New Jersey Devils head coach John Hynes switched up the lines, moving rookie Nico Hischier from the top line and replacing him with Travis Zajac. This isn’t as terrible move as it sounds on paper.
The New Jersey Devils have been changing up the bottom nine the entire season. Never has there really been much consistency with where the secondary scoring comes from, and head coach John Hynes has continuously tried to change things to gain momentum. While that’s changed time and time again, there’s been serious consistency on the top line.
Nico Hischier took the top-line center position from Pavel Zacha back in October, and basically played there every game since. He was able to spend most of his season with Hart-Trophy candidate Taylor Hall to his left. The right wing hasn’t been terribly consistent, but it’s mostly been between Jesper Bratt and Kyle Palmieri.
Well, now 70 games into the season, it looks like things are about to change.
Amanda Stein put out her patented hand-written lines on Friday afternoon, and there was a very obvious change.
#NJDevils at practice in LA. No Patrick Maroon on the ice. pic.twitter.com/NlGgK4FTcb
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) March 16, 2018
Travis Zajac finds himself in between Hall and Palmieri. This gave many fans (including myself) deja vu of last year, which didn’t end well. While thoughts of last year’s team worries some fans, this isn’t a tragic decision from Hynes.
The Hall-Zajac-Palmieri pairing was very good at times last season. In fact, it was the only line producing anything for most of the season. Sure, Hall seemed out of place at times, but that was more getting used to a new environment than blame on his linemates.
Hischier, on the other hand, looks like he’s ready to lift up a line himself. He’s second on the Devils with 45 points, and lit the lamp 15 times already. Nico is the only Devils player to gain a star on the NHL’s three stars weekly ranking, hitting first on February 19th.
Hischier was able to help Michael Grabner score his first goal as a Devils. He sent a perfect pass to Grabner, who had a wide open net. That goal could be key to getting the goal scorer the Devils thought they were sending a second-round pick for.
Adding Brian Gibbons to the second line puts three guys with crazy motors together. All three of those players can skate line to line in the blink of an eye.
Moving Hischier is not the move I would make, I admit that, but it isn’t a travesty. Hischier can help the second line control play, while Hall can produce points no matter who’s on his line. Zajac is not the player he was three months ago. He is moving the puck much better, and can even be a goal scorer at some clutch times. Even if Patrick Maroon moves into the second-line role, moving Gibbons down, it’s still a very good line. This could actually end up being the right decision.