New Jersey Devils Daily: National Outlet Previews, Zajac Replacement

On today’s New Jersey Devils Daily, multiple National Hockey Outlets preview Jersey’s team, an under-the-radar replacement for Travis Zajac and analyzing penalties.

Cody Benjamin with CBS Sports takes a look at the New Jersey Devils upcoming season. Obviously, last season wasn’t exactly great for the team and its fans, but there are many things to be excited for this season. Benjamin really likes the acquisition of Marcus Johansson. He provides a very good player that plays all three forward positions. He thinks that the presence of Nico Hischier will help soften the landing of life without Travis Zajac. Overall, it’s a positive review of a team that looked extremely bleak just three months ago.

2017-18 team-by-team NHL season outlook: Previewing the New Jersey Devils

James O’Brien with Pro Hockey Talk also took a stab at previewing the Devils upcoming season. He’s more to the point on the Devils season. He says, while the talent is building through trades (Taylor Hall, Johansson, Palmieri) there just isn’t enough for the team to be dangerous this season. He does say that Pavel Zacha could be an interesting player to watch this season.

It’s New Jersey Devils day at PHT

Todd Correll with Hockey Buzz defends his decision to keep Pavel Zacha and Michael McLeod off his possibilities to replace Travis Zajac after he went down with injury last week. He, correctly, claims both players need a lot of work both offensively and defensively to deserve a spot on a line with Taylor Hall. Both players could be very good in the near future, but this year is way too soon to give either player 18-20 minutes per game.

On Pavel Zacha, Michael McLeod, and replacing Travis Zajac

Pucks and Pitchforks also looked into the replacement for Zajac. The obvious choice seems to be Adam Henrique, but that’s not the choice of this site. Marcus Johansson has the experience on a very good team, playing with the Washington Capitals his entire career. He brings experience along with massive skill to the top line. Henrique had his struggles playing with Hall last season, so the Devils should look at its newly acquired toy to make this as easy a transition as possible.

New Jersey Devils Should Try Marcus Johansson At First-Line Center

John Fisher with All About the Jersey looks at a very interesting stat, penalties taken versus penalties drawn. To be frank, the Devils were not good at it last season. The only player with a double-digit difference was Kyle Palmieri. He was +18 in that stat. Next on the list is Taylor Hall, who was +9, and it drops off from there. The Devils saw a major drop off in its penalty kill, and the huge disparity between drawn and taken probably hurt that stat. The Devils spent too much time killing penalties. That likely gassed that unit. If the team can change that this season, it could help them be a surprise.

The New Jersey Devils Who Drew & Took Minor Penalties in 2016-17