The New Jersey Devils OFFICIALLY have a goalie mess on their hands.
I take a deep dive into the Devils’ goaltender situation in this video.
Let me know what you guys think in the comments!
See our other videos for Devils Coverage!
Subscribe for more Devils content to come!
https://www.youtube.com/@runninwiththedevils?sub_confirmation=1
#njdevils #akiraschmid #schmid #vitekvanecek #vanecek #devils #newjerseydevils #nhl #hockey #goalie #goalies #goaltender #goaltenders #goaltending
6 Comments
Keep Schmid sell Vitek for somebody good to help him develop.
Call me crazy, but I still have faith in Schmid. He was INCREDIBLE in Philly on 11/30…he stole the game, honestly. Without him standing on his head, the Flyers pull off the upset there. I advocated for him to get the start the next night in San Jose, but he did not play well. I admit I was wrong. Maybe modern goalies really aren't cut out to play back-to-back, even though it was done regularly in the glory days when I was growing up in the 90s and 2000s.
Vanecek, sadly, is likely a lost cause. Seems like a great guy, occasionally plays well, but he's just too inconsistent to rely on, and he seems to fade down the stretch.
But Schmid can still be the goalie of the future. He's had a much better season than people realize, but the few rough games he's had have killed his stat line. And all people look at is the overall stat line, so the narrative is that both Devils goalies are garbage. But that's simply not true. When you look game by game, Schmid has posted a number of strong performances. What he needs, in my opinion, is to be given the confidence and peace of mind comes with being named the undisputed starter. Hand him the reins. Let him string together a few games in a row as our starter (except not on back-to-back nights, apparently, as the San Jose debacle showed us). I strongly believe he can get into a groove and work on some consistency if he's given the net.
Gibson would be my pick
Not just goaltending. The D has been atrocious, too.
We have that Hamilton LTIR $$$ now, right? Pectoral tears don't heal quickly, he's probably on LTIR until April, best case senario from my understanding. If Nemec can step up and fill Hamilton's role (at a fraction of the cost), that could help NJ plug some holes with solid rental options… As long as the cost in assets isn't too bad, that is. The net needs to be upgraded, regardless – that's a problem beyond this season at this point.
I will reiterate what I said during this off-season, Fitzgerald made a massive mistake, signing both Bratt & Meier. I voiced that my opinion was we should let Bratt go and between his $8mil and Viteks $3mil, sign a solid $6mil goalie and a solid $4mil defender and still have money to spare. I’m hoping Fitzy finds a way to trade to make this a reality.