Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils Struggling To Find Sami Vatanen’s Partner

By Nick Villano

MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 14: Andrew Shaw
MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 14: Andrew Shaw /
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The New Jersey Devils shook the hockey world when they sent Adam Henrique and Joe Blandisi to the Anaheim Ducks in return for Sami Vatanen. While the move obviously made the team much better, it’s been hard to pair him with the Devils current defenders.

The New Jersey Devils put forth an amazing effort last night against the Montreal Canadiens. Despite being without three of their top six forwards, including one Taylor Hall, they were able to get immense pressure on Carey Price. He was standing on his head, so they were only able to break the plain once, but it was enough to come away with one point.

There was a lot to take away from this game, but one thing seemed clear; John Moore and Sami Vatanen aren’t the best fit.

Here’s the problem, I don’t know who the right fit is with Vatanen. Since he came over in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks, he’s played with nearly everyone on the current Devils roster. His first few games were paired with Andy Green. While the captain is a smart enough player to make it work, it seemed like his diminished skill hurt the pairing. Vatanen was forced to help him too often, which put too much defensive responsibility on forwards.

He spent the equivalent of one game (about 19 minutes on ice together according to Natural Stat Trick) with Damon Severson. He had the best CF% when he was paired with Severson (84.85). On paper, these two make the most sense together, but it still seems like something is off. On the offensive end, these two play great together. Having them paired on the power play together makes perfect sense. However, on the defensive side Severson may be a little too offensive for his liking. They both bring similar skill sets when it comes to pinching well. They may be too similar of players to make them the best pairing.

Vatanen has only spent 14 minutes on the ice with Will Butcher. The rookie sensation plays well with whoever he’s spent time with, but there could be a reason they haven’t found much time on the ice together. Vatanen is very good on both ends of the ice, while Butcher is still developing a great defensive game.

Ironically, I think the best pairing could be with two different players currently on the Devils roster. It’s ironic because I think they are Ben Lovejoy and Mirco Mueller. Mueller has been out since the middle of November with a broken clavicle. He won’t be back until the end of January at the earliest. When he comes back, that’s a pairing I really want to see.

As far as Lovejoy, he hasn’t been as bad this season as he was last season. It probably has something to do with going from first-line minutes to first to be scratched. He’s only played 24 seconds with Vatanen. That’s not a typo. But hear me out. Lovejoy is a true stay-at-home defenseman, while Vatanen may be the best two-way defender on the team. They could feed off each other and make it work. Unfortunately, the Devils can’t really afford to sit anyone in favor of Lovejoy.

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It’s not the biggest problem in the Devils room, but getting Vatanen going will help this Devils team immensely. I don’t want to say he’s struggled since the trade, but only taking five shots in seven games is not what you want. He’s made more attempts, but they’ve been missing the net wildly. That showed it’s ugly face on a 5-on-3 power play Thursday night. The Devils defensemen were driving play for the two-man advantage, but every shot hit the boards. The Canadiens could not get the puck, but the Devils cleared it on themselves. If Vatanen is going to get it going, he needs someone who can feed the puck to him.

This isn’t a big problem. Vatanen has played decent enough on the defensive end of the ice. However, he was acquired to push play on both ends of the ice. He needs to get his offense going to help this Devils team win.

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