Congratulations to our Holtz homers and Smith haters
dudehimself3
Feels like Fitz took control and wants the top 10 pick to be properly evaluated before we declare him an unredeemable bust.
No complaints if he gets a run of games and a fair shot. Now Ruff needs to resist the urge to bench him after his first perceived mistake.
hotstickywaffle
Glad to see their trying something different on defense, even if that’s not exactly what I would have done
NYDevilsFan
Holtz just placed his titanium nuts on Ruff’s table and said “play me right fucking now”
srof12
Used to pray for times like this
FriedCammalleri23
Luke has an actual partner now!
stanley_g00dspeed
Mostly fine with this, but I think it would be better if Meier and Bratt were on separate lines. They are both great at zone entries and think the lines would be more balanced if they were split up. Love the Holtz/Palat flip so definitely a step in the right direction.
Sisyphus328
This makes me happy. Holtz has been worlds better than Palat thus far
Zestyclose_Estate248
I like these lines. This makes sense
Crumbssss_
Now leave him there for more than one game. Need to see what we have in this kid
omnomnomnium
I really like the idea of Mercer, Toffoli and Holz.
M_Silvers
Can’t be mad at these lines/pairs given the current injury situation. Please start Schmid for some of these next few games. Vanecek has not been good enough to be the clear #1 over Schmid.
frobile00
#FREEHOLTZ
PaddyKaner
Infinitely better than what we’ve been running on offense.
TheWeisGuy
I guess lindy heard everyone whining for holtz. Kinda excited to see how he does
Impossible-Pepper617
Tierney and Smith should only be healthy scratches, and used when someone can’t be called up in time or a player needs to be rested for just a game or two. There isn’t an upside to either. Long term injuries to Jack and Nico should allow the team to get looks at some of our developing prospects, or as a tryout for an enforcer that this team desperately needs. Lindy’s decision making through the start of the season has been very questionable.
Sauronsindexfinger
I like these lines. I approve. Now we will see what Holtz really is. They better leave him on the top 2 lines for a few games too. Not some half a period bullshit. Let him get a little Chemistry let’s see what happens. Maybe he performs great and we either keep him or use him as trade bait. Or he reverts to what the staff seem to think of him. Either way the Devils can move forward.
Kornja81
Honestly, my only complaint is Dougie in Luke together. Luke is a rookie and still tries to do too much, and Dougie has been questionable on defense more times than not this year
standardbluejay
Lindy reads the sub confirmed
Spoonbread
At least now the D-pair that’s too focused on offense will be the one you expect.
And besides having great metrics already this pair can help Luke put more focus on his defensive game without snuffing out the offensive game to do it.
sanbaba
Good gravy boat captains, I hope this ends the parade of Holtz whinging. You guys sound like Rags fans. “But butbut, Laf could have been a star from the getgo, if he’d only played on the 1st line his whole career!” No. He couldn’t. Because he was 18 and unlike the *five* 18-year-olds who have handled it fine in the last two decades, he couldn’t and he didn’t. So now we are here. He’s on a higher line and he’s finally producing, and he’s finally *able to keep up*. Sometimes these things take time, I’m as excited as anyone but don’t literally cry if he gets bumped back down.
Fluffy-Gift-7634
Timo on the left side again..
MC_Hale
What’s the over/under for “breakaways given up by top D pair”?
Rsconklin99
Holy crap the defense has been blended
powatwain
Until we go down 0-1 in the 1st tomorrow night, then Holtz is banished to the 4th line, and D are back together
(Reverse jinx)
That Luke and Hamilton duo has me equally excited and nervous
Devils27-
Ruff on Holtz, don’t get scored on, meanwhile Meier is -11 compared to Holtz at -5. Holtz has one less goal than Meier with way less ice time. Ruff obviously has a little bit of a bias it seems. I’ve liked Holtz so far, I thought he has been competing well on the forecheck, obviously could be better defensively. I think he will be a good top 6 forward on this team after a full season under his belt
SIaaP
Now bring up Nemec and send Smith down
falaris
I am so confused why everyone thinks Fitz ordered Ruff to move Holtz up. Did something come out about that?
It makes sense to try shuffling things up since we didn’t win.
Ruff doesn’t have a hard-on for dicking Holtz over. The fact is that he’s a rookie and he hasn’t been anything close to amazing or special.
There is a huge difference between “kid trying to figure it out at the NHL level and earn a higher spot in the lineup” and “regularly reliable player with multiple seasons under their belt that is struggling/trying to get going” like Palat or Mercer.
So many people here are focused on the micro and want to “DEMOTE THIS PLAYER TO THE 4TH LINE” instead of looking at the long-term vision of the team for the whole season and what we’re trying to accomplish. Of course accountability matters, but it isn’t the only thing that matters – it is only PART of trying to get the best out of the team.
It’s cool that Holtz is now on the second line after scoring some goals lately. But Ruff isn’t wrong that Holtz AND OTHERS were dropping the ball with defensive responsibilities (per his actual, full quote in Novo’s article).
Nothing about these lines suggest any sort of story besides the usual of “We lost last game and haven’t been playing well, so let’s keep trying new things and hopefully get something clicking.”
28 Comments
Congratulations to our Holtz homers and Smith haters
Feels like Fitz took control and wants the top 10 pick to be properly evaluated before we declare him an unredeemable bust.
No complaints if he gets a run of games and a fair shot. Now Ruff needs to resist the urge to bench him after his first perceived mistake.
Glad to see their trying something different on defense, even if that’s not exactly what I would have done
Holtz just placed his titanium nuts on Ruff’s table and said “play me right fucking now”
Used to pray for times like this
Luke has an actual partner now!
Mostly fine with this, but I think it would be better if Meier and Bratt were on separate lines. They are both great at zone entries and think the lines would be more balanced if they were split up. Love the Holtz/Palat flip so definitely a step in the right direction.
This makes me happy. Holtz has been worlds better than Palat thus far
I like these lines. This makes sense
Now leave him there for more than one game. Need to see what we have in this kid
I really like the idea of Mercer, Toffoli and Holz.
Can’t be mad at these lines/pairs given the current injury situation. Please start Schmid for some of these next few games. Vanecek has not been good enough to be the clear #1 over Schmid.
#FREEHOLTZ
Infinitely better than what we’ve been running on offense.
I guess lindy heard everyone whining for holtz. Kinda excited to see how he does
Tierney and Smith should only be healthy scratches, and used when someone can’t be called up in time or a player needs to be rested for just a game or two. There isn’t an upside to either. Long term injuries to Jack and Nico should allow the team to get looks at some of our developing prospects, or as a tryout for an enforcer that this team desperately needs. Lindy’s decision making through the start of the season has been very questionable.
I like these lines. I approve. Now we will see what Holtz really is. They better leave him on the top 2 lines for a few games too. Not some half a period bullshit. Let him get a little Chemistry let’s see what happens. Maybe he performs great and we either keep him or use him as trade bait. Or he reverts to what the staff seem to think of him. Either way the Devils can move forward.
Honestly, my only complaint is Dougie in Luke together. Luke is a rookie and still tries to do too much, and Dougie has been questionable on defense more times than not this year
Lindy reads the sub confirmed
At least now the D-pair that’s too focused on offense will be the one you expect.
And besides having great metrics already this pair can help Luke put more focus on his defensive game without snuffing out the offensive game to do it.
Good gravy boat captains, I hope this ends the parade of Holtz whinging. You guys sound like Rags fans. “But butbut, Laf could have been a star from the getgo, if he’d only played on the 1st line his whole career!” No. He couldn’t. Because he was 18 and unlike the *five* 18-year-olds who have handled it fine in the last two decades, he couldn’t and he didn’t. So now we are here. He’s on a higher line and he’s finally producing, and he’s finally *able to keep up*. Sometimes these things take time, I’m as excited as anyone but don’t literally cry if he gets bumped back down.
Timo on the left side again..
What’s the over/under for “breakaways given up by top D pair”?
Holy crap the defense has been blended
Until we go down 0-1 in the 1st tomorrow night, then Holtz is banished to the 4th line, and D are back together
(Reverse jinx)
That Luke and Hamilton duo has me equally excited and nervous
Ruff on Holtz, don’t get scored on, meanwhile Meier is -11 compared to Holtz at -5. Holtz has one less goal than Meier with way less ice time. Ruff obviously has a little bit of a bias it seems. I’ve liked Holtz so far, I thought he has been competing well on the forecheck, obviously could be better defensively. I think he will be a good top 6 forward on this team after a full season under his belt
Now bring up Nemec and send Smith down
I am so confused why everyone thinks Fitz ordered Ruff to move Holtz up. Did something come out about that?
It makes sense to try shuffling things up since we didn’t win.
Ruff doesn’t have a hard-on for dicking Holtz over. The fact is that he’s a rookie and he hasn’t been anything close to amazing or special.
There is a huge difference between “kid trying to figure it out at the NHL level and earn a higher spot in the lineup” and “regularly reliable player with multiple seasons under their belt that is struggling/trying to get going” like Palat or Mercer.
So many people here are focused on the micro and want to “DEMOTE THIS PLAYER TO THE 4TH LINE” instead of looking at the long-term vision of the team for the whole season and what we’re trying to accomplish. Of course accountability matters, but it isn’t the only thing that matters – it is only PART of trying to get the best out of the team.
It’s cool that Holtz is now on the second line after scoring some goals lately. But Ruff isn’t wrong that Holtz AND OTHERS were dropping the ball with defensive responsibilities (per his actual, full quote in Novo’s article).
Nothing about these lines suggest any sort of story besides the usual of “We lost last game and haven’t been playing well, so let’s keep trying new things and hopefully get something clicking.”