New Jersey Devils: Championships Are Built Down Middle

The New Jersey Devils need to keep developing their team through the middle of the ice.

The New Jersey Devils, whether the pessimistic fans want to admit it or not, are an up-and-coming organization. They have some very young players who are very good and deserve the respect that is given to top prospects across the world. There is still a lot of development to go but they are well on their way. Two of the most important to the Devils, are their two number one picks in Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes. Building through the middle of the ice is how you build championship teams.

Hischier and Hughes are both centers and they are completely different. Hischier is the two-way centerman who plays well in all three zones. He is probably going to be a guy who ranges from 60-80 points in his prime but will be one of the better two-way forwards in the league. When you think of future Selke Trophy Award winners, Hischier has to be at the top of the list. As for Hughes, he has the talent to be one of the league’s best scorers and point producers.

When you look at some of the recent Stanley Cup champions, they are all very deep down the middle of the ice. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin led the way to three Cups for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter did the same for the Los Angeles Kings. We can’t forget to mention Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci for the Boston Bruins. If you have two number-one centers that are very different from each other, that gives you a great advantage.

All of those teams were pretty good down the middle in their bottom six as well. The Devils still might need some help with that. Pavel Zacha and Travis Zajac are still serviceable there for now, but we aren’t sure how long that will last. Will Michael McLeod be someone to consider later on? Will they draft someone like Marco Rossi to be that guy? There is a lot to think about when it comes to that position in the bottom half of the lineup, but there is plenty of time.

This team continues to grow in all areas and they are pretty set at the top. Of course, you need better defense and good goaltending to go along with those centers but that is still a big-time work in progress. You also need some wingers to complement those centers and that is something the team is still developing. The good thing that we currently have to fall back on is the fact that Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are going to be there for a very long time.