With the team taking a week off, it is time to answer the questions on the minds of Devils fans. As always, these are real questions submitted on Twitter.
At what point do games become must-win after the All-Star Break as the Devils are on the outside looking in? @MZharnest
Must-win games are largely a fallacy for most professional teams unless they face elimination. Fans can expect the Devils to vault out of the break with urgency, especially if the return of Jack Hughes and others is as close as has been rumored. The team trod water for the most part without Hughes but did cede some important ground. Now that they have had time to regroup after the loss of Hughes, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Brendan Smith, and the initial shock over losing two teammates to indefinite leave upon facing indictments, the Devils must immediately hit the ground running to regain a playoff spot. The talent is there, and general manager Tom Fitzgerald has the cap space and assets to give this team the pieces it needs to succeed. The February games are vital, but the must-win games likely won’t arrive until late March/early April.
Do you feel, like I do, that this season is similar to the New York Jets’ season where injuries (in the Jets’ case, one) give everybody a mulligan for this year and they just scrap the season and move on to next season hoping for the best? @devlzfan
The simple answer is no because, unlike the Jets, the Devils have not gone all in at the expense of their cap to win this year. The Devils acknowledged that their window flew open a little quicker than expected and made moves to try to support that, but this is a team built for the next five to seven years of contention, not a team that put all its eggs in the basket of a 40-something superstar motivated to cement his legacy. Reasons for mulligans abound for New Jersey: the injuries, the experience Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and Alexander Holtz have gained, poor goaltending, etc. However, I wouldn’t look for Fitzgerald, or the players, to “scrap the season.”
Related: Bratt and Haula Providing Devils with Leadership Amid Injuries
Management and ownership are also focused on the business side of the team. Season ticket renewals are about to go out, and coming off a season where the team boasted the largest increase in season ticket subscriptions in the NHL, there is motivation to try to maintain those levels and get to the playoffs, where teams generally go from the red to the black.
They also have cultivated New Jersey as a destination for free agents and to extend careers. Scrapping the season would send the wrong message for all of that, plus they are within reasonable striking distance. Now, should they nosedive in February, then Fitzgerald has to look long and hard about selling off assets like Tyler Toffoli, Colin Miller, Tomas Nosek, and others who could be valuable to a contender.
Was last season a fluke? Last season they were a Stanley Cup contender without major injuries. @NJDevilsfan2k
Last season was not a fluke. You could take the position that several players had career years, and that propelled them to a higher level than expected, and you can’t expect them to play like that again. In reality, they should only get better once they get healthy and work out goaltending.
When healthy, they have one of the three deepest and most talented forward groups in the NHL. With the ascension of Nemec, they have the most talented pair of young defensemen in the league, and they are surrounded by enough glue guys that they can be contenders. The main difference between this season and last has been the catastrophic injury situation, which has crippled their depth. A team cannot be expected to contend with three of its top five centers, its top defense pair, and three other starters out for significant stretches.
What do you believe is the reason for Ruff’s gripe with Holtz? @thenvpshow
To answer this question, one must accept the premise that head coach Lindy Ruff indeed has a gripe with Alex Holtz. Despite popular opinion in the fanbase, there just isn’t evidence of a gripe. Yes, Holtz has been playing sheltered minutes, often on the fourth line, and yes, Holtz is second on the team in 5-on-5 goals, and yes, the puck leaves his stick like it is shot out of a cannon. On the flip side, he’s in his first full season. He is still working on his play without the puck, his play along the walls, and his defense. The real question should be, how good will Holtz be in three years once he rounds out his game if he is already a 20-goal, 40-point scorer?
Ruff has often talked about ice time being earned, and the easiest way to lose ice time is to be on the ice for goals against. Among forwards who have played 450 5-on-5 minutes this season, Holtz ranks tenth in expected goals for percentage, coming in under 48 percent; he is also underwater in scoring and high-danger chances. He also possesses the lowest takeaway rate of any forwards in that group. Unlike his young defenseman, Ruff has enough forward depth to force Holtz to pay for mistakes.
It is easy to see why fans want more ice time for Holtz, but the plan seems to have always been to pair him with veterans who can help him learn to play a complete game. Earlier in the year, it was with Erik Haula and Ondrej Palat, but as injuries piled up, he often ended up on the fourth line. Certainly, his talent projects as a top-six player, but he will have to earn that by solidifying his 200-foot game to earn top-six ice time.
At what point does a grilled cheese become a melt? @matt_NJD
While not hockey-related or even hockey-adjacent, it is a fair question nonetheless. Grilled cheese is an art form when done correctly. The ratio of bread to cheese, mayo or butter on the bread, the right slice of tomato, good crisp bacon are all imperative to the perfect grilled cheese.
A melt, on the other hand, is a different creature, often open-faced, usually with protein (tuna, burger patty) topped with cheese rather than cheese on both sides. Also, a melt is usually only cooked with one side on the griddle, not both like a grilled cheese. Where it gets tricky is how do you categorize a lobster grilled cheese or a short-rib grilled cheese. Are they melts? I will endeavor to conduct some field research and report back. Feel free to leave any thoughts in the comment section below.
Out of all the options listed above (Hughes, Trades, Injuries, Goalie/Defense/Finishing/Coach/GM to blame? Holtz, Better food opinions than @JamesNicholsNHL), what are the odds that absolutely nothing is addressed over the break? @BackhandedDevil
Fitzgerald is taking his usual measured approach to in-season team building and has chosen to let the game come to him. The only major issue that will be addressed over the break seems to be health, as it is likely that Hughes will return soon, if not immediately. As we have seen so far during the lead-up to the All-Star Game, the cost of acquisition for even marginal players has been steep. Other than the goaltending, which has been consistently less than average, it is difficult to accurately assess a team when you lose your best players for extended stretches and your highest-paid player for the season. Hughes and Nico Hischier have only been in the lineup together for 26 of the team’s 47 games.
Fitzgerald would be wise to zero in on the goaltender he wants, lay low, and see if, as the team’s health improves, they climb back into the race and then get the goalie and possibly a defender. The issue with adding a defender is you expect Jonas Siegenthaler and Brendan Smith to return relatively soon, so unless you intend to displace Hughes, Nemec, or Bahl, it becomes a numbers game quickly. Then, if Hamilton returns for the playoffs, it becomes a very crowded defense corps. The only other option is to become a seller and try to acquire assets that you could use over the summer to try to pry an elite goaltender away from a club whose window is not open.
Other than getting healthy and adding help in net, what’s an issue that the #NJDevils have to address to get going? @DevilsState
The least discussed but most impactful issue facing the Devils is their lack of finishing and scoring over the past month. Certainly, without Hughes, a drop-off is to be expected, but the team has struggled to score even three goals a game, let alone four or five, which has not alleviated the pressure from a beleaguered goaltending group. Without Hughes, the Devils have scored 30 goals in ten games while giving up 38. If you subtract the ten goals scored over two games against Vancouver and Vegas, it is 20 in eight games, exactly 2.5 per game, which is simply not enough.
The Devils played five straight games where they failed to score more than two goals and six of ten. In that time, they are 28th in the NHL in shots taken and 13th in shooting percentage. Couple that with the 27th team save percentage, and it is not a recipe for success. This team was built to attack and score; if the goals dry up, winning becomes difficult.
If we added two goalies, who would you target, and what would the deals be? @stokespatrick15
Recently, I discussed two possible goaltender acquisition strategies: either an expiring contract for a short-term fix or someone with a term that was to be your long-term answer. If adding two was possible, Fitzgerald would be wise to go all in for Juuse Saros, as he is the best fit due to age, cap cost, term, and ability.
For the second goaltender, Kaapo Kahkonen from San Jose, or even trying to sign Jaroslav Halak as a backup, would make sense. Another intriguing option would be Marc-Andre Fleury to see if he wants a shot at one more run with a young group. John Gibson and Jacob Markstrom are talented players who have been number one starters on a playoff team, but their contracts make acquiring either one very risky.
Other places to keep an eye on are teams that are currently in the race but may falter as the trade deadline gets closer. One such team is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Should they fall out of contention, Alex Nedeljkovic would also be an attractive target for the Devils. He has a history of post-season success and has an expiring contract, so he should not be cost-prohibitive.
Two other teams that could be good trade partners should they become sellers by the deadline are the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. If that happens, the Devils should kick the tires on Ukko-Pekka-Luukkonen and Alex Lyon. Lyon has an additional year at a very reasonable salary cap charge, while Luukkonen is a pending free agent.
Do you think it’s hard for the Devils to be good with half the team injured and not having a goalie they can rely on? @matt12r
Ths is not just for the Devils but for any team in the NHL. As an analogy, imagine the Rangers having Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad only healthy enough to play 26 games together, then have Adam Fox out for the season, Erik Gustafsson and Ryan Lindgren out for a month, lose Chris Kreider twice for ten days each, and have Barclay Goodrow out for three months. Then add in your goaltenders have given up 17.7 more goals than expected in just 47 games. It is a recipe for a disastrous season, and yet, the Devils head into the second half of the season poised to take a shot at making the playoffs. For that, Ruff does deserve credit.