Devils’ Glaring Lack Of Power Forwards Stifling Rebuild
Midway through the first period of the Devils’ 3-2 loss to the visiting Kings on Sunday, New Jersey’s All-Star center Jack Hughes was leveled into the boards by Los Angeles wing Carl Grundstrom. Which of Hughes’ teammates came over to extract some payback? None other than his diminutive wing Jesper Bratt, the team’s leading scorer after potting a pair of goals on Sunday.
It wasn’t exactly ideal, nor was it the only time someone from the heavy Kings took liberties with the Devils’ more skilled skaters without appropriate retribution.
Whenever prior coach John Hynes or his successor Lindy Ruff have reiterated the phrase “hard to play against” ad nauseum over the past several years, this is part of what they’re talking about. It’s not about old-school goon stuff like dressing the lumbering Mason Geertsen more often, but about adding players with size and grit who can skate with top-six forwards to help dish out as much punishment as Hughes and captain Nico Hischier routinely absorb while also capable of finishing plays in the hard areas around the net.
The Kings’ hits possibly contributed to taking Hughes off his game on Sunday, as his one magnificent pass to set up Bratt for a first period power play could not offset his culpability on the first two L.A. scores. In both instances, Hughes coughed up the puck at the Kings blue line, feeding transition opportunities where backup goalie Jon Gillies, who was forced to play both ends of a back-to-back due to injury maintenance on starter Mackenzie Blackwood, had no chance. Hughes was also on the ice, roaming the middle of the Devils’ zone, when Grundstrom, of all people, found himself alone in the slot and was able to rip home the game-winner with 8:55 remining.
While General Manager Tom Fitzgerald succeeded in adding more size to New Jersey’s defense corps, the team’s lack of a legitimate power forward to ride shotgun on the top two lines is glaring. Miles Wood has been out all season while recovering from hip surgery and Nolan Foote, the prime prospect acquired in the 2020 trade deadline deal with Tampa Bay for Blake Coleman, remains developing in AHL Utica after failing to wow the organization in his few opportunities with the big club.
Basically, this team’s only winger who plays with consistent jam has been Nathan Bastian, a fourth-liner who wasn’t even protected in the Seattle expansion draft this past offseason. I’ll give Devils management credit for swooping in to pick him back up off waivers and then having the foresight to stick his 6-foot 4 frame in front of opposing goalies’ eyes on the power play, but it’s not enough.
Too often, opponents haven’t needed to break a sweat to knock Devils forwards off pucks or box them out of the net-front. 50/50 battles aren’t always won by the biggest and strongest, but it would help New Jersey come away with more of them if it added some skilled bulk to the group in their fights along the walls.
I’ve always been a fan of Josh Anderson from his days wreaking havoc for Columbus before the wing was traded to Montreal prior to last season. He’s signed for the next five seasons at a $5.5 million AAV, so it would have to be a so-called “hockey trade” to acquire him.
The Canadiens, however, are floundering as the NHL’s worst team after making a run to the Stanley Cup Final last season. They just turned over their front office, bringing in General Manager Kent Hughes and former Rangers exec Jeff Gorton as EVP of Hockey Operations, and are only salary cap compliant because they have three highly-paid players (Carey Price, Shea Weber, and Paul Byron) on long-term injured reserve or in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program.
The Canadiens have every incentive to explore all avenues of cap relief, including trading a useful player for prospects and picks, of which New Jersey is plentiful. Since Montreal got Anderson for Max Domi and a third-round pick, how about the Devils give them Pavel Zacha, Jesper Boqvist and a second-round pick? Zacha and Boqvist are pending free agents, but they’ll be restricted, which will make them much more affordable.
We all thought Fitzgerald was turning the page on the Devils’ neverending rebuild when he brought in defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Graves plus wing Tomas Tatar in the offseason. It hasn’t exactly panned out as planned, with New Jersey already well out of the playoff picture at 15-20-5.
Normally, this would be the point in the season where Fitzgerald would look to be a market seller, hoping to pawn off a few veterans to further stockpile his asset cupboard. That doesn’t have to be the whole story through to the March 21 NHL trade deadline, though. Hughes and Hischier are locked in for the long haul. It wouldn’t kill the program to expend some of those assets to give them more support on their wings.