New Jersey Devils: How Jack Hughes Helps The Power Play

The New Jersey Devils are sure to get some serious help offensively with the number-one overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft. One aspect this reall helps is the team’s putrid power play.

The New Jersey Devils are going to select first in the 2019 NHL Draft. This is a lock now after winning the 2019 NHL Draft Lottery. They had an 11.5% chance going in and the ping pong balls went their way. Now, they are going to draft a player that is considered a top prospect. The two players at the top of the draft are both known for offense.

It is very likely that the Devils ultimately go with American center Jack Hughes. At the mid-season rankings show hosted by TSN’s Bob McKenzie, 10/10 scouts still had Hughes as their top overall player. He did point out that most of them believe Finland’s Kaapo Kakko has closed the gap. Still, at the end of the day, the Devils will probably select Jack Hughes.

Adding a playmaker like Hughes would certainly do wonders for them 5 on 5, but the impact he could make on the power play could be instrumental for the team having success. He would be joining a team with some great offensive players who have been pretty good on the power play, even when the team wasn’t that good.

The Devils already have a premier power-play player in Taylor Hall. Hall is as good as any player in the NHL at creating chances for himself and others with the man advantage. They have Kyle Palmieri who can score power-play goals better than any player on the team. He has his one-time blast from the circle, a poor mans Alex Ovechkin.

Nico Hischier has yet to really get going on the power play, which shows in his total overall point totals. He has had some really great 5-on-5 offensive numbers, and if he can really get going on the power play we could be talking 70-80 points. A guy like Jack Hughes could be that difference maker. He might be able to help Hischier get his power play numbers way up.

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Nico is really great around the net and on the half-wall with the man advantage, which is why a playmaker like Hughes would really be able to help him. Nico hasn’t spent much time on the power play with Hall, so we haven’t really seen him with a playmaker like that on the power play. We’ve seen what those two can do on even strength but special teams can be key to winning more hockey games.

The Devils power play units were pretty good in the first half, but injuries to their main guys started to pile up and the numbers started to fall. They finished the campaign with the 21st best power play clicking at 17.7% chance. That isn’t good enough. It needs to be better once they play with hopefully all healthy bodies next season.

If Jack Hughes proves that he can run his own power play unit as the main playmaking forward, then pairing him with Hischier would be a good idea. 5 on 5 they’ll be separated but on the power play that could be a great duo as Palmieri and Hall have proven to be a great duo on special teams. It might be the exact opposite at even strength (Hall with Hischier, Palmieri with Hughes) so maybe that affects how coach John Hynes handles all of this.

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It would also be a great idea to see all of the top talents end up on the top unit. When you look at all of the other elite power play units around the NHL (Boston, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Washington, etc) you might notice that they stack the top unit and keep it on the ice for a good chunk of the two minutes. A unit featuring Palmieri, Hischier, Hughes, Hall and any offensive defenseman would be really fun to watch. A unit like that would certainly be able to do some damage. All of this speculation is very fun and doing it all summer is the plan for everybody.

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