The New Jersey Devils needed a good performance on home ice, and as they packed their bags to head to Western Canada, they had one remaining chance for a positive sendoff. That chance came in a matchup with the Anaheim Ducks, which went almost perfectly to plan. The Devils got good goaltending, played fast, smart hockey, built a lead and added on, and finally put on a dominating performance on home ice. It would have been a perfect night had the Devils been able to board the plane to Vancouver fully healthy. That was not the case as stalwart, energizer bunny center Curtis Lazar suffered a severe knee injury after receiving a dirty, mid-ice hip check from Radko Gudas. Lazar had to be helped off the ice and did not travel with the team. He now faces serious rehab to try to return for a playoff push. The Devils moved quickly to call up journeyman Justin Dowling from Utica to fill in as the 4C. That is unlikely to be the final solution to the problem of missing Lazar.
Related: 10 Takeaways From the Devils’ First 12 Games
The Lazar absence was further complicated on the Western swing as fellow fourth-liner Nathan Bastian stepped into Flames forward Ryan Lomberg, asking the latter to atone for a hit by Lomberg on the Devils’ Paul Cotter. In an awkward exchange, Bastian was pinned against the boards, unable to defend himself fully. Lomberg landed several direct blows to Bastian’s jaw before the altercation was stopped. Bastian suffered a jaw injury and was sent back to New Jersey for evaluation and treatment. Head coach Sheldon Keefe later announced that Bastian would miss “several” weeks due to the injury, leaving two-thirds of the opening night fourth line out of action for the foreseeable future. The Devils will head back to New Jersey after playing a Connor McDavid-less Oilers team in need of reinforcements for the fourth line. Fortunately, they are not without options.
Option 1: AHL Options
If depth at right-shot defense is the organization’s strength, depth at center may be the weakness. Unfortunately for general manager Tom Fitzgerald, the team does not have an obvious plug-and-play 4C it can call up from Utica. Most of the team’s American Hockey League (AHL) depth at forward resides on the wing in Nolan Foote, Chase Stillman, and Brian Halonen. In a recent game, the Comets lined up with Dowling, Ryan Schmelzer, Shane Bowers, and Filip Engaras as their centers on lines one through four. Engaras would be injured and leave the game. None of those players have demonstrated that they are more than borderline NHL players for their careers.
Bowers, a former first-round pick, is still only 25 and got an audition last season with New Jersey and through training camp but has not shown enough to merit this call-up or a permanent roster spot. With the lack of a standout option in Utica, the Devils could rotate through these options to see if they could catch fire in a bottle with one and ride that success for a few weeks, but this is the unlikeliest long-term option.
The Devils could also mine the Comets for winger options. They tried Foote at center for a bit but canceled the experiment, choosing instead to try to solidify him as a future NHL winger. They could potentially opt instead to find a 4C elsewhere on their current NHL roster and then fortify their wings at the NHL level with Halonen, Foote, Stillman, or maybe Max Willman or Adam Beckman. Still, none of those players likely move the needle long-term for a team looking to compete deep into the postseason. The team will likely add a forward once they return from the road trip, even if it is just for depth ahead of Thursday’s game against Montreal. Halonen and Foote are both off to good starts offensively, though Utica has been dreadful. Halonen likely fits the bill more simply due to being a right-hand shot to balance the lineup, with the team now being down two right-shot forwards. Halonen also does not need to clear waivers to be sent down, as Foote would (per Puckpedia).
Option Two: The Answer is Already on the NHL Roster
Now that the team is down two players, it may be more difficult to fill the needs from the current NHL roster. The Devils played the Oilers with a roster of only 21 players. They deployed Dowling at center while sliding Kurtis MacDermid back into the lineup at left wing and moving Tomas Tatar to right wing. This is also not a long-term solution as the Devils have been unable to find a sustained role for MacDermid when he is in the lineup. He has not averaged more than 5:05 of ice time for a season since 2022-23 and has not averaged more than 10 minutes since 2020-21. When they have played him, either the rest of the fourth line gets kept on the bench with him, over-extending the top nine, or the Devils are forced to play 11/6, stressing the remainder of the forwards.
The other option would be to move Cotter back to center and let him be the 4C. Tatar or a Utica player could replace him on the third line and the other on the fourth. Indeed, finding a winger for Bastian for “several” weeks is easier than finding a center to fill in for Lazar for an extended time. Cotter, though, has been the team’s Swiss Army knife, playing throughout the entire lineup. He is the closest on the roster to recreating Lazar’s energy and attack mentality, which is necessary for what New Jersey wants to do this season. His 33 hits through 12 games demonstrates this, placing him second on the team and putting him on a pace for 246 for the season. With two players out, filling from within seems like the third-best option, as it would only weaken the team in several areas rather than shore up one.
Option Three: Trade/UFA
The final option would be to sift through remaining unsigned unrestricted free agents or to trade for fourth-line help. Without knowing the full extent of Bastian’s injury, it is difficult to assess whether it is worth giving up assets for players, but the option has to be fully considered. Fortunately for New Jersey, there is a robust group of players on expiring contracts who could immediately help the team. Here are a few options:
Nico Sturm – San Jose Sharks
The Devils and San Jose Sharks have a history of trading at the deadline. The teams have found synergy in the trade market in the last two seasons. Both times, the Sharks facilitated the Devils’ needs in exchange for roster players and futures. Despite the additions of Toffoli and Alex Wennberg, plus the drafting of Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks are still a few years away from serious contention. One player they may be willing to part with as the season moves forward is center Nico Sturm.
Sturm is the quintessential fourth-line center. In 2023-24, he was first in the NHL in faceoff win percentage, winning over 60% of his draws. He averages over 100 hits per 82 games for his career, and he would bring the experience of being part of a Stanley Cup winner to the locker room. The only downside is that he is a left-hand shot but the Devils could make it work as Sturm is the ideal fit and would be a good add at the deadline, let alone before American Thanksgiving. He should be New Jersey’s priority.
Kevin LaBanc – Columbus Blue Jackets
Kevin LaBanc checks a lot of boxes for New Jersey. He is right-handed, plays heavy, and after an entire professional tryout (PTO) stint in this year’s preseason, he knows the personnel and system. Columbus remains in the hunt but has been decimated by injury and would likely be looking to accumulate assets. LaBanc chose to sign with the Blue Jackets despite an equivalent deal with New Jersey because of the potential for more playing time. With two openings on the fourth line, the team could benefit from his rugged play and scoring touch. With LaBanc on a one-year league minimum deal, the acquisition cost should be affordable, and he would be an immediate upgrade over the AHL options.
Cal Clutterbuck, Unrestricted Free Agent
The long-time New York Islanders forward remains unsigned but has signaled that he may want to continue playing. He is a quintessential fourth-line player who could thrive in Keefe’s system should he be in shape and healthy. Clutterbuck has had injury concerns but is coming off a year where he played all 82 games.
He is not shy to throw his body around, averaging 311 hits per 82 games. He would bring some of the fire and energy to fill the void from losing Lazar and Bastian. He also should be able to be signed at a lower cost and would have motivation after being left out of the Islanders’ plans.
Craig Smith/Jake Evans, Chicago/Montreal
The Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens are not off to the start each had hoped, making their 4Cs on expiring contracts expendable. Craig Smith and Jake Evans are in the final year of their contracts and are solid right-shot centers. Smith is in the latter stages of his career, while Evans is just 28. Neither is as physical as the other three listed or Lazar and Bastian, but both have NHL pedigrees and would be inexpensive to acquire and certainly a better stopgap than any center the Devils currently have in their system.
As the calendar turns to November, the Devils are faced with remaking their fourth line. They have at least three ways to fill the gaping holes left by the losses of Lazar and Bastian. The best bet is that they will likely look internally first but may have to go outside their organizational depth to secure a longer-term solution at center, with Lazar’s expected absence lasting months, not weeks.
