Josh Biringer: G13 Review: Vanacek Pulled in 4-2 Loss to Capitals

Palat needs to go on the 4th line at this point

Dreger reporting that the Devils, Leafs, and Canucks are the teams with strong interest in Zadorov.

Our goaltending is consistently inconsistent.

The team has had some defensive issues and breakout issues, but overall it really hasn't been much worse than last season. The Devils xGA/60 rates at even strength:

Last year: 2.52
This year: 2.61

The Ruff system is just bad at times, but you need your goalies to not suck. We're officially back to 'it's the goalies" again, and Ruff rightfully called out Vanecek last night. Something needs to be done, Fitz needs to make a move or two. D and a goalie. Until that happens, we're gonna need to score 4+ most nights to win because we just don't get saves.

About Holtz Ruff said, “if you wanna play more don’t get scored on.” This just shows what a hypocrite he is. Palat giving the puck away every game like a girl on prom night but he stays in the top 6. And doesn’t get bullpoop talked about him by a HC to the media. No class mfer. I hate Ruff being here

About Holtz Ruff said, “if you wanna play more don’t get scored on.” This just shows what a hypocrite he is. Palat giving the puck away every game like a girl on prom night but he stays in the top 6. And doesn’t get bullpoop talked about him by a HC to the media. No class mfer. I hate Ruff being here
- jtylerm

Right, Palat is a -7, with no goals and Holtz is a -5 but has 3 goals. Makes no sense.

About Holtz Ruff said, “if you wanna play more don’t get scored on.” This just shows what a hypocrite he is. Palat giving the puck away every game like a girl on prom night but he stays in the top 6. And doesn’t get bullpoop talked about him by a HC to the media. No class mfer. I hate Ruff being here
- jtylerm

It's insane. Him talking about Holtz after last game was so ironic. Talked about how Holtz threw away some pucks in the offensive zone and that's why he was benched, when that's literally all Palat does. Any offensive zone pressure we have is instantly given away when the puck touches Palats stick.

Even if you're someone that doesnt hate the overall usage of Holtz and/or line combos, you just cannot justify Ruff planting Holtz to the bench and just constantly rolling out Palat every other or every third shift when we're down in the 3rd period and need a goal. It's just inexcusable.

Max Willman has been assigned back to Utica, per the AHL transactions page.

Right, Palat is a -7, with no goals and Holtz is a -5 but has 3 goals. Makes no sense.
- devils2929

And look at their line mates. Holtz is more productive with Tierney and Bastian than Palat is with Meier, Bratt, Mercer, etc. When Ruff starts juggling lines to get a goal, you'd think he'd try to move the most efficient goal scorer on the team (including the injured guys) up to a spot in the lineup where he could...I don't know...succeed? Not sure what is going on with Holtz but Ruff can't be this blind.

About Holtz Ruff said, “if you wanna play more don’t get scored on.” This just shows what a hypocrite he is. Palat giving the puck away every game like a girl on prom night but he stays in the top 6. And doesn’t get bullpoop talked about him by a HC to the media. No class mfer. I hate Ruff being here
- jtylerm

I told everyone we were going to have a ruff time

At least we get to see greens pp every game

Colin Miller is back on the ice for practice today.

Max Willman has been assigned back to Utica, per the AHL transactions page.
- vlongo4419

Willman also on the ice for practice, so this was just a paper transaction.

Lines in practice today:

Timo-McLeod-Bratt
Toffoli-Mercer-Holtz
Palat-Haula-Lazar
Nosek-Tierney-Bastian

Luke-Dougie
Siegs-Marino
Bahl-Smith
Willman-Miller as the extras

Nico will not be making the trip but there's a chance Jack could join the team in Pittsburgh, per Ruff.

Zadorov would be nice .. 6'6 and can skate.. 16th overall pick.. UFA.. under 4M..

Zadorov would be nice .. 6'6 and can skate.. 16th overall pick.. UFA.. under 4M..
- MartysBetter88

Agreed, but we should've tried to get Graves signed instead of letting him walk. The Graves/Marino tandem were very solid last season and took the pressure off the 1st D pair. To me, that's the biggest difference in our defense this year compared to last

Agreed, but we should've tried to get Graves signed instead of letting him walk. The Graves/Marino tandem were very solid last season and took the pressure off the 1st D pair. To me, that's the biggest difference in our defense this year compared to last
- Crushers68

The biggest difference to me is that Siegs and to a lesser extent Marino have regressed from last year defensively. Marino has still been good, but not as good as last year. Siegs has been a total disappointment, compared to what we expect from him. Lackadaisical with with puck and his defensive impacts are the worst on the team of any D not named Smith.

The overall team D hasnt been that bad compared to last year though. While its certainly been a step back compared to last year, its being made a bigger deal than it actually is because our goalies just suck and are letting everything in. If we start to get the same quality of goaltending as last year in the regular season, which isnt asking much considering it was slightly above league average, we'll be fine.

The biggest difference to me is that Siegs and to a lesser extent Marino have regressed from last year defensively. Marino has still been good, but not as good as last year. Siegs has been a total disappointment, compared to what we expect from him. Lackadaisical with with puck and his defensive impacts are the worst on the team of any D not named Smith.

The overall team D hasnt been that bad compared to last year though. While its certainly been a step back compared to last year, its being made a bigger deal than it actually is because our goalies just suck and are letting everything in. If we start to get the same quality of goaltending as last year in the regular season, which isnt asking much considering it was slightly above league average, we'll be fine.
- vlongo4419

You make some good points about Siegs as he has dropped off. They certainly aren't playing defense like Jacques Lemaire would like but do need some improvement. And yes, our tenders MUST be better!

Same lines in morning skate as practice yesterday, Schmid getting the start tonight.

You make some good points about Siegs as he has dropped off. They certainly aren't playing defense like Jacques Lemaire would like but do need some improvement. And yes, our tenders MUST be better!
- Crushers68

Lemaire is my all time favorite Devils coach. We’ve had nothing but garbage coaches since. MacLean was too worried about making friends, DeBoer was poop, Hynes sucked donkey balls and Ruff is a (frank)ing moron. I’d kill to have a Lemaire quality coach again!

Lemaire is my all time favorite Devils coach. We’ve had nothing but garbage coaches since. MacLean was too worried about making friends, DeBoer was poop, Hynes sucked donkey balls and Ruff is a (frank)ing moron. I’d kill to have a Lemaire quality coach again!
- jtylerm

I dont think Deboer was poop. After the cup run and then the Parise and Kovalchuk debacle, Lou went out and got trash players. Those rosters would get any coach fired. Lou was terrible those years. Maybe im wrong but he was the reason the Devils sucked so bad after 2012

I dont think Deboer was poop. After the cup run and then the Parise and Kovalchuk debacle, Lou went out and got trash players. Those rosters would get any coach fired. Lou was terrible those years. Maybe im wrong but he was the reason the Devils sucked so bad after 2012
- devils2929

DeBoer ruined Adam Larsson. He’d bench Larsson and Gelinas for making 1 mistake and run Tallinder, Volchenkov and Salvador all night when they did the exact same thing 100 times.

Dumb ass head coach hurting youth development and putting vets above them that do the same poop. Hmmm sounds familiar.

I agree about post 2012 Lou though.

Emily Kaplan reporting that while the Devils dont want to rule out Jack playing on Thursday, theres a "strong chance" he makes his return on Saturday against the Rangers.

Dreger on Insider Trading reiterates that the Devils are one of the primary teams most interested in the Flames pending free agent defensemen. They have 3 good ones, we'll see if Fitz is able to get anything done over the next few months.