New Jersey Devils: Joey Anderson Plays Himself Into Next Season’s Lineup

New Jersey Devils forward Joey Anderson has been with the big league club since February 4th. Has he solidified his spot going in to next season?

The New Jersey Devils have had just the most tumultuous season in its history, which was only added to when the season was put on pause as North America deals with the response to the Coronavirus pandemic. This sickness has put the hockey season on hold, and for the Devils it could be on hold for good. That means we jump into looking ahead to next season a little early.

Joey Anderson was an NHL regular last season before a major injury put him on the shelf from November to February. His counting statistics aren’t exactly impressive (13 points over 52 games), but he’s doing everything that a coach loves. Last year, he had 12 takeaways against just 3 giveaways. This season, those numbers don’t look as good, but he’s with much lesser talent for the most part.

He’s playing on the penalty kill, a unit that’s 7th best in the entire league. He has the best on-ice save percentage for on the penalty kill of all the Devils, including players like Blake Coleman and Andy Greene who are no longer with the team. He gives up 1.56 chances per minute while on the penalty kill. Of those, only 11 were of the high danger variety.

He’s no Pavel Zacha when it comes to a penalty kill specialist, especially since he’s putrid in the faceoff dot (9% winning percentage?), but that’s definitely something we’ve seen him get better at every game.

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He’s also scoring at a better clip, despite spending most of his time on the fourth line. It’s clear he’s taken on a much different role. That’s why he has just four goals in 18 games despite putting up an insane 19% shooting percentage. Still, when he makes a shot, it counts. His high-danger chances for percentage is 55.17%. He’s keeping people away from the net despite a perceived lack of size.

Over the weekend, Let’s Go Devils Podcast guest Glenn “Chico” Resch asked us what we think Joey Anderson‘s role is next season. Has he played well enough to earn a role on the NHL club? It’s a complicated question at this point, well before the NHL Draft and free agency.

Let’s still try to answer this question. Anderson has played well this season and last, but not “no question” when thinking about his spot next season. Still, if we pencil him in to the lineup next season, we don’t see a lot of people getting upset about it. In fact, most analysts penciled him in to play this season.

Anderson will be one of about 15 players fighting for the final spot or two depending on what the Devils do in free agency. Let’s say the Devils pick 6th in the NHL Draft, where they’re expected to pick right now. They have on our count eight players who are guaranteed a forward spot next season. That’s not a lot at all, but we expect at least three of the five remaining spots to get filled by free agency or trades. It will probably look like one top-six forward, one bottom six forward and one who’s either going to fight for that final spot or being a healthy scratch.

That gives Anderson ample opportunity to make the team, and honestly we put him in the driver’s seat. It’s likely him and Jesper Boqvist who will get at least two of those final spots. Michael McLeod, Janne Kuokkanen, Nick Merkley and Nolan Foote will all be in camp fighting for a spot on the team. Still, Anderson’s 50+ games in the big leagues proving he can handle the workload gives him a leg up on the competition, and makes him close to a lock.