Who would you replace

jenks33

Well-Known Member
#21
I don't know what the background to his release from Manchester but I couldn't fault his performances for the Devils. He was a strong defender, rarely made a mistake- he might not have been the most dynamic but I'd certainly sign him back up for next season.
I respect your opinion but to be honest I couldn’t disagree more about signing McNulty for next season. If the question is ‘Did McNulty do a solid job for us when he was fit?’ Then yes he did, I fully agree with that.
But most mid season signings (particularly last season) are cheap/risky/desperate signings. Just look throughout the league at signings like McNulty, Traversa, Hedberg, Valdix etc. They’re not signings teams would have necessarily made at the start of the season but when you’re desperate for a player in November/December it’s different.
That’s the beauty of Dupont recruiting over the summer now, there are thousands of players available which is a luxury you don’t have in December. In my opinion Marc McNulty is a player teams like Cardiff/Sheffield/Belfast bring in when they’re desperate for a player in December, not when they’ve got all summer to recruit.

Having said all that Hedd Wyn we’re all entitled to an opinion and we all see things differently :)
 

Devil94

Well-Known Member
#23
There's going to be some guys though that are on the bottom of the salary list, and their job is to do what McNulty did last year. Just be solid. We can't just be going for the best players available, they've all got to fit in the puzzle.

It's going to be 1 or 2 new d men to join, one to replace Mikkelson, and then possibly McNulty's replacement. One of those needs to be another Mikkelson/Strachan type player, which will obviously be on the higher end of the scale. We can't have 2 of that quality/cost. That's why I can see the Fournier not happening because of money rumour to be true.

Not forgetting that the returning players will ask for more money of course, and there's also an extra player to find this year. So it's either going to be McNulty or someone of his experience/standard. A young guy straight out of college perhaps. It's always a bit of a risk recruiting someone to play that role, so I would say it's better to go with someone we know. And he is very well liked by the guys too. I would be happy for him to be our 6th d man. The only issue I have by watching him is I think he's going to get injured every night. Him snapping in half is my main concern.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
#24
There's going to be some guys though that are on the bottom of the salary list, and their job is to do what McNulty did last year. Just be solid. We can't just be going for the best players available, they've all got to fit in the puzzle.

It's going to be 1 or 2 new d men to join, one to replace Mikkelson, and then possibly McNulty's replacement. One of those needs to be another Mikkelson/Strachan type player, which will obviously be on the higher end of the scale. We can't have 2 of that quality/cost. That's why I can see the Fournier not happening because of money rumour to be true.

Not forgetting that the returning players will ask for more money of course, and there's also an extra player to find this year. So it's either going to be McNulty or someone of his experience/standard. A young guy straight out of college perhaps. It's always a bit of a risk recruiting someone to play that role, so I would say it's better to go with someone we know. And he is very well liked by the guys too. I would be happy for him to be our 6th d man. The only issue I have by watching him is I think he's going to get injured every night. Him snapping in half is my main concern.
Of course you’re not going to have 6 highly paid D men but if Batch and Louis come back they will more than likely be the bottom pairing right? Then you’ll possibly have Register and Richie and then a replacement for Mikkelson alongside an offensive minded Dman.

I’m sorry but if some fans want McNulty back who the heck don’t they want back?! A replacement for McNulty is a no brainer for me.
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
#25
It seems to me that some judge the question as to whether a players should come back on whether they were ok. They should be asking whether we can do better for the same price. In the case of lammon and McNulty, I'd say that we can.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
#26
It seems to me that some judge the question as to whether a players should come back on whether they were ok. They should be asking whether we can do better for the same price. In the case of lammon and McNulty, I'd say that we can.
What I ask myself is we know there are going to be 5 or 6 changes so if people want McNulty back who do they want gone then?! I know Carruth is going and Mikkelson is likely to retire but that still leaves 3 or 4. Dixon retiring isn’t a certainty by the sounds of it.
Lammon, Mcnally and McNulty should move on as far as I’m concerned. Personally I’d keep Kozun and Brandt over McNulty. If we all wrote down the names of 6 players that will be replaced I thought McNulty’s name would be on every list. Clearly not though.
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
#27
What I ask myself is we know there are going to be 5 or 6 changes so if people want McNulty back who do they want gone then?! I know Carruth is going and Mikkelson is likely to retire but that still leaves 3 or 4. Dixon retiring isn’t a certainty by the sounds of it.
Lammon, Mcnally and McNulty should move on as far as I’m concerned. Personally I’d keep Kozun and Brandt over McNulty. If we all wrote down the names of 6 players that will be replaced I thought McNulty’s name would be on every list. Clearly not though.
To be honest I can see kozun making that list. He got some poor form later in the season and in the run in, when we were a lock for third, still didn't get a start. I wonder if the club has lost faith in him.
 

Devil94

Well-Known Member
#28
There's so many factors that we don't know about that means players won't be back. Its not as simple as making a list of who to upgrade and then keeping all the rest.

Brodie Reid for example just had his 3rd child, with a growing young family they might want to travel again.
Crandall is getting married early next year, he might want to stay in NA.
We're all assuming Cox and Sanford come as a package. So they might both be off together, or one leaves one stays.
Dixon could easily retire. There might also be some shock early retirements to get on with life after hockey.
Kozun could also be on the list, either the Devils choice to go in a different direction with netminding or his choice to try an be a starter somewhere.
Coughler might have a great offer from Europe he can't refuse.
I'm sure Brandt wants to come back but that might be an area we want to upgrade on.

Adding all those to McNulty, McNally, Lammon, Carruth, Mikkelson, there’s about 12/13 guys on the list that could make the 5/6 that don't return. And we know 2 of them for certain already.
 
Last edited:

Kevin roog

Well-Known Member
#29
Ain’t this list just a bit of fun for fans to say who they want to replace, not about weddings and kozun ain’t coming back coz he doesn’t like Asda milk or something
 
#30
Ain’t this list just a bit of fun for fans to say who they want to replace, not about weddings and kozun ain’t coming back coz he doesn’t like Asda milk or something
Well I think it was an interesting post because he/she has given a different perspective and added a bit of real world issues into the pot.

You are probably right in what you say about it being a bit of fun I guess.
Btw Kozun shops in Tesco so the milk shouldn’t be too much of a problem
 

Devil94

Well-Known Member
#32
Each to their own I guess, just a bit of fun for me ,none of my business who’s having babies and who’s getting married
It's none of my business either. But at this level of hockey, these are very real reasons why players want to move on or retire. Its not just who do we want back. I apologise I might have waffled on a bit in that earlier post, but if you look at Faryna retiring at 29, McNamee retiring at 28, Culligan retiring at 27. These are players I thought would be Devils for many more years but for personal reasons they retired.

Potentially only 3 more players not returning that we don't know of. If only 2 of the above turn out to be true, for example I think Kozun, Dixon, Brandt are very realistic names to not return for different reasons, then the likes of Mcnally, McNulty, Lammon are potential returnees. As Todd said, it's a puzzle to put together.
 

Kevlar68

Well-Known Member
Thread starter #33
It was just a fun post not really anything in depth needed as the heading states "who would you replace" quite simple really but the posts are a good read in fairness .
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
#34
If it turns out the only departing players are Carruth, Kozun, Mikkelson (Retired) Dixon (Retired) and Brandt then i will seriously question that decision.

I think McNulty, McNally and Lammon will all leave. I'll be shocked if at least 2 out of those 3 don't move on.
 

Hedd Wyn John

Well-Known Member
#35
I respect your opinion but to be honest I couldn’t disagree more about signing McNulty for next season. If the question is ‘Did McNulty do a solid job for us when he was fit?’ Then yes he did, I fully agree with that.
But most mid season signings (particularly last season) are cheap/risky/desperate signings. Just look throughout the league at signings like McNulty, Traversa, Hedberg, Valdix etc. They’re not signings teams would have necessarily made at the start of the season but when you’re desperate for a player in November/December it’s different.
That’s the beauty of Dupont recruiting over the summer now, there are thousands of players available which is a luxury you don’t have in December. In my opinion Marc McNulty is a player teams like Cardiff/Sheffield/Belfast bring in when they’re desperate for a player in December, not when they’ve got all summer to recruit.

Having said all that Hedd Wyn we’re all entitled to an opinion and we all see things differently :)
That's fair enough, we'll see if he's back next season or not & that should give us an indication of the coaches view.
 

OJLloyd

Well-Known Member
#39
Face offs were an issue, I feel, last season.

Dixon was far and away our best face off man (at 60%), and with 36 points I would not complain at him coming back to centre the third line.

Coughler did ok, at 51.1%, but I think this would be improved in a full season. Winning 15 more than he lost when he came in at a low ebb is a decent start. I also think a lot of teams put their first line out against CCS, and so it’s a harder fought battle.

Ben Davies hit 42%, a marked decrease on Myers in the last season before covid on the fourth line. This was problematic, as it’s an area Myers excelled in. Needless to say, face offs = possession, and possession = goals.

But this is not something that can’t be worked on, or perhaps set aside for another member of the line (Brandt was near 50% on a small batch).

Either way, I think there is a lot of be said for Dixon on the third line winning face offs and allowing the guys around him (I’d suggest Waller) the opportunity to do something.
 
Top