An Early Look At 2019-20 New Jersey Devils Roster

Barring any new trades and acquisitions I’m going to keep it down to the players from the forwards, defenders, and the goalies. Here is my scouting report on everyone of these players.

Forwards:

Taylor Hall: Taylor is one of the premiere left wings in the NHL. He is a very fast, game-breaking forward. His skillset isn’t just being a sniper with a lot of speed, and smarts, his hockey IQ kicks in at the right moments around the mid to high-danger scoring zones.

Nico Hischier: Nico is a two-way Swiss center. He plays very wisely both creating offense and defense. Nico is a team first player who is willing to make the breakout passes, and is learning to shoot the puck more on odd-man rushes. Nico is a graceful skater with really amazing hockey iq, and senses. He plays a bit like Nicklas Backstrom offensively the way he processes the game. The moment Nico plays defense he absolutely can strip the puck from opponents in the defensive, and offensive zones yielding scoring chances.

Kyle Palmieri: Palmieri is an absolute sniper. Kyle loves having the puck on his stick in the offensive zone. Whether its a wrist shot, snap shot or the slap shot, Kyle can really create havoc. He can also be a great veteran who can step up and shut down shooting and passing lanes.

Jesper Bratt: Jesper is a very fast, very shifty, very dynamic skater who is smart around the ice. With the puck. he can get deep along the boards. He knows how to dangle and he can not only shoot an excellent wrist shot from the point, but he can rip a one-timer. Also he has breakaway speed that can be very intimidating along with his ability to deke out a goalie.

Jack Hughes: The young Orlando, Florida native has absolute high-end speed, top-notch agility, and he’s blessed with hockey smarts. His IQ is off the charts. Once Jack hits the ice, he’s an absolute presence. Players are soon going to fear the speed and the momentum Jack creates. Hughes processes the game in nano seconds and has no problem outwitting you like Sidney Crosby, or blazing by you like Connor McDavid, and passing the puck like Patrick Kane. Hughes knows how to execute and create scoring chances, but he will wow you out of your seat(s).

Blake Coleman: Coleman is a young veteran center and winger. He plays the game in a meat and potatoes fashion as a power forward. Coleman is the nitty gritty type of player killing penalties and playing big on shorthanded goals. Another one of the things he can do is create points on a line that possesses a lot of speed and grit.

Miles Wood: Miles has come a long way since being drafted out of Boston College. Wood plays with a very high speed, super agile power-forward game. He is not afraid to bang bodies, and get tough by holding opposing players accountable. Miles is also a really nice scoring threat, and he’s a player that is hard to knock the puck off his stick. A player like him adds skill and scoring depth.

Travis Zajac: Travis is a vital veteran who has a really good two-way center game. He has one of the most under rated slap shots on the team. He’s a brilliant passer. Zajac is able to shut down passing lanes, and cut down on shooters. He’s remains an excellent penalty killer, and an important face-off center. Speed isn’t quite his game but he can still get around the ice just fine.

Jesper Boqvist: The young Swedish center and winger plays a very skilled playmaking and goal-scoring game. He’s not reluctant to shoot the puck when he receives the puck. His athletic abilities from skating, passing, shooting all kick in with his senses. He has top-six potential but at this point I’m going to let him start on the 3rd line as a winger. He reminds me of a younger, healthier, faster version of Marcus Johansson.

Michael McLeod: McLeod hasn’t quite got the scoring touch just yet. One of the things going for him now is his speed, passing, and vision for the game. What he needs to work on this offseason is to begin synchronizing his hands to where he wants to shoot the puck. With time on his side and his super buddy Nathan Bastian around, it shouldn’t be hard to have McLeod clicking.

Pavel Zacha: Pavel has begun to pickup his goal-scoring touch last season with 13 goals and 25 points. Prior to that he had 8 goals in each of his first two full seasons. With the way Zacha is beginning to use his speed andstrength with his power game, he’s developing himself more as a sharp shooter. Zacha is beginning to improve himself in the face-off circle as well. He’s going to be an excellent bottom-six center with the likes of Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes playing in the 1st and 2nd line center slots for many years to come. This means less pressure for Zacha and more focus on his game in the less intense but always very important minutes of a hockey game.

Nathan Bastian: The big bodied Bastian is a versatile player who can be a right-handed version of Brian Boyle with speed and more skill. If he can get more exposure to driving the net more often and creating chaos it won’t be very hard for Nathan to score those hard nosed goals. Also his near and long term chemistry with Michael McLeod can help the two grow very well after they both dominated the OHL for The Mississauga Steelheads.

Defensemen:

Will Butcher: Will is a power play specialist, and an offensive-defenseman who is not afraid to quarterback a power play. He’s coming off a sophomore slump. His rookie season was one of the best from a Devils defenseman in awhile offensively. If Will can improve his puck management and defensive sided of his game a little bit, he can become an above-average puck handler.

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P.K. Subban: PK is a polarizing, very passionate, highly skilled, and physical defenseman. This guy’s slapshot is the caliber you know a goal can easily be scored from far out by the blue line. Subban is not afraid to slam a guy around with a hip check the same way he did to Brad Marchand moons ago as a Canadien. Subban is a Norris trophy type of guy and he will bring that type of game to New Jersey.

Connor Carrick: Carrick is a mobile defenseman who can play like a fourth forward and also is able to hold his own on defense. He can score in the offensive zone, and has pretty good speed that is beginning to show after he was traded from Dallas.

Damon Severson: The homegrown Severson is an offensive-defenseman who improved his defensive game a little bit more last season. On top of that improvement he has a really heavy shot and creates not only goals but a lot of assists from passes, and rebounds from shots on net.

Sami Vatanen: Sami proved to be a very critical player in the Devils defense corps. Despite being injured he always came back blocking shots, shutting down opponents near the net, and being a key player in power plays and penalty kills. This season I see him having less of the responsibility than he did last year now that PK, and Severson are part of the right handed defense core.

Mirco Mueller: Mueller had a below performance level season last season. Mirco has a really good shot, and he can pass the puck. However his hockey sense, and defensive coverage is one of his biggest areas of need to work on this offseason if he wants to make the team.

Andy Greene: Greene isn’t as fast as he used to be. He can still be very reliable on the penalty kill, and a pretty solid even strength defender. Greene’s very fortunate to possibly play less minutes this upcoming season thanks to possible upcoming defensive prospects or upcoming acquisitions to help him get through an 82 game season.

Goalies:

Cory Schneider: Schneider had a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde season recently. However near the end of the season he found his Dr. Jekyll self again. He improved his confidence game, his positioning, and his puck handling is beginning to progress. He still has a lot left to improve upon especially with Mackenzie Blackwood ready to steal some games from him.

Mackenzie Blackwood: His size, lateral movement, vision, confidence, and positioning has been very crucial from his development at the NHL level. One of the best games I witnessed him in was against The Boston Bruins at Boston. He had ice in his veins, and he wasn’t overly confident the whole season he had. Mac is the kind of goalie that coach Hynes wants to see day in and day out trying to knock Cory Schneider off the perch but in a good way to keep this tandem competitive.

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