On today’s New Jersey Devils Daily, who made the Opening Night roster, where the Devils fall into the power rankings and another season preview.
The New Jersey Devils released its final roster before the opening of the NHL season tonight. There were some interesting moves up and down the roster. One interesting tidbit was the decision to keep eight defensemen. Tyler Kelley with Pucks and Pitchforks goes through the latest roster and predicts how the lines will shape up. Some of the lines are obvious, like a Hall-Zacha-Palmieri top line, but others not so much. How will this defense play out? Will the Devils finally bench Ben Lovejoy?
New Jersey Devils Make Final Roster Cuts for Opening Night
One of those roster decisions makes zero sense. Why is Brian Gibbons on the roster to start the season? He’s a perennial NHL player who brings some grit with some scoring, but not much else. He could be a placeholder for a player who’s recovering from injury (Michael McLeod) or one that needs a little more seasoning (John Quenneville). Besides that, it doesn’t seem like it was a hockey decision to keep Gibbons on the roster.
New Jersey Devils Add Brian Gibbons To Opening Night Roster
The Devils weren’t ranked last in a power rankings! Dave Stevenson with FanSided’s Pucks Prose ranked the Devils 27th in the preseason power rankings. No, this isn’t a good ranking, but many analysts put the Devils behind the Vegas Golden Knights, so this is something! The team has a much improved forward group, but a porous defense. Obviously, there is more room for improvement on the blueline, but the young players need to prove it before the ranking gets better.
NHL Power Rankings: Penguins, Oilers start season as Stanley Cup favorites
Brett Cyrgalis with the New York Post previews the Devils season. He thinks this is another year of “what if” thanks to a young core that may not be ready to compete just yet. Interestingly, he thinks the contract for Damon Severson could prove costly in the future (I disagree) because of how good Mirco Mueller and Will Butcher could be by the time their contracts are up. He says the best case scenario is the Devils are in the hunt late in the season.
Devils preview: Will young core spur improvement after hitting bottom?
Brian Franken with All About The Jersey previews the one spot that could make or break the Devils season; goaltending. Cory Schneider was not good last season, but many believe that was a fluke. The goalie pipeline looks as good as it has in a long time. Adding Gilles Senn to a squad that already included Scott Wedgewood, MacKenzie Blackwood and Evan Cormier shows the team is deep in net. Re-signing Keith Kinkaid for two years gives all of them the proper time to develop.
New Jersey Devils 2017-18 Season Preview Part 3: Goaltenders