Roger Mussa: Devils Protection List is out with no surprise, who do we lose?

One player not on your top target list is Nick Merkley and I think he or Bastian are potentially the player we lose. Merkley is a former first round pick and shown some positive flashes in NJ over last two years. I bet Seattle gambles on Merkeley’s potential.

I think its between Butcher and Johnsson for me. Butcher is who i hope they select, but Johnsson is for sure their best option and is the one who can make us look the most foolish if they take.

I'm not sure they will take Subban's 9M hit, especially with the plethora of very good defenseman that are out there, but if they do we're gonna need to shell out a ton of money because we'll be almost 20M under the cap floor.

Maybe they take a tweener like Merkley or Bastian? I doubt it but you never know. In the end, im not too upset with losing anybody who is available

Either way, Seattle is going to be a very solid team with the players that are available

Good riddance “seen”

I would have loved to see Severson wearing that blue Kraken uni. He will most likely play his way to the 300 level at the Rock soon.
That dream is over, so let’s hope they DON’T take Bastian. The Devils gave up on Rooney too soon and will most likely regret losing Bastian in the same manner.
My pick would be Butcher. He is basically done in NJ anyway.

I’d expect them to take Butcher or Bastian. Johnsson would make sense too.

Highly doubt they take Merkley or P.K.

Butcher or merkly is my guess

I think its between Butcher and Johnsson for me. Butcher is who i hope they select, but Johnsson is for sure their best option and is the one who can make us look the most foolish if they take.

I'm not sure they will take Subban's 9M hit, especially with the plethora of very good defenseman that are out there, but if they do we're gonna need to shell out a ton of money because we'll be almost 20M under the cap floor.

Maybe they take a tweener like Merkley or Bastian? I doubt it but you never know. In the end, im not too upset with losing anybody who is available

Either way, Seattle is going to be a very solid team with the players that are available
- vlongo4419

Posted this in the other thread as a response to Johnsson, not used to actually having a bunch of Devils threads:

I see quite a few people (Todd most recently on twitter) making the case for Johnsson to bounce back. I'm not so sure I agree though. Obviously I didn't see him in Toronto as much as in NJ but when I look at him in Toronto I see a PDO over 100 and O-Zone starts of 56.9% and 62.6%. Just seems like he may have been sheltered in a strong forward group in Toronto. Watching him in NJ he looked weak, pushed to the ice, pushed into losing puck battles or turning pucks over, etc. Smaller players in the NHL either have to be very creative, have exceptional skating skills/hands or the speed to overcome what they lack in strength. I just didn't see that in NJ from him. Obviously if Seattle passes on him I hope I'm wrong and if Seattle takes him I hope I'm right, lol.

I would have loved to see Severson wearing that blue Kraken uni. He will most likely play his way to the 300 level at the Rock soon.
That dream is over, so let’s hope they DON’T take Bastian. The Devils gave up on Rooney too soon and will most likely regret losing Bastian in the same manner.
My pick would be Butcher. He is basically done in NJ anyway.
- devs23jp

Butcher would be ideal. He's obviously not in Ruffs plans and his 3.7 mil hit off the cap pushes us further below cap floor. The owners may not want to spend, but when we are far below floor they have to.

Posted this in the other thread as a response to Johnsson, not used to actually having a bunch of Devils threads:

I see quite a few people (Todd most recently on twitter) making the case for Johnsson to bounce back. I'm not so sure I agree though. Obviously I didn't see him in Toronto as much as in NJ but when I look at him in Toronto I see a PDO over 100 and O-Zone starts of 56.9% and 62.6%. Just seems like he may have been sheltered in a strong forward group in Toronto. Watching him in NJ he looked weak, pushed to the ice, pushed into losing puck battles or turning pucks over, etc. Smaller players in the NHL either have to be very creative, have exceptional skating skills/hands or the speed to overcome what they lack in strength. I just didn't see that in NJ from him. Obviously if Seattle passes on him I hope I'm wrong and if Seattle takes him I hope I'm right, lol.
- smellmyfinger

Yeah i can definitely see it for sure. I wont make it an as excuse for him but he said he was having difficulties dealing with covid due to his asthma, so that certainly could have slowed him down a bit.

But i think a lot of it was just being unlucky, the same way it was with Jack. Most of Johnsson's analytical and iso-impact numbers were top 3 on the team among forwards(only behind Hughes and Bratt) and are just as good, if not even better, than what they were in Toronto. A lot of it was just finishing problems for both himself and his linemates. He didnt help himself either by shooting at a 7.7% clip compared to his average in Toronto of 13% where he was 10% or better every year. So the hope is that normalizes and he regresses back to the mean.

The chances and the strong underlying numbers are there, its just a matter of putting the puck in the back of the net, and having some more luck. Which is the issue for pretty much the entire team lol. I'd just rather it be us having the chance that he "rebounds" instead of handing Seattle a 40 point 2nd line/middle 6 winger if it happens. If he doesnt bounce back then hes gone in a year anyway so its whatever. But yeah in the end i think they take Butcher

Yeah i can definitely see it for sure. I wont make it an as excuse for him but he said he was having difficulties dealing with covid due to his asthma, so that certainly could have slowed him down a bit.

But i think a lot of it was just being unlucky, the same way it was with Jack. Most of Johnsson's analytical and iso-impact numbers were top 3 on the team among forwards(only behind Hughes and Bratt) and are just as good, if not even better, than what they were in Toronto. A lot of it was just finishing problems for both himself and his linemates. He didnt help himself either by shooting at a 7.7% clip compared to his average in Toronto of 13% where he was 10% or better every year. So the hope is that normalizes and he regresses back to the mean.

The chances and the strong underlying numbers are there, its just a matter of putting the puck in the back of the net, and having some more luck. Which is the issue for pretty much the entire team lol. I'd just rather it be us having the chance that he "rebounds" instead of handing Seattle a 40 point 2nd line/middle 6 winger if it happens. If he doesnt bounce back then hes gone in a year anyway so its whatever. But yeah in the end i think they take Butcher
- vlongo4419

Here you go again, all you got is analytics... you never watched the player before he was traded to New Jersey, you got irrelevant numbers. Give it up.

Here you go again, all you got is analytics... you never watched the player before he was traded to New Jersey, you got irrelevant numbers. Give it up.
- Banana_Hammock

Yikes.

I think exposing Johnsson because of health related issues to covid/asthma makes a lot of sense. We don't know his medical like the Devils do and unfortunately the long term effects might be worse than we know. I know a lot of our players were struggling with conditioning during the year because of covid, but most of them did turn it around toward the end. I don't remember Johnsson getting back to great skating form however. In the end, we have to lose somebody and while I think he can be a solid piece there is a lot of good young talent in the pipeline ready to compete for his spot if selected in expansion.

Yikes.
- vlongo4419

🤣🤣🤣

I think exposing Johnsson because of health related issues to covid/asthma makes a lot of sense. We don't know his medical like the Devils do and unfortunately the long term effects might be worse than we know. I know a lot of our players were struggling with conditioning during the year because of covid, but most of them did turn it around toward the end. I don't remember Johnsson getting back to great skating form however. In the end, we have to lose somebody and while I think he can be a solid piece there is a lot of good young talent in the pipeline ready to compete for his spot if selected in expansion.
- Pomegrant

Yeah thats very true, it's a good point. Hopefully its not a big health concern to Johnsson but i could certainly see it being a hindrance on his hockey career. Luckily we're in a spot where it doesn't really matter who we lose, it's not a needle mover for us.

I just want the expansion draft over with so we can get to the end of the trade freeze and into the draft/free agency. We seem to be involved in a lot of possible activity

Yeah thats very true, it's a good point. Hopefully its not a big health concern to Johnsson but i could certainly see it being a hindrance on his hockey career. Luckily we're in a spot where it doesn't really matter who we lose, it's not a needle mover for us.

I just want the expansion draft over with so we can get to the end of the trade freeze and into the draft/free agency. We seem to be involved in a lot of possible activity
- vlongo4419

🤣🤣🤣

Looking over available players today and I'm seeing that more quality forwards are out there than defensemen. I think Seattle using their pick on us for Johnsson doesn't make a lot of sense seeing who is available and they'll probably need some more help on the blueline. I think Butcher/Subban would be the pick leaning on Butcher because of the contract size.

Idk why or how quotes work some days and don’t work others.

Banana, you need to f’n chill already. No one cares to read the personal nonsense you have with vlongo. Your first comment on this post was completely personal and had zero to do with hockey. I had the joy of reading through your incessant banter on the previous blog.
I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say pipe down with that. Send personal messages to vlongo if you have some issue. I’m tired of wasting half a breath as I try to scroll past it. Thanksss.

I just don’t want them to take Bastian. I love what we got from him last year, especially with him and McLeod hitting their strides together. We need him to take another step, but I like his physicality.

Here you go again, all you got is analytics... you never watched the player before he was traded to New Jersey, you got irrelevant numbers. Give it up.
- Banana_Hammock

Perfect example. Pure obnoxious personal nonsense and zero meat about hockey. Just stop.

Idk why or how quotes work some days and don’t work others.

Banana, you need to f’n chill already. No one cares to read the personal nonsense you have with vlongo. Your first comment on this post was completely personal and had zero to do with hockey. I had the joy of reading through your incessant banter on the previous blog.
I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say pipe down with that. Send personal messages to vlongo if you have some issue. I’m tired of wasting half a breath as I try to scroll past it. Thanksss.

I just don’t want them to take Bastian. I love what we got from him last year, especially with him and McLeod hitting their strides together. We need him to take another step, but I like his physicality.
- MartysBetter88

Anytime i have this issue i just close and re-open the entire website, that normally fixes it for me

You can manually type out the quote tags too if that helps.

Anytime i have this issue i just close and re-open the entire website, that normally fixes it for me
- vlongo4419

🤣🤣🤣

You can manually type out the quote tags too if that helps.
- Pomegrant

Yeah if you’re a communist

Perfect example. Pure obnoxious personal nonsense and zero meat about hockey. Just stop.
- MartysBetter88

If I wanted your opinion, I’d ask you for it. 🤣🤣🤣

I don’t need to give my opinion. I can flag you and be done with it. We all try to respect each other here and have a pleasant time. You’ve become increasingly personal and decreasingly passable. Just be cool.