Not sure if this has been discussed - the Devils travel far less miles than the rest of the league and are probably a bit above the average for back to back games this season.
Have to think that there's an upcoming trade for someone to fill out the top 6, plus one of Sestito/Pesonen sticks it out in Newark til Henrique gets back.
Given the options, that's what makes sense to me.... this team never goes down the route I think it will though.
Not sure if this has been discussed - the Devils travel far less miles than the rest of the league and are probably a bit above the average for back to back games this season.
I always thought mileage was an overrated stat. Once you're on the plane, you're on the plane. None of the Atlantic teams are gonna have a ton of mileage, except maybe Pittsburgh. Flyers, Islanders, Rangers, and Devils are all within a 2 hour DRIVE of one another. Pretty much every road game Vancouver goes on takes that long on a plane.
I'm thinking it's more likely we'll see something like:
X - Zajac - Kovalchuk
Zubrus - Elias - Butler
Tedenby - Josefson - Clarkson
Carter - Gionta - Bernier
Except... yeah, I don't know how this is going to work.
Henrique at that X, and I think it'll be fine. The names aren't scary but they can still get the job done. Butler has a similar skill set to Sykora, that 3rd line has shown chemistry before, and Kovy does Kovy.
I think you'll see Bernier getting a good amount of 3rd line time though when Janssen or Barch play.
I'm thinking it's more likely we'll see something like:
X - Zajac - Kovalchuk
Zubrus - Elias - Butler
Tedenby - Josefson - Clarkson
Carter - Gionta - Bernier
Except... yeah, I don't know how this is going to work.
You know what? I think your right. After practice today DeBoer was talking like Kovy was still a RW like last year. And when Henrique comes back in 2 weeks just pencil him in as a LW on the 1st line.
I always thought mileage was an overrated stat. Once you're on the plane, you're on the plane. None of the Atlantic teams are gonna have a ton of mileage, except maybe Pittsburgh. Flyers, Islanders, Rangers, and Devils are all within a 2 hour DRIVE of one another. Pretty much every road game Vancouver goes on takes that long on a plane.
Yeah but going on a plane isn't the same as just throwing a bag on a bus and driving. You have to go through customs, passports for international travel, etc...and on both ends. It still takes longer and is more of a hassle even when it isn't actually longer. Plus you don't have to book hotels as much and have that hassle when you just go on a bus as opposed to driving.
Looking at today's practice lines, and taking into account that it was without several players who will be in on opening night, it makes absolutely no sense why Barch was brought in, which we pretty much knew from the start
Unless somebody is banged up and needs a night off or we need some toughness in the lineup, Barch may not even see a dozen games
The fact that we could have Barch and Darche on this team at the same time is going to absolutely drive me crazy.
(Both because of the quality of their play and because of the similarities of their names, although I was referring to their names here.)
I feel like we arent giving Darche a fair chance. The guy has proven he could score 10-15 goals a year (I know he is aging, but atleast give him a chance
I feel like we arent giving Darche a fair chance. The guy has proven he could score 10-15 goals a year (I know he is aging, but atleast give him a chance
People definitely aren't giving him a fair shot. He was a very good third liner in 2010-11. He got pretty bad puck luck in 11-12.
