Alexei Ponikarovsky A Devil

[TheRobotDevil]

carolina gets a fourth rd pick and Albany defenseman Joe Sova

 

[rp2five]

Good. Always liked Alexei

 

[MCDevils]

I have two major thoughts regarding this trade:

1st: I think this is a clear indication that they want Tedenby to play in Albany because he's not getting minutes here and although he's been decent defensively this year, it's clear that he isn't necessarily going to help on offense at the moment. Also, Tedenby, and prob JJ, ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT be on the 4th line. The Devils 4th line is about hitting people hard and fighting. Neither of them should be put into that position, that's not what we want their talents spent on at all.

2nd: I think this clearly helps out our 3rd line potential. Poni will slide right onto a line with Zajac and Clarkson, which is an instant upgrade over whatever we've been trying to roll out all season. This also let's Zajac and Clarkson remain in a better offensive position with Poni for the rest of the season. l

Finally, we didn't give up much of anything for it in the first place. Also, as has been demonstrated in the games we've played against the Bruins this season. We can't match up against deep teams when it comes to the third line. So this should definitely help.

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Low cap hit last year of contract,didnt give up much in return and he gives us a little more potential scoring punch.I cant say I dont like the move

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I have one question, WHY??

 

[TheRobotDevil]

I have one question, WHY??

I wasn't sure myself unless the devils are working on something else my only guess would be depth

 

[MCDevils]

I have one question, WHY??

Except for David Clarkson, every forward on this team who is in the bottom six has scored a COMBINED TOTAL OF 8 GOALS. 4 of those goals were scored by a player in the AHL atm. Poni has 7 all by himself.

Lol, so adding Pono has increased the season total for bottom 6 goals on this team by 200% if you don't factor in Palmieri.

 

[MCDevils]

Also, was I the only one who didn't pay any attention to how effing terrible out bottom 6 were? I guess injuries and Clarkson's stellar performance completely made me ignore how bad they were in terms of production. Also, having so many double digit scores gave an illusion of depth.

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Palmieri and Tedenbys lack of production hurt that a bit .I think we were banking on that quite a bit at the beggining of the season

 

[devs30rko]

If you think about it tho we asked a shit ton out of our youngins this year, and when henrique emerged, he basically took away the only spot in the top 6. I may be no Palmieri fan, but he, teddy, and maybe josefson once trav is back are probably all better off truly playing in Albany. We all know poni won't be here next year and maybe not sykora and maybe not even parise.... why trade any of them? And why rush any of them. They're learning. And there will be plenty of spots open for them soon

 

[MadCaptain]

The timing of this is really strange. Tallinder just went down and we're low on NHL defensemen

 

[kellmit]

The timing was weird don't get me wrong I like Poni boy but he shoulda brought Gleason with him

 

[CalamityX11]

Got to see Poni to really judge this trade.... we didn't give much but a low key move, hopefully it pans out.

 

[kellmit]

So far he has scored a goal and looked pretty good.... I approve!

 

[DevilishWon]

I have one question, WHY??

why not

 

[MadCaptain]

Lou had some interesting quotes in Chere's article that really showed what he had in mind.

“I think both he and (training camp tryout) Steve Bernier have been very important. They’ve brought a dimension to the lineup that obviously was needed,” Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said.

“I remember years ago when Grant Marshall came in and the dimension he added. We had an opportunity to get Ponikarovsky, who has experience and is a team player with character who has had several 20-goal seasons. He came in seamlessly. He fit right in. It was almost like Ponikarovsky and Bernier were Devils from the beginning.”


I never thought of it but Poni does remind me a lot of Grant Marshall. they both were struggling in top 6 roles on teams devoid of offensive depth. Then brought over with no offensive expectations and flourished.

Hopefully the end result is the same as the Marshall trade!

 

[nj_cup]

yeah so far the trade has been great. i remember in the ranger game towards the end of the 1st or 2nd they had the puck in the corners for almost a min. sure nothing came from it but over a 7 game series that stuff wears on the defenders. hopefully the 3rd line can keep it up and get some goals too

 

[Nasty_Magician]

yeah so far the trade has been great. i remember in the ranger game towards the end of the 1st or 2nd they had the puck in the corners for almost a min. sure nothing came from it but over a 7 game series that stuff wears on the defenders. hopefully the 3rd line can keep it up and get some goals too

I've been thinking the same thing. That is a big line that is tough on the puck in the corners. It will be grueling for opposing teams defenses to contain them in a long series.

 

[MCDevils]

yeah so far the trade has been great. i remember in the ranger game towards the end of the 1st or 2nd they had the puck in the corners for almost a min. sure nothing came from it but over a 7 game series that stuff wears on the defenders. hopefully the 3rd line can keep it up and get some goals too

They were by far our best line in that game, despite being on the ice for the Ranger goal.