Pool Outlook for New Jersey

I don't think that the value of Taylor Hall to this New Jersey Devils team could be overstated, especially after taking home the Hart Trophy in last year's awards show.  Hall was huge in getting the Devils into the playoffs last year and when he went down with his knee injury this year, the good start that the Devils got off to was nothing more than a vague memory in the overall scheme of things, as the Devils finished 29th in the overall standings, 15th in the Eastern Conference.

For a lot of teams, losing their superstar leader is a hurdle that is left to the team's depth to make up for and this team, their depth is still fairly young and not quite up to speed for the rigors of the everyday grind in the NHL, especially when the opposition finally knows who you are.  There's no doubt that players like Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt or Will Butcher were now on other team's radar and their numbers certainly reflected that.

Still though, the Devils are still in the midst of a rebulding situation and their playoff run a year ago was a very positive reflection on the direction the team is going, albeit happened a little too early for some.  Nevertheless, the team is still going in the right direction and they will be an interesting case study for the 2019 season ahead, especially if they can get Hall back up to speed and 100% healthy again.

Given the direction that this team is going in, one may have assumed that this spot would have been reserved for Hall or Hischier, but an injury and a bit of a sophomore slump saw to it that it wasn't going to be the case, rather Kyle Palmieri had himself a decent season and led the Devils in pool scoring this year.  Palmieri finished 135th overall in scoring in the pool, scoring 27 goals and 50 points in 74 games played with the team and it also earned him an All-Star appearance, as an injury replacement for Hall.

The Devils didn't have a lot of scoring depth worthy of the hockey pool this season and that certainly led to their lack of wins and their placement, 29th overall in the league.  Five more forwards, including Nico Hischier, Travis Zajac, Taylor Hall, Blake Coleman and Jesper Bratt were all qualified enough to be in the top 200 in forward scoring, while three defensemen qualified for the top 100 at their position: Damon Severson, Will Butcher and Andy Greene.  Injuries and inconsistency didn't help the Devils in the crease this season, plus they dealt away their most reliable goalie at the deadline, Keith Kinkaid, as he was on an expiring contract and they wanted to get the assets for him.

What I Said Last Year, At This Time...

With so many emerging rookies on the Devils roster in the 2018 season, it does make me weary about getting too high on them in the 2019 season. Sure, Taylor Hall and Keith Kinkaid did a lot of the heavy lifting in New Jersey this past season, but you can't turn away from the freshman contributions that they had as well. The sophomore curse can be a real thing and if any combination of their top rookies fall into that trap next season, they could be treading in some troubled waters next year. This Devils team could vie for a wild card spot next year, all things being equal, but I can also see them have a season of regression, only to rev the engines for 2020.

Indeed, there was a regression in there and as it has been touched on a lot already in this post, the injury to Taylor Hall was a huge reason for the team's fall from their playoff positioning the year before, but the sophomore seasons for a number of key players in Jersey didn't help either.  No one was likely going to predict that the fall was going to be as far as it was, but you just can't take into consideration the injury situation, no matter how injury prone Hall might be.

How did my intriguing or breakout player fare?

When Will Butcher made the scene in the 2018 season, he came out with a pretty big bang of 44 points in 81 games and there was a significant drop off in 2019, going down to 30 points in 78 games, but the Devils power play wasn't as dangerous and teams knew that the Devils had new young players to key in on during certain situations.  It will be Butcher's goal next year to overcome those match-ups and bring his totals back up.

2020 Pool Outlook

Forwards	Cap	Defense	Cap	Goalies	Cap
Taylor Hall	6.000	Andy Greene	5.000	Cory Schneider	6.000
Travis Zajac	5.750	Sami Vatanen	4.875	Mackenzie Blackwood	0.698
Kyle Palmieri	4.650	Damon Severson	4.167
Miles Wood	2.750	Steven Santini	1.417
Blake Coleman	1.800	Jeremy Davies	0.925
Nico Hischier	0.925	Colton White	0.728
Joey Anderson	0.925	Brian Strait	0.675
Michael McLeod	0.894
Brett Seney	0.758
Jesper Bratt	0.749
Nathan Bastian	0.728
Kevin Rooney	0.700

When it comes to the hockey pool draft, how excited are you going to be to take any New Jersey Devils?  Seven of their eight pool worthy players are signed on for next season already, which is a pretty good sign and then they would need some more depth to help their goalies get back into the hockey pool picture.  This will be an interesting summer for this team.

Free Agency and the Salary Cap

Currently, I have a 21-man roster above coming in well-below the salary cap floor and that includes their buyouts and recapture penalty, still needing $7.97 million to climb into the safe zone of the salary cap.  I can't see there being much of an issue getting up there, but they'll have to make it all work in the end.

Butcher is the only pool worthy player off the roster that needs to be signed and he's still young and should be qualified for restricted free agency, as soon as possible.   He'll likely command a decent pay raise, but it won't push them over the floor just yet.  Pavel Zacha and John Quenneville are also RFA roster players in need of deals this summer, while the UFA list is really unimpressive.

The Devils finished the season with 16 rookies or sophomores on their scoring list, meaning they all saw some time at one point or another in the 2019 season, so they tapped a lot of their talent to play and it didn't leave them with much we haven't seen just yet.  With that being said, it's somewhat difficult to find who will be stepping up as the guy next season, the one to watch, as we've seen a few of them and... meh!  Forward Michael McLeod has probably been mentioned here in a season previous and he'll still have his rookie status, only playing in 21 games this past season, he could get a full-time gig in 2020, if he applies himself to it.

Needs at the 2019 Entry Draft

Well, the New Jersey Devils lucked right out again and moved up two spots in the draft lottery, winning it all and getting the 1st overall selection for the 2nd time in three years.  The scouts have been fairly unanimous throughout the whole season, as Jack Hughes has been the top prospect for the entire season and is the favourite to be the guy taken 1st overall, with the Devils winning the chance to get him.  I can't see the Devils raising eyebrows, albeit correctly, when they selected Nico Hischier a couple of years ago, but the addition of another top player is exciting for this club.

The Devils are poised to have three 1st overall selections in their lineup at the start of the 2020 season, assuming Hall can get healthy and they don't trade the pick away.  Health has to be the biggest concern for this team moving forward, as they have invested a lot into Hall and keeping their top players healthy, including their goalies, will be key to a return to the playoffs.  Most of their kids will be another year older and could be poised to breakout, but it still feels like it is a bit of a long gamble, but certainly the risks and rewards are equally high.  New Jersey can return to the competitive balance in 2020, but things have to fall in line for them, but you can say that for just about anyone nowadays.

Evening Preview (Apr 1)

The end of the tunnel is beginning to show some light and the NHL regular season is finally coming to a close this coming weekend.  We begin the last week of the season with eight games on the schedule and only a little bit to play for, by the look of things.

The race for 2nd place is alive and well, as the duo of Kristy & Don jumped up there with a monster week and Stacey M.'s team is probably still dizzy, wondering who or what just rushed past them last week.  Her team better get their asses in gear if they want the bigger prize.  Stacey's team does have a slight advantage in projected games this week, but will it pay off?

Grant, Jesse and Tony will all battle it out for 4th place and I'm sure all three teams are hoping that they all have really big weeks to not only separate themselves from the other two, but to possibly catch 3rd place, but it will take another one of those record weeks, one would think.

Let's not forget about last place... both Derek B. and Scott are fighting tooth and nail to sleep down in the basement all summer long.  Hey, it's much cooler and more comfortable in that summer heat.  That's got to be rather enticing.

Pheonix Copley (Brian) versus Roberto Luongo (John P.) 
The Washington Capitals need a win and some help, if they are going to secure their Metro Division title tonight, as they will need the Islanders to lose in regulation for that to occur.  Both games go early, so we'll know before we head to bed tonight whether or not they'll have the top spot there.

Brian and John P. get starts in this one, as these two go toe-to-toe.  John's team trails Brian's by 6 points in the overall standings and it is the last gasp to try and work their way up the standings before we close up shop for the year.  There must be a little bit of pride in there somewhere.  After a quick review of the rest of the games... this is the hockey pool game of the night!

Henrik Lundqvist (Scott) versus Mackenzie Blackwood (N/A)
Scott gets a shot at passing Derek B. using a single goalie, as if to say it was really that easy.  Henrik Lundqvist has been tapped to go for the Rangers, when they head to the swamp to take on the Devils, where he'll face the rookie keeper, Mackenzie Blackwood, who has no pool ownership this season.  This game doesn't carry very much value to the overall scope of things, as the Rangers are 7 points up on the Devils in the standings and this swing won't affect the draft lottery odds very much, if at all.

The New Jersey Devils are expecting to be without forward Kyle Palmieri tonight, due to a lower-body injury.  He's considered to be day-to-day right now, but there won't be any rush to get him back, if only to possibly pad his numbers, if possible.  This will be a missed skater game for Brenda & Seward.

Frederik Andersen (Wilton) versus Robin Lehner (Chelsea)
The Toronto Maple Leafs can claim their spot in the playoffs tonight with a point against the New York Islanders tonight, but that will be far from an easy task, because the Islanders are still in the race for the Metro Division title, if they can put 2 points up from a win.

Wilton's team leads the group of teams vying for a top 10 spot, sitting in 9th and is only 11 points clear of 13th, so his team is hoping that it doesn't fall out, because the fall can be quick and painful, if he isn't getting the participation he needs to hold on.  Chelsea, on the other hand, also gets a start, but is looking to fend off the possibility of dropping to 23rd before it is all said and done, so she'd like those 2 points too.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Dale C.) versus Craig Anderson (Mike)
The 1992 expansion cousins go head-to-head in a meaningless game, but it doesn't look like the Lightning are taking tonight off or at least their number one goalie doesn't seem to be taking the night off.  Dale C. and Mike are getting starts tonight in this game, which heavily favours the visitors, if they are not going to be resting anyone.  Dale's team is eyeing up the top 10, 4 points back, while Mike's team fell out of the top 20 and starts the night 4 points back of 20th.  Strange parallels at different points in the standings.

Lightning backup goalie Louis Domingue will not be dressing tonight, due to a lower-body injury.  You could argue whether or not this was a scheduled start for him, given the opponent, but he's unable to go, so Eric might have missed out on a chance at some extra minutes tonight.  His team has the tie-breaker on Dale's team for 11th, but won't get the start.

Philipp Grubauer (Jesse) versus Jordan Binnington (N/A)
The Colorado Avalanche could win themselves some breathing room in the wild card race tonight, as they open up the final week with only a 1-point lead over the Coyotes for the last spot in the west, but they get the tough task of the St. Louis Blues tonight.  The Avs have been running pretty confidently with Philipp Grubauer in net of late and he'll go again tonight, by the look of things, so that means Jesse's team gets that key start in his last gasp chase for 3rd place.

Connor Hellebuyck (Jeremy) versus Corey Crawford (N/A)
The Jets are still vying for top spot in the Central Division and they can go clear of the Predators with at least a point, but preferably 2 points, from the Blackhawks tonight in Chicago.  The Jets are not taking any chances, wanting to take on Dallas, rather than St. Louis in the opening round, so they will go back to Connor Hellebuyck tonight in a battle of number ones, but where only the visitors have the pool selected goalie. 

Does Jeremy have anything left to play for?  18 points back of 18th... 16 points clear of 20th... not really, eh!

Mikko Koskinen (Tony) versus Malcolm Subban (N/A)
The Edmonton Oilers can officially be eliminated from playoff contention if the Avalanche get at least a point tonight against the Blues and they will be scoreboard watching a little bit in Vegas, as they try to help their own cause as much as they can against the Golden Knights, but hopes have to be awfully low at this point.  Tony is hoping that the Oilers still have a little bit of fight left in their game, since he has their starting goalie and dreams of some money back in this hockey pool, but like the Oilers, the odds are long for any return this year, but it's not over until it's over.

David Rittich (Ryan) versus Jonathan Quick (Brenda & Seward)
The Calgary Flames clinched top spot in the division and the conference last night in San Jose, so they will get onto resting some players ahead of the final week of the season, given that it's only the Kings tonight and their B team should be able to polish off a W on back-to-back nights.  David Rittich will get the nod for the resting Flames, while Jonathan Quick should be tapped for the Kings tonight, giving Ryan and Brenda & Seward starts.  Ryan's team starting in 13th, the duo chasing Chelsea's team for 22nd, not a lot to go with here.

The pool scratches for Calgary appear to be as follows: Mark Giordano, Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk, T.J. Brodie and Noah Hanifin... which means that Derek B., Grant, Troy, Wes and Brian will all miss a game and the possibility of more in this last week.  I hope they aren't hoping for too much more this season.

Goalie Announcements (Mar 23)

This week really didn't work in my favour for getting goalie posts up on the blog or even the notes posts, for that matter.  It's just been one of those weeks and if things are picking up in the office, like they have been, then I probably won't be getting as much up there in the last couple weeks of the season either, so don't come expecting too much.

Are there any races worth writing about?  The 2nd-3rd-4th and now 5th place race?  Stacey M. has opened her gap down to 3rd place to 5 points, as Grant has lost a bit of ground, but pulled 2 points away from Kristy & Don in 4th, but Jesse's team is making a late charge and sits in 5th, 8 points back of 4th and 18 points back of 3rd.  It's a long shot, but still there.

14 points separates 7th to 14th in the standings, as Wes holds down the 7th place spot and is only 4 points up on Neil's 8th place team.  This is a good race, which holds four top 10 spots in its grasp and a top 10 spot this year is a pretty good accomplishment.  That's not a bad race to watch.

Otherwise, it's the weekly scoring races, where Jesse's team is charging at 27 points at the start of play today, with three teams only 3 points back to start.  Mike's team currently holds the Basement Dweller spot, but 4 points has him within five teams, so that race is long from over.

And of course, it's my first goalie post since Tuesday and I get a day with 14 games on the schedule, with a couple of early morning/afternoon starts, so it's time to put on my best guess helmet and get to work.

Darcy Kuemper (Neil) versus Mackenzie Blackwood (N/A)
One of the early starts is confirmed this morning and Neil gets the only pool start between the Coyotes and the Devils in the swamp.  Darcy Kuemper looks to lift the Coyotes back into a wild card spot with 2 points this afternoon, starting play only 1 point out.  Neil wants to jump up to 7th place, if he can and Kuemper will help guide the way here with a clutch win.  The Devils are getting a bunch of injured bodies back today, so the test will be tough.

Robin Lehner (Chelsea) versus Carter Hart (Jeremy)
Only Carter Hart has been confirmed for the other early afternoon game today, when the Islanders take on the Flyers, so it was a best guess to say that Robin Lehner would be on the other side.  Jeremy's team has been in the hunt for the Mover & Shaker all week and he gets the first of two starts with this afternoon game, as his team tries to salvage something out of this season, as meaningless to his wallet as it could be.

Corey Crawford (N/A) versus Semyon Varlamov (Wilton)
There was no news about goalies in the Chicago/Colorado game, which is another afternoon start today, but not quite as early as the first two.  The Avalanche still have designs on the playoffs this year, 1 point back, and the Blackhawks are only 5 points back, but they have to climb over three teams to get in, including the Avs, so that will be tough on them, but it does make for a huge game for both teams.  I would imagine that this goalie match-up would be what we're looking for.

Craig Anderson (Mike) versus Mikko Koskinen (Tony)
Nothing 100% confirmed for the Senators and the Oilers this afternoon in Edmonton, but it did sound like Ottawa was leaning towards Craig Anderson, which is as close as we're going to get without confirmation.  That's good enough for me!  Mike needs the points and he's hoping for a huge spoiler game in Edmonton tonight for those 2 points, while the Oilers are clinging to the narrowest of hopes, 6 points out of playoff spot and they will have to run with Mikko Koskinen, you'd think... right?

Pekka Rinne (John P.) versus Connor Hellebuyck (Jeremy)
Nothing 100% confirmed, but look at these two teams... Nashville and Winnipeg?  Top two teams in the Central, playing for home-ice in the 2nd round of the playoffs, assuming that they get past their opening round opponents, so they should be going with their number ones tonight in Winnipeg.  I'm sure John and Jeremy are thinking the exact same thing.

Alexandar Georgiev (N/A) versus Frederik Andersen (Wilton)
Only one hockey pool start in Toronto, when the New York Rangers take on the Maple Leafs.  Wilton's team gets another start from Frederik Andersen, as his team looks to make up some of those gains he's had since acquiring Andersen at the Waiver Draft.  His team was up to 8th place at one point, but has dropped down to 12th this week and starts the day 8 points back of 8th place and only 3 points clear of the basement.  Big game for him tonight.

Carter Hutton (Wes) versus Carey Price (Stacey M.)
The Montreal Canadiens are looking to hold onto their playoff spot tonight with a win over the Buffalo Sabres and/or some help elsewhere.  The goalie match-up is two pool teams getting the first of two starts tonight, as Wes' 7th place team will get a start from Carter Hutton, while Stacey M.'s 2nd place team gets a start from Carey Price.  Wes' team is only 6 points clear of the basement, while Stacey's team is 6 points back of the Mover & Shaker, not a bad coincidence, I guess.

Jaroslav Halak (Stacey M.) versus Sam Montembeault (N/A)
Stacey's second start of the night comes immediately in this post, as her Boston goalie has been tapped for the start tonight in Florida, when the Bruins take on the Panthers.  The Bruins are on the verge of punching their ticket into the playoffs and I think Jaroslav Halak and company are ready to get that job done tonight against a lesser team in the Panthers, who are running with their rookie keeper once again.

Devan Dubnyk (Wes) versus Petr Mrazek (Stacey C.)
This game is completely confirmed in the morning, as the Wild will travel to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes.  Devan Dubnyk has been tapped to go on back-to-back nights, coming off a win against the Capitals and lifting the Wild into that last wild card spot before the start of play today.  Wes looks to build on his gap from 7th to 8th with this start, while Stacey C. gets a start from Petr Mrazek and the home side, as the Hurricanes look to solidify their spot in the playoffs and Stacey's team starts 7 points back of the Mover & Shaker, looking to close that gap.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Dale C.) versus Jordan Binnington (N/A)
The Blues have confirmed their rookie wonder goalie as the starter already today, but the Lightning, who don't have a whole lot to play for are likely to keep their number one guy sharp with a start for Andrei Vasilevskiy.  The Russian hasn't had the biggest workload this season, thanks to injuries earlier in the year, so they're not too worried about burning him out just yet.

Matt Murray (Scott) versus Anton Khudobin (Grant)
The Dallas Stars have confirmed that they will be going with Anton Khudobin tonight with the Pittsburgh Penguins in town, which is good news for Grant, as his team is chasing a team with two starts already on this post and his team is getting the short end of the stick, it would seem.  Dallas has a little bit of breathing room with their wild card spot, but they're in tough against a Penguins team that has been running pretty hot and will likely go with their number one, although that hasn't been confirmed.

David Rittich (Ryan) versus Jacob Markstrom (Chelsea)
If the Canucks were to make the playoffs, which is a long shot, at best, their likely opening round opponent would be the Flames.  In order to get there, they'll have to go through the Flames, which has been a favourable match-up for them this season, but 5 points and four teams to climb over, that's very improbable.  No confirmed goalies at the time of the publish button being hit, so we're going with the top dogs in this one.  There will definitely be some fight in this game, from both sides.

Jimmy Howard (Tony) versus Malcolm Subban (N/A)
I missed Jimmy Howard's new contract extension, giving him a 1-year deal with some incentives (35+ contract) this week and he'll get back to the net for the Detroit Red Wings, as they head into Vegas for a match-up against the Golden Knights.  Tony's team is in the running for the Mover & Shaker yet again, only 2 points back of the lead and I don't think he'll be leaning on Howard for those 2 points in Vegas, but it would be a nice surprise.  Assuming, not confirmed, that Marc-Andre Fleury still isn't ready to go from his injury, we'll see Malcolm Subban in net tonight.

Ryan Miller (N/A) versus Jack Campbell (N/A)
The Ducks played last night and the Kings are cycling their goalies, so this is my best guess for the late, late game, which is somewhat of a moot guess.  The Ducks seem rather likely to go this way, but the Kings could start Jonathan Quick instead, but there really is no value in it.  Brenda & Seward may disagree though... there's value!