Things are about as bad as they possibly can be thanks to the entire New Jersey Devils team being on the injury list. Despite the lackluster lineup night in and night out, there’s still plenty of reasons to throw on a Devils hockey game.
Injuries are getting out of hand for the New Jersey Devils. Now that Nico Hischier and Sami Vatanen are questionable going into their matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets, we might be headed into territory where Jesper Bratt and Travis Zajac are the biggest stars on this team.
It doesn’t equal the best hockey in the world. We learned from their game with the Boston Bruins over the weekend that this lineup isn’t putting together amazing performances. It’s the majority of an AHL team with a sprinkle of NHL players in the mix. One of those NHL players is Drew Stafford who was signed as a depth player, but now sees himself on the first line.
It’s a rough few weeks to be a Devils fan. Not only are most of their good players on the sidelines, but they traded a few others near the trade deadline. Now, Kenny Agostino is a second-line winger after the Devils got him off of waivers. The Devils are so short on forwards, they had to take Egor Yakovlev off the blue line and place him on the fourth line.
It’s rough. However, despite the lineup the team is forced to put out every night, there are reasons to watch Devils hockey every night. Besides the fact that we only have a months worth of games before the season is over, there are tangible reasons to check out this team.
5. Watch The Kids Grow Up
The first reason to watch this team is the most obvious in all rebuild years. We watch these games to see the future right in front of us. Michael McLeod is getting tested, and he’s shown some really nice flashes while also working out some kinks. Joey Anderson continues to get a chance to play with the second and third line, which might eventually help him thrive. Nathan Bastian was looking really good before that injury bug hit him too.
Obviously, these aren’t even the Devils best prospects. Ty Smith, Jesper Boqvist, Reilly Walsh and Jeremy Davies are playing elsewhere and aren’t eligible to play for New Jersey, at least not yet. The Devils could sign them when their respective seasons are over, and that would give fans another reasons to watch the young kids.
Kevin Rooney has been playing much better, showing why Ray Shero felt the need to give him a one-way contract starting next season. Blake Pietila is doing his best. Hopefully, we get Pavel Zacha and John Quenneville back soon so we can see how they play in this lineup.