Devils’ Keefe & Luke Hughes Give Insight Into the Importance of Defensive Depth

Simply put, things have been going pretty well for the New Jersey Devils. Their 18-9-2 record puts them second in a very competitive Metropolitan Division, slightly behind the Washington Capitals.

A large component of that success is their unit of six defensemen who are trustworthy in nearly any scenario. They’ve been able to evenly distribute ice time and, in turn, stay healthy and fresh without sacrificing on-ice results.

Luke Hughes is a prime example of this. He’s averaging exactly two and a half minutes less per night from last season, yet his play has risen dramatically. He was thrown into the fire in 2023-24 as one of the only consistently healthy defensemen. He played with a whopping eight different partners then, including 216 minutes with Brendan Smith where the duo became one of the worst statistical pairings in the NHL.

This season, it’s way different. Since Seamus Casey and Simon Nemec were sent down to the American Hockey League (AHL), the Devils haven’t wavered from their pairings of Hughes with Brett Pesce, Jonas Siegenthaler with Johnathan Kovacevic and Brenden Dillon with Dougie Hamilton. All three have been stellar. 

L. Hughes told The Hockey Writers (THW), “Yeah, I think (the depth has made life easier). I think with Pesce as my D partner, he’s really easy to play with, just an older and deeper D core this year. It’s really easy to play and fun to watch.”

Head coach Sheldon Keefe added to that, with an emphasis on Luke’s stellar play, telling THW, “Having six guys the way that we do and to be able to deploy them somewhat evenly and not have to be too concerned about matchups and things like that, I think it really helps, especially a young player (like Luke) who missed training camp…I’ve really, really liked his game.”

Historically Good Start for the Devils

According to MoneyPuck, the Devils’ main defensive pairs have combined for a 57.77 expected goals for percentage (xGF%), second to the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s a big reason why the Devils already have a goal differential of plus-24, which would put them on pace for about plus-68 at the end of the season. That would be their third-best output in franchise history, trailing only 1993-94 and 2000-01.

Jack Hughes echoed the same sentiment to THW earlier in the week, saying, “The back end is what drives our group. All six of them have been playing some really good hockey.”

L. Hughes, Dillon and Hamilton are seeing less ice time from last season, while Kovacevic, Siegenthaler and Pesce are seeing more. That balance is not only key now but will remain key come playoff time.

It’s still early, but every button Tom Fitzgerald pushed in the offseason was seemingly the correct one. We’ll see if the Devils are able to keep it rolling.