It is unfair to expect the New Jersey Devils to thrive in the long run with the absence of either Nico Hischier or Jack Hughes, let alone trying to succeed in the face of losing both for what appears to be at least three weeks. The two first-overall draft picks are the cornerstones of the franchise rebuild. Every other player brought in by general manager Tom Fitzgerald throughout the rebuild has been in service to supporting the growth of Hischier and Hughes and placing them in a position to be successful.
Fitzgerald’s rebuild and roster construction will be studied by other managers for years to come as he found ways to cast off contracts and players that didn’t serve his goals, all while also acquiring undervalued assets that have become team mainstays.
Everyone associated with the team understands that without both Hischier and Hughes, they will be asked to do more and contribute in different ways. Today, after practice, head coach Lindy Ruff gave updates on the pair, saying Hughes may join the team in Pittsburgh on Thursday while Hischier remains out indefinitely; defenseman Colin Miller also returned to practice for the first time since the beginning of the regular season. Ruff also cited the play of Michael McLeod as one of the players who has taken advantage of the opportunity for more ice time and thrived.
New Line, Who’s This – Alex Holtz?
The non-stop clamoring on social media and in the media for increased ice time and placement in the top six for Alexander Holtz seems to be getting its way. Today in practice, Ruff threw his lines into the blender and poured out a glistening new top six featuring McLeod at 1C between Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt and Holtz paired with Dawson Mercer and Tyler Toffoli. Since Hughes went down, Meier and Toffoli have been the most productive wingers, so it makes sense to balance them on separate lines to try to get Bratt and Mercer going.
Related: Four Keys to the Devils Succeeding Without Hischier & Hughes
Holtz appeared despondent following Saturday’s practice after seemingly making a plea to the coaching staff for more ice time. The young winger has had a difficult last two years in the organization, from living in the scratch suite for much of last year to being served notice that he better come back to camp a different player or else, to not finding a consistent home at the start of 2023-24.
The good news for Holtz is he is starting to show more and more flashes of his playmaking skills that enticed the Devils to use the seventh-overall pick in 2020 on him. The Devils should show patience with Holtz and allow him to find his footing in the lineup. His ability to grow into a bonafide right-hand shot scorer/playmaker will pay huge dividends down the line. His play away from the puck has and will continue to improve, but he needs to demonstrate that he is willing to go out and grind through nights when his offense isn’t clicking. Fortunately, he has time to grow.
Offense from Defense?
The forward lines were not the only shakeup at practice. With the full-go return of Miller and his likely getting into at least one game on the back-to-back road trip through Winnipeg and Pittsburgh this week, Ruff has tinkered with his defensive pairings. For today, he placed Hughes with Hamilton, Siegenthaler with Marino, and Bahl with Smith. It remains an unbalanced group with four lefties and two righties, which is something that adding Miller into the fold will correct.
When chasing goals this season, Ruff has often paired Hughes and Hamilton to try to generate offense, and while protecting goals, he has similarly removed the two to put his more defensive-minded players on the ice. This move seems to be a permanent (as permanent as any Ruff lineup change can be) change to acknowledge that the team needs to try to find goals where it can and utilize its two best defensive players to suppress shots and goals.
“You can take a look at Siegenthaler and Marino being more of a shutdown pair and with Hughes and Hamilton together, you’re looking at an offensive pair that can help create. I think anytime we’ve got down, we’ve gone to them and we’ve had pretty good success creating and (generating) play in the offensive zone.”
Lindy Ruff, November 13, 2023
The Devils have relied on Smith to help shepherd the growth of Hughes through the early part of the season, but the pair has failed to find chemistry and, of late, has not been good defensively. In 13 games together, the Devils have been outscored 7-2 (22.2 GF%) while the pair was on the ice at five-on-five, despite playing to an expected goals for (xGF%) of almost 40.
They are not the only pair that has had difficulty, either. Most surprising is that the pair that has given up the most goals is the Bahl and Marino pairing. That pair, deployed as a shutdown unit, has allowed 3.71 goals per 60 minutes, well over the 2.17 expected per 60. All in all, the team is giving up more goals than expected and scoring less than expected, which is a recipe for failure.
The lack of five-on-five scoring despite out-chancing other teams has to fall squarely on the forwards, and giving up more than 5.5 goals above expected in just 13 games has to, in part, fall on the goaltending. Neither of the team’s goaltenders has a GAA below three or an SV% above .900. There has been a lack of continuity in the absence of Hischier and Hughes, which, though not unexpected, has failed to coax out players raising their games to a higher level, resulting in the team seemingly paying dearly for every single breakdown. The hope now is that the new combinations and the infusion of Miller will spark more success offensively and allow the team to get back to the aggressive, pressure-based hockey it has become known for.
Not Too Late for Free Agency
Most of the unrestricted free agents of note are scooped up in the hours and days following the start of the signing period in July. This season, because of cap issues throughout the league, several top players lingered without teams until the eve of training camp, and some remain unsigned. Here is a look at three players who could potentially help the Devils without costing future assets and overburdening the cap.
Jesse Puljujarvi
Currently recovering from double hip surgery in Finland, the 6-foot-4 200-pound Jesse Puljujarvi is a huge low-risk, potentially high-reward player. Puljujarvi has never blossomed into the top-six marauder he was expected to be when taken fourth overall in the 2016 draft, just behind Pierre Luc-Dubois and two spots ahead of Matthew Tkachuk. Now may be the perfect time to try to get him into the fold in New Jersey and see if his combination of size and skill fits into the Devils’ plans.
Puljujarvi has been an excellent playoff performer and, despite being injured, played a critical role in defeating the Devils in the playoffs last season. The Devils have found success in developing high picks into successful bottom-six forwards, and Puljujarvi may be the next one. He is scheduled to be available to return sometime in late November.
Ethan Bear
Similar to Puljujarvi, Ethan Bear had a promising offseason wrecked by a nasty injury that required repair and is now on the precipice of a return. Bear was an option for the Devils in the summer of 2022 when they instead ended up with John Marino. The right-shot defenseman would solidify the depth of the unit to eight players strong, allowing them to weather any injury storms and allow Simon Nemec to continue to develop in Utica.
Bear had an under-the-radar season for the struggling Vancouver Canucks last year and stood out on a team that struggled. Reports are that teams have been checking in on Bear, and he is likely to decide with whom he will sign by early December to return to the ice by mid-December. While he doesn’t fit perfectly into Fitzgerald’s mold of big, mobile defensemen, Bear is by no means slight and is certainly tough enough to hold his own. A one-year prove-it deal makes sense for all sides.
Today, the Devils signaled that they know there are problems without Hischier and Hughes. This should not be a surprise, but as with any problem, the first step towards solving it is the acknowledgment of its existence. With Ruff’s tinkering by moving McLeod to 1C, splitting up Meier and Toffoli, and placing Holtz back in the top-six, he has signaled that offense has been at a premium for this team and that it is time to forego balance for creating goals.
The switch at defense says the same thing, as the Hughes/Hamilton pair is made for attacking. The team is giving up odd-man rushes aplenty with the balanced lines, so why not put together a team of aggressive attackers to add reward to the risk? If the injuries persist, several players in the free agency market make sense and would come at team-friendly costs, and that should be the next step before trading away assets.
