New Jersey Devils Possible Line Combinations for Opening Night

With the development camp behind us, that little taste of New Jersey Devils hockey really gets the mind working toward what this team may look like come Opening Night. It’s always fun to speculate, especially on who will be playing with whom and on what line. This team has a lot of possibilities when it comes to a lineup.

Despite us being months away, it’s worth discussing what those lines may be come October. As of now, if you take a look over at Daily Faceoff they have their own predictions for the Devils lines this year, most of which I do not agree with.

Everyone wants to see as much of Jack Hughes as humanly possible, but the Devils will likely be very careful with how he comes along. For that reason, he will start the year on the third line. He likely won’t be in the bottom six for very long, but this is where it is best for him to start out.

It would be wise to pair him with Wayne Simmonds, who can be a protector for him while he gets used to the NHL. Having a guy like Simmonds on your line will hopefully create a sense of security. As for Hughes’ other winger, the Devils could go with a few options here, but Pavel Zacha might be the best one. Zacha, who has been a disappointment up to this point of his career, could really benefit from playing with a player of Jack Hughes skill set and may help him in his development into becoming a better player, Hughes has that ability to make guys better.

The top line is fairly obvious, for now, and that’s Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri and Hall have played very well together, when healthy. A nice dose of Hischier will get this line to be one of the tops in the league.

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Jesper Boqvist probably makes the team. If they keep him at center, then he’s likely on the fourth line. If he flourishes, then perhaps he’ll be moved up and given a chance to play with Hughes as a winger. I like both possibilities for him and think he’ll carve out a nice spot for himself in the bottom six this year and hopefully progress toward a top-six position in the coming years.

Now, let’s look at the defense. The addition of P.K. Subban to the fold has drastically improved the New Jersey Devils weak defense, but there are still issues with the unit as a whole. Subban will get paired up with Sami Vatanen, which should prove to be a great tandem. However, I would be very interested to see Will Butcher get the chance to play with him. Butcher is continuously progressing towards being a better defenseman but wasn’t in the best situation last season. Statistically speaking, he digressed, but his skill-set foundation improved and if he gets a chance to play with P.K. this year, he may surprise some folks with his play, being paired up with a great player can do that for one in development.

Then, there is Ty Smith, a guy who set records last year in the WHL, whom should definitely make the opening-night roster. He is a dynamic player, but may need a lot of time in the NHL to get going. Pairing him with a veteran like Andy Greene would be great for him, even if they are both left shots. For the time being, he will probably start the year off as the 3rd paired d-man with either Damon Severson or Connor Carrick, my guess would be Carrick/Butcher. Keep in mind that Smith is in fact a left-handed shot, making more lefties than right-handed shots within the unit, so we’ll see if they make it work. Don’t put too much emphasis on having two left-shot defensemen, or vice versa, playing on the same unit as long as its 5 on 5.

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Lastly, New Jersey should give MacKenzie Blackwood the chance to start the season. This is probably unlikely, but this is how it should go. If he struggles, we have a great number two option in Cory Schneider. Getting the start would build his confidence and continue his growth. It’s better to get Blackwood started off right at the beginning of everything.

Hall-Hischier-Palmieri

Coleman-Zajac-Bratt

Zacha-Hughes-Simmonds

Wood-Boqvist-Hayden/Rooney


Vatanen/Subban

Greene/Severson

Butcher/Smith


Blackwood

Schneider

Anything could happen between now and opening night, especially if there is a new addition of some kind to the roster. But, for the time being, and what we already know, I think this lineup would be the best one to put out on October 4th versus the Winnipeg Jets. How would you set the lineup if you were asked to?

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