The New Jersey Devils are heading into the season with sky-high expectations. Throughout the preseason, they tinkered with different combinations on special teams to find a group that sticks.
The results were overwhelmingly positive: they went 8-for-21 on the man advantage (38.1%) and 17-for-19 on the penalty kill (89.4%). Both were a large contributing factor in remaining unbeaten (7-0-0) in the preseason.
Loaded Power Play
The Devils’ power play (PP) units looked absolutely stacked during the preseason. In fact, they were so strong that neither unit can be considered a clear “number one”. We’ll call them 1A and 1B.
Here they are:
1A: Tyler Toffoli, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Ondrej Palat, Luke Hughes
1B: Alexander Holtz, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer, Dougie Hamilton
Both units have a whopping three 65-plus point scorers from last season. There were multiple teams that didn’t have a single player score 65 points all of last season, which speaks to the depth of this Devils’ team.
Despite finishing third in the NHL, their man advantage in 2022-23 was only middle of the pack, standing at 13th. However, they didn’t have Toffoli (who scored 10 on the PP for the Calgary Flames) and only had Holtz, L. Hughes, Meier, and Palat for portions of the season. Never were they all together at once.
Latest News & Highlights
Furthermore, associate coach Travis Green will play a large role in how the PP shapes up, and he’s had success with lesser-talented units in the past. In 2019-20, he had the Vancouver Canucks succeeding at a 24 percent rate, which is 2.1 percent higher than what the Devils did last season. That team only had two 65-plus point scorers, to the Devils’ six.
The 1A group, quarterbacked by L. Hughes, will be very successful as long as they’re healthy. Bratt and J. Hughes are excellent at entering the zone so even if they lose a faceoff, they should get set up with relative ease. We’ll see plenty of no-look passes between the two where the receiver essentially has a wide-open net because the goalie is entirely fooled. Both of them are a triple threat to shoot, deke, or pass, making it very confusing for the penalty killers.
In one of Sportsnet’s recent ‘32 Thoughts’ podcasts, J. Hughes was adamant about how much he loved playing with Bratt, stating they both “always know where each other are” on the ice.
And I’ve barely mentioned Toffoli on this unit, who scored 34 goals and had 73 points in Calgary last season.
Related: Devils Season Preview – The Best Forward Group in the NHL
The 1B unit is quarterbacked by Hamilton, who had 22 goals and 74 points for the Devils last season. Nine of those goals came on the power play. They’ll also have 40-goal scorer Meier, 80-point scorer Hischier, 27-goal scorer Mercer, and a prospect with one of the most lethal shots around in Holtz.
The only possible gripe is that it may be difficult when it comes to setting up in the zone since none of those players are particularly good at zone entries. But Hischier is solid in the faceoff dot and once they are set up, watch out.
Worst case scenario, they can always split up Bratt and J. Hughes so they can have consistent entries on both units. But if this is their worst problem, it’s a great one to have. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Devils have a top-three PP in the league this season.
Penalty Kill
Unlike last season’s power play, the penalty kill (PK) was stellar. The Devils killed them off at an 82.6 percent clip – fourth in the NHL. Most of that same unit will be making its return, with some minor changes. Yegor Sharangovich will not be back, but the Devils will be giving Jesper Bratt some penalty kill time instead. Ryan Graves will not return but Kevin Bahl can fill his role if needed.
Head coach Lindy Ruff “liked what he’s done so far”, referring to Bratt on the PK in the preseason. Bratt is a very shifty and dynamic player, so it’s easy to see him breaking up plays nicely and heading up the ice for some shorthanded opportunities.
Additionally, the Devils will be adding Tomas Nosek, who was part of the Boston Bruins’ top-ranked PK last season. He’s elite in the dot as well, so splitting him and Michael McLeod up can allow the Devils to win key draws and therefore melt off some valuable seconds.
Speaking of McLeod, he had a great preseason on the kill, consistently hemming the puck in the other end for a long period of time. Since his two shorthanded playoff goals, he’s looked much more confident and as a result, his play has seen an uptick.
Here are what two units could possibly look like:
PK1: Nico Hischier, Erik Haula, Dawson Mercer, Jonas Siegenthaler
PK2: Tomas Nosek, Michael McLeod, Jesper Bratt, John Marino
If Curtis Lazar is in the lineup, he could be a great option as well. There are really no question marks within either of these units; you know what you’re going to get out of them. For the Devils, barring injuries, that should mean another year of continued success on the PK.
Special Teams Are Key
As we saw with the Devils in the playoffs, when their special teams were clicking, they were dynamite. When they weren’t, that was when things got rough. Health is a major factor in any team’s success, but when healthy, it’s looking pretty good for the Devils right now. It’s difficult to foresee their special teams being an issue this season, thanks to all of the reinforcements general manager Tom Fitzgerald has brought in.
