5 Players Key for a Successful New Jersey Devils Season
The New Jersey Devils season is almost upon us. This is the time of year when everyone is excited to see what their team has to bring to its fans this year. Those offseason moves and tweaks to the team, will they work out or not?
That’s what makes the beginning of the NHL season so enticing for us Devils fans. This season, we have an opening night to look forward to with a sense of excitement that hasn’t been around this organization in years. We have a lot of different things that we can look forward to seeing on the 4th of October, from the rookie sensation Jack Hughes to our biggest acquisition in years in P.K. Subban.
With all this new energy and excitement surrounding the Devils this year can we really narrow down the 5 most important players to their success this year? Of course, we can!
Cory Schneider:
Let’s start out with the most obvious one, shall we? Cory Schneider is a great goalie when healthy. He’s also shown to be an outstanding teammate. He always does what he’s asked, even when that was taking a seat on the bench for another goalie. Another very less-talented goalie at that.
That is just who Schneider is and that’s a huge reason why so many of us are rooting for this guy to have a great year. The obvious reasons for team success aside, we just want to see him get back to that top-level goaltending that we became accustomed to seeing from the man before injuries hampered him for so long.
Schneider has looked very good this preseason, of note the game at Madison Square Garden where he had to fend off a very heavy attack from the Rangers at multiple points during the game.
The thing in question about Schneider at this point in his career is not his level of play, we know what he is capable of, but it’s his own mental state. He seems to get inside his own head and tends to let the pressure get the better of him. This year appears to be different for him because he knows the potential of this team is there.
That will keep him poised and block out any pressure that may get to him. In his position pressure is just part of the job. Cory is coming into a point of his career that will suit him perfectly and the performance will show that to be the case. Let’s just hope he stays healthy.
Nikita Gusev:
Nikita Gusev became an internet sensation within the Devils community this off-season as they almost willed him on the New Jersey Devils. Give credit where credit is due. Pucks and Pitchforks own Tyler Kelly was one of the first to recognize the Russian winger, but that’s neither here nor there.
Gusev brings with him a phenomenal arsenal of offense and skating ability. The biggest question marks on him so far have been if his European game can transition to the NHL game. Rightfully so, we have seen plenty of highly-touted talent from overseas come to the NHL and were unable to adjust to the smaller ice surface and the different style of play.
In terms of what he offers the Devils is unlike anything the Devils have had since Ilya Kovalchuk, a scoring presence that can snipe the puck from just about anywhere and look incredible doing it. The Devils went out on a limb in signing Gusev. He does carry some risk being an international player, but they were willing to take that risk and it speaks volumes about what this team is trying to do and where they see themselves going.
Gusev is going to be a huge part of the success of this team as he is going to be asked to contribute to one of the power-play units. He can move the puck and skate with it as good as anyone, which is a major asset.
The biggest reason why he’ll be a key part of our success though is that he’s expected to put points on the board. It is as simple as that. If that doesn’t happen, it will look like another player from the international game unable to play in North America. If Gusev delivers as he is expected to do it can raise the level of play for his linemates and provide a true second scoring attack next to Taylor Hall, something only the best of teams have.
Taylor Hall:
Taylor Hall a key player to the Devils success this season? Is the sky blue? Is the earth round? Is hockey the greatest sport known to man? All of these questions have obvious answers to them and yes Taylor Hall is the biggest key to the Devils success this season.
Devils fans were cheated last season only getting a portion of Taylor Hall after his MVP season. People that are reading this are intelligent enough to know Taylor Hall is a huge part of New Jersey having a big year and to start turning things around.
A guy of Taylor Hall’s magnitude can bring to a lineup and energize a team. This player single-handedly willed a bad team into the playoffs in 2018. It was truly a remarkable thing to watch. Imagine what he can do with a supporting cast?
We all worry about Hall and his injury history, that’s a given, but if he is able to stay in the lineup and maintain that MVP level of play it will be such a boost to this entire locker room from the top all the way to the parking attendants at The Rock. He is that big of an intangible, there is no doubt. As the year unfolds, there is, of course, the issue at hand of a contract extension and that could be a distraction if things are not going well for the team. That is another reason for Hall being a major part of this year’s success because as Taylor goes, so goes the Devils and therefore so goes (or stays) Taylor Hall as a New Jersey Devils. Time will tell.
Will Butcher:
Will Butcher is 24 years old and has a ton of years in front of him. He has a ton of upside to his game. Put this into perspective how rare it is for a defenseman in his rookie year to put up points north of 40 and be positive it the plus/minus category. Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, P.K. Subban, Victor Hedman, and Seth Jones are just some of the names who never reached the feat, and they are now considered some of the best defensemen in the NHL.
When you put Will Butcher in this group of players, he is the only one to have scored 40+ points and be in the positive of the plus/minus, the only one. There’s no argument that Will Butcher is going to become like one of these players, this is just to point out that he is still young and he has already done some great things in this league.
The defenseman role is always evolving and Butcher is the kind of player that will keep getting better. He absolutely regressed last year, but that was because of the team that he was playing with. The Devils were awful last year.
He has the capability of improving his defensive style over the years, but his offensive game is excellent and can offer this team a key option for scoring on the backend. The Devils defense could take massive steps forward this year if everyone can stay healthy. It is certainly worth noting that, as of now, we aren’t sure who Butcher will be paired up with but I think he will be moved around as the year goes to see who he works best with, but that right pairing will have a lot to do with bringing out his best game.
Jack Hughes:
It probably isn’t fair to put this much pressure on an 18-year-old rookie, but from what I’ve seen Jack Hughes doesn’t feel any pressure and he thrives in the spotlight. There’s no scenario where Hughes is not one of the five key players to the Devils overall success this season.
The term success is a rather relative term. Who says what is a successful year? To me its a step in the right direction. It doesn’t have to be anything major just yet. There is no way that happens without Jack Hughes. He will offer more than just his skill to this team, much like what Taylor Hall will offer but in a slightly different way.
When you watch Hughes play, you see a real exuberance to his game that you don’t see in a lot of players, you can tell that he truly loves to play hockey. As someone that loved to play hockey as well, that feeling shows on every play.
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That’s the kind of energy that can be contagious for players. If you were a player on this team and you just saw an 18-year-old Jack Hughes dangle a defenseman for a top-shelf wrist shot to take the lead in a game you would be jacked up and your game will immediately be elevated after watching that. He really is a once in a lifetime player for so many reasons but this year the biggest reason is going to be from the youthful spirit he injects into this year’s team that will linger for years and years to come. Thank you Jack.