its an overpay but when he hits that in 2ish years, 8M is a good deal especially with the cap starting to go back up

Hey grandpas, nobody asked you for your opinions.

Devils are really doubling down on this “pay the kids before they’ve done anything” strategy??

20 goals in 120 games for Hughes, and they’re falling all over themselves to hand him $8M x 8 years. Why not wait a few months? Do you honestly think he’ll be worth significantly more than that at year’s end? Doubtful

I’d argue they could have saved a bunch of $$ by being more patient with Hughes and Hischier

Nico has 22 goals over the last THREE seasons, yet no lessons have been learned
- AxlRose91

The Devils' strategy is that they HOPE they turn into elite players.

So what would you guys think of giving Smith some time in the AHL to try to regain form? He's been brutal so far this year, and idk if it's worth it letting him try to play himself out of it when he is flat out costing this team points at times. He's playing with zero confidence and almost looks scared at times. I have no idea what the best option is for him honestly

Colton White deserves time over him at this point, and i'd even give Walsh a call up and give him a look.

The Devils' strategy is that they HOPE they turn into elite players.
- stevens87

yeah, that's how it works. you draft players and you hope for them to be good. you sign players to contracts hoping they're going to live up to them.

I know you're not working with a lot upstairs and this is the best you can do, but your strategy of hoping you'll say something intelligent just isn't working.

The Devils' strategy is that they HOPE they turn into elite players.
- stevens87

I like the penguins strategy better. Tank for good draft picks