The New Jersey Devils, with most of their starters rested, pulled off a surprising upset to blank the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. They continued to have goaltender Ilya Sorokin’s number just like they did in their earlier preseason matchup. This capped off a perfect 7-0-0 preseason as they now look forward to the season opener on Oct. 12 vs. the Detroit Red Wings but not before making some tough roster decisions.
Great Signs from Defense
With a majority of their starters out of the picture tonight, Santeri Hatakka and Brendan Smith were given an opportunity to make a statement on the top pairing. Hatakka specifically, whom the Devils acquired in the Timo Meier deal, was fabulous. He led the entire team in even-strength chances for percentage (CF%) – 69.23% (via Natural Stat Trick). When Hatakka was on the ice, the team generated 18 scoring chances and only gave up eight. He was defensively responsible, using his body when he needed to and looking calm and poised with the puck. His point shot went towards the net and was redirected by Max Willman to open up the scoring in the first period. It’s worth noting that the Islanders iced virtually their entire opening night roster, so this was no small feat from Hatakka. He’ll likely start with the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League (AHL), but you never truly know what the Devils’ brass is thinking. To put it frankly, he looked like an NHL defenseman in this one.
Smith has had a rough preseason, to say the least, but he certainly looked better tonight. When he was on the ice, the team out-chanced the Islanders by five (20-15), good for a CF% of 57.14%. He was making smarter decisions than in previous contests. While not perfect, this was a step in the right direction for the veteran as he vies for a spot on the bottom pairing come opening night.
Simon Nemec built upon his strong preseason by adding a shorthanded goal, beating Oliver Wahlstrom one-on-one and roofing it past Sorokin. He’s made it very difficult for the Devils to cut him, so now a tough decision looms.
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Colin Miller seemed like a surefire lock when camp started to slot into the third pairing next to Luke Hughes. However, he’s had a very poor showing thus far and tonight didn’t help his case. The Islanders outchanced the Devils 13-to-6 when Miller was on the ice. Head coach Lindy Ruff has been known to praise Smith’s abilities in the past, and it would not be surprising to see Hughes paired with Smith, as opposed to Miller, on opening night. The good news is, as seen last season, Ruff is not shy about benching players due to performance. So if it starts off poorly, they can always opt for something else.
Nemec making the team would probably mean a pairing of Hughes and Nemec, which could get scary. Ruff has been open about not wanting two rookies on the blue line.
Kevin Bahl scored as well off a stellar feed from Dawson Mercer, capping off a great preseason and proving that he deserves top-four minutes with John Marino.
While tough decisions, these are good problems to have.
Schmid Bounces Back
There’s no secret that Akira Schmid was subpar during the Devils’ previous matchup versus the Islanders. Despite getting the win in that one, he stopped just 15 of 20 for an abysmal .750 save percentage (SV%).
He bounced back in a huge way, stopping all 30 shots he faced in a dominant shutout. Many times throughout the game, he came up with a massive stop which thwarted any possible momentum the Islanders could have generated. This included two breakaway stops on Bo Horvat and Casey Cizikas.
He improved his preseason save percentage from .877% to .919% and looked every bit of the Schmid that fans got used to in the playoffs. His cool, calm demeanor was on full display, the one that caused teammate Erik Haula to refer to him as “calm as a cucumber”.
It seems more likely that Vitek Vanecek will begin as the top option for the Devils. But if they can count on Schmid to be a legitimate 1B as opposed to a backup, that could mean everything for them.
Depth Players Disappoint
This contest was supposed to be an opportunity for the non-roster locks to make a statement. Three names in particular have a legitimate chance to make the squad: Chris Tierney, Tyce Thompson, and Alexander Holtz. None of them performed well.
Holtz had the highest CF% of the trio at 23.81%. The Islanders had 16 chances to the Devils’ five when he was on the ice. Remarkably, Tierney and Thompson were even worse.
Tonight, Holtz was on a line with bottom-six players Tomas Nosek and Michael McLeod. It proved exactly why Holtz should be in the top six or nothing. Despite gaining speed in the offseason, his defensive decisions have been questionable at best, and his game is still lacking some. His shot is elite, so it will be interesting to see if that could offset his flaws if he makes the team. But enough is enough.
If there’s even a thought of moving Holtz below the second line, Thompson or Tierney are probably better options, while Mercer could slot into the top six.
With the season opener less than a week away, it’ll be sooner rather than later that we have a full glimpse into the Devils’ plans. Thompson and Tierney are waiver-eligible, which may factor into the decision. Holtz still has options so he can be sent down to the AHL freely.
Perspective
It can be easy to get hung up on the Devils finishing a perfect 7-0-0 in the preseason, but it genuinely means nothing. The last team to have an undefeated preseason was the 2016-17 Colorado Avalanche, who finished a league-worst 22-56-4.
Now, that’s not to say the Devils will finish anything even remotely close to that. That would probably be the worst drop-off from preseason expectations in NHL history. However, it’s the truth that a lot of these games have been against minor leaguers who end up on waivers in the days after. With the depth the Devils have, they should be beating most teams pretty handily in the preseason.
It literally means nothing. There’s no trophy or any sort of recognition. The final scores on opening night and beyond will mean a hundred times more than their collective record this preseason ever did.
They’ll need to refocus to face full NHL lineups night in and night out. Final roster cuts will be made soon, and then the focus will strictly be on facing the Red Wings on Oct. 12.
