The Good, The Bad, And The Meh In Devils’ Preseason Start
If the Devils’ perfect 7-0 record last preseason had zero bearing as to how they’d end up faring when the games counted, then no one should read too much into New Jersey dropping their first three exhibitions as they prepare for the 2024-25 campaign.
There’s a chance that if the Devils don’t defeat the Islanders on Friday, they could go full-bore George Costanza opposite, since the NHL roster won’t be around for the final three preseason games. They’re bound for Prague, where they will face Buffalo at the two-game NHL Global Series on October 4-5.
Even if the Devils do end up at 0-7, nothing that transpired this week will affect what this team will look like when they lace the skates up in Prague. Well, outside of an injury plague decimating their defense corps. Depth defenseman Santeri Hatakka was the latest to be felled when he exited Tuesday’s 3-0 loss at Montreal after two periods, with the team providing no update. Top four Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce were already missing from action, with Hughes expected to be out until late November at the earliest.
Human nature being what it is, however, we can’t help but look for some little takeaways from these affairs. In that vein, here are a few things that I liked and didn’t like:
Like: Seamus Casey
When the Devils had the diminutive 20-year old defenseman fresh out of Michigan out on the ice for a 6-on-5 late in Wednesday night’s 5-3 home loss to Washington, it seemed appropriate. That spoke volumes. Casey, who all but booked his ticket to AHL Utica to start the season, had an excellent game on a back-to-back, a significant improvement from a decent Montreal effort. He played nearly 22 minutes without the Caps scoring once in that ice time. It wasn’t just that he showcased the exceptional skating highlighted in every scouting report; he was also physical when needed to finish plays in the Devils’ end. Could Casey sneak onto the Prague roster? Maybe, since both teams are allowed to bring a few extras above the 23-man limit. But afterwards, it would be hard for him to earn the consistent ice time he’ll get in the minors even if Pesce isn’t back, with Dougie Hamilton, Simon Nemec and Johnathan Kovacevic ahead of him on the right side. So good for him to get rewarded on Wednesday by contributing the primary assist on Jack Hughes’ goal to make it a 4-3 game with about three minutes remaining.
Didn’t Like: Kurtis MacDermid
I hope this isn’t a recurring item. How General Manager Tom Fitzgerald gave this guy—perhaps the worst hockey player in the league—a three-year (3!!!) contract extension this summer is mind-boggling. Poor Xavier Parent. The speedy center was trying to make an impression only to be saddled with MacDermid on his wing the last two nights. You might have to go back to John Wensink during their inaugural season in New Jersey to find a Devils skater as poor as MacDermid, who was forced into taking a hooking penalty when he got beat up the ice by Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky and then Washington’s John Carlson easily walked around him on a give-and-go to tie the game at 1-1. Unless the Devils schedule the 1975 Flyers, why would he ever dress?
Like: Veteran goaltending
Throw out the stats from the preseason, both the mainstream and advanced metrics. Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen, should they stay healthy, will keep the Devis in more games this season. For years, fans of this franchise have prayed for merely competent goaltending. They haven’t seen a netminder stand on his proverbial head since pre-injury Cory Schneider back in 2016. During the many sequences this preseason where the Devils were getting rolled, Markstrom and Allen made some ten-bell saves with few shots that they’d want back. Their age (both are 34) is a risk, but new Head Coach Sheldon Keefe should be able to manage their workloads to avoid overusage injuries. The likelihood is high that goaltending won’t be what holds New Jersey back this season—a welcome change.
Didn’t Like: Jack Hughes/Jesper Bratt/Timo Meier
Again, who cares about the underlying numbers in Wednesday’s exhibition? For Hughes and Meier, it was their first time playing a game since recovering from shoulder injuries. Rust was expected. As Keefe stated afterwards in his press conference, the mission was to get them some ice time and touches, maybe work in some power play reps. The problem as I see it is the fit—you have three guys who like to carry the puck and shoot it. There’s only one puck. While Bratt has shown some competence in defensive zone coverage, Hughes and Meier are lacking in that area, which can cause too many shifts wasted playing retrieval chase games on the wrong end of the ice. The Hughes/Meier duo was outscored, 12-7, in 159 shared five-on-five minutes last season with an ugly 43.5% expected goals for percentage, per NaturalStatTrick.com. I know Keefe is trying out the Nico Hischier/ Dawson Mercer/Tomas Tatar trio that had tremendous success in 2022-23, but the team might be best served in the long run with Meier on Hischier’s wing. They’re paying Meier at an $8 million AAV to be a line’s play driver. I don’t know that he can do that skating with both Hughes and Bratt.
Meh: Curtis Lazar/Paul Cotter/Nathan Bastian
Everyone loves the bangers. Until they go a month without scoring a goal. Keefe raved about this particular line’s energy in the two preseason games they played together. It’s true: They did what they were supposed to do—dump pucks in deep, forecheck like crazy, and then throw pucks at the net while crashing the blue paint hoping to put away garbage. Their cycles often took up a whole shift’s time 200 feet from their own goal. Bravo. Only these are not very skilled hockey players. Not MacDermid unskilled, but lacking in speed, puckhandling, passing, and shooting efficiency relative to their direct competitors. The organization seems to think very highly of Cotter—that’s why they dealt former No. 7 overall pick Alexander Holtz to Vegas for him. They specifically mention his skating and his hands. It’s not that I haven’t seen it in meaningless action; I worry that maybe folks are overrating him. After all, Vegas never dressed him for a playoff game, the situation where one would think a hard-nosed player like him would have the most value. In the end, this line should serve the function of being “hard to play against.” I just don’t know how much it’s going to matter on the scoreboard.