New Jersey Devils Player and Point Projections: 3rd Defense Pair
The New Jersey Devils had arguably the worst defense in the league last year. There’s only one place they can go now and that’s up.
I wouldn’t expect a ton of improvement from the New Jersey Devils defense, but there should be some. Not to mention the Devils have some really promising young players on the back end. For my 4th line projections you can go here. Here are my third-line defensive predictions.
Will Butcher- Ben Lovejoy
Lovejoy 2 goals, 6 assists
Ben Lovejoy was placed in a role that was clearly too much for him last year. He averaged over 20 minutes a game after averaging above that number once in his career. However, he did play a full 82 games for the Devils. Lovejoy spent most of his career as a 6th or 7th defenseman and found himself thrust into a top role last year. Look for the Devils to reduce his role, helping him improve.
Lovejoy started in the defensive zone almost 70% of the time. Only 13 players in the NHL played more than 41 games and had a higher defensive zone start percentage. None were defensemen. The next closest was Andy Greene at 64.8% and then Andrej Sustr of the Tampa Bay Lightning at 63.9%.
With a reduced role on a team that’s made a ton of improvements, expect Lovejoy’s play to improve. He was clearly overmatched as a top pair defenseman. To be fair to Lovejoy and the rest of the Devils defense, they didn’t have much help offensively either last year. The vastly improved forward group should help improve the Devils extremely weak defense from last year.
Mirco Mueller 1 Goal, 10 Assists
I fully expect Mirco Mueller to make the Devils opening night roster. I would expect Will Butcher and Michael Kapla will get opportunities to prove themselves at camp, but they’ll start the year in Binghamton. The Devils acquired Mueller prior to the expansion draft for 2nd and 4th round picks. That’s the price you pay for someone you expect will actually perform at the NHL level.
Mueller is a former first round pick who has been trapped in San Jose under Pete Deboer. Now I’m not saying he’s anything like Adam Larsson, but he really hasn’t gotten a shot in the NHL. The most he played was 39 games in 2014-15, where he posted numbers that would have looked good on last years Devils.
Not only did the Devils go out and acquire Mueller, but they resigned him to a two-year, one-way deal. While the AAV is only $1.7 million, that’s not something you do with someone who’s going to play in the AHL. While Mueller isn’t physical, he’s a big skilled player.
Mueller averaged almost 17 minutes of ice time his rookie year and while I would expect a lower total on the 3rd pair he’s shown he can handle more ice time. I wouldn’t expect much offensively from Mueller but I also don’t think that’s why they brought him in. With Andy Greene, Damon Severson, John Moore, and the addition of Will Butcher the Devils needed to add a stay at home defenseman and maybe Mueller can fill that role.
Bonus Prediction!
Will Butcher 2 Goals, 10 assists
The Devils signing of Will Butcher was huge. I think Butcher can and will have a major impact on this team within the next three years. However, I would expect that he’ll start 2017 in Binghamton unless he blows Coach Hynes away in training camp.
With that said, John Moore is on the last year of his deal. While Moore will be a top 4 player this year, look for Ray Shero to move him for some assets before the trade deadline. That will give Butcher and Michael Kapla time to develop and adjust at the AHL level and then I would expect they bring Butcher up.
Butcher previously played with Steven Santini for the USNTDP and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were reunited as a pair at some point this season. All though the Devils missed out on Kevin Shattenkirk in free agency they’ve made some smart moves bringing in young defensemen with tons of potential.