NEWARK, NJ – It was a long year for the New Jersey Devils finishing dead last in the east and tied for 28th in the league, but they’re hoping after adding some offensive weapons they can become more of a threat in the 2017-18 season.
OFFSEASON ADDITIONS
After winning the NHL Draft Lottery in April the Devils selected the Swiss-born Nico Hischier first overall who will almost certainly join the starting roster right out of camp. Chris Ryan of NJ.com reports he adds the “potential top line prospect to the organization who will probably make the NHL right away”.
2016-4-18 NHL PHI vs WAS Game 3 – Playoffs
Center Marcus Johansson (#90)
Their next move, one that might have been their biggest steal of the summer, was acquiring Marcus Johansson through a trade with the Washington Capitals. Though he tallied more than 50 points last year (24-34-58) the Devils only traded away a second and third round pick, neither which were actually theirs to begin with. The Capitals needed to make room to re-sign top center Evengeny Kuznetzov and knew that they needed to trade him to a team with picks, which is where the Devils fit in.
On free agent day, they were able to add some bottom-6 depth as the Devils signed former New York Rangers center Bryan Boyle for a two year contract with an AAV of $2.55. The 6’6’’ center brings in toughness and plenty of playoff experience which the Devils have been lacking the past couple of years. Boyle played in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, with the Rangers in 2014 and the Tampa Bay Lightning the very next year. He has 169 points in 624 NHL games.
One of the biggest surprises in the offseason was when they landed last season’s Hobey Baker Award winner Will Butcher. This coming just days after they lost their top college prospect, Harvard forward Alex Kerfoot, who opted to not sign with New Jersey but went to the Colorado Avalanche (coincidentally where Butcher just left). Butcher is a strong defenseman who has the ability to join the team right out of camp as well, but the coaching staff will give him a good long look before making any decisions. The positive in this pick up is that it is a “no risk” addition. The Devils did not have to give up anyone to acquire him and the hope is that he can join the depleted defensive core right away, but worst case scenario he heads to the AHL to develop for a few years.
THE NOT SO GOOD
The biggest free agent prize – defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk – had the Devils as one of his final three teams coming down to the wire. Not only would he immediately be the Devils best defenseman, but arguably their best player. (I said arguably). On a team in desperate need for defensemen, Shattenkirk would have been the power-play quarterback, first liner and a leader. Rumors started coming out that he had the Devils, Rangers and Buffalo Sabres as his final suitors. The allure of playing with his favorite team as a kid was too much and he signed with the Rangers.
“What intrigued me about Kevin, aside from being a good player, he was interested in shorter term, which says a lot about him,” Devils General Manager Ray Shero said. “It was never, ‘I’ll come to Jersey if you give six or seven years.’ There was never anything like that.” (NJ.com).
Coming into the offseason the Devils knew they had to bolster their blue line. So far they have only added Butcher who is fresh out of college, so look for the Devils to look for more help, either by trade or pick-up (Cody Franson?).
The definitely not so good was when Travis Zajac was injured with a torn pectoral muscle. He’ll be out for 4-6 months. The silver lining is this could give a real opening for Hischier to step up and play bigger minutes than originally expected.
The goaltending tandem of Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid are a great duo, so long as they have the right pieces in front of them. Both goalies have the ability to come up with huge games and Schneider, though had his ups-and-downs last year, should be able to have a bounce back year and help steal some games for the Devils.
OUTLOOK
The positive is the Devils can’t do much worse than they did last year. Their offseason pick ups certainly should help with their scoring, as they were 28th in the league in goals-for last year. A glaring hole that remains is their defense which allowed 241 goals against last year, good for 24th. They made a couple steps in the right direction but works needs to be done. Their goaltender Cory Schneider can only do so much, so with some help on the blue line this team certainly should move up in the rankings from last year.
PREDICTION: 34-37-11, 79 pts. 8th in the east.
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