PK Subban: 27 Points
My Prediction: UNDER
P.K. Subban had an abysmal season last season. He barely produced and he was awful defensively. His lack of agility caused a lot of odd-man rushes. Subban needs to have a bounce-back season this season. Under Lindy Ruff’s aggressive, fast-paced, and highly disciplined system, PK Subban will have no room to set back. Subban will bounce back this season offensively and defensively; however, he will score lower than 27 points. He will score 23 points in 56 games this season.
Damon Severson: 31 Points
My Prediction: OVER
Damon Severson is an underappreciated piece of the Devils’ defense. Despite having some big defensive blunders last season, he still did decent on the blue line. Plus, his production has been increasing in the past couple of seasons. If Severson continues to develop and solidify the defensive aspect of his game, he can arguably be the #1 defenseman on the team and can be compared to other great offensive defensemen in the league. Since Ruff’s system encourages the defense to be more involved on offense, Severson will thrive and he will have an increase in production. Severson will score a little more than 31 points by scoring 35 points in 56 games.
Ryan Murray: 20 points
My Prediction: HOLD
Ryan Murray is entering his first season with the New Jersey Devils. He came to New Jersey from a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets back in October. He is a defenseman that is known to produce a little and is mainly known for his defensive play. Murray was a big asset to Columbus’s defensive core when he was there. Unfortunately, he suffered the injury bug during his time there and missed a lot of games. This season, the Devils want Murray to play as much as possible and to stay as healthy as possible. If Murray stays healthy, Murray can get a fair 20 points in 56 games this season.
Ty Smith: 10 Points
My Prediction: OVER
Ty Smith finally made the roster after being sent back down to Spokane for the past two seasons. A lot of fans were worried about how he would do this year at camp because of his underwhelming performance last year. Compared to last year, Ty had a much better camp. He generated a lot of scoring chances and did very well in the defensive zone during the scrimmages despite having some mistakes. This shows that Ty is resilient and knows what it takes to take a step up to the next level. He displayed that in the WHL by scoring 59 points in 46 games and got rewarded with the WHL’s Top Defenseman of The Year Award for the second year in a row.
It will be tough to determine how productive the rookie offensive defenseman will be this season. He will most likely play on the third line. Despite playing fewer minutes, I think Ty will find a way to have a decent rookie year. He will produce 15 points in 56 games this year, higher than what some fans predicted.