With Adam Larsson traded away, the New Jersey Devils needed to find a defender ready to contribute immediately. They found what they needed in Ben Lovejoy.
When the New Jersey Devils traded for Taylor Hall, they found exactly what they needed: a very talented player to help their extremely poor offense. However, they gave up possibly their best defenseman in Adam Larsson, and now they had a different hole they had to fill. They did just that on the first day of free agency, signing 32-year-old defenseman Ben Lovejoy to a 3 year, $8 million contract.
Lovejoy, who is measured at 6-foot-1 and 206 pounds, is a physical defender who played a big role on the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins team. He was a top four defender for them in the playoff run. He finished the season with a plus-minus rating of 9, which was tied with Kris Letang for third out of all Pittsburgh defenders. His physicality and defensive-minded play helped the team a lot during the season.
Lovejoy racked up 154 hits and 104 blocked shots, both of which were third on the Penguins last season. He would have been second on the Devils in hits and third in blocks, with the recently departed Larsson finishing ahead of him in both, as well as Andy Greene in blocks.
Perhaps most importantly, Lovejoy had a strong Fenwick and Corsi percentage, which have both proven to be big factors in winning games. Lovejoy’s Fenwick rating was 51.4 percent, which is a huge improvement for a team that finished 26th in that stat. He even finished 6.5 percent higher than Larsson, although Larsson did not play with the shot creators that Lovejoy did. For context, 50 percent is average, and if the team made a 6.5 percent jump in Fenwick percentage, they would be expected to add about four wins. Lovejoy can help the team prevent scoring opportunities, which they needed after dealing away Larsson.
The Devils will spend the offseason training period determining who to pair Lovejoy with. Greene lost his partner, but perhaps the Devils would not want their two most experienced defenders on the same line. The Devils may want to pair Lovejoy, whose style and championship experience makes him a potential leader for the team, with a younger defender. Perhaps they may pair him with Damon Severson, a top prospect who was a solid two-way defender last season but lacked the physicality that the top defenders had. Lovejoy and Severson would be solid complements who could work well together. It is likely that at least one of Steve Santini or Seth Helgeson begins the season in New Jersey, and perhaps they would be a good pairing with Lovejoy as well due to their youth. Lovejoy could be a great locker room presence, and he could really help the team mature and learn what it takes to win in this league.
Next: New Jersey Devils Sign Smith-Pelly, Merrill, Bennett
When the Devils traded Larsson for Hall, they quickly limited their loss on the defensive end, signing a very capable player in Lovejoy. With the combination of the Lovejoy acquisition and potential development of young defenders such as Severson, Santini, Helgeson, Jon Merrill, and John Moore, the defense could look to be as good or even better than it was last season. The Devils offense should definitely be better this season, and if the defense improves or even stays at the level it was at last season, they certainly will be in competition for a playoff spot. Signing Ben Lovejoy was another good step towards that goal.