New Jersey Devils: Final Defenseman To Make The Team

The New Jersey Devils have eight defensemen on their roster as of right now, so which guy is going to take that last spot?

The New Jersey Devils currently have eight defensemen on their team. They are going to be evaluating their situation during training camp and the preseason but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are always injuries and the strongest teams in the league are the ones who can overcome adversity and a key to that is depth. The Devils surely have depth on the back end now. They also have a guy that you can point to and say he’s the #1 guy definitively.

That guy is P.K. Subban. He is going to be the anchor of the Devils blue line. In addition to Subban, Sami Vatanen, Damon Severson, Andy Greene, and Will Butcher are all likely locks when healthy. That leaves the sixth spot wide open and a job that could be rotated depending on performance. Ty Smith, Mirco Mueller, and Connor Carrick are the three guys that make up that competition.

Smith was the 17th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He was very close to making the team in 2018-19 but was a final cut as the Devils saw one more year with the Spokane Chiefs as a good idea for Smith. They may have been right as he went there and dominated. He was the WHL Defenseman of the Year there and showed he is probably ready for the National Hockey League.

The Devils acquired Mueller from the San Jose Sharks for draft picks. Mueller was a first-round pick to the Sharks in the 2013 NHL Draft. He is a defensive defenseman who is going to make his money playing well in his own end. He only had one goal and ten assists for 11 points in 53 games so he definitely isn’t going to move the needle offensively. Mueller might be the guy the Devils use following a game that Smith struggles as it is going to happen to any young defenseman. He might also be inserted against a good checking team that can generate offense easily.

The most intriguing of the three is Connor Carrick. The Devils got him in a trade with the Dallas Stars for Ben Lovejoy. Carrick only played 20 games with the team in 2018-19 and was pretty good in those games. He played in a lot of games that saw the Devils very injured, so he may have gotten more ice time than usual but he did have a goal and six assists for seven points in those 20 games. The Devils signed the 25-year-old to a two-year deal so chances are they plan on using him at least a little bit.

It is going to be very interesting to see who gets the most playing time out of the bubble guys but as mentioned before, this is a good problem to have. The Devils have more depth at the position than they ever have. It is one of the most important positions in all of the sports and if you evaluate all of the elite teams, they are all strong on defense. This is going to be fun to watch.