Time to Move On

[KingOfNJ]

Kovy's gone and we can all keep talking about the whole situation and all the what if's but it's over and done with. He could have put up 80 pts a year or this contract could have been Arod 2.0. We'll never know.

Regardless, it doesn't matter now.

Devils have a large amount of cap space and they save alot of money down the road. Heard about the Brunner rumor, but I'm mixed on it. I know nothing about this guy and I don't want too see Lou just throw money at people to fill Kovy's spot.

I am interested to see what happens with the first round pick. From Lou's comments, I think it's clear that he will have a meeting in the future to try and get the pick back and I always thought that was why he never forfeited the pick a few years ago.

I would personally like to see Lou hold tight, extend Henrique and save the money for next year.

I do have faith in this organization to bounce back in the near future. When everything seems lost, the Devils always find a way to put a productive team on the ice.

 

[nj_cup]

something like this is going to take awhile to get over. yeah sure by the time the season starts i will have forgotten about it but then once the puck drops its going to be opening up the wound again.

brunner is scary because hes been in the nhl for half a year turned down an offer from the wings obviously no one else is "interested" so hopefully its a 1-2 year deal if htey do offer it to him

 

[irishwhip03]

The contract being off the books is the only good thing to come out of this. It just sucks that this couldn't have happened 2 or 3 years from now. No matter when they were scored or how they were scored we lost 35 goals from our lineup and our only current threat in the shootout. Can other guys step up? Absolutely they can. I fully expect Zajac , Henrique , Clowe to have bounce back seasons this year. But they are big skates to fill. Even signing Brunner and maybe someone else wont fill the gap completely.

But ya gotta think if Kovy was continued to be used the way he was used he would've broken down sooner or later. Which easily could've turned his contract into an A-Rod type contract by the time he turned 35. And lets face it , contracts like that are a hell of a lot worse in the NHL then any other league.

In the end I guess its better then him getting hurt again for the third year in a row.

 

[TiLoBrown]

I think if he did this after next year we'd be paying the league 750K a season

 

[irishwhip03]

Does it really jump up that much in just one year? Thats pretty crazy.

IDK there are a lot of positives and a lot of negatives with this whole situation..only time will tell just how much the team benefits from it.

There seems to be a lot of people in the hockey world that think in the long run its helps us out tremendously.

 

[nj_cup]

the shootout is going to be bad this year. hopefully means the team will try to avoid 3pt games.

the $250,000 though isnt in actualy money. so the devils arent writing checks for $250,000 its just cap space lost which i didnt know.


way to look at it. we traded for kovy and he got us two wins from a cup. cost us a first rounder as penalty for signing him. is that worth it?

parise i believe would've left no matter what. sutter was a ufa at the same time it was a perfect bromance

 

[nj_cup]

Does it really jump up that much in just one year? Thats pretty crazy.

IDK there are a lot of positives and a lot of negatives with this whole situation..only time will tell just how much the team benefits from it.

There seems to be a lot of people in the hockey world that think in the long run its helps us out tremendously.

i dont really see how this would help us in the long run. we need someone of that caliber on this team to compete. players like that arent going to come cheap. so whoever the devils MAY eventually get they will certainly cost at least 50 million? the cap hit will also be higher too

 

[TiLoBrown]

Players like what? That never got out of the first round of the playoffs before coming to NJ?

 

[nj_cup]

point per game player. playoff leader in scoring top 5 in the nhl in scoring 2 years ago. guy that plays 25mins a night and plays in every aspect of the game in every situation and is clutch in the shootout

those guys dont come cheap

 

[DevFan60]

Team needs to get stronger psychologically. Players know now that there is no 10-11 mil player on the ice who can they rely on for playing 25 min/game. Now they would rely on each other and should give 100% to the team's game. Example: Bruins - they don't have big scorers, but they are on the top for last few years. We never know - this could be a positive loss which will turn team into a stronger one. A lot of it depends on coaching and management staff.

 

[TiLoBrown]

Exactly DevFan, you don't need a top point guy to be a successful team, it helps maybe, but not needed.

 

[irishwhip03]

It hurts now because we dont know whats going to be done with the money..once we get a player or two in here that can be counted on to provide that offensive punch I think we'll all have a better mindset of what type of season we should have.

If the season started next week I think the popular opinion would be that were a team on the outside looking in. But we're still a couple months away so lots can happen. When you cant get the major star player then depth in the way to go.

 

[nj_cup]

Team needs to get stronger psychologically. Players know now that there is no 10-11 mil player on the ice who can they rely on for playing 25 min/game. Now they would rely on each other and should give 100% to the team's game. Example: Bruins - they don't have big scorers, but they are on the top for last few years. We never know - this could be a positive loss which will turn team into a stronger one. A lot of it depends on coaching and management staff.

thats a good point but i really do question the teams mindset. they did miss the playoffs 2 out of 3 years when missing one superstar. parise the first year and kovy last year.

 

[DevFan60]

This is the same thing - and it is about mindset. Players were relying on Zach and Kovy, but when they were gone most of the players were not able to reset their minds. Now they should know that they are treated almost equally and have to give more to their games. They should build their mindset before season starts.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

This is the same thing - and it is about mindset. Players were relying on Zach and Kovy, but when they were gone most of the players were not able to reset their minds. Now they should know that they are treated almost equally and have to give more to their games. They should build their mindset before season starts.

Urban Dictionary: The Ewing Theory

The Ewing Theory:A theory hashed by ESPN.com writer Bill Simmons and his friend Dave Cirilli. It that explains the reason why teams inexplicably become better after their star player leaves the team for any reason (trade, injury, etc.). Two elements must be present for a situation to be explained by the Ewing Theory: 1) The team has a star player who receives a lot of attention but never wins anything, and 2) The star player leaves the team and everybody writes the team off.
The Knicks lose Patrick Ewing to an injury in a 1999 NBA playoff series with the Indiana Pacers. Everyone writes them off. The Knicks then win three of the next four games and win the series to advance to the NBA finals

 

[TiLoBrown]

Oh god... Bill Simmons

 

[DevFan60]

Here is another example: Just 2 years ago, Knicks without Carmelo and Amare were led by Jeremy Lin with long win streak. As I said before - with right mindset we can beat other teams.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Here is another example: Just 2 years ago, Knicks without Carmelo and Amare were led by Jeremy Lin with long win streak. As I said before - with right mindset we can beat other teams.

Let's not forget we have 2 of the 10 best goalies in the league and can roll 4 lines. Do we have the ideal top line? No, but our 2nd 3rd and 4th lines are as good if not better than most teams in the league. If certain guys can take their games to the next level and we can get positive contributions from some role players there's no reason we can't be a competitive team.

Are we cup favorites? Absolutely not. Are we still better than a lot of teams in the league? Absolutely.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Trying to look forward to this season and not chalk it up as a throwaway year, agree or disagree that the following players could score 20 goals and it wouldn't be that shocking:

Ryder
Elias
Zajac
Henrique
Brunner if he signs

All of those guys in my mind have legit 20 goal potential. Add to that whatever we get out of Clowe, Loko, Zubs and our other bottom 6 guys, that's not half bad. If the D can return to form we can hold our own in my opinion.

 

[MadCaptain]

I don't want to hear Kovalchuk's name ever again. I hope he never comes back to the NHL.

That being said, the team is going to struggle unless a lot of guys step up their play. Larsson, Henrique, Josefson, Tedenby, Loktionov, etc. The team is extremely weak outside of goal.