It is safe to say that this is one of the most talented rosters that the New Jersey Devils have ever put together on paper. They have six forwards who finished with 20 or more goals and four of those forwards finished with 30 or more. They have their core of scorers locked up long-term and none of them are above the age of 26. The offense finished the preseason outscoring their opponents 30-13 and their powerplay ended up No. 1 overall at a 38.3% success rate. This led to a perfect 7-0-0 in the preseason.
So can this offense translate that success to the real thing starting this upcoming Thursday? Let’s dive in.
Devils’ System Outworks Opponents
General manager Tom Fitzgerald built this team with the mindset that he wanted them to play the game with speed, relentless pressure, and puck possession. That is exactly what this forward core in particular will bring night in and night out. They come at you in waves and once they get the puck, it doesn’t happen often where they struggle to maintain it for long periods. Last season, the Devils ranked fourth overall in the NHL in terms of shots per game and finished fifth in shots against. That right there shows you that this team is constantly outworking their opponents and pressuring them to no end.
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The potential of this style was on full display last season as well as through the entirety of this preseason. The Devils ended last regular season with the third-highest goal differential and finished the preseason with the highest in the entire league. This success also came at times before the Devils acquired Timo Meier last trade deadline. They also added even more firepower this offseason.
After trading Yegor Sharangovich and a pick to the Calgary Flames, New Jersey acquired another big-time scoring winger in Tyler Toffoli. The 31-year-old is coming off of a career year in goals (34) assists (39) and points (73). Adding him to a team riddled with scoring star power turns this team’s offense into the most intimidating top nines in the NHL. What Toffoli brings is something the Devils lacked last season and that is a guy who has a nose for the goal and will shoot the puck at will. While the team has a ton of guys who can score, the majority of them are more likely to set up each other rather than shoot first. Toffoli will shoot the puck often and will make the setting up from guys like Jack Hughes that much better. He already has built really good chemistry with Hughes and Jesper Bratt and that will translate to a lot of scoring in the regular season.
This offense can attack in so many different ways that it will make it extremely hard for coaches to figure out how to properly gameplan each night. There will be different guys contributing every game and that turns a team from being great to elite.
Devils’ Powerplay Will Be Lethal
The Devils were five-on-five kings last season. No matter the situation, they seemed to thrive a lot at even strength. However, their power play, particularly in the playoffs, left a lot to be desired. Last year in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Devils’ powerplay went on to score just six goals and had the fourth worst power play success rate at just 16.7%. That is bound to change with what the Devils have to offer this season.
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During training camp, the Devils have dubbed their two different man advantage lineups simply the “Jack” and “Nico” Hischier units. In Hischier’s group, you have to deal with Hischier, Meier, Alexander Holtz, Dawson Mercer, and Dougie Hamilton. With Hughes’ bunch, you have to contend with Hughes, Toffoli, Bratt, Ondrej Palat and Luke Hughes. Either of those groups could easily be any team’s number one power play squad and the Devils have two of them. That is something that other teams will dread every time they have to go to the penalty kill. As mentioned before, the Devils finished with nearly a 40% success rate on the powerplay during the preseason and some of that is how each opportunity is set up and a bunch of it comes from the chemistry from the amount of scoring power this team offers.
The Devil’s offense not only has a chance to be one of the best, but they have the chance to be the NHL’s elite for years to come. With a core of young, talented forwards, a system designed to be relentless in the offensive zone, and a general manager willing to do what’s best for the organization, there is true belief in New Jersey that their offense will be the reason that this team will bring the Stanley Cup back to the Garden State.
