You Needn’t Have Watched The Preseason To Believe The Talented Devils Will Be Rocking The Rock This Year

For whatever reason, Lindy Ruff’s Devils squads have been preseason juggernauts. That has continued this year, with New Jersey earning its sixth consecutive victory by defeating the Rangers, 5-2, at Prudential Center on Wednesday night. Since Ruff’s first preseason as the Devils’ Head Coach in 2021 (the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled exhibitions in his first season), his club has gone 15-3-0 in these affairs.

No that such records mean anything—if you believed the Devils used their preseason success a year ago to catapult them to a fast start en route to their highest point total in franchise history, why was there no causal connection in the autumn of 2021 when they subsequently posted the fifth-lowest mark in the league?

It’s always difficult to evaluate preseason results because the game lineups are usually a mishmash of NHL and lower level talent. Wednesday’s contest was fairly close to a dress rehearsal, though the Rangers played backup Jonathan Quick in net as opposed to All-Star Igor Shesterkin.

Still, even with that lengthy disclaimer, it has to be awfully hard for Devils fans to contain their enthusiasm for this season, which officially gets underway on October 12 with a home tilt versus Detroit. This team is so loaded with skill—perhaps more than in any of their squads from their decade of Stanley Cup contention--they can put out two of the highest-end power play units in the league.

Now, are they going to continue to convert on over 40% of their opportunities with a man advantage or sport a shooting percentage over 17% under the tighter checking conditions in regular season action? Obviously not. However, these Devils are ridiculously explosive up-and-down their forward lines. They have Dawson Mercer, who tallied 27 goals last season, slotted on their third line.

The Devils acquired 37-goal scorer Tyler Toffoli in a trade with Calgary this summer to skate with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. Sometimes, it looks like Toffoli’s jaw is agape as he watches his linemates’ wizardry from his setup near the cage. Just like the rest of us. Bratt in particular, with his herky-jerky stop-and-starts, made me check on my hip replacement after several of his fancy maneuvers entering the offensive zone and forays to the net.  

Hughes, coming off a franchise-record 99-point campaign, is one of a handful of individuals in this league whose elite play-driving performances alone are worth the price of admission. Entering his fifth season since being selected No. 1 overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, he’s improving on his game without the puck and is even winning a few more faceoffs now.

And get this: On some nights, especially those where the Devils are nursing a lead, that might not even be New Jersey’s first line. Not when you have Nico Hischier, another No. 1 overall pick (2017) who finished second to Boston’s retired Patrice Bergeron in the Selke Trophy voting as the league’s top defensive forward last season. Timo Meier, a fellow Swiss native who reached the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career after being traded by San Jose at the trade deadline, and prospect Alexander Holtz have flanked Hischier throughout the preseason. Even thought they didn’t score at 5-on-5, they posted a 97.87% expected goals for percentage on Wednesday night, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

Even if Ruff drops the erratic Holtz off Line 1A/B, the Devils have depth galore. He could easily move up Mercer, who went on a franchise record-tying eight-game goal streak last season when given the opportunity to play with Hischier. Ondrej Palat, he of the two rings while with Tampa Bay, is another candidate for a promotion—he’s been sitting in the bumper slot on the Hughes power play unit. And Erik Haula, the third-line center, saw plenty of ice time last season easing the defensive burden on Hughes. That line also thrived, even during Haula’s lengthy snakebitten stretch.

I’m also expecting to see an uptick in production from New Jersey’s fourth line after center Michael McLeod received a confidence boost from his performances in last season’s playoffs. McLeod’s wingers, which could rotate between Nathan Bastian, Tomas Nocek, Curtis Lazar, Nolan Foote, and Tyce Thompson (though the latter two might have to clear waivers first), create offense in a more old-fashioned way though cycles, board battles, and net crashing.

It’s not a perfect set-up in New Jersey—there are question marks surrounding a younger defense corps and, as always, the goaltending could become problematic if Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid can’t replicate last season’s results. Schmid may have been the Devils’ savior in their seven-game first-round series triumph over the Rangers, but he’s never been through a full NHL season.

As for the defense, the Devils have actually been outchanced at five-on-five this preseason, per NST. If you listen to Ruff, it mostly boils down to “puck management” which is his way of saying his team can’t get it out of their own end.

But when they do, look out. I’m fine if you throw out this preseason; my analysis is unwavering: With all that talent, the Devils should have the Rock rocking this season.

Photo by Andrew Maclean