Numbers don't lie, and when you break down the Devils blue line by those numbers... they are good, like really, really good. More drone talk. A look into the future in St. Louis. Trades that will never happen. Laughing as it all falls apart in NY
[00:00:07] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three times Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils
[00:00:13] and you're listening to The Uncle Puckers, New Jersey Devils Podcast
[00:00:17] with Chris, Dan, Bobby and Tony, The Uncle Puckers. Let's go Devils!
[00:00:25] What's up boys, how's everybody this evening?
[00:00:28] Doing well.
[00:00:29] Doing well, doing well. Looking forward to tonight.
[00:00:31] Chris, Dan and Tim getting, doing a little show before the Devils take on the St. Louis Blues tonight
[00:00:37] and before we jump into hockey, I think we just need to put a, you know, finally finish up this drone talk, okay?
[00:00:45] Okay. You found the answer to the riddle.
[00:00:50] I did not, but I'll tell you.
[00:00:52] So there was an article today that the Brooklyn Police Department found a five foot drone on the sidewalk, right?
[00:01:06] So they brought it into, they had some pictures of them with this big drone and there was a company,
[00:01:12] I don't remember the name, but the company's name was on the drone, right?
[00:01:15] And they got in touch with the CEO and he said it was a drone that they had a Christmas party about 10 days ago
[00:01:22] and somebody left the drone on the sidewalk.
[00:01:25] This is a cover story. I just want you to know that.
[00:01:27] It is as big of a cover story as you could ever.
[00:01:30] So this $20,000 drone has just been on the sidewalk for 10 days.
[00:01:35] And that's the same one that everybody in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut has seen.
[00:01:41] And then the government comes out and says exactly that, that this is what we're seeing.
[00:01:46] What do you mean the government? Who said that?
[00:01:48] The Department of Homeland Security.
[00:01:50] Oh my God.
[00:01:51] Yeah.
[00:01:51] They're all fucked.
[00:01:52] It was they. There's always a they.
[00:01:54] And they're saying, they're telling us that we're not.
[00:01:57] No, that's the drone. That's the one we've seen.
[00:02:00] We're not seeing what we're seeing. We're stupid.
[00:02:03] Yeah, you are.
[00:02:05] Look, because and they come out saying, well, we just passed a law that you're allowed to fly drones at night.
[00:02:11] So it makes sense.
[00:02:13] This is what everyone's seeing. Residential drones.
[00:02:16] Yeah.
[00:02:17] You want to hear a twist to that story too is one of the primary investors in that drone company is BlackRock.
[00:02:26] Oh, they're good people.
[00:02:27] You know, they don't do anything.
[00:02:30] They're one of the most evil companies.
[00:02:31] You're not supposed to.
[00:02:32] As soon as you know them, they're going to target you with a drone.
[00:02:35] They have their fingers and everything.
[00:02:37] They're like a hedge fund, like a huge hedge fund.
[00:02:39] And they basically invest in everything good and evil and terrible and everything in between.
[00:02:44] Yep.
[00:02:45] So there's still no answers on the drone other than the federal government telling the people of New Jersey that it's just people with their drones flying them at night.
[00:02:54] I saw Andy Kim.
[00:02:56] He like went out and he's like, oh my God, I saw a crazy shit.
[00:02:59] And then like two days later, he's like, I think most of those were planes.
[00:03:02] I don't know.
[00:03:03] Well, you know, it was nothing.
[00:03:06] I think I was high that moment.
[00:03:07] He went outside and took video of drones in his area.
[00:03:12] Yeah.
[00:03:13] And then they told him that it was planes.
[00:03:16] So then he went on and checked the flight paths of all planes around his neighborhood.
[00:03:20] No.
[00:03:21] And there were none.
[00:03:22] Right.
[00:03:23] And now he's saying it was planes.
[00:03:25] Well, now I realize there was other flight paths that they showed me after the fact.
[00:03:30] And those totally line up.
[00:03:32] Andy, don't be so naive.
[00:03:35] No, like, and that's weird because I feel like he's actually a good guy.
[00:03:38] I really do.
[00:03:39] He is a good guy.
[00:03:40] He got down trying to clean the capital up.
[00:03:41] That means to me, like somebody's telling him, dude, you can't fucking go out there and talk about this shit right now.
[00:03:47] That's exactly what happened.
[00:03:49] And next thing you know, we're all wearing tinfoil hats.
[00:03:52] And I don't blame anybody for putting them on.
[00:03:54] It's crazy right now.
[00:03:55] We juxtaposed that against another senator tweeted out a picture of a TIE fighter on the back of a trailer on a highway and was like, they captured a drone.
[00:04:05] Oh, my God.
[00:04:06] Yeah.
[00:04:07] Come on.
[00:04:07] Yeah, funny guy.
[00:04:08] Yeah.
[00:04:10] Was he trying to be funny or was he stupid?
[00:04:12] No, I don't think he was trying to be funny.
[00:04:14] Oh, my God.
[00:04:14] He actually fell for that video.
[00:04:16] He actually fell for it.
[00:04:17] Yes.
[00:04:18] Yeah.
[00:04:18] He thought it was.
[00:04:19] No, no, not.
[00:04:20] Sorry.
[00:04:20] Not the snowy one.
[00:04:21] It was a different one.
[00:04:23] It was a different type of one.
[00:04:26] But it was kind of tied up on the back of a trailer of a truck.
[00:04:31] And he was like, here's the captured drone.
[00:04:33] And it was like, buddy.
[00:04:35] I was like, that's from.
[00:04:36] We have big problems.
[00:04:38] We have TIE fighters falling out of the fucking sky.
[00:04:41] Yeah.
[00:04:42] I don't know.
[00:04:43] I wish it was that easy.
[00:04:44] We'd be like, okay, it's the Empire.
[00:04:45] We got it.
[00:04:46] We know how to meet them.
[00:04:47] They have certain weaknesses.
[00:04:48] Yeah.
[00:04:49] It's like, yeah, we actually know exactly where their weaknesses are.
[00:04:51] There are movies about it.
[00:04:53] Yeah.
[00:04:54] Yeah.
[00:04:54] We got it.
[00:04:55] Oh, my God.
[00:04:57] Seriously.
[00:04:57] I feel like I'm taking fucking crazy pills every time I read this shit.
[00:05:01] It's like.
[00:05:01] If you guys need refuge from New Jersey, because for whatever reason, New Jersey is on your
[00:05:06] town.
[00:05:08] Not where I live.
[00:05:09] I'll shoot Madison.
[00:05:10] I'm like, man.
[00:05:11] I'm 22.
[00:05:11] 22.
[00:05:13] I don't think a 22 is going to pull these things out of the sky.
[00:05:16] It's not going to do shit.
[00:05:17] No.
[00:05:17] This is so funny.
[00:05:18] It's like people unloading with like, you know, a pistol on a, on an airplane.
[00:05:22] It's like, you know, what happened?
[00:05:24] Like I saw a guy shot a drone out of the sky.
[00:05:26] Like I bet it was like a Walmart delivery drone.
[00:05:28] Right.
[00:05:29] Right.
[00:05:30] I saw.
[00:05:30] For like the cost of the drone.
[00:05:32] It's like, what happens if someone actually like manages to shoot an airplane and causes
[00:05:37] a.
[00:05:37] They're going to get arrested, you know, real quick.
[00:05:40] It's going to be a problem.
[00:05:41] I do believe I like some loss.
[00:05:44] You know, the last show we did when we talked a little bit about the drones, Dan, and I told
[00:05:48] you what I saw that night at work.
[00:05:49] And I was telling you that I saw about seven or eight of them.
[00:05:52] And one of them was emitting something.
[00:05:53] You clearly were skeptical of that.
[00:05:56] Yeah.
[00:05:57] And then I showed you a video.
[00:05:59] Yep.
[00:05:59] Now in that video, it's a drone emitting some type of vapor or something.
[00:06:05] It does look like it.
[00:06:06] You know, here's the thing.
[00:06:07] I was, here's, here's my caveat to that.
[00:06:10] If you watch the video closely, did we post that on our social?
[00:06:14] No, we didn't.
[00:06:15] Oh, we didn't.
[00:06:16] It's like, let's become drones and devils.
[00:06:18] But you know, here's the thing.
[00:06:20] This is a good fucking video.
[00:06:21] And I also told you to like, send it to the fibby.
[00:06:23] Let them see what they can see.
[00:06:25] But the only caveat is like, I was wondering if it was following the flight path of a literal,
[00:06:33] like, you know, vapor trail from a previous plane.
[00:06:36] And cause it seems like that when you pan back, like maybe that's.
[00:06:40] Like a trail that was already there.
[00:06:42] But it is weird.
[00:06:43] Cause when you watch the first part of it, you're like, no, it's coming out of the fucking
[00:06:47] drone.
[00:06:47] It's coming out of the drone.
[00:06:48] I really believe it is.
[00:06:50] And I'm not sure.
[00:06:50] And I need to like a bunch of scientists, impartial, non-governmental scientists, or, you
[00:06:56] know.
[00:06:57] I tell you, you know, and that's part of the problem with all this is, you know, there's
[00:07:01] so many people capitalizing on this in every way, posting all kinds of nonsense.
[00:07:06] It's like the guy with the huge hammer.
[00:07:10] Zoom in.
[00:07:11] Right.
[00:07:12] Daniel Amoya is one of the devil's writers.
[00:07:15] I think I sent it to one of our group chats.
[00:07:18] He was like, I found a drone and had like a little picture of Jesper Pratt.
[00:07:21] Like, he flew out through the sky.
[00:07:23] He was like, dude, you're really funny.
[00:07:24] I'm going to punch you in the face.
[00:07:25] Yeah.
[00:07:26] I was like, yeah.
[00:07:26] I'm serious right now.
[00:07:27] I want to know what these fucking drones are.
[00:07:28] And we're trying to get to the bottom of this.
[00:07:30] You're joking around.
[00:07:32] I will tell you, I was grateful the last two nights here that it was fucking rainy and cloudy
[00:07:36] because I didn't see any.
[00:07:37] No.
[00:07:38] And it makes you wonder, though, are they out?
[00:07:40] You can't see them because you can't see more than 100 feet in front of your face when
[00:07:44] it's raining and cloudy.
[00:07:45] But like, it makes you wonder, like, are they out there or not?
[00:07:48] I think they're not.
[00:07:49] I would.
[00:07:50] I was thinking tonight's a little more clear.
[00:07:52] Should I go out and look for drones?
[00:07:54] But instead, we're going to do the Uncle Puckers podcast.
[00:07:56] Well, it's too early anyway.
[00:07:58] I did find that.
[00:07:59] I find the most of them.
[00:08:00] Especially over on the island.
[00:08:02] I find most of them start coming out around like 9 o'clock at night.
[00:08:06] Okay.
[00:08:06] And that's usually.
[00:08:08] What time was that video of the weird one with the fucking vapor?
[00:08:10] That was about.
[00:08:11] That was actually a little earlier.
[00:08:12] That was around like 8.
[00:08:13] Yeah.
[00:08:13] 8.30.
[00:08:14] It looked like there's still some light.
[00:08:15] Yeah.
[00:08:16] Yeah.
[00:08:17] Yeah.
[00:08:17] So that was strange.
[00:08:18] But all right.
[00:08:19] To hockey.
[00:08:20] Oh, yeah.
[00:08:21] Let's talk.
[00:08:22] Right.
[00:08:23] That's why we're here.
[00:08:24] So, guys.
[00:08:26] Tim, you sent over something that was
[00:08:30] really.
[00:08:30] I mean, I don't know if it's disconcerting or if it's just that we're kind of due here.
[00:08:35] So, we have played now the.
[00:08:41] Oh, is that it?
[00:08:42] No, that's not it.
[00:08:43] You sent me so many different things here.
[00:08:44] So, 2016.
[00:08:46] Do not.
[00:08:47] Do not.
[00:08:48] The Devils have lost to the St. Louis Blues since 2016.
[00:08:57] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 losses.
[00:09:01] And that's up to 2023.
[00:09:03] So, not even this year's loss.
[00:09:05] 8 losses to 1 win in the last 4 years.
[00:09:09] That's crazy.
[00:09:10] You can't beat this team.
[00:09:11] Yeah.
[00:09:11] Those are all.
[00:09:12] Those are all the away games at St. Louis.
[00:09:16] So, yeah.
[00:09:16] Oh, those are just the away games.
[00:09:18] Yeah.
[00:09:18] Those are all at St. Louis.
[00:09:19] Are we doing better at home?
[00:09:21] It's just been a house of horrors.
[00:09:23] I don't know.
[00:09:23] I didn't look at home.
[00:09:24] I feel like we're not doing enough.
[00:09:26] I don't.
[00:09:27] Interact that 8-1 ratio.
[00:09:30] Yeah.
[00:09:30] I don't put a lot of stock necessarily into kind of digging back to like 2016.
[00:09:34] But the same team in the past couple of years, you know, something's going on there.
[00:09:40] And, you know, let's not, you know, knock on wood.
[00:09:42] But, like, you know, this is where Jack hurt himself last year.
[00:09:47] Good point.
[00:09:49] The New Jersey Devils have a record of 41-60, 14-4 versus the Blues all time.
[00:09:56] That's crazy.
[00:09:57] What is that shit about?
[00:09:58] Because I feel like that's a weird kind of thing.
[00:10:01] I mean, it's like historical, so it almost doesn't make sense.
[00:10:04] But there's something there, right?
[00:10:06] Yeah.
[00:10:07] Yeah.
[00:10:07] Yeah.
[00:10:07] There is.
[00:10:08] There is.
[00:10:08] Yeah.
[00:10:09] There's just certain teams that, for whatever reason, you don't match up well against.
[00:10:13] And we just don't.
[00:10:14] So you're saying that if we have to go, if we get to go to the Stanley Cup Finals,
[00:10:19] the only team we don't want to pull is St. Louis.
[00:10:23] I think that that might be one of the worst records that we have against a team.
[00:10:27] So, yeah.
[00:10:28] I would say you're probably right.
[00:10:29] That's a problem.
[00:10:29] I don't see them in the finals, but who knows?
[00:10:32] I mean, I don't see them in the playoffs.
[00:10:34] I mean, they're 15-14-3.
[00:10:38] They have 33 points.
[00:10:40] They're 17th in the NHL.
[00:10:41] I don't know where they stand in the Central Division.
[00:10:43] I think that they're 4th.
[00:10:45] I'm not sure.
[00:10:47] They right now have their 25th in goals for with 83.
[00:10:51] They're 20th in goals against with 98.
[00:10:54] They have a goal differential of dash 15.
[00:10:58] They're 16.7% on the power play, which is 26th.
[00:11:03] They're 76.8% on the penalty kill, which is 23rd.
[00:11:07] Their team save percentage is 896, which is 15th.
[00:11:12] Like, this is not a great team.
[00:11:14] No, but we beat teams better than that all the time, and we have winning records against them.
[00:11:19] But for some reason, it's that mystical I don't know what.
[00:11:23] We have a problem with St. Louis.
[00:11:24] It's not an issue, though, because like you said, we're probably not going to face in the playoffs.
[00:11:29] I mean, no.
[00:11:30] That is a long shot.
[00:11:32] And this is the last game we play until next year against them.
[00:11:36] Yeah, and we've talked about this before.
[00:11:37] Like, you know, this season I feel like we've been exercising a lot of demons and getting past, you know, a lot of our boogie persons.
[00:11:47] Boogie people.
[00:11:48] Boogie men.
[00:11:49] Boogie women.
[00:11:51] Boogie she.
[00:11:51] Boogie she.
[00:11:52] Boogie he.
[00:11:52] Yeah, burgers persons.
[00:11:54] Boogie people.
[00:11:55] POCs.
[00:11:56] Boogie.
[00:11:57] Yeah, like it's just, you know, it's just another kind of step in maturity that I think they need to take.
[00:12:02] And I think they're fully capable.
[00:12:03] You know, we've got Curtis coming back tonight.
[00:12:05] And, you know, stick tabs.
[00:12:07] Yeah, stick tabs for Dowling.
[00:12:10] He was a pretty admirable fill-in.
[00:12:11] But he had to clear waivers, so he got put on waivers.
[00:12:14] I wouldn't be surprised if someone picked him up.
[00:12:16] I hope not.
[00:12:17] I hope we can keep Dowling.
[00:12:19] Yeah.
[00:12:19] So tonight is, do we have our lines?
[00:12:24] Yeah, I think, you know, the two are unchanged, or the top three are unchanged.
[00:12:30] And then it's Tatar, Lazar, and Bastion.
[00:12:34] So Tatar's back in the lineup?
[00:12:38] No?
[00:12:38] Hello?
[00:12:40] He's okay.
[00:12:41] He'll be all right.
[00:12:41] Can you hear me?
[00:12:42] Yeah.
[00:12:42] Both of you guys froze for a second.
[00:12:44] Oh, okay.
[00:12:44] Did you?
[00:12:45] Yeah, so kind of our normal lines, Bastion slots in for Dowling.
[00:12:48] And nothing else has really changed.
[00:12:52] All right.
[00:12:52] I like this.
[00:12:53] I mean, look, they have some guys that can play.
[00:12:56] But I find that we seem to have a huge problem every time we face Jordan Binnington.
[00:13:01] So, you know, like he's just been our boogie goalie.
[00:13:06] So I want to just see right now, Binnington is, he's 8-11-3.
[00:13:12] He's got goals against of 293 and an 8-99 save percentage.
[00:13:17] I feel like we should watch some tape on him because you know he's like, you know, ripe for going off and getting crazy.
[00:13:24] And he doesn't necessarily do great in those games.
[00:13:26] We should look what ticks him off and play, you know, against his strength.
[00:13:31] Mm-hmm.
[00:13:32] I'm all for that, dude.
[00:13:33] Like what Timo did to Igor in the playoffs.
[00:13:36] He was just fucking in his head, just pissing him off.
[00:13:39] I would love to see that.
[00:13:40] Yep.
[00:13:40] Jordan, that's got to be part of their game plan.
[00:13:43] I think that definitely has to come up.
[00:13:44] I hope they're paying enough attention because sometimes it's like it's a West Coast team.
[00:13:48] We face them months and we don't care.
[00:13:50] We're just going to play this game.
[00:13:51] But I hope that they're like, you know, doing the right things here and picking up some points.
[00:13:56] He's 6-3-0 in nine games against the Devils with a goals against average of 224 and a save percentage of 926.
[00:14:03] Yeah.
[00:14:04] Seriously.
[00:14:04] Like that's got to change.
[00:14:06] Yeah.
[00:14:06] Yeah.
[00:14:07] Tonight.
[00:14:09] That would be nice.
[00:14:10] So, I mean, look, the Devils now, Tim, you have some metrics here about our defense and just how stellar it's been, right?
[00:14:18] Yeah.
[00:14:19] So, since I have a lot of spare time on my hands, since I was eating a sandwich at my desk, I thought, you know, in the back of my head, I'm like, all right, I think the Devils probably have one of the best D-cores.
[00:14:31] And talking about the entire D-core, you know, not necessarily individual pairs.
[00:14:34] There's been enough said, I think, about the pair of Seags and Koba Savage has been fucking stellar defensively.
[00:14:40] Luke and Pesci are actually stellar defensively and probably our best two-way pair.
[00:14:45] And then Dougie and Dylan have actually been better, I think, than a lot of people give them credit for, particularly offensively.
[00:14:52] And a lot of that's weighted towards Dougie.
[00:14:54] And this is all kind of five-on-five numbers.
[00:14:57] But I looked at it and I used Money Pucks.
[00:15:01] So, really, there's a slider where you can kind of pick a certain level that they played against.
[00:15:07] So, 200 minutes together, 300 minutes together.
[00:15:09] So, there are only two teams that have three distinct D pairs that have played over 300 minutes together.
[00:15:18] So, three pairs, the same pairs have been the same with over 300 minutes.
[00:15:22] And I looked at 12 different metrics on those.
[00:15:26] So, expected goals percentage and the rank for that.
[00:15:31] The expected goals for per 60.
[00:15:33] The expected goals against per 60.
[00:15:36] And then the ranks for those.
[00:15:37] And then the expected goals differential.
[00:15:39] But I know a lot of people are like, eh, fuck expected goals.
[00:15:42] Blah, blah, blah.
[00:15:42] There's actually some Twitter brouhaha between Tony D'Angelo and an analytics guy about expected goals.
[00:15:47] I get it.
[00:15:48] There's like a standard there in the middle.
[00:15:50] Like, what does expected mean, right?
[00:15:52] Right.
[00:15:52] So, I actually looked at actual goals for and against.
[00:15:57] And the share of that, like, are you on the ice for more goals versus against.
[00:16:01] So, this is all the D pairs.
[00:16:03] I like it.
[00:16:04] The two teams that fit into the category of all three D pairs have played over 300 minutes together and have been the same are the Devils and Carolina.
[00:16:15] LA is a pretty good defensively team.
[00:16:17] Toronto is a pretty good defensive team.
[00:16:20] But they haven't had consistent D pairs enough to stay with that.
[00:16:23] So, I really kind of did Devils versus Carolina.
[00:16:26] So, Season Kovacevic for their expected goals four.
[00:16:32] They rank 28th.
[00:16:34] Luke and Pesci rank fourth.
[00:16:36] And Dougie and Dylan rank third.
[00:16:38] Expected goals against.
[00:16:40] Season Kovacevic rank third.
[00:16:42] Luke and Pesci rank seventh.
[00:16:44] And Dougie and Dylan rank 48.
[00:16:45] So, I weighted.
[00:16:48] I'm a fucking math nerd.
[00:16:49] I'm sorry.
[00:16:50] So, I weighted.
[00:16:51] No, I get it.
[00:16:51] I get it.
[00:16:52] I weighted these numbers by the actual amount of minutes that they've played by a percentage.
[00:16:57] Because Luke and Pesci haven't played the full schedule that the other guys have.
[00:17:02] So, they've actually played.
[00:17:04] Yeah.
[00:17:04] So, it kind of weights it out.
[00:17:06] So, really what I'm trying to look at is, like, this is our actual decor and how successful.
[00:17:10] Right.
[00:17:11] Like, what are we going to care about going forward?
[00:17:13] Right.
[00:17:14] And then, on the Carolina side, there's Gossels, Beer, and Walker, Slavin, and Burns, Orlov, and Chatfield.
[00:17:20] So, those are their three pairs.
[00:17:21] And, you know, they're all kind of similarly ranked.
[00:17:24] And, actually, both the Devils and Carolina on expected goals four percentage.
[00:17:29] Or the expected goals percentage.
[00:17:31] So, that's the difference between expected goals four and expected goals against.
[00:17:35] The only two teams with three pairs in the top 20.
[00:17:40] So, they are third, 18th, and ninth.
[00:17:43] I won't really talk too much about Carolina.
[00:17:44] The actual goal ranks.
[00:17:47] Seagas and Kovacevic.
[00:17:49] Goals four, 13th.
[00:17:50] Luke Pesci, 24th.
[00:17:52] Dougie Dillon, 25th.
[00:17:53] Goals against.
[00:17:54] Seagas and Kovacevic are ninth.
[00:17:56] Luke Pesci, 11th.
[00:17:57] Dougie Dillon are 24th.
[00:17:58] And, the goal differential.
[00:18:01] They, in total, the three D pairs together.
[00:18:04] We're at a plus 18.
[00:18:06] Carolina is actually only at a plus seven.
[00:18:08] So, all of those categories kind of laid out and comparing the two.
[00:18:13] So, our expected goals percentage of the three pairs weighted out.
[00:18:17] It's 59.6.
[00:18:19] Carolina's 58.2.
[00:18:20] So, we got one there.
[00:18:23] Expected goals four per 60.
[00:18:24] We're at 12.8.
[00:18:26] They're at 7.1.
[00:18:28] So, we got them there.
[00:18:29] Expected goals four per 60.
[00:18:31] Sorry.
[00:18:32] Expected goals four per 60 rank.
[00:18:34] The actual raw number.
[00:18:36] They're better than us by 0.1.
[00:18:38] Oh, almost nothing.
[00:18:40] Expected goals against.
[00:18:41] We're better than them.
[00:18:42] Expected goal differential.
[00:18:43] We're better than them.
[00:18:44] Goals four percentage.
[00:18:45] The actual goals four percentage.
[00:18:47] We're better than them.
[00:18:48] Wow.
[00:18:48] The goals four totals.
[00:18:50] We're better than them.
[00:18:51] Goals against totals.
[00:18:52] We're better than them.
[00:18:53] The goals differential.
[00:18:54] We're better than them.
[00:18:54] And this is like Carolina, you chose them because they were number two over the whole NHL.
[00:19:00] This is the entire NHL.
[00:19:02] We're looking like we're edging the number two team by a decent amount.
[00:19:07] Yeah, I mean, each individual statistical category is somewhat close.
[00:19:12] But really what I'm trying to prove out is almost on every single metric,
[00:19:16] like when you look at the kind of entire core together, the D core together,
[00:19:20] of the two D cores that have really been consistent all season, consistently together,
[00:19:25] it's the Devils of Carolina.
[00:19:27] And of 13 of those metrics, on 11 of them were better than Carolina.
[00:19:30] So based on my little project here, we're the best D core in the league.
[00:19:35] That's great.
[00:19:36] I would be really interested to know how our Devils team compares against the defensive last year
[00:19:40] because it's fucking night and day.
[00:19:42] In my opinion, just look, without the data to back me up, it's like, oh my God,
[00:19:46] this is so much better at D.
[00:19:48] I mean, we went and got the goaltender, but I'm telling you that last year's goaltenders,
[00:19:54] we would wish they had this D.
[00:19:55] I mean, I think any goaltenders would wish they had this D right now.
[00:19:59] I mean, it's that simple.
[00:20:00] And I feel like Jacob Markstrom is getting the, I'm not comparing Markstrom to Brodeur,
[00:20:09] so don't fucking, everybody don't freak out.
[00:20:11] But he's getting that treatment.
[00:20:14] That he's not that great.
[00:20:16] His defense is really good.
[00:20:18] That whole thing.
[00:20:19] And I feel like Markstrom is...
[00:20:20] We'll see when he chips are down and defenses press in a tight game,
[00:20:22] if he can really pull it off when it comes playoff time,
[00:20:25] when it comes big games during the regular season.
[00:20:28] I mean, so far he's been there.
[00:20:29] We'll see.
[00:20:30] And I think Markstrom's been fine.
[00:20:32] I have no issues with him.
[00:20:33] I know that there are some Devil fans out there that are not too high on Markstrom for whatever reason.
[00:20:40] But this is exactly what you want.
[00:20:43] I will take a defensive core like this over Connor Hollabuck type goalie play every night,
[00:20:50] any day of the week.
[00:20:51] 100%.
[00:20:52] A lot of Devils fans, unfortunately, were contaminated with the myth of Brodeur.
[00:20:56] Now, Brodeur was not a myth.
[00:20:58] He's not a fraud.
[00:20:59] He was the best ever.
[00:21:01] We were very lucky to watch him.
[00:21:03] But I'm just saying it was a different time, a different game,
[00:21:05] and he had a different decor that could play a different way than today.
[00:21:09] So, like, it's not fair.
[00:21:11] Like, Devil fans' memories are, like, contaminated with stuff that does not apply today.
[00:21:18] So, like, you're not going to get another Brodeur anywhere.
[00:21:20] I mean, nobody has a Brodeur, you know?
[00:21:23] We're talking about different goaltenders who are ruling the league right now,
[00:21:27] and nobody's close to what Brodeur was doing then.
[00:21:30] And there's a reason.
[00:21:31] Like, you know, compare our guy that we got now versus, you know, what's around today.
[00:21:38] And I'm satisfied.
[00:21:39] I definitely am.
[00:21:41] Yeah, and I think, you know, Dan, you know, this being a goalie and, you know, me, you know, having played.
[00:21:47] Like, I try to never, ever blame a goalie because there was something that happened that got to the point where that puck went in the goal.
[00:21:53] And 90% of the time, 99% of the time, it is not the goalie's fault.
[00:21:57] Unless it was shot from, like, the other side of the red line and he just fucking whiffed on it.
[00:22:01] It's very rare.
[00:22:02] There's a series of events that led to a goal.
[00:22:05] You can call a goal.
[00:22:06] There's a player out there on the ice.
[00:22:07] Usually the goalie makes the least amount of mistakes.
[00:22:09] Even the worst goalie makes less mistakes than the average player because it's the nature of the game.
[00:22:15] You can get away from your mistakes if you're in any other position.
[00:22:18] And it's just the way it is.
[00:22:20] So, like, I get your point, you know, but still, when you start, like, you know, leveling up all the way, the playoff time and it matters, that's when you, like, start getting at, like, crazy little thin mystical things.
[00:22:32] Who is the best goaltender?
[00:22:34] And it takes a long time to prove that or even prove that beyond, like, a single season blip.
[00:22:40] And that's something we haven't seen much out there.
[00:22:42] Like, somebody be dominant year after year.
[00:22:44] The closest we got in this era is Vasilevsky, but even his powers are limited by his defense.
[00:22:50] So, you make a great point.
[00:22:51] Yeah.
[00:22:52] And, you know, it's a symbiotic relationship, you know, the defense.
[00:22:56] And even, it's not even just the defensive players that play defense.
[00:22:59] It's the forwards, you know, that play, you know, because defense, because all three zones is a five-man game.
[00:23:05] You know, that you can't, you know, while we do try to isolate things statistically for each player, you know, it is a five-man unit.
[00:23:14] It's a six-man unit, actually, with the goalie.
[00:23:17] So, I almost never try to blame the goalie, even though I'll give him a shock look at, like, I'm playing defense.
[00:23:22] And, like, I was playing beer league on Saturday night.
[00:23:25] And, you know, we got scored on when I was on the ice.
[00:23:27] And looking at the goalie, like, what the fuck?
[00:23:29] Even though, like, even though it was 100% my fault that I missed the guy in front of me.
[00:23:32] But, you know, at that moment, you're like, dude, I know you.
[00:23:35] You could have saved that.
[00:23:37] Right.
[00:23:38] Thus saving both of us.
[00:23:40] Yeah.
[00:23:40] It's like, what's up, man?
[00:23:41] Absolutely.
[00:23:42] You know?
[00:23:42] So, I get it.
[00:23:43] Like, the goaltender is always, like, culpable in some sense, but also not.
[00:23:47] You know?
[00:23:47] It's one of those things that's just a weird thing with hockey.
[00:23:50] Yeah.
[00:23:50] And, you know, you made a great point.
[00:23:52] You know, we were so spoiled with Brodeur.
[00:23:54] And then we had so much trauma after Brodeur.
[00:23:57] That, like, it's just we, like, we were so much closer to the trauma that we had.
[00:24:04] Like, you know, like even this expected goals chart where we're now on 10th in the league on it.
[00:24:09] You know, we've really risen up the ranks a lot recently.
[00:24:14] Even looking at that, my eyes started on the right of the chart because of the trauma from the last couple years.
[00:24:19] I'm like, all right, what are we, like, third to last, fourth to last?
[00:24:21] I'm like, where the hell are the devils?
[00:24:23] Yeah.
[00:24:23] And I'm like, what the fuck?
[00:24:24] We're going to be a messiah and we are waiting for the messiah to return and there is no messiah.
[00:24:29] So, like, the game has changed.
[00:24:30] We have to just get over that and look what we got.
[00:24:33] I think we have a competent goaltender to go as far as we can possibly go as a team.
[00:24:37] And that's what you said earlier is, like, it's a six-man unit.
[00:24:40] It's a team.
[00:24:41] Luckily, the defensive core looks fantastic.
[00:24:44] The offense looks fantastic.
[00:24:46] We just have to gel everything as a unit that can grind and win what it takes to, you know, get through the playoffs.
[00:24:53] And I think it's all there, you know, pretty much.
[00:24:55] I mean, we make a move over here or there.
[00:24:57] But for the most part, we have never been in a better position since the Devils won the Cup.
[00:25:03] I just have to say that.
[00:25:05] I mean, they are.
[00:25:06] I agree.
[00:25:07] I agree.
[00:25:08] I think, you know, with the pieces that are brought in, with what we had existing, the progression of our existing core, you know, bring it like just everything kind of is aligning.
[00:25:15] And, you know, again, knock on wood, like, I really see this team.
[00:25:20] And since Luke and Pesci started playing, and I really used that Detroit game in October, October 24th, was I think their first game or back or the game after that was their first game back.
[00:25:31] I really used that as kind of like, yeah, that is like the demarcation point of the season of like from that point on, we're at like 115, 117 point pace.
[00:25:41] And like we're an insanely good team.
[00:25:43] I really think people just really need to, you know, we had some early season kind of ups and downs.
[00:25:48] You know, like Bill Spaulding put out the other day, like there's an 0-2-2 stretch where this team gave up 23 of their 86 goals that they've given up the entire season.
[00:25:58] So 26% of all of the goals that they've given up the entire season were in a 4-day stretch.
[00:26:05] That's crazy.
[00:26:06] And that's where I see like the maturity of this team.
[00:26:08] That makes sense because like this team has so much potential, but it also has those holes where things can fall apart hard and fast.
[00:26:17] And that's because they're an immature group.
[00:26:20] And I'm not talking about like over like, oh, we have a young group.
[00:26:23] Like we haven't had this team together until this year.
[00:26:27] I mean, this is a great team, but it's going to take some time to gel.
[00:26:31] And I feel like we got all the time to do it.
[00:26:33] I'm not worried about it.
[00:26:34] Definitely.
[00:26:35] And, you know, that makes sense that like that's their hole is they can fall into like a pit of, oh, my God, do they remember who they are?
[00:26:43] You know, I think they'll come out of it.
[00:26:45] I mean, their offense is, you know, I mean, they've done enough to win games, but their offense has been snakebitten a little bit in these last handful of games.
[00:26:53] But every team goes through that.
[00:26:54] That's, you know, that to me, that's just the peaks and valleys of an NHL 82 game season.
[00:27:00] It's nothing to worry about.
[00:27:01] So, you know, and when they need it, they go and get it, you know, go back to the game, you know, against Chicago.
[00:27:07] They're not looking great.
[00:27:09] They're, you know, completely owning them in their own zone.
[00:27:13] They're getting shots, you know, maybe nothing great, but, you know, they're down a goal going in the third.
[00:27:18] They just say, fuck this shit.
[00:27:19] And in a matter of two, two and a half minutes, they put four past them.
[00:27:22] It was awesome.
[00:27:24] I do have a couple of other things I want to get to tonight before we wrap up.
[00:27:27] But first, I just got to do some little housekeeping here.
[00:27:32] There's nothing better than going to a live sporting event, whether it's football, it's hockey, it's concerts.
[00:27:40] I remember a time where I used to go to concerts all the time, and now I'm old and I don't go to them at all.
[00:27:46] But I miss them.
[00:27:47] You went to the Taylor Swift last week, I thought.
[00:27:50] Where did you go last weekend?
[00:27:51] You did?
[00:27:52] You did.
[00:27:53] You did.
[00:27:53] Taylor Swift, right?
[00:27:54] Oh, yeah.
[00:27:54] No, my daughter went to Taylor Swift twice.
[00:27:56] That's true.
[00:27:57] I did not.
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[00:29:15] It's gay time.
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[00:29:17] You said gay time.
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[00:30:30] The crown is yours.
[00:30:32] Who is that, Dan?
[00:30:33] Say what again, motherfucker?
[00:30:37] That is a tasty cheeseburger.
[00:30:40] It is Samuel L.
[00:30:41] He's a pencil topper, but he used to be on top of a Star Wars character.
[00:30:45] I thought it was a Pez dispenser.
[00:30:47] So I have a couple of things that I want to go over.
[00:30:51] The first is, I guess we can just go over this real quick.
[00:30:55] Are the Rangers dead to rights, guys?
[00:30:58] Fuck the Rangers.
[00:31:00] Yeah, I think so.
[00:31:01] Can I date up?
[00:31:02] Like, man, they are a fucking disaster.
[00:31:05] I mean, good, like, yay.
[00:31:08] Like, I love it.
[00:31:09] I'm just delighting in every single sad clown tear from across the river.
[00:31:15] Like, what is that shit that Kako said today?
[00:31:19] He said it.
[00:31:21] Well, because he was scratched for the last game.
[00:31:23] And then they also had Chris Kreider on the fourth line.
[00:31:26] I think Mika Zibanejad got, like, 11 minutes of ice time in that game against St. Louis that they lost 3-2.
[00:31:33] So Kako Kako came out after the game saying, I have not been the worst guy.
[00:31:37] It's just easy to pick a young guy and boot him out.
[00:31:41] You're not that young anymore.
[00:31:44] Six years.
[00:31:46] You're a veteran.
[00:31:48] And Kako Kako, though, has been the whipping boy.
[00:31:51] He has been the Rangers version of Alex Holt to an extent, right?
[00:31:54] That's true.
[00:31:55] That's very true.
[00:31:56] Yeah.
[00:31:57] So, and I think that Kako Kako in any, in a functioning, a functioning team, right?
[00:32:05] A well-run organization, which we can all agree the Rangers are not right now.
[00:32:10] I think Kako Kako can be a very valuable player.
[00:32:12] I think he can be very good.
[00:32:14] But I just don't know if he's ever been given the proper development in New York, whether that be down in the AHL for a year or so and stuff like that.
[00:32:25] Like, there are players that just need to play minor league hockey for a while.
[00:32:29] Oh, they had him out there that first year.
[00:32:30] He's going to be, you know, the anti-Hughes.
[00:32:32] He's going to be the man.
[00:32:34] And that's the other part, too, right?
[00:32:36] You're constantly compared to Jack Hughes.
[00:32:38] Absolutely.
[00:32:38] He went number one.
[00:32:40] You went number two.
[00:32:41] Yep.
[00:32:42] Yeah, they were celebrating when Jack went one and they got Kako.
[00:32:47] Yeah.
[00:32:47] My best buddy, Valaket, was saying that Kako's going to be better.
[00:32:53] Right.
[00:32:53] Yeah.
[00:32:54] You know, they sent that letter out, what, you know, six, seven years ago?
[00:32:58] Yep.
[00:32:58] You know, saying, you know, we're trying to rebuild.
[00:33:00] And then they fucking shortcutted it.
[00:33:02] Artemi Panarin fell in their lap.
[00:33:04] You know, they had a generational goalie and they shortcutted it.
[00:33:09] And then they bring in Laviolette, who is a big veteran guy, doesn't like young guys.
[00:33:15] And his track record fucking sucks after his first year.
[00:33:18] Like, he almost always has a good first year and then his team just falls.
[00:33:21] It really is proven true this year because, like, what a fall off.
[00:33:25] I mean, he had, like, the special sauce last year.
[00:33:28] I mean, he had those guys going.
[00:33:29] Laviolette for this.
[00:33:31] That's what I'm asking.
[00:33:32] I feel like, you know, like, how do you square Laviolette with this?
[00:33:36] Because I feel like on some level he should get more from this team.
[00:33:40] Is it interference from the top?
[00:33:42] Is it, like, you know, too many big personalities without direction from, you know, underneath
[00:33:47] that he just can't control anymore?
[00:33:48] But what a difference in his life day to day.
[00:33:52] Oh, yeah.
[00:33:52] Last year.
[00:33:53] Like, what happened?
[00:33:54] I think.
[00:33:55] I really don't know.
[00:33:55] I think a few of the problems are, I think they started with Barkley Goodrow last year.
[00:34:02] I think the way the Rangers treated Barkley Goodrow.
[00:34:05] And then when he finally got shipped off to San Jose, which at that point was where, you
[00:34:10] know, hockey players just go to die.
[00:34:12] Right.
[00:34:12] And, you know, no one really saw them being as fun as they are this year.
[00:34:17] Fast forward to that.
[00:34:18] Yeah.
[00:34:18] But I think that that put a really bad taste in a lot of the players' mouths, a lot of
[00:34:23] the veterans there.
[00:34:24] Like, this guy is a vet.
[00:34:25] He's been around.
[00:34:26] You know, he's been with us for a while.
[00:34:27] And this is how you treat him.
[00:34:29] And then you compound that with what happened with Jacob Trupa, which this guy has the C on
[00:34:35] his chest.
[00:34:36] You come out last year saying that you want to get rid of him.
[00:34:40] He denies a trade.
[00:34:41] It's obviously a broken relationship when this season starts this year.
[00:34:45] Well, that was poison.
[00:34:46] Right.
[00:34:47] And then they finally just dump him.
[00:34:50] They send him out to Anaheim.
[00:34:53] And then right away use that money to sign Shesterkin to the extension.
[00:34:57] So Trupa dies.
[00:34:59] So Igor can live.
[00:35:01] That's the key.
[00:35:03] Stand fish.
[00:35:05] Yeah, exactly.
[00:35:06] You know, and so that happens.
[00:35:08] Now, a lot of the players are going, well, Trupa was our captain.
[00:35:12] And, you know, this is how we're treating our captain.
[00:35:15] I can just, you know, I'm nothing.
[00:35:18] I don't care how many goals I score for this team, how well I play.
[00:35:21] They have no problem with just dumping me.
[00:35:22] There's no loyalty.
[00:35:23] There's no this or no that.
[00:35:24] Right.
[00:35:25] So when that happens, you start losing faith in the organization.
[00:35:28] Yeah.
[00:35:28] And then you go and juxtapose that with the fact that a lot of their players in their
[00:35:32] top six are just getting older.
[00:35:35] They have not done anything to inject any kind of energy or youth into that lineup.
[00:35:41] Like in their top six, like you feel like the wheels may be falling off in their top six.
[00:35:46] Who are you thinking about?
[00:35:46] I mean, is the Banajad's not the guy he was three years ago.
[00:35:50] Panarin's not the guy he was three years ago.
[00:35:52] Panarin's just a weird case because I feel like he's still turning on any moment for like
[00:35:56] a year or two, but he's never been consistent.
[00:35:59] Right.
[00:35:59] Yeah.
[00:35:59] No.
[00:36:00] And I think that a lot of these players feel like, I think they like Lobbylet.
[00:36:04] I know there was some reports coming out that there was some.
[00:36:06] Yeah, you can hate that guy.
[00:36:06] He's like a pretty good guy.
[00:36:08] Yeah.
[00:36:08] And I think they have no problem playing for him, but I think that the management is the
[00:36:13] problem.
[00:36:14] And I think they have no, they have no confidence in their management that they're going to
[00:36:19] A, do the right thing by the team or by them personally.
[00:36:22] So I believe, and I think that Chris Jury is going to dig this hole even deeper because
[00:36:29] I do think he will fire Peter Lobbylet.
[00:36:32] And then I think that team will complete.
[00:36:34] That's what I'm wondering too.
[00:36:35] I was going to ask you, like, do you feel like it's just a matter of time before they
[00:36:38] blow up Lobbylet and get somebody else in there and some like, somebody, some interim
[00:36:43] bullshit and it'll be like, it'll be a coin though.
[00:36:49] He'll give him the interim tag and that's what'll happen.
[00:36:53] Yeah.
[00:36:53] I mean, I mean, it's typical to some extent, like that you just get rid of the problem and
[00:36:59] like put somebody else in interim.
[00:37:01] The Devils have done it a few times too.
[00:37:03] Everybody has.
[00:37:03] But like in the case of Lobbylet, I feel like that's what I was asking about.
[00:37:09] He's been, I don't think it's his problem.
[00:37:12] I feel like it really isn't his problem.
[00:37:14] I don't think so either.
[00:37:15] What do you think?
[00:37:16] They didn't, they didn't do anything over the summer.
[00:37:19] Like to love it to the point about Lobbylet, like he's, he's clearly has a good coaching
[00:37:25] ability.
[00:37:25] You know, like look at some of his teams.
[00:37:27] He has a cup, you know, like it's, he's clearly knows what he's doing.
[00:37:31] They didn't do anything over the summer.
[00:37:33] Like you said, Kreider and Sabanajad have really regressed.
[00:37:37] Lafreniere has regressed.
[00:37:39] Kako hasn't, Kako hasn't really progressed.
[00:37:42] Panarin, he was hurt the other day.
[00:37:44] Like he's, you know, he's got no one to play with.
[00:37:47] He, you know, Trocek is his number one center.
[00:37:49] Who's, who's okay.
[00:37:50] Their best players are Will Cooley, who I would fucking love to have.
[00:37:54] I would love to have that kid.
[00:37:56] Yeah, me too.
[00:37:57] Coolie, Kittle and, and this new kid that they brought up, Berard.
[00:38:02] Their decor, their decor is awful.
[00:38:04] Like Lingren, God bless him for being a warrior, but like he's fucking terrible at defense.
[00:38:10] Andrew Miller hasn't taken a next step.
[00:38:12] Adam Fox is like out there by himself doing, you know, like, like just carrying the decor
[00:38:16] by himself.
[00:38:17] Like it's just like at every position.
[00:38:20] It's almost like, like if you look at the Devils last year and the Rangers last year,
[00:38:25] like the places have completely switched.
[00:38:27] Yeah.
[00:38:27] Like almost, almost exactly.
[00:38:30] Like.
[00:38:30] I feel like it's worse for the Rangers because last year, I mean, we could chalk, I don't
[00:38:34] know.
[00:38:35] Yes.
[00:38:35] They have injuries.
[00:38:38] It's not injuries.
[00:38:39] And they also have no, they also have no future.
[00:38:42] Like we had, we still knew that we had a future.
[00:38:45] Yeah.
[00:38:45] I mean, last year the Devils injuries were, I mean, they were well reported.
[00:38:49] Everybody knew.
[00:38:50] And we did not have Igor Shosturkin in net.
[00:38:53] We had Vanacek and Schmidt who were not doing what needed to be done on a team that was playing
[00:38:58] two 19 year old rookies, the most minutes on their blue line.
[00:39:02] Like there were a lot of problems last year.
[00:39:04] And you can see that though, the, like you said, the future was there and you just tweak
[00:39:09] a few things this year.
[00:39:10] You bring in a coach like Shelby.
[00:39:12] You shore up that blue line and you got one of the best teams in the league.
[00:39:17] The Rangers don't have that.
[00:39:19] And it's just, I, and I'll tell you right now, they're playing the Nashville Predators.
[00:39:23] Who have won what?
[00:39:24] Nine games, eight, nine, nine games all year.
[00:39:26] If the Rangers lose tonight to Nashville, Peter Lobbillette does not make it to the next game.
[00:39:33] And it's a shame because it's not really him.
[00:39:36] Like you really laid out very well.
[00:39:39] It's, it's a whole organizational problem.
[00:39:41] That's yeah.
[00:39:42] And I don't think the ownership is going to fire Chris Drury.
[00:39:44] No, because he's paying attention to the Knicks.
[00:39:46] He is no idea.
[00:39:47] It's he probably doesn't even know the Rangers are falling apart like this.
[00:39:50] The Dolan, you mean?
[00:39:51] If there are two things I want for Christmas is for the Devils to win a Stanley Cup and for
[00:39:55] the Rangers to lose to Nashville.
[00:39:57] Yeah.
[00:39:58] And, you know, it goes back to that same conversation we just had about the D-Core goalie relationship.
[00:40:03] If you look at actual season numbers for Markstrom versus E-Core, Markstrom's numbers are better.
[00:40:08] Right.
[00:40:09] And it's like, like their defense is so fucking bad that they're leaving this guy out to hang
[00:40:14] out to dry.
[00:40:15] I made a joke the other day, like the amount of goals that the devil, the amount of shots
[00:40:19] against that the devil's been averaging for an entire game over the past four or five games
[00:40:24] has been like 17, 18, which is ridiculous.
[00:40:27] Yeah.
[00:40:27] Like I was like, I was like, God, that's how many, how many shots Igor gives up in a period.
[00:40:31] And lo and behold, he's given up 18, 19 shots a period.
[00:40:35] It's just like, that's not a sustainable model.
[00:40:36] They fucking suck.
[00:40:38] Yeah.
[00:40:38] So, all right.
[00:40:39] We've accomplished that, that we've did our Ranger heat for this show.
[00:40:43] This is interesting.
[00:40:45] So let's see.
[00:40:48] Alex Chauvincy and Rob DeLuca wrote an article for Pucks and Pitchforks.
[00:40:52] I'm curious what you guys think.
[00:40:53] It's four Dawson Mercer trade proposals.
[00:40:56] That would be a big win for the New Jersey Devils.
[00:41:00] They write here, if the New Jersey Devils were to trade Dawson Mercer, there are a few really
[00:41:05] intriguing targets from around the league that would set them up to be Stanley Cup contenders,
[00:41:09] which I would argue they already are.
[00:41:11] But all right, we'll play.
[00:41:14] Trade number one.
[00:41:15] This is with Seattle.
[00:41:17] New Jersey Devils received Jared McCann and Seattle Kraken received Dawson Mercer in a
[00:41:23] 2025 second round pick.
[00:41:25] And they write, the Seattle Kraken are in no man's land and might look to make changes
[00:41:29] ahead of the trade deadline.
[00:41:31] Though Jared McCann's name is not out there right now, he's someone the Devils should target
[00:41:35] for a scoring upgrade if he becomes available.
[00:41:38] McCann is having another solid season with 11 goals and 26 points in 32 games, a 28-goal,
[00:41:44] 66-point pace over 82 contests.
[00:41:46] He's averaged 34 goals and 68 points since the start of the 22-23 season and would be an
[00:41:53] ideal finisher for Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
[00:41:55] What's enticing about McCann is he's under contractor 26-27 with a season, 26-27 season
[00:42:02] at a cap hit of five and a half million.
[00:42:04] The Devils could hypothetically get three playoff runs from him if they acquired him
[00:42:09] ahead of this season's trade deadline.
[00:42:11] The argument against acquiring McCann and including Mercer is that you think the latter could become
[00:42:17] McCann, perhaps.
[00:42:18] But McCann is a proven 30-goal scorer and he's even hit 40 once in his career.
[00:42:24] So he writes a little bit more about it, but we'll just leave that one at that.
[00:42:28] Jaren McCann.
[00:42:29] And we just talked about whether or not we believe that, whatchamacallit, Dawson Mercer
[00:42:35] is a 30-goal scorer.
[00:42:36] We did talk about that the other day.
[00:42:38] I don't think he is.
[00:42:39] But what do you guys think of the Jaren McCann trade number one for Dawson Mercer?
[00:42:44] What's, did it have the money, the salary in it?
[00:42:47] Is like the salary of Walsh?
[00:42:48] I assume it probably was pretty close.
[00:42:50] Five and a half million for McCann.
[00:42:52] Okay.
[00:42:52] So by the day, four and a half million for Mercer.
[00:42:55] It's like four for Dawson.
[00:42:56] Yeah.
[00:42:56] So I think by the deadline, that'll probably cap us out.
[00:43:00] But I don't think Fitz is looking for that big of a piece, to be honest.
[00:43:06] I think he's committed to Dawson Mercer.
[00:43:08] I know, you know, that the fan base kind of has had it with him a little bit.
[00:43:14] He's not producing.
[00:43:15] But, you know, he's got a couple points in the last couple games.
[00:43:18] And he's always been a streaky scorer.
[00:43:20] I think with Mercer, we, two years ago, that 27-goal season was a bit of a mirage.
[00:43:30] Over like what was like a 12-13 game stretch, he just went on a fucking absolute bender.
[00:43:35] Or it was like an eight or nine-game stretch where he had like 12 goals or 13 goals.
[00:43:39] Other than that, he's kind of been on the pace for what he is right now.
[00:43:44] You know, high teens, 20 goals, you know, maybe 40 points, good penalty killer, you know,
[00:43:51] and shows up every game.
[00:43:53] But I do like McCann.
[00:43:55] And I think, you know, with that type of move, so what then happens is, you know,
[00:44:00] you put Nason back up with Heischer and Meyer, and then you put McCann with Jack and Bratt.
[00:44:07] Then you need to find a corresponding third line or two to then come in there.
[00:44:12] So I think I can see that type of thing happening.
[00:44:15] I just, you know, I don't know if I'm ready to give up on Dawson Mosher yet.
[00:44:19] Well, I'm not ready to give up yet.
[00:44:22] There is one guy on this four-man list that I would move on from.
[00:44:28] So trade number two is with the Minnesota Wild, and I think this is a huge pipe dream
[00:44:31] and is never going to happen.
[00:44:33] It's a straight-up one-for-one Marco Rossi for Dawson Mosher.
[00:44:37] So they write, Rossi shouldn't be available for a trade, but Michael Russo of The Athletic
[00:44:41] keeps reiterating that he believes the Minnesota Wild will eventually trade Rossi,
[00:44:45] saying that he believes that the Wild won't pay him, won't give him a long-term deal.
[00:44:51] So it says Rossi is having an excellent season with 11 goals and 25 points in 31 games,
[00:44:56] a similar rate of production to McCann.
[00:44:59] His five-on-five numbers look outstanding too.
[00:45:02] Rossi has an expected goal share of 59.24%, second on the Wild to Joel Erickson-Eck.
[00:45:08] He's also been the third most efficient five-on-five scorer, averaging 2.9 per 60 minutes.
[00:45:15] So it says that Devils general manager Fitzgerald stated he could look to add a fourth-line center
[00:45:21] ahead of the trade deadline, but what about a top-nine forward like Rossi,
[00:45:25] who pushes Eric Holla down the lineup?
[00:45:27] Rossi checks that box.
[00:45:28] He will be a restricted free agent this summer and will certainly get a pay raise.
[00:45:32] You might not want to tie up that much money in one position with Jack Hughes and Nico Heischer
[00:45:36] still having plenty of term, but my rebuttal to the salary cap ceiling should hit about $100 million
[00:45:44] in the next couple of years, and Rossi is unlikely to cost more than Hughes and Heischer on a new contract.
[00:45:49] Plus, you'd be clearing Mercer's $4 million cap hit, so money shouldn't be an issue,
[00:45:54] even with Luke Hughes' due a big payday.
[00:45:57] The 1-2-3 punch of Hughes, Heischer, and Rossi down the middle would be tough to beat
[00:46:03] and is a move to consider if you're going to trade Mercer.
[00:46:06] I will say this.
[00:46:08] Out of the four trades that are on here, that is the one I would do.
[00:46:12] Exactly for the reason of having Heischer, Hughes, Rossi, and Holla right down the middle
[00:46:19] through your four lines.
[00:46:21] That is a ridiculous middle, and I think that that would make the Devils a lot better.
[00:46:26] What do you guys think of that one?
[00:46:28] I can't argue with that.
[00:46:30] Yeah, I mean, yes, I'd absolutely do that, but I don't think Minnesota's trading Rossi.
[00:46:36] I know Ruzzo's saying that too, but he just started kind of coming into his own this year.
[00:46:41] This is kind of the first year I think he's coming into his own.
[00:46:44] I think he was sort of fledgling a little bit in his first couple years.
[00:46:47] I think they might have sent him back to juniors his first year and then was kind of having
[00:46:51] a tough time.
[00:46:52] I also don't think he's all that big, if I remember correctly.
[00:46:54] I think he's kind of a little bit of a smaller guy.
[00:46:58] But yeah, that would just be an absolute dynamic center depth.
[00:47:04] Let me just check this real quick.
[00:47:09] I just want to see if they have him.
[00:47:11] Are we all looking up?
[00:47:13] Marco Rossi.
[00:47:16] So he's 5'9".
[00:47:18] He is small, 182 pounds.
[00:47:21] Oh my God, we have the same birthday.
[00:47:24] Oh wow.
[00:47:25] Aww.
[00:47:26] He's pretty old to be playing at NHL, just so you know.
[00:47:29] I'm very old.
[00:47:30] So, the third trade they have is a straight up one for one again with the Seattle Kraken.
[00:47:37] It's Oliver Bjorkstrand for Dawson Mercer.
[00:47:41] So it says,
[00:47:42] Devil fans should be all very familiar with this killer from his days in Columbus.
[00:47:46] While he has cooled off against New Jersey since being traded to the Kraken, he has not
[00:47:50] cooled off overall.
[00:47:52] Bjorkstrand is another 60-point player at the top of his game, and he's 29 years old.
[00:47:57] And you might be thinking, well, this is basically the same situation as the other trades in this
[00:48:01] article.
[00:48:02] Why would the packages not be the same?
[00:48:04] Well, that can be answered by the status of the Kraken.
[00:48:07] Says they are severely underperforming this year.
[00:48:09] A lot of people thought they would bounce back and find themselves in the playoff race.
[00:48:14] That has not happened, and they have put themselves in a pretty large deficit for now.
[00:48:17] But the overall outlook of the Kraken is not as bleak as others.
[00:48:21] They will not be selling as easily because one large win streak could turn it around.
[00:48:25] Blah, blah, blah.
[00:48:26] So, yeah, he's talking Oliver Bjorkstrand.
[00:48:28] All right.
[00:48:30] I don't know.
[00:48:31] That one doesn't really do a whole lot for me.
[00:48:33] I like Bjork.
[00:48:33] I mean, it's not related, though.
[00:48:38] It's funny that this – yeah, you know, he's good.
[00:48:45] I don't know what he makes and all that stuff.
[00:48:47] You know, it's another one of these things where he's done pretty well over his past
[00:48:50] couple games.
[00:48:50] He's got top points on games.
[00:48:52] But he's, you know, been around 20, mid-20s goals.
[00:48:57] He's from Denmark, and Rossi's from Austria.
[00:48:59] It's like we seem to collect, like, the nontraditional European hockey guys,
[00:49:04] like the amount of Swiss guys.
[00:49:05] We have a lot of Swiss guys.
[00:49:07] Yeah, definitely.
[00:49:08] I missed when we had three.
[00:49:09] So, fuck it.
[00:49:10] Well, now let's – yeah.
[00:49:12] Well, the next trade, the last –
[00:49:14] Nico Dawes got – Nico Dawes got called up and then sent back down.
[00:49:17] That's true.
[00:49:18] We had three then, yeah.
[00:49:21] We got the Utah Hockey Club.
[00:49:24] So, Nick Schmall's and a second-round draft pick from Utah for Dawson Mercer
[00:49:29] and a fourth-round pick.
[00:49:31] Says the Devils are in need of a middle six forward,
[00:49:33] and Nick Schmall's can play right wing or center.
[00:49:36] He has been floating around the 60-point mark for the past three seasons
[00:49:39] and currently rocks 24 points in 30 games this season with a 60 –
[00:49:43] that's a 65-point pace.
[00:49:45] The 29-year-old with a full year left on his contract,
[00:49:49] this could be a perfect move for the Devils.
[00:49:51] As for the package itself, Mercer's only 23,
[00:49:54] and he signed a three-year deal right before the season.
[00:49:56] He remains a restricted free agent once that deal ends,
[00:49:59] so Utah would have full negotiating rights to him first,
[00:50:03] while GM Tom Fitzgerald would have to look into an extension with Schmall's
[00:50:07] at some point.
[00:50:07] Utah is also underperforming this season
[00:50:09] and could likely be heading towards a sell-off at the trade deadline.
[00:50:12] Mercer would be a key piece to their court in the future.
[00:50:16] The Devils need to take the next leap forward,
[00:50:17] so filling out the lineup with another vet could be the missing piece.
[00:50:21] Now, I was just going to say, this trade,
[00:50:25] this trade to me is a much better trade for Utah than it is for New Jersey.
[00:50:30] Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.
[00:50:31] But I have to ask you, with Mercer, like, do you feel there's some –
[00:50:35] I'm sorry.
[00:50:36] It sounds like just paper crippling.
[00:50:38] I'm sorry.
[00:50:39] I don't have any paper.
[00:50:40] I don't know.
[00:50:43] But go ahead.
[00:50:44] Yeah, don't do that.
[00:50:46] But, you know, with Mercer, do you feel like trading for Mercer
[00:50:52] is like rounding the corner from this first generation –
[00:50:58] like, not generation,
[00:50:58] the first iteration of, you know, Devils ascending?
[00:51:03] Like, don't you feel like this is a key trade more than anybody else you had?
[00:51:07] Hang on a second.
[00:51:08] Time out.
[00:51:09] Time out.
[00:51:09] Yeah.
[00:51:09] Do you guys hear that, right?
[00:51:12] Yeah, I do.
[00:51:13] I do.
[00:51:14] I just muted my mic just to make sure it wasn't me and it's not me.
[00:51:19] Do you hear it now?
[00:51:21] You don't have that mic on your chest, do you, Dan?
[00:51:23] This thing?
[00:51:24] Is it this thing?
[00:51:25] Yeah, I think that you're hitting it again.
[00:51:28] Oh.
[00:51:29] All right.
[00:51:30] Yeah.
[00:51:31] Do you hear it now?
[00:51:32] Just talk.
[00:51:34] Okay.
[00:51:35] So, like, trading Mercer, right?
[00:51:38] Yes.
[00:51:39] Do you think, like, this is maybe, like, the turning point to where the Devils,
[00:51:45] from their first ascension, changes and turns a corner, good or bad?
[00:51:51] Like, I feel like there's a lot of weight on this Mercer trade.
[00:51:54] Like, we have to make it for the right things.
[00:51:56] Because a couple years we held off, we were like, no, don't trade Mercer.
[00:52:01] I mean, Fitz went crazy to make some kind of package for Meyer that didn't include Mercer.
[00:52:06] That's true.
[00:52:06] And I feel like Mercer has been, like, I'm not saying, like, oh, yeah, everything hinges on him.
[00:52:12] No, but it will be the end of an era for the Devils' development.
[00:52:17] Like, good or bad, we're going to make a move that is going to, like, you know, away from Mercer
[00:52:22] or keep him and hold him.
[00:52:24] It's, I feel like this is the key one more than, this is the biggest player that, you know,
[00:52:30] has been homegrown that we're getting rid of.
[00:52:33] If we're going to do it, it's got to be for the good.
[00:52:36] Do you mean you have that sense about you or is it just me that feels like too much
[00:52:39] is riding on this?
[00:52:40] It has to be perfect.
[00:52:42] Well, because I think that we all see that Mercer's upside can be extremely, you know,
[00:52:50] positive.
[00:52:50] I mean, the guy is really good and he's only 23 years old.
[00:52:54] Like, he's so good on the penalty kill.
[00:52:56] He does a lot of, you know, he does a lot of things on this team.
[00:53:00] And now playing up on that second line, I think that, I don't think Dawson Mercer gets
[00:53:05] traded this year.
[00:53:06] I think that if there's any moves, we talked about it, it'll be bottom six guys, a guy maybe
[00:53:12] to come in and play on the third or fourth line.
[00:53:15] And I think that that's what Fitz is going to go into the playoffs with this year.
[00:53:19] And then I think depending on how the playoffs go, well, that will depend on what moves are
[00:53:24] done over the summer and whether or not a guy like Mercer is traded for an upgrade or something
[00:53:30] like that.
[00:53:30] None of these potential moves that you just laid out are worth it right now.
[00:53:35] You would not do that.
[00:53:36] Is that what you're saying?
[00:53:37] The Marco Rossi one, I would really consider.
[00:53:40] I would really consider that one.
[00:53:42] Well, what about you, Tim?
[00:53:43] How do you feel about it?
[00:53:45] Yeah.
[00:53:46] You know, the Ross one's maybe the only one I consider, but I'd probably say no to that.
[00:53:51] Right.
[00:53:52] Because while, you know, that does give us Nico Jack Rossi down the middle, I think kind
[00:53:57] of the intention of a third line center is not necessarily what Rossi brings.
[00:54:02] And like you said, like I'm not, Mercer is a homegrown guy.
[00:54:07] He's a Fitz draft pick.
[00:54:08] Like Fitz has named him in several press conferences, even the one he did was a yesterday.
[00:54:14] He actually, one of the only players he named dropped was Mercer.
[00:54:17] He brought him up over the summer.
[00:54:18] You know, it's, it's, he's really connected to this guy.
[00:54:22] And I think there's just something about Mercer where, look, they're showing up every day
[00:54:27] and going to work every day.
[00:54:30] There's something to be said for that.
[00:54:31] You know, the best ability is availability.
[00:54:33] He may not be putting money.
[00:54:35] He may not be putting, you know, yeah, exactly.
[00:54:40] He may not be putting pucks like in the net, like the way we want him to.
[00:54:43] But again, I don't think he's, he's 30 goal guy necessarily.
[00:54:46] I think that was just a random hot streak two years ago.
[00:54:49] And I think he, he tops out at maybe 25.
[00:54:52] And I think that's okay.
[00:54:54] You know, Nason and Mercer are kind of interchangeable on the, on those two lines.
[00:54:59] His defensive game as a two-way player has to be better long-term to justify him plateauing at 2025?
[00:55:08] I do.
[00:55:09] And I think he needs, I think, sorry, go ahead, Chris.
[00:55:13] No, no, go ahead.
[00:55:14] I'm listening.
[00:55:16] Sorry.
[00:55:17] I, you know, and I just had a dime out there.
[00:55:20] So I'm like, I'll jazz that up.
[00:55:21] I apologize.
[00:55:21] But one of the worst days of my life was when I saw JD Vance drinking it.
[00:55:27] But Mercer, I think, needs to be a little stronger.
[00:55:33] Like, and Fitz mentioned it over the summer.
[00:55:36] Like, he, he's, he's fast and he gets into, like, difficult areas.
[00:55:41] But I think he, like, bounces off people too easily.
[00:55:44] And I feel like he kind of gets beat off the puck a little bit in terms of man-on-man strength issues.
[00:55:51] Yeah, a couple games ago.
[00:55:53] Yeah.
[00:55:53] Yeah, exactly.
[00:55:55] Yes.
[00:55:55] Oh, yeah.
[00:55:55] So I think he, you know, he, I think he, he kind of is, I think he's light.
[00:56:00] Like, he's not, he's not necessarily weak, but he's light.
[00:56:02] You know, like, he, he kind of, he kind of just bounces.
[00:56:05] I don't know.
[00:56:05] Just, I don't know how else to describe it.
[00:56:07] Yeah.
[00:56:08] He needs more substance.
[00:56:09] He needs a little bit more, you know, tenacity, strength, whatever you want to call it.
[00:56:14] Well, I agree with all that.
[00:56:16] And we are about to start a hockey game in about five minutes.
[00:56:19] So we're going to wrap this thing up so we can all go watch it.
[00:56:22] But what I like to do, since this show won't be posted until tomorrow, is give our prediction of tonight's game against St. Louis.
[00:56:30] So give me a final score and first goal scorer.
[00:56:35] All right.
[00:56:36] I will go three nothing devils.
[00:56:40] And just because we, we, we just talk about him.
[00:56:43] I, I, I want him to get on the board.
[00:56:45] I think it's going to be Mercer.
[00:56:46] Why not throw somebody out there?
[00:56:48] Is it the most likely?
[00:56:49] No, but that's what I feel.
[00:56:51] Okay.
[00:56:52] Oh my God.
[00:56:53] That microphone, Dan, we got to stop.
[00:56:55] We got to do something about that.
[00:56:56] All right.
[00:56:56] Yeah.
[00:56:57] I got something.
[00:56:58] We're going to work on that.
[00:56:59] Yeah.
[00:57:00] It keeps crackling whenever you're moving.
[00:57:01] It's like in your collar or something.
[00:57:03] I don't know.
[00:57:09] And for one with an empty netter, we're going to argue about a potentially soft goal against Markstrom.
[00:57:14] First goal scorer, Timo.
[00:57:16] Oh, okay.
[00:57:20] I'm going to go five, three, no empty netter.
[00:57:23] Devils win.
[00:57:25] We finally get this blue monkey off our back.
[00:57:29] Look, just because he, he, he, he got in the beast mode last game.
[00:57:33] I think he's going to continue it just for brackets to first goal.
[00:57:36] That's what I'm going with.
[00:57:37] Good call.
[00:57:38] So, all right.
[00:57:39] We are going to wrap this thing up and go watch.
[00:57:41] Hopefully the devils finally vanquish the St.
[00:57:44] Louis blue demons.
[00:57:45] I mean, Missouri is such a shit ass state anyway.
[00:57:48] It's a, come on.
[00:57:49] You already got the fucking chiefs.
[00:57:51] Stop beating us down with the blues.
[00:57:53] Um, and, uh, we're going to, uh, wherever you're listening to the show, uh, like a download,
[00:57:59] a positive review subscription, all that stuff helps a little podcast that could for Tim
[00:58:04] and Dan.
[00:58:05] I'm Chris.
[00:58:05] We are the uncle puckers and we'll see you when we see.
[00:58:08] Puggies out.
[00:58:12] Valaket.
[00:58:12] Valaket.
[00:58:13] Enjoy Nashville.
[00:58:13] Valaket.
[00:58:14] You fucking pussy.
[00:58:16] Okay.
[00:58:16] That's it.
[00:58:17] No?
[00:58:18] I said it.
[00:58:18] I said it.