2011-2012 New Jersey Devils Season Preview Part 2- The Defensemen
by Kevin Sellathamby on Sep 20, 2011 12:01 PM EDT
in Devils Issues, Views & Analysis
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PrintDespite Martin Brodeur winning multiple Vezina trophies, putting up great numbers and breaking several NHL records post lockout, the cast in front of him has slowly been getting worse and worse. The Devils lost many great defensemen post lockout- Scott Stevens and Ken Danyeko to retirement, while Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski and Paul Martin to free agency.
While those guys were leaving, the Devils had to find someone who could lead the defense in the coming years. A few years back, names like Matt Corrente and Tyler Eckford popped up as some of the potential studs in the system, however neither really panned out- Corrente looks more like an average NHL defenseman than a top defenseman, while Eckford never got much of a chance, and now finds himself in the Phoenix Coyotes system.
Now however, through the draft, the Devils have managed to acquire several excellent defensive prospects. Adam Larsson, Jon Merrill and Alexander Urbom highlight these additions. While some aren't expected to make an impact right now- it's more of a testament to the team's defensive depth. As going into this season, they have several capable NHL defensemen as well as a few young defensemen who could potentially be part of the Devils down the road.
Henrik Tallinder
Going into last season, the question was whether or not Tallinder could do what Lou Lamoriello brought the big Swede in to do- replace the big minutes on the blue line left by the departing Paul Martin. While it did take him a while to adjust, Tallinder was one of the team’s more important players in the second half run. He’s not going to be used in nearly as much of an offensive role, but he should provide a decent option to face top opposition. Durability is not an issue at all with Tallinder- he played in all 82 games.
Role: First Pairing Defenseman
Anton Volchenkov
Like Tallinder, Volchenkov was brought in last season- however, he didn’t have the same kind of year Tallinder did. Volchenkov missed most of the season with facial, neck and leg injuries as well as some games due to personal injuries and suspension. When healthy, he will make his Sacagaweas by adding a physical dimension to the team, as well as a guy who can take lots of defensive zone starts against top competition. He’ll be the guy that shuts down guys like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Claude Giroux.
Role: First/Second Pairing Defenseman
Andy Greene
Despite having a terrible season, Andy Greene was re-signed by the Devils to a 4 year deal this off-season. Greene struggled last season, however it had a lot more to do with having to constantly shuffle defensive partners, ending up being paired with defensive liability Anssi Salmela. Greene is a very good bounceback candidate- he should have a better season if he receives regular minutes with Tallinder, Volchenkov or Salvador. He had his best season (2009-2010) playing mainly with Salvador- so hoping that with the return of his defensive partner Greene might be able to put up 30 points from the blueline again and provide solid defense while eating up big minutes.
Role: First/Second Pairing Defenseman
Salvador is often the forgotten man on the Devils blueline. He missed the entire 2010-11 season after suffering a concussion in the pre-season. His return to health did make Colin White expendable. The question with Salvador is whether or not he can return to game form. He hasn’t played a game in nearly a year- he’ll need to show whether he can still be serviceable- which is all the Devils need him to be. He adds some veteran experience to the team as well.
Role: Second/Third Pairing Defenseman
Mark Fayne
Fayne had an up and down season. While he didn’t play well in the latter stages of the John MacLean era, he was able to prove that he can offer something at the NHL level when Jacques Lemaire took over. While he was able to be good enough that Lemaire was confident enough to use him in a more important role. Fayne has proven he can be an NHLer. The problem is, where does he play? Does he make it into the top 4 despite Bryce Salvador’s return? Can he deal with the eventual push of Adam Larsson and Alexander Urbom? Those are the questions he does have to face- however he should be fine going into training camp.
Role: First/Second/Third pairing defenseman- it’s not really a knock against Fayne- but really, I have no clue where DeBoer will use him.
Matt Taormina
Taormina only played in 17 games last season, however he managed to prove that he was good enough to stick with the big club. He was one of the best players on the John MacLean coached Devils before suffering a season ending ankle injury. From a lot of what I’ve heard about him at this year’s rookie camp, he’s been quite impressive. He provides the all important offensive defenseman- something the Devils lack. His size might be an issue to some however, he does lack the size many Devils defensemen have- namely the competitors for that 6/7 defenseman spot like Larsson, Corrente, Fraser and Urbom.
Role: Third pairing defenseman/power play specialist.
Matt Corrente
While many feel Corrente might be a bust, he has proven he can stick in an NHL role. His biggest concern would be injuries- he missed a lot of last season with a shoulder injury. Health will be a concern if he wants to make the team- an injury here or there could potentially mean that he could lose his spot to someone else. His physical game should be something that the Devils can use. He should be one of the guys who makes the team.
Role: Third pairing/7th defenseman
Mark Fraser
Like Corrente, Fraser did miss some of the season with a hand injury. He didn’t see a lot of action in the second half of the season, as Jacques Lemaire felt Anssi Salmela was better. Fraser should have a chip on his shoulder- and with a lot more competition around, he knows this camp is make or break.
Role: 6th/7th defenseman
Leach’s role won’t be on the big squad, but rather on the Albany Devils. He’ll pretty much spend all his time there, and won’t be part of the big club unless they’re down a defenseman and in dire need of one, like last year when White and Volchenkov were injured at the end of the season.
Role: AHL defenseman/dire Emergency Call-Up
Harrold was an odd signing- he hasn’t accomplished a lot over the last few seasons as an LA King. In fact, here’s what Kings blogger The Royal Half had to say about Harrold signing with the Devils.
Yep, he’s not really going to do much if he makes the team.
Role: 7th defenseman/AHL Defenseman
Stralman was one of the camp invites- he’s wildly inconsistent, however he does have NHL experience- which might work in his favour. However, I do feel he will be cut from the Devils- there’s too much competition, and most of the competition could feature defensemen who should be part of the Devils down the road.
Role: 7th defenseman/AHL defenseman/not on the team
Alexander Urbom
Urbom did not play in that many NHL games last season, however he spent most of the year in the AHL- which was good seeing as he still had one more slide year left on his entry level contract. Urbom will burn a year on his contract regardless of whether or not he plays with the big team. He is highly regarded by the organization, so he should get a fair amount of chances. He does have some pretty stiff competition- he should make the team if he impresses. If not, he should see some more time in the AHL.
Role: 5th/6th/7th defenseman/AHL defenseman
Brandon Burlon, Eric Gelinas and Joe Sova
Rather than looking at each of these three defenders individually, I've grouped the three together just because they're all quite similar in the sense that 2011-2012 will be their first pro season. Sova was signed as an undrafted free agent from college, while Burlon decided to go pro and Gelinas finished off his junior career with a memorial cup win with the Saint John Sea Dogs. While they are making their debut as pro hockey players with the Albany Devils, there is a chance that one of them can become part of the team, just like Mark Fayne did last season.
Role: AHL defensemen/call ups
Adam Larsson
The Swedish wunderchild drafted 4th overall in the 2011 NHL entry draft should have a chance to stake his claim on a roster spot on the 2011-12 New Jersey Devils. Larsson is one of the most highly rated prospects in the league- and is considered by some as the best defensive prospect in the league, like Corey Pronman did on Hockey prospectus. Larsson has the skill, the question is can he prove that he belongs in the NHL. He has played with grown men in the SEL, but the NHL is a different beast. Larsson's role will likely be different than his role in Skelleftea AIK, where he was often used in a more defensive role. Due to the offensively challenged Devils defensemen, he will see more time in offensive situations and on the power play.
Role: Unknown- too many possibilities.
Overall Strengths: The Devils defensive group features a lot of defenders who are good in their own end. Volchenkov and Salvador are effective shutdown defensemen, while Tallinder’s biggest strength is usually his reliable play in his own end. The Devils defensive group also features a lot of big minute players- Tallinder and Greene both averaged around 22 minutes a game last season, while if Volchenkov is healthy he too can average over 20 minutes a game as well. Adam Larsson has the potential to be a big minute guy as well assuming he is part of the big club this season. Depth, which was sort of an issue last year, will not be nearly as big an issue this year thanks to the emergence of several young defensemen, as well as some AHL depth with the Peter Harrold signing and Larsson, Urbom, Gelinas, Burlon and Sova in the system as well.
Overall Weaknesses: Puck moving defensemen. Outside of Greene, they don’t have anyone who’s a proven puck mover. Fayne did prove that he has some offensive skill, but he’s probably not going to be leaned on as much this season with a healthier D corps. Matt Taormina is known for his offensive skill- however, he’s more likely going to be a bigger factor on the power play rather than at even strength unless he impresses enough to crack the top 4. Anton Stralman does have puck moving abilities, but he’s far too inconsistent to be relied on. Adam Larsson is a capable puck mover, but he’s not guaranteed to make the team. Additionally, while they do have good, reliable defensemen, they don't have an exceptional defenseman. They do have high end talent in Larsson and Jon Merrill, however as of now both are prospects and Merrill is ineligible to play due to his lack of a contract. However, the team's depth does effectively neutralize the team's lack of high end talent at the top of the team.
Five [Bold] Predicitions about the Defense for the upcoming season
1) Adam Larsson becomes a full time member of the Devils. He has the talent and the organization is highly impressed with him so far.
2) Anton Volchenkov will score his first goal as a member of the New Jersey Devils.
3) Bryce Salvador will be a difference maker this season for the Devils on the blue line- especially for one Andy Greene.
4) A Defenseman will be traded during the regular season.
5) The Devils will have two defensemen who will record over 30 points this season.
Final Thoughts
The Devils defense wasn't great last season largely because of injuries, however this year won't be the same. They have capable veterans as well as excellent youngsters. While it will be a while before Larsson, Merrill and Urbom are regulars in the NHL, the group that Lou Lamoriello has put together is good enough. On paper it might not be as good as say, Nashville or Boston's defense, but they should be able to prevent shots from getting through and help the Devils with maintaining a positive goal differential this season.
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Great article – though I do have a question based on your predictions:
Who gets traded from our defense this year by the deadline? Salvador to a team who needs a veteran presence? Corrente (if someone wants him)? One of our prospects?
I completely agree that there will be trade coming involving the blueline, but I can’t decide who I woud be willing to see go not knowing what we would get in return, what the production is like, and where we will be at that point in the season. With all of these unknowns it is still fun to speculate since we know Lou will be working some magic as always, and I’d like to pick your brain on it a bit more…
by SatanicStickholders on Sep 20, 2011 12:53 PM EDT reply actions
Nice overview.
On paper it might not be as good as say, Nashville or Boston’s defense, but they should be able to prevent shots from getting through and help the Devils with maintaining a positive goal differential this season
I think I’d take the Devils defense over both of these defenses. For Nashville, Weber and Suter are great, no question. But who are their next 4 D? It’s a mess. Boston? Same deal, only worse, Chara, Seidenberg, then Corvo, who’s not very good, Boychuk, who’s not very good, and it doesn’t get any better on the third pairing. NJ has depth where these teams don’t.
I do have to question your predictions though – I think Salvador will play, but I think he won’t be particularly good. I also think Larsson will play, but not initially. I’m not sure a defenseman will be traded, but that seems like a decent bet any year. I do think that there will be a lot more points by D men this year – we can see DeBoer is actually working with only 4 forwards on the PP instead of the usual 5.
Driving Play - The Blog with Three First Lines
Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second. You actually just said I whole buch of things with which I agree. Now I feel weird.
Ok, I don’t agree with you about not taking Nashville’s D over ours (and I mean their NHL D, not necessarily their NHL D and their prospects, as I don’t know enough about the prospects in their system). But let’s not focus on that.
Instead, let’s celebrate the fact that I agree with you on (1) Salvador won’t be very good; (2) Larsson won’t play initially; (3) I’m not sure a defenseman will be traded, but only because I think that, for some reason, Lou is averse to the idea — not because we shouldn’t (we certainly should; and (4) we will have significantly more points from the D this year.
by Dr. Witticism on Sep 20, 2011 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I think I’d take the Devils defense over both of these defenses. For Nashville, Weber and Suter are great, no question. But who are their next 4 D? It’s a mess. Boston? Same deal, only worse, Chara, Seidenberg, then Corvo, who’s not very good, Boychuk, who’s not very good, and it doesn’t get any better on the third pairing. NJ has depth where these teams don’t.
depth wins, depth wins &… depth wins
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 20, 2011 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions
2 Matts over 2 Marks
Its a huge clusterf*8k after the 4 of Greene, Tallinder, A train and Bryce ( if healthy). D spots 5-8 are really up for anybody who gets the chance and runs with it as Deboer probably has developed some favorites but really can’t know until he sees these guys under fire firsthand.
My hope is Matt Taormina and Matt Corrente get that 1st chance over guys like Fayne and Fraser. I really enjoy Tao’s game and the thing that impresses me most is he seems to have great vision and Corrente has been disappointing but mainly because of injuries. I like his game because of his aggressiveness and physical play. I think if given a prolonged chance he’ll become a nice NHL’er as 2nd or 3rd pairing. There is also the factor of the top 2 physical D men Atrain and Bryce miss some or significant time due to injury due to the nature of their style and Atrains ability to play 82.
Its not that I don’t like Fayne or what hes done but I think what you saw is what your going to get which isn’t terrible but hes going to have to be real steady to hold off the charges to keep his spot. Fraser .well what can U say hes Colin White on a bad day. the only upside is he’ll show up in a fight but lacks any real ability on his skates.
After the top 4 I hope Larrsson( to start), Tao, Corrente stay in NJ and maybe Fayne or Urbom if they keep 8
Corrente over Fayne? I can understand some of your points here, but I have to disagree on this. Fayne has actual, tangible potential on our team, whereas Corrente has peaked and is not going to get any better, nor will he provide what Fayne can and will provide in the future.
I’m all for Tao and Larsson on the big squad too, but that may be more wishful thinking as a fan than a good decision coming from a head coach in the NHL like DeBoer.
by SatanicStickholders on Sep 20, 2011 1:41 PM EDT reply actions
Yeah and again its not that I think Fayne is a bad player or Corrente is a better player at this point.
I’m looking down the road where Bryce is either unable to complete this season or will have played his last game @ 2.9M per for the Devs. There is going to be a void of toughness on the Devs blueline that I think Corrente can fill. One thing I always watch in a new guy is his feet when playing and his balance and then you see what kind of handle the guy has in full flight w/ puck. I’m just not that impressed with either in Fayne. Corrente is the better skater and he does have 2 things , good explosiveness or a quick burst and great balance. those are 2 of the assets U need for being a big hitter the 3rd being great timing. I just think looking at the skillsets from the current group this year and next that Fayne will be easier to replace with the next group coming.
Lets face it Fayne benifitted from playing w/ Tallinder and if AL makes team that pairing of AL and Tallinder might get a look
i don’t have any idea how someone could watch corrente and fayne play and come away thinking that corrente is a better skater. corrente is a poor skater and fayne is not. either that or corrente just reads the play very poorly, because he was caught on his heels far too often.
Driving Play - The Blog with Three First Lines
Holy crap, I just agreed with two of your posts in a row.
In homage to the recent rerelease of The Lion King, I will now sing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”
Sure, it might be going too far, but at least it makes for a good, if corny, joke.
by Dr. Witticism on Sep 20, 2011 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m with Triumph here. Anytime I’ve seen Corrente play, it seemed like he was surprised that he was playing hockey all of a sudden. I’m not saying I haven’t seen him do a few good things here or there (crisp pass, finishing a check), but for the most part Fayne is a much better choice in my eyes, both short and long-term.
by SatanicStickholders on Sep 20, 2011 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions
One more, I just didn’t how to say this :
he was caught on his heels far too often.
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 20, 2011 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions
know*
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 20, 2011 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions
I never said that- I’m pretty sure I didn’t. I mentioned his role was a bottom pairing defenseman, while I said Fayne could be anywhere in the lineup depending on how DeBoer will use him.
Although Fayne becomes a spare part once Larsson, Merrill and Urbom are on the team.
Hell on Ice/In Lou We Trust/Twitter
That's it. I'm sending you to El Paso to live with your real parents.
by Kevin Sellathamby on Sep 20, 2011 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Me thinks SatanicStickholders’ post is not for you, it’s more a reply to 68devils’ comment.
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 20, 2011 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions
He seems to be hit or miss on the reply button.
There is nothing quite as satisfying as out running security after you've punched out a Flyers fan!
"I was in the moment, and the moment said smack you." - Bruce Willis
Ok but I meant there’s nothing wrong with Kevin’s article there, they’re just arguing about 68devils 1st post… Am I right ?
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 20, 2011 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions
all right sir… I get it now.
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 20, 2011 6:28 PM EDT up reply actions
okay- that seems logical.
Hell on Ice/In Lou We Trust/Twitter
That's it. I'm sending you to El Paso to live with your real parents.
by Kevin Sellathamby on Sep 20, 2011 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Fayne becomes a spare part once Larsson, Merrill and Urbom are on the team.
Not necessarily.
First of all, there’s an assumption that all three pan out. While it is possible, that’s by no means a certainty. What if only two of them demonstrate themselves to be capable NHL defensemen? What if only one of them does? It’s far from a sure thing, especially as two of them have never played a professional minute in North America, and the third bounced between Newark and Albany several times last season.
Second thought: What happens if your scenario of all three kids making it happens…. but one of the veterans suffers a significant injury? Volchenkov is banged up every season, so he’s certainly a prime candidate to be hurt at some point. Perhaps an opening is created by a serious injury, similar to how Bryce Salvador missed all of last season.
Finally, why is it Fayne that is expendable? Andy Greene and Henrik Tallinder both have contracts that can be moved if they continue to play at the level they have in recent years. Each of them likely fetches more on the trade market, too. Then there’s the ability to create more cap space and/or financial savings by dealing a larger contract instead of letting Fayne go.
….
Of course, if Mark Fayne regresses this whole discussion becomes a moot point. If Fayne can maintain his play from the latter part of the 2010-2011 season, however, it is certainly worth thinking about keeping him around and moving someone else.
Couldn’t agree with you more on every point, especially the first. The only evidence we have that points to Merrill being successful is his play in college. I think we all know that there have been tons of players over the years who looked like they had what it takes while in college and then turned out to be complete busts. I think Merrill is very good, but I can honestly say that nobody here has any idea whether he will succeed. More significantly, Urbom has continually underwhelmed, at least according to the standard of “top defensive prospect,” a status that has been given to him by so many. I understand that his appearances last season took place while Maclame was coach and I understand that it was essentially his first NHL play, but I didn’t see any flashes of brilliance. When a player is expected to develop into a top guy I can understand if he doesn’t play all that well when he first gets called up; however, what I can’t understad is how he doesn’t even display any flashes of brilliance to suggest that he has such potential in him. I really haven’t seen that potential surface at all….but maybe I’m missing something?
The only one of those three who is anywhere close to a “sure thing” is Larsson.
I completely agree that Fayne, if he continues his stellar play from the better part of last season, will be a huge asset to this team. He will be an underpaid offensive defenseman who will allow us to dump someone else who earns much more, is significantly older, and who doesn’t have the potential for further improving his game. I sure do hope he pans out and my gut feeling is that he will. He didn’t just play well for ten or so games; he excelled for a length of time significant enough to demonstrate that he is probably the real deal.
Also, just an aside: I can’t believe we signed Volchenkov for six years! He’s a fantastic defenseman, but how in the world can you sign a guy to a six year deal when he has the history of injury that Volchenkov does? I’m sorry, but that’s pure insanity.
by Dr. Witticism on Sep 20, 2011 8:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Volchenkov and the six years
Lou Lamorello has a disturbing habit of giving people too many years on their contracts in the free agency game. Volchenkov is hardly the first example of this — Zubrus and Rolston come to mind, not to mention lesser talents such as Vladimir Malakhov, Dan McGillis, and Andrew Peters. Perhaps it is a trade-off to bring the average annual value down, and perhaps that’s how Lou entices free agents to come to New Jersey.
I would not be surprised if we were very unhappy with the Volchenkov deal in two or three years, especially as it has a no-trade clause attached. His style of play and his injury history make that length of deal a substantial risk.
We might also be unhappy with the length of Andy Greene’s contract around this time in 2013 or 2014…. but that’s a different argument.
I would not be surprised if we were very unhappy with the Volchenkov deal in two or three years, especially as it has a no-trade clause attached. His style of play and his injury history make that length of deal a substantial risk.
no-trades aren’t worth very much, because if the deal goes bad, who’s going to want it? so i don’t even consider that particularly relevant. all you can do is trade that contract for another person’s problem.
volchenkov is still only 29, and when his deal is over, he will be 34. he’ll be the same age as colin white would have been had his deal been completed. whatever – i don’t think it’s that big a deal. the devils don’t have a player like volchenkov in their system at all, and it’s tough to trade for guys like him. i think it’s a fine move.
Driving Play - The Blog with Three First Lines
More significantly, Urbom has continually underwhelmed, at least according to the standard of "top defensive prospect," a status that has been given to him by so many.
how is this possible? urbom isn’t even 21 years old. here’s what he’s done:
played 28 games in a men’s league at age 18
got drafted, came over and put up excellent numbers at age 19 in the WHL
played in the NHL and AHL at age 20
how the hell is this underwhelming? he’s not even 21. he’s the only player picked in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft to have played any NHL games. no one thinks urbom will be a top pairing defenseman, but the devils hadn’t had a D ‘prospect’ (i.e. someone they drafted) turn out well since paul martin. you better believe urbom was our top D prospect last year at camp, and only a tremendous rookie season by jon merrill, and extreme bad/good luck in drafting larsson has changed that.
Driving Play - The Blog with Three First Lines
I just can’t say enough about Taormina. First, I encourage everyone to go to the Devils site and watch the rookie camp scrimmage from a few weeks ago (not the recently posted training camp scrimmage, though you should watch that too). You can see all three periods. What you will notice is that Taormina was by far the best player on the ice — even strides ahead of Larsson. He seemed to dominate every second he was on the ice, and when he had the puck he almost always did something that made me say, “wow!” And make sure you stay for the shootout after the third period because he scored I think six goals in a row, every one of them ridiculously sweet moves worthy of Jordan Eberle or Pavel Datsyuk.
Anyway, I will be really angry if he doesn’t make the team. By all accounts (and from watching that rookie scrimmage with my own eyes) he has been killing it in camp, and if he is playing like he did during his limited time last season, he certainly deserves his shot from the start.
My biggest concern is that DeBoer will feel pressure to put Larsson on the NHL team simply because he is The Great Larsson, The Highly Prized Number Four Pick, etc. I hope that this is not the case and that Larsson’s status as the best and most NHL-ready player in this year’s draft will not affect DeBoer’s view of him. Does anyone else share this concern?
I actually think that Larsson will still need at least one full season to really develop into a dependable NHLer. I know everyone has been saying that he is NHL-ready, but I’ll believe it when I see it. It’s always extremely hard to be NHL-ready right out of the draft, but it’s about ten times harder for a defenseman. There have been a good number of defenseman projected to be NHL-ready from the draft over the years, but players who actually met this expectation have been exceedingly rare. I don’t foresee Larsson being an exception to this trend. Anyone else agree that he probably won’t be ready for the big club just yet? I’m not saying he couldn’t do it, but I am saying that he wouldn’t be very good and would sit most of the game on the bottom pairing. More importantly, if he is at that level, he would be taking a spot from someone who has been developing for longer and is more deserving coughTaorminacough
P,S, If you do watch that scrimmage and it’s your first time, also look out for Joe Whitney. He looked like the second best player out there. I couldn’t have been more impressed with him. After watching it, I literally looked every day to see if we had signed him because I was so high on the kid. When we finally did, I was jumping for joy.
Taormina should dominate that scrimmage for a number of reasons, though.
1: He’s way older than most of the players involved
2: He played in the NHL last year, a lot of the players in that game played in junior or college
3: That game had no systems or anything, and Taormina’s biggest flaws are with his positioning
I’m high on Taormina, but he’s not a lock to make the team. I could definitely see a scenario where Larsson gets 9 games to prove himself, but then Taormina is called up after that.
Driving Play - The Blog with Three First Lines
That’s true, but he dominated with players like Larsson, Fayne, and other players who we know are at a high level. It’s not like everyone there was a scrub but him. You’re right that he should, but you could say that about Fayne, Larsson, and some others. At the end of the day, it was Taormina who stood above the rest — even the other players at his level — and by a huge margin. Oh, a Josefson looked fantastic. But still not as good as Taormina.
by Dr. Witticism on Sep 20, 2011 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Taormina should dominate that scrimmage for a number of reasons
Well,
- he didn’t play a single game since November 2010,
- that was under John MacLean,
- for a total of 17 NHL games.
I mean. that could’ve been way worse than what he should have done during the rookie scrimmage,
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 20, 2011 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions
The most underrated defensive core since the lock-out.
Be glad, I’m speaking about your team boys !
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 20, 2011 5:17 PM EDT reply actions
Once again great article, we’ve been spoiled lately.
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 20, 2011 5:26 PM EDT reply actions
Couldn’t agree more. This preview and the forwards preview posted by Tom yesterday are some of the best articles this site has had in a long time. Keep up the good work everyone!
by Dr. Witticism on Sep 20, 2011 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Does anyone else still find Tallinder's progress amazing/confounding?
I mean, every single one of us gasped every time he was on the ice for at least the first quarter of the season. He wasn’t just bad, he was atrocious. It’s even more incredible when you consider the fact that he looked so awful compared to the rest of the team, which was so terrible already that looking even marginally worse by comparison is a truly incredible feat.
And then, somehow, Tallinder just became the man. He seemed like one of the most consistently good and well-rounded defenseman in the league. He didn’t blow anyone away with his offense, but he could break out, carry the puck, and absolutely shut down guys in his own end. He was the kind of player who you don’t notice because he’s doing everything right, but just not in a flashy way.
One of my coaches once imparted some good wisdom to me: often the best defensemen are the ones you don’t notice because, unlike offense, so much of defense is positioning and setting up something that will eventually develop into a flashy play for someone else a few passes later, and defense in your own end is largely based on stopping plays, not making them. People rarely notice the little things that make a great defenseman, and I can honestly say that Tallinder wasn’t just good last season (once he put the terrible start behind him), but truly great.
Second best defensive defenseman in the league according to gvt last year. And his “bad” start was much more SV% on ice based than anything else, but that’s just my opinion.
he did look poor, but it seemed like every mistake he made ended up in the back of the net, too. but i wasn’t that worried, the guy had 5 years of being very good in buffalo, he’s clearly a solid defenseman.
Driving Play - The Blog with Three First Lines
Pairings
Salvador – Greene
Tallinder – Larsson
Am I the only one that thinks those two pairs need to happen?
Bleed Black & Red
I think our top two pairings are set as long as Salvador is healthy. Fayne should be the 5th defenseman, as a lock, and I think he would only be placed higher position wise otherwise. Tao should end up being a starter by opening day. He is very promising despite the fact that he’s only played in a limited number of games.
Question
Why people dosen’t rec these 2 lastet (great) articles ? We could’ve featured an interesting view of the 2011-2012 Devils team… Instead of sound like bitter fans against the bad Scott Burnside. It’s a quite old post moreover.
Just a thought.
"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"
by Elektrostal_Kid on Sep 21, 2011 11:55 AM EDT reply actions
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