2 D men out already sucks

The Devils announced that Luke Hughes will miss 6-8 weeks with a shoulder injury, thank goodness No Surgery is needed.

Their injuries will NOT derail the Devils season, especially since Luke Hughes will probably be back in early December at the latest! The Devils defense is deep this upcoming season meaning they have pretty good defensemen to take their spots until they come back.

I hope they are fine

Luke is expected to be out 6-8 weeks, which will be 2-4 weeks of the beginning of the season (barring any setbacks). Thankfully, Dougie is healthy and they picked up players to have that defensive depth for this exact scenario.

Made a lot of moves we have depth now at defensive there injuries mean we gonna have bigger guys that hit take there place

No big deal, I’m not worried at all.

Hope Luke Hughes and Nemec are able to play and be healthy from the start this upcoming season. If they are not DeSimone and Hatakka played solid defensively last season and both are physical players. Lets Go Devils!

This is rediculous. Nemec we knew about but what the hell happened to Luke, did he get hurt water skiing? Hopefully it was a known issue that was addressed over the summer and was kept under wraps until now.

I hope Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec are okay.

Mercer reminds me of David Clarkson a little bit. His work effort.. we were so banged up last year, can’t blame home. We need to pat him, we know he plays well with jack and nico. Case closed…

First and foremost, the National Hockey League MUST repair this stringent and unnecessarily strict salary cap regarding flexibility! The NHLPA has regularly been torched since the last lockout by Bettman whose scorched earth policy of negotiating is why EVERY fan base in Canada and the US can't stand him! General Managers must not only have a skill set in talent analysis and acquisition but also must be CPAs juggling their economic resources. In the case of Mercer, a home-grown talent, scouted, drafted, and developed by their organization, perhaps some flexibility from the league as far as contract structure should be fairly allotted making it easier to retain their player. Don't get me started on these Group 2 guys, what recently happened regarding Edmonton being pillaged by St. Louis is ridiculous regardless of compensation!

They are going to sign him without much agita. We really could benefit big time if he pops into top-6 levels next season playing as a winger.

look in a dictionary for the word fleecing....ull find this trade as an example

I predict that the Devils will re-sign Mercer to a bridge deal of 3 years/$4.25 AAV.

Whats a contract for a young defenseman who sucks at defense gona be? Lol

You said the word I was thinking of... "durable". He's a potential 30 goal guy for sure and at least a 20 goal guy. Well liked and as you said, he can be put on any line at any time. The whole team had degraded numbers last year because of the goalie situation combined with D injuries and loss of consistency from players we lost through trades. I think Fitz is a low baller with everyone and we will see how the low ball strategy has worked this year comparing with teams like Toronto that have mega priced players. We have a lot of hope and dreams invested in Markstrom at this point. Not sure if he realizes he's "the Mojo" good luck charm. Bridge deal or long term for Mercer ? I would like to see him locked-in with 6 years at 5.5 but the contract projected for Luke Hughes might be more than they gave Jack. So I think Fitzgerald will try to get Dawson for a deal around 4 - 4.5 million a year on a shorter term to get ready for paying big for Luke.

The Devils can't rely on the cap going up. Luke Hughes' contract is up at the end of the season and his contract will eat up any cap increase and then some. Nemec will be right behind that. Palat's contract will have to come off the books at the end of this season if NJ is going to be able to keep paying the nucleus of the team.

Thanks for keeping us dev fans up to date!😊

While I understand the current cap situation & more than likely this is a bridge deal. However, this is going to cost mucho money for NJ moving forward. I say this because I am a huge believer in Mercer. I truly believe that Mercer is a foundational piece for as we hope this new, consistent winning organization. Coach Keefe is known for his high-powered offense. With a new coach, a defined role, consistent linemates & minutes, Dawson is primed to go off.

You're right about Fitz being great at getting value contracts signed. It would be nice to see a long term deal, but I think he gets bridged. Especially with Luke's new contract coming next summer, and Nemec's the summer after that.

The Habs are a little over the cap at the moment, however the LTIR of Carey Price means they will not have to move players to become compliant. In fact they effectively have 8 million in space to add during the season if they want to. That’s why this trade makes so much sense for Montreal, they didn’t lose cap flexibility while at the same time making a big swing. Kent Hughes has put on a GM masterclass this summer. Olé

No, the Habs did not fleece Columbus. Columbus relieves $8.7M off their salary cap. They will have Harris who will play regular minutes for them and they get rid of a head case that did not want to play in Columbus. It is a win for Columbus. Montreal is taking a gamble on a guy that had issues everywhere he played in the league. It is an educated gamble on the part of Montreal and not a fleecing at all.

Eyyy LETS GO HABS!!!!

No risk for MTL At worst Habs got an early 2nd round pick 2026 and can flip Laine next year with salary retention. At best he fits in and finds his form 35-40 goals

Laine has injury risk and is coming out of player assistance. They took on the full contract, which is a tad pricey for a point a game guy and very pricey with the post player assistance risk. I think Montreal got the best of this one, but not by a lot. If Laine recovers, it's a steal. If Laine becomes young Laine, it's an utter fleecing. But there is enough of a chance that his career goes sideways from all the injuries and whatever put him into player assistance that I wouldn't call it complete highway robbery; not with that cap hit. Jordan Harris is not a bad prospect from what little I have read.

Laine has not had a 30 goal season since 2018-2019 season, not any 30 goal seasons with Columbus and was also a defensive liability. The Blue Jackets were not fleeced.

Harris is actually really underrated, so i can see where CBJ are thinking. They get cap space and a top 4 defenseman

Casey is an excellent prospect, but you referenced his lack of size. His game does need further development on the defensive end. He tends to jump into the rush prematurely at this stage of maturity. He needs a little minor league-level seasoning to develop his defensive instincts and grow into his frame. He should be an excellent defenseman in the mold of Adam Fox. New Jersey should not rush him into the NHL.

And Faber played the last 3 months with fractured ribs. Should have been Rookie of the Year. $8.5M was a steal for him.

Another great video. I didn't realize Casey was a Florida kid! Whatever happens, having another outstanding D-man prospect is a good problem to have. I watched most of his games with Michigan last year and he was an impactful player every time.

metro 1)new jersey,2) rangers3) capitals, Atlantic ,1)Toronto 2)ottawa 3)boston wild cards caralina/ pittsburgh..........gotta love new jersey here, im caps fan so i hated including pittsburgh but whenever you count them out crosby gets it done ugh ,lived that enough lol.

Casey is one of these guys it's so easy to discount and say "we already have two of that guy nwe don't need another" and then you see THAT dangle again and think wow there's only ONE Seamus Casey. Otoh I do think there's siginifcant risk in a defenseman that undersized. Are you getting prime Fox or prime Krug, there's a very big difference there, so IF someone wants him enough to PAY us big time then I'm down with trading him and pushing that risk onto someone else, then we can use those assets to fill our other holes. But if GMs're all hedging their bets on small defenders now then let's find out what we've got!

Casey should be a great player for the Devils! If he plays for them, that is.

Disclaimer: I am fully on team keep Casey so I obviously have an agenda here-- Idk why everyone is so hellbent on Casey being a trade piece. Yea, I get the logic, but it is just as likely that he comes to the NHL on an ELC at a key time when NJ needs talent and doesn't have the cap space. Tampa didn't ship out a guy like Brayden Point just because they were a stacked team going deep in the playoffs and didn't need a young kid that had to grow into an NHL role. They knew he was talented and used his ELC years to their advantage, then signed him to a team friendly bridge deal, then he got his cash. Tampa didn't just ship his ass out because he was a kid and they were looking to make a deep playoff push. Similarly, Bowen Byram wasn't shipped out of Colorado just because he was a kid either. He came into the NHL the year they won the cup with a meager 30 NHL games played(or something like that). Just because a player is young doesn't mean they aren't useful at the NHL level, can't be effective on a team looking to compete for a championship, and effective use of their ELC can play a pivotal role in the roster construction for teams that want to make a roster capable of going deep into the playoffs.

Great video.

I just hope (I hate to compare) he is not Ty Smith 2.0. Apparently his mind and attitude are different. Good thing we will watch him soon in the AHL

Let him cook for a couple years with Utica. Have him dominate. Then when Dillon's contract is up, bring him up.

Great player for the devils What are your thoughts on chuck fletcher and Andy greene being hired

I think when the time comes where Casey is ready to make the jump to the NHL, Siegs will be traded away (if he hasnt been already), regardless of how Siegs been playing. Casey has too many star-potential qualities to trade him off unless it's in a monster deal Fitz cannot say no to. Another option is to move him to the wing in Utica and see how he does in that position. Maybe he acclimates to it, maybe he doesnt, but if he does it would give him another way to the main roster and he would be one hell of a 2-way forward.

Casey is such an interesting piece .. I think he’s going to be a stud and would rather keep him tbh . If we move him it’s gotta be him + for an Askarov . If not that it has to be a top 6 guy .

Id love to see him have like 2 solid years of development in the AHL. Itd be nice to have one of our prospects not rushed out! And id say see where the team is at in 3 years.

RH defensemen that can play both ends are gold in the NHL. Dont often see them playing the left side though. I dont see a spot opening up for him in the next few seasons unless there is injuries with Hamilton, Pesce or Nemec. Casey has the right mind set and is going to turn himself into a great trade piece or force the Devils to move someone they had not planned to next off season.

Devils simply have to dump Siegenthaler. Too long for too much for a player who eas given away by The Caps so they could keep 43 year old Chara on a one year deal. Siegs is just a better version of Bahl and Bahl was dumped straight away. Once Siegenthaler is moved the defense can round out. Casey is a flat out Phil Housley style of player for which when he is ready, Casey should dominate his first day on arrival.

I believe it would be a great addition, Toto this young core that we have, I feel that the Montreal Canadiens system would be a great fit for him in the top 6, definitely agree.. being a true long time Canadiens fan.. as far as the 70's..😮

Hutson for Laine...do it!!!!

Matheson and Anderson straight up!

Brock Faber is a first class, solid, number one defenseman already. The 21 year old came out of college ready to play. He was sixth in the entire NHL in minutes played last year, in between Rasmus Dahlin and Charlie McAvoy. He's their leading penalty killer, he's second on the team in blocked shots and he's the defenseman on the power play. He got paid $8.5 million for 8 years. Luke Hughes at age 20 had almost an identical offensive year to Brock Faber but he's a high risk, out of control, loose cannon who got half his offense on the power play. He Doesn't kill penalties. He can't kill penalties. He was second on his team in giveaways per 60 minutes played, behind only Jack Hughes but Jack is a forward who scored 74 points in 62 games. He played first pair minutes for New Jersey last year and that was one of their problems. He is a powerplay quarterback and offensive dynamo and yet he put up the same 47 points Brock Faber managed. If New Jersey pays this guy as much as Brock Faber, I think they are nuts. Try 7 x 7 and see how it sits, but I fear too much of Hughes on the ice is a bad thing for New Jersey. Faber does everything for Minnesota and Hughes is a power play quarterback, offensive specialist for New Jersey. Hamilton and Pesce should both play ahead of Hughes next year and he will probably look better in a more appropriate slot in the second pair.

CHEVY Chevadaoff could acquire him as well great talent that was chased out of town by the few slugs with no talent in the room?

In reality there is no way Montreal is interested. Doesnt mean they wouldnt take him off the Bluejackets but just 50% 4.4m approx is a big risk for this player for the next 2 yrs. He cant stay healthy. He was made of glass before he went into the NHL program. Secondly how much do you think Gorton/Hughes are going to cough up for him?? Just because they have a big prospect pool and a bunch of draft picks in future doesnt mean they will overpay for a rehabilitation project? Maybe some team is interested but Im willing to bet the interest around the NHL is less than you think. If a trade goes down I would think Columbus fans will be surprised what little they get in return. Its a salary dump with a possible win type of trade.