New Jersey Devils: Joey Anderson Should Be In NHL Full Time
The New Jersey Devils should be keeping all of the young kids that can help them win in the lineup as much as possible going forward.
The New Jersey Devils are a team looking to have as many young players as possible. They won the draft lottery twice, so players like Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes are the centerpieces to the future. However, there are a load of other young players that need to step up around them. It can’t be just two people
One of those players who can be a part of the solution is Joey Anderson. He spent most of the season with the Binghamton Devils and he was awesome. In 44 games with Binghamton, he had 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points. With New Jersey, he had four goals and two assists for six points. The offensive skills are clearly there for a player who would be in a support role.
Anderson is never going to be the Devils leading scorer or even top three, but he can be a guy who contributes enough offensively while filling the rest of his role very nicely. You need players just like him in the bottom six to be a championship-caliber team. He works hard in all areas of the ice and is often rewarded for it.
Anderson has never been on a winning New Jersey team, but he has a pedigree for winning. He was very good in Binghamton’s stretch to the playoffs this year before the season was cut short. Before that, he also has been very good with the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in multiple NCAA Tournament runs. That includes a National Championship with the maroon and gold. He also knows how to win at the international level, as he won the gold with Team USA in the World Junior Championships.
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Joey Anderson can bring a lot of different elements to the Devils that they need if they want to contend in the future. He can score and develop his game in all three zones even further as time goes on. It is hard to tell if he will be on the Opening Day roster in 2020-21, but it is likely that having him there will be the right decision. The future is bright for Anderson if he is put in the right position by the right coaching staff.