Three Solves For Injury-Riddled Devils
Another day, another Devils injury.
It’s like this team is cursed or something. Top pair defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who signed a $9 million AAV contract over 7 years as a free agent in the offseason and is tied for the team lead with 6 points, came out of the tunnel in Anaheim for the second period on Tuesday night, took a little twirl on the ice, and then went straight back to the locker room.
He played a team-high 8:22 in the opening frame and then was never seen again, ruled out for the remainder of a dreary 4-0 Devils loss with the dreaded “lower body injury.”
Though no update was given on Hamilton’s status as of this writing and the Devils are off until Friday’s affair at Los Angeles, there has to be some concern that he’ll be joining budding star center Jack Hughes and 2021 leading goal scorer Miles Wood on the team’s injured list. The Devils announced last Friday that Hughes will be “reevaluated” in five more weeks for his dislocated left shoulder while Wood’s absence remains a mystery that coach Lindy Ruff admitted could take even longer to resolve.
All this had been going on while the Devils’ top two goaltenders were also sidelined. Jonathan Bernier missed three games with his own lower body injury before returning to defeat Pittsburgh, 4-2, on Saturday while presumptive No. 1 MacKenzie Blackwood and his surgically-repaired heel finally were well enough to dress for the first time this season to back up Bernier in Anaheim.
Where do the Devils (4-3-1) go from here so they don’t crater in the Metropolitan Division standings? Here are a few suggestions:
1) The power play needs a net front presence
Ruff noted how Wood’s injury has affected the team’s performance with the man advantage, how he used his size and compete level to screen opposing goalies and hunt for loose change around the crease. Not that the Devils PP was anything to write home about last season (15.1%, 28th in the league). However, in Wood’s absence, Ruff has gone with relatively undersized alternatives like Nico Hischier or Andreas Johnsson.
The results to date have been worse—a 27th-ranked 13% conversion rate with just 9 high-danger shot attempts (29th in the league) in 23 opportunities, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
Without Hughes creating magic out of thin air, the Devils have to get back to basics. Throw pucks to the net and bang in some ugly goals. Ruff can’t do that unless he makes a change to his units by replacing some skill with bulk. Maybe throw in a guy like Michael McLeod, who has been so beastly in the faceoff circle that Ruff often puts him out there to take power play draws only to change him out immediately afterwards. Keep him on the ice where he can be useful at the net front and in corralling rebounds. Winger Jimmy Vesey was a power play regular with the Rangers a few years ago—he should have the experience to wreck some havoc in front of the goalie.
More jam, less tic-tac-toe, should do the trick.
2) Block some shots on the PK, please
In a scoreless game in the first period and the Ducks on a power play, center Ryan Getzlaf walked into a big-time slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. Devils defenseman Ryan Graves went down on one knee to block it, but he wasn’t in the correct lane. With Sonny Milano taking away Bernier’s eyes in front, the puck found its way into the net.
To be fair, Graves leads the Devils with six blocks on the penalty kill in 8 games, as many as the rest of the Devils d-men have combined, per Natural Stat Trick, but this has become a familiar scenario in Ruff’s two seasons behind the New Jersey bench. If you’re going to employ a system that routinely allows opposing forwards to loom around the net unattended, then you can’t let so many of these shots get through.
It would be nice if the Devils forwards got in the habit of blocking shots as well, since Hischier (2) and Vesey (1) are the only ones to register a penalty kill block.
This has to be a non-negotiable for Ruff when he’s allocating ice time.
3) Call up Alexander Holtz
Generally, I’d agree with the principle that young players need time to develop in lower leagues. You don’t want to prop up such a prospect if he isn’t ready to succeed, especially if his ice time will be limited upon his NHL promotion. Let the kid show that he can dominate at his level first.
Well, if the Devils first-round pick (7th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft isn’t dominating at AHL Utica, I don’t what is.
Holtz has potted five goals in the Comets’ first four games He registered two goals and two assists in three preseason contests for the Devils. At 19, Holtz already possesses an A-plus shot that could be useful on the power play and to steal points in shootouts. Sure, he might need more seasoning in his two-way game, but can the Devils really be this picky at this juncture? What has Janne Kuokkanen given the team that makes him irreplaceable?
Don’t wait until the season is long gone before giving Holtz a shot. When the Devils return home from the California trip this weekend, Holtz should meet them on the tarmac.