New Jersey Devils Could Rely on Another Rookie Trio This Season
By Mike Luci
While it might already seem like a distant memory, the New Jersey Devils 2017-2018 season brought forth a lot of hope and excitement for the organization’s future. Granted, New Jersey’s 2018 playoff berth primarily wouldn’t have happened without the MVP-caliber performance of Taylor Hall, the same can be said for the contributions from their trio of rookies that year—Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Will Butcher.
Fast forward to this offseason, the Devils made some important acquisitions to address their flawed roster and (like their 2017-2018 team) are coming off an abysmal prior season. Although the addition of forwards Jack Hughes, Wayne Simmonds and defenseman P.K. Subban improve the Devil’s roster substantially, there are still holes that must be filled. The New Jersey Devils are expected to make more moves to address those remaining needs—and likely will—before the season starts, but could incorporate a more internal route.
Just like how Hischier, Bratt and Butcher helped the Devils make the playoffs in 2017-2018, it’s not inconceivable to think potential rookies Jack Hughes, Jesper Boqvist and Ty Smith could do the same this coming season.
To clarify, nothing is guaranteed and any potential rookies must earn their roster spots in training camp. Having said that, the resemblances between both trios are overwhelming. Like Hischier, Jack Hughes will solidify New Jersey’s depth down the middle, giving them four solid centers to start the season—Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Travis Zajac, Pavel Zacha.
Out of these three potential rookies, Hughes is the only shoe-in to make this coming season’s opening-night roster. He also plays a position where the Devils have struggled at mightily and is expected to be the most impactful first-year player on next year’s team—just like Hischier going into the 2017-18 season.
Boqvist can account for a 4th-9th forward slot, similar to how his Swedish counterpart Jesper Bratt was applied to the Devils roster in his rookie year. If he has an immediate impact like Bratt did, Boqvist could fill that glaring need for additional depth on the wing in New Jersey’s top six, or at least give Coach Hynes another option in addition to Wayne Simmonds.
Perhaps one of the biggest differences between the two young Swedes are the expectations surrounding Boqvist going into the season to compete for a roster spot. Bratt more or less flew under the radar and wasn’t largely known until he started turning heads at training camp. Granted, Boqvist and Bratt abide by two different playing styles, it’s the roster needs Boqvist is potentially capable of addressing that draw his similarities to his fellow countryman’s rookie season.
With Will Butcher being Ty Smith’s parallel, these players seem to have the most notable differences. Unlike Butcher in his inaugural campaign, Smith will only be 19 years old when this coming season starts. He would jump straight into the NHL after playing three seasons in the WHL. Butcher, on the other hand, played four NCAA seasons (along with two seasons in the US National Development Program prior to his collegiate career), resulting in more time to develop before making his jump directly to the NHL at 22 years old.
This isn’t to say Smith won’t be ready by next season as much as it is to acknowledge how the respective paths and circumstances surrounding Butcher’s successful and Smith’s potential jumps straight into the NHL are considerably different. Nonetheless, if Smith lives up to the hype surrounding him, he could potentially become a fixture in New Jersey’s three defensive pairings, especially if his start to the season is as impactful as Butcher’s.
The key for all three rookies to eclipse the contributions of New Jersey’s 2017-18 rookie class is to address some of the team’s roster needs—top-six forward and defensive depth. In order to accomplish this, this trio must come out of the gate firing and make themselves pivotal assets to the team’s early season success. Yes, the New Jersey Devils will very likely continue adding assets between now and September, but the team’s roster will still have opportunities for this trifecta of rookies to begin establishing themselves in the NHL.