Roger Mussa: Congrats to Tampa and former Devils

Coleman is a UFA end of next season, not this one...right? They should absolutely make a play for his services when the time comes. Happy to see him win one.

Coleman is a UFA end of next season, not this one...right? They should absolutely make a play for his services when the time comes. Happy to see him win one.
- ryant601

Yes, end of next season.

If the Devils are improved, I would absolutely be after him for sure!

Really nice write up until you mentioned Hayden and Rooney. Neither make a big difference on the ice. I think the closest guy we have to Coleman is Joey Anderson.

Also think the cup final again demonstrates you need some good size players on your team. Nathan Bastian should be given a shot on the 4th line with Joey.

But CONGRATS to PICKLES! He was a great Devil and a rare example of really successful home grown talent.

How smart does Pat Maroon look for not staying with NJ or St. Louis??? Probably as much luck as anything but still good for him!

Congratulations Pickles!! One of my favorite ex-Devils hopefully soon to be a Devil again. Getting Van 1st for him was a bitter sweet trade for many fans but a steal for the Devils.

Really nice write up until you mentioned Hayden and Rooney. Neither make a big difference on the ice. I think the closest guy we have to Coleman is Joey Anderson.

Also think the cup final again demonstrates you need some good size players on your team. Nathan Bastian should be given a shot on the 4th line with Joey.

But CONGRATS to PICKLES! He was a great Devil and a rare example of really successful home grown talent.

How smart does Pat Maroon look for not staying with NJ or St. Louis??? Probably as much luck as anything but still good for him!
- Queenie_5_hole

I think Merkley could be our next Coleman. I also think it is doubtful he comes back, as the end of next year a lot of the players will be young/new and not former teammates of his.

Loved seeing him score though, great player!

I think Merkley could be our next Coleman. I also think it is doubtful he comes back, as the end of next year a lot of the players will be young/new and not former teammates of his.

Loved seeing him score though, great player!
- ShoresideDevil

Good point on Merkley.

Blake is going to get tired of those beautiful beaches, the low tax rate, and bored by all that winning. He'll be back in Newark as soon as he realizes nobody has Pastrami like Hobby's Deli.... Why chase all those cups and endure the wear and tear of long playoff runs when you can come here and gamble on making the post season. Not to mention all the pin money he can make babysitting our roster of teenagers.

I could see Shattenkirk getting a look from Fitz...defensive liabilty I know but could improve power play chances for Nico and Jack...Plus Devils were interested in him a few times over the years!

I was going to say Anderson and Bastian but Queenie_5_hole beat me to it. I didn't think of Merkeley but ShoreSideDevil's suggestion was good as well.

I can see the effort with Rooney but not results. Please move on from Hayden. He is terrible.

Congrats to Tampa Bay and to Blake Coleman a great Devil. Happy for him.

I was going to say Anderson and Bastian but Queenie_5_hole beat me to it. I didn't think of Merkeley but ShoreSideDevil's suggestion was good as well.

I can see the effort with Rooney but not results. Please move on from Hayden. He is terrible.
- Devils622

I don't hate Rooney either but he's really just a depth center and a decent fill in. Good to have in the Bing and bring up when you're short. A 4th line of Rooney with Bastian and Anderson seem interesting although they are both RW and I don't know if either is comfortable playing LW.

Coleman played fantastic in the playoffs. Easily their top PK forward on the squad. I am pretty sure he out-chanced the opposition while on the kill. Even tho we got a massive return on his trade, Tampa fans can call it a win at this point. And lets not be surprised if Tampa goes the distance next season as well.

I hope our recent trade history with them can lead to another. If not, offer sheet Sergachev. He would be a great solution to our LD deficiency. I just don't see how they keep him when the have McD and Hedman both LD's, locked up long term.

6 more days until we have a much clearer image of the future of our franchise

Coleman played fantastic in the playoffs. Easily their top PK forward on the squad. I am pretty sure he out-chanced the opposition while on the kill. Even tho we got a massive return on his trade, Tampa fans can call it a win at this point. And lets not be surprised if Tampa goes the distance next season as well.

I hope our recent trade history with them can lead to another. If not, offer sheet Sergachev. He would be a great solution to our LD deficiency. I just don't see how they keep him when the have McD and Hedman both LD's, locked up long term.
- bikeguy99

There is nothing wrong with a trade being mutually beneficial. We received a high quality prospect and pick and they got someone to help them be more successful at playoff hockey.

6 more days until we have a much clearer image of the future of our franchise
- MartysBetter88

Why does the draft feel like Christmas with this team? Everyone's excited and right out the gate your older brother opens his first gift and gets A Lafreniere. You get a Sanderson that stays in college for four years and becomes a UFA....

Merkley can be a Colean type player and BAstian Can be a Marron clone .
MAYBE ???


I would take both back....

A player like MArron id exactly what HUGHES needs.. They was what Simmonds was supposed to be ... He was not. Maybe WOOD??? But he needs to be smarter....
Hughes needs better wings and ore upper body strength.

Boquist-Nico- Palmieri
Zacha - Hughes - Gusev
Bratt - Zacha - Kuokkanen
Wood - Zajac - Mcleod
or

BRATT -Nico-Palmieri
Gusev - Hughes-Bastian
Zacha -ZAJAC -BOQUIST
Wood - MCLEOD -ANDERSON

Roger Mussa: Congrats to Tampa and former Devils
- Devils Advocate

So happy to see Coleman win one. He was my favorite player on the roster. He’s the type of player a team needs to win the cup.

Why does the draft feel like Christmas with this team? Everyone's excited and right out the gate your older brother opens his first gift and gets A Lafreniere. You get a Sanderson that stays in college for four years and becomes a UFA....
- Queenie_5_hole

This will happen

Why does the draft feel like Christmas with this team? Everyone's excited and right out the gate your older brother opens his first gift and gets A Lafreniere. You get a Sanderson that stays in college for four years and becomes a UFA....
- Queenie_5_hole

That needs to be addressed by the NHL. At the very least, the round in which that player was drafted should be sent to the team that drafted the player. I was sure we were going to lose Walsh, and we may have if the NCAA season hadn't been cancelled.

That needs to be addressed by the NHL. At the very least, the round in which that player was drafted should be sent to the team that drafted the player. I was sure we were going to lose Walsh, and we may have if the NCAA season hadn't been cancelled.
- bikeguy99

Totally agree with you on this but I don't think Gary Bettman minds one bit if the Rangers can add guys like Vesey and Fox at the expense of other teams. I give Bettman credit for pulling off the playoffs under tough circumstances so I'm not bashing him. But I don't think fairness is his highest priority. That's why despite an expanded playoff you have the Rangers picking first overall despite making the playoffs/play in and the Devils have lost value on both their additional draft 1st round picks.

This isn't specifically against the Rangers. Just examples.

If the season went normally there would be a team that was on the playoff bubble missing out and getting 1st overall too. It's the same thing.

Totally agree with you on this but I don't think Gary Bettman minds one bit if the Rangers can add guys like Vesey and Fox at the expense of other teams. I give Bettman credit for pulling off the playoffs under tough circumstances so I'm not bashing him. But I don't think fairness is his highest priority. That's why despite an expanded playoff you have the Rangers picking first overall despite making the playoffs/play in and the Devils have lost value on both their additional draft 1st round picks.

This isn't specifically against the Rangers. Just examples.
- Queenie_5_hole

For sure. And even if they did have to forfeit the round in which they were originally drafted in, it's still not fair. Lots of these guys were 3rd round or later and waiting to see how they are as an NCAA 21 year old provides a much better picture of the player they are then when they were drafted a 17/18. Maybe they should jump into the NHL as full RFA status, resulting in the team getting a draft pick based on the salary they are signed to??? I really don't know the solution, and teams that have a hard time recruiting UFA's all get left in the dust. Only reason we inked Butcher was because he wanted to be a top 4 D and that was essentially a guarantee with the D-core that we had.

If the season went normally there would be a team that was on the playoff bubble missing out and getting 1st overall too. It's the same thing.
- Pomegrant

But the teams that had a chance got to play in what was deemed the playoffs for everything except draft purposes. It might not be a huge deal but I also don't like the thought of our young players going over a year without playing in a competitive game.

Wasn’t this a Tampa bay thread? Lol. Time for something worth talking about Mussa...

But the teams that had a chance got to play in what was deemed the playoffs for everything except draft purposes. It might not be a huge deal but I also don't like the thought of our young players going over a year without playing in a competitive game.
- rmdevil313

It's the same as them playing out the regular season and them battling for their playoff spot and missing. It's the system should probably be more skewed toward bad teams because every year we've had this lotto system a lot of teams have moved up. But you can blame Pegula for throwing multiple seasons in a row to get first overall.

Young players basically having ~9 month layoff from playing is a huge blow to everybody.