After a brisk practice Sunday morning, the New Jersey Devils boarded a bus to the airport for their flight to Prague, where they will participate in the NHL’s Global Series to open the league’s 2024-25 regular season. The team will have nearly a week in Europe to acclimate to the time difference and make several essential determinations before puck drop Friday night against the Buffalo Sabres led by former Devils head coach Lindy Ruff.
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The biggest news out of camp is that rookie defenseman Seamus Casey will not be staying in Newark to play preseason games against the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. Instead, he will be on the plane to Prague, his eyes set on being more than an insurance policy but reading his name in the team’s lineup on opening night against Buffalo. To do that, he will probably have to play on his off-hand side, which is difficult for a veteran, let alone a player in his first NHL game. Casey’s poise, though, has stood out to head coach Sheldon Keefe in the opportunities he has given the rookie, “He keeps jumping out every day, and then there’s increased opportunity.” With Casey firmly ensconced on the plane, here are three remaining questions facing New Jersey before the season begins.
How Much Does the Preseason Matter?
Devils fans are well acquainted with last season’s disappointing finish, which began with an undefeated preseason and a team riding the crest of huge expectations. This season, the team will not have to worry about overconfidence premised on preseason success, as they are currently winless in four games. Keefe, his staff, and general manager Tom Fitzgerald likely aren’t concerned about the team’s record, but there are causes for concern as the preseason progresses.
Despite their hopes, the Devils have been unable to have even one complete dress rehearsal through the first four games. Two games featured Curtis Lazar and Paul Cotter listed as the 1C in the projected lines. Both figure to be crucial pieces for the team, but as linemates on the fourth line, not as an anchor of the first line. None of the games featured all four projected starting centers, which shows that the difficulties the team experienced in getting results this preseason may be due to the confluence of a new coach bringing in a new system and players trying to integrate with new players and just not having time yet to find the necessary continuity. With the season set to begin in five days, and the Devils only have, at most, two full practices in that time, they will have to come together quickly.
The best the Devils looked all preseason was the first 30 minutes of the debut against the New York Islanders. The team began the game as if shot out of a cannon, scoring a power play goal within the first three minutes. They went on to dominate the Islanders in every measurable way until fatigue began to set in, and they could not play with the speed and pressure that led to early domination. What concerns Keefe is that he has already had to harp on the team’s effort and competitiveness, though they showed a willingness to stand up for each other against the Islanders on Friday night. The elements needed to outperform last season are all present: a new coach with a new system tailored to the skills of the roster, a vital infusion of size, grit, and talent via trades and free agency, and talented players motivated to show that the “brutal” season, as Jack Hughes described it, was an aberration, not the norm.
Goal Scoring Isn’t an Issue, Right?
Fitzgerald has often said that he isn’t concerned about this team being able to score. In four preseason games, the scoring numbers are far from impressive. The Devils have a total of six goals at all strengths. At 5v5, they are in 30th place in goals per 60 minutes, just ahead of the San Jose Sharks and immediately behind the Chicago Blackhawks. If there is good news, they have scored three goals below expected, meaning that they are creating chances, just not finding ways to score, whether goalied or inaccurate. Nine total expected goals over four games are still far below what this team hopes to generate in its new system under Keefe (advanced stats per Natural Stat Trick).
Perhaps the Devils’ 29th-place shooting percentage shows room for more goals. The team’s offensive talent is undeniable. The two preseason power-play goals demonstrate how much of a weapon that unit should become as the season progresses. The roster boasts nine players with 20 goal seasons in their career. Once fully healthy, scoring should not be an issue for the team. However, while they are still getting used to playing together in the new system and structure, they would be wise to focus on power play production and creating rush opportunities off turnovers to generate easier offense and gain confidence.
Is the Defense Improved?
Based on the preseason, statistics would tell you that Fitzgerald’s improvements in goal and on the blue line are a major concern. Fortunately for New Jersey, statistics lie. Indeed, the Devils have given up goals at an alarming rate this preseason, but several reasons are unrelated to a lack of defensive talent or poor goaltending. The Devils were thrown into a new coverage system that, while more in line with traditional defending, is different than what they have played in the last few seasons.
Even more complicated is that none of the defensemen are returning to a pair they have never played with before. The Devils have started with Dougie Hamiton and Brenden Dillon, and Jonas Seigenthaler and Jonathan Kovacevic as the top two pairs with the third pair rotating between Simon Nemec, Seamus Casey, Santeri Hatakka, Daniel Misyul, and others. Besides the new system and lack of familiarity and experience, the team is also down half of their top four defensemen with the injuries to Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes.
Jacob Markstrom, Jake Allen, and Nico Daws would all readily admit that there are goals each gave up that they would want back, but what else is the preseason for, if not knocking off rust? Like the defensemen, the goalies are acclimating to a new system and new teammates upon whom they must depend. This season is different from prior seasons because the Devils have goalies with track records of success. With Markstrom and Allen, they can be reasonably sure that once the games start to count, the goalies will perform to at least their career averages, which are improvements over the team’s goaltending for the last decade.
The defense and goaltending are improved. The team’s defensive depth is being tested in ways Fitzgerald could not have foreseen even three months ago. With a third of their starting defensemen out for significant periods, there was an opportunity at camp for someone to demand ice time with their play. Those players initially were Kovacevic and Hatakka, but with Hatakka’s injury, the Devils are now down to their ninth or tenth defenseman looking at significant minutes. Fortunately, New Jersey has the talent to overcome the injuries. They also hope Keefe’s defensive structure and neutral zone forecheck will become second nature for a team built to play in such a style that allows them to take advantage of their speed on the rush after turnovers while allowing for proper defensive balance behind the puck.
The Devils will face the Sabres on Friday and Saturday to kick off the season. Unlike the Devils, the Sabres have acclimated quickly to Ruff’s style and blitzed their way through the competition this preseason, winning four of five games and scoring 22 goals in that span, 16 more than New Jersey in one more game. The games are set up to be emotional contests with a lot of pride at stake for both Ruff and his former players. The Devils have four days and two practices to answer the above questions and prepare for a big, fast, Buffalo team that is out to set the tone for their season from day one.
