Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils Are No Longer Easy Pickings

By Joseph Stanislau

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: General Manager Ray Shero of the New Jersey Devils is seen on the draft floor during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: General Manager Ray Shero of the New Jersey Devils is seen on the draft floor during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Jack Hughes, and Jesper Boqvist just had their NHLPA photo and video shoots this weekend, showing the preseason is around the corner. There is so much to unearth both before pre-season and regular season. Teams aren’t going to look at New Jersey as an easy two points anymore.

Teams are subtly beginning to fear Ray Shero’s Devils according to sources around the league. Teams know how passionate Devils fans are whether they’re a playoff team or not. With guys like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Travis Zajac as the 1,2,3 punch in the center lines, this spells trouble for opponents.

The crescendo of excitement started the day the New Jersey Devils won the draft lottery and continued through them picking up Nikita Gusev. Many NHL GM’s are beginning to rethink how to play an up-and-coming Devils roster. Imagine if Nico Hischier can get Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri clicking more frequently, that would become one of the more potent 1st lines in the NHL. Having Gusev- Hughes- Boqvist/Bratt on a second line scoring goals, that could simply bury teams.

Then there’s the defense. P.K. Subban and Ty Smith can use their offense to give Blackwood a comfy lead.

The league knows the Devils are a force to be reckoned with. They are deep too. Once awakened, expect the third and fourth lines of offense to help out big time. The defense has more depth and skill than it did last season. Sure, there is a bit more room for improvement if Shero goes out acquiring a left handed top defender and round out that side. There’s a lot of growth still and the goaltending with an improved defense should have far less embarrassing moments and far more productivity.

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This year’s team is young, with an average age under 27. With guys like Hughes, Hischier, Blackwood, and Gusev around, this helps take the focus off of Taylor Hall. If Hall can stay healthy like in the YouTube videos from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada this would be a wonderful sign. A Devils team this dynamic and exciting can bring that excitement.

The excitement with the offseason acquisitions surrounding Hall, Hischier, and Hughes gives the Devils extra firepower that hasn’t been around before in a long time. Miles Wood, Nathan Bastian, and Wayne Simmonds could make up a’ “Meat and Potatoes” line. Teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets were able to beat the Devils because a Wayne Simmonds wasn’t around to hold a Nick Foligno and a Brian Dubinsky accountable.

Imagine a segment on Coach’s Corner with Don Cherry saying “See the way Wayne Simmonds parks himself above the crease? That’s exactly how you take a way a goalies sights, and create spaces for Jack Hughes!!! That’s why The Devils are beginning to wing these games because they are going to the nitty gritty areas.”

Just the simple drawn up play, whether it’s P.K. laying a hit on Brendan Lemieux and getting the puck loose to Jack Hughes. That loose puck to Jack Hughes can be the game-winning drive which eventually ends with a goal on Nikita Gusev’s tape. Those are the kinds of plays that get the extra points in the standings. That is why John Hynes and the Devils make it harder for teams to beat is because “simplicity, and effectiveness done with  consistency” out of those 82 games can help a ton. Just imagine if a very effective team like that does it in the playoffs you’re probably right Taylor Hall re-signs before July 1st 2020.

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