The Devils put opponents on their heels with their speedy style last year, but set the bar even higher for themselves moving forward.
put opponents on their heels with their speedy, puck-possession style last year. A team poised to turn the corner did way more than that, with a successful season and run to Round 2.But the Devils are coming into the season with some risk. Two mainstay defenders departed, with slots open for up-and-coming players to earn. And the goaltending was only upgraded by subtraction.
Percentiles with the bar graphs are based on each player’s Offensive, Defensive and Net Rating relative to their time-on-ice slot, i.e. the first forward is compared to other first forwards only.New Jersey has a stacked team and it’s no surprise a lot of people expected the team to land higher. The Devils are a team on the rise with a laundry list of strengths that define modern hockey.
Whether Hughes ever becomes a capable defensive center probably doesn’t matter much on this team, not with Hischier directly behind him on the depth chart. He takes on the tough minutes for the Devils and it says a lot about his performance last season that a long-awaited jump to 80 points was a secondary headline. Hischier made his debut as a two-way force finishing second in Selke Trophy voting to Patrice Bergeron — which is basically a first-place finish.
There are a ton of great combinations that have the potential to work well here as the Devils are blessed with a lot of versatile pieces. That extends into the top nine where the speedyand the exciting Alex Holtz can all fit somewhere too. That trio can form their own strong third line behind a loaded top six, or the Devils can spread the wealth with a deep top nine. Either configuration works with the key being whether Holtz can finally make the full-timejump. He only scored 0.
It’s Marino that gets all the press though and looking at Corey Sznajder’s tracing data tells us exactly why. He may not be much offensively, but he is incredible at breaking the puck out and bringing it up ice. He’s excellent at retrieving pucks and defending the rush and is probably one of the better in-zone defenders in hockey. That’s all in tough minutes too and he made our Top 125 Players list for good reason — he’s a lot better than the model currently gives credit for.
As far as weaknesses go, it’s easy to see a lot of them fixed in short order. The Devils have a clear path to the top of the standings with just a few things going as many reasonable people would suspect. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an element of risk at play that could push the Devils a little lower than some might expect.On the Devils’ side of things, Hughes, aside from his last name, immediately has something going for him that Severson does not: He’s on a rookie deal.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Giant rodents ready to meet Jersey Zoo visitorsJersey Zoo's new pair of female capybaras are ready to meet visitors.
Read more »
Albuquerque enjoys "wild" unpredictability of 2023 IMSA title fightAcura driver Filipe Albuquerque says he's enjoyed the 'wild' and unpredictable nature of the IMSA SportsCar Championship's first season of GTP regulations compared to the previous DPi ruleset.
Read more »
The best graphics cards in September 2023Only one of the best graphics cards will take your creativity and gaming to the next level
Read more »
Ryder Cup 2023 updatesFollow live coverage of the 2023 Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome in Italy
Read more »
Disney Dreamlight Valley codes for October 2023 and how to redeem codesDisney Dreamlight Valley codes for October 2023, how to redeem codes in DDV, and all expired codes
Read more »