Forward Line Predictions When New Jersey Devils Return To Play
The New Jersey Devils are currently not playing due to a COVID-19 outbreak with the team. When they return, most of the players are expected to be available to play.
The New Jersey Devils are going to miss games until at least February 16th. Their COVID-19 outbreak seems to be getting worse before it gets better. Connor Carrick and Sami Vatanen came off the list, but then they went right back on. It sounds like there’s more to this than a clerical error, and the Devils haven’t seen a player come off the list and stay off since Mackenzie Blackwood.
Travis Zajac has been on the list for almost two weeks now. He’s one of 19 players on the list now. Every position now has at least one player on the list after Eric Comrie went on the list this weekend. This is all a pretty negative situation.
The good news is we haven’t heard of any player with serious symptoms. It sounds like it’s just something the Devils have to wait out. Hockey is in an interesting position where players have to be in close contact on the bench, which is probably the worst place to be in close contact since they can’t move.
Since the Devils players seem to be just getting through the virus, it’s safe as of now to project a fully healthy lineup when they return. It’s likely the NHL will wait until just about every Devils player is off the list before playing games. That also leads to Nico Hischier returning from injury and Vatanen joining the lineup after signing late in the season.
So, with that said, what are the ideal lines for the Devils moving forward? They have a ton of options. Here’s where they should start.
Line 1: Johnsson-Hughes-Bratt
This was the line that needs to stay together. The top line of Andreas Johnsson, Jack Hughes, and Jesper Bratt was electric in the two games they played together. Johnsson was struggling mightily in the first few weeks. It looked like he was on the cusp of being a healthy scratch if the Devils didn’t keep losing players from the lineup. Then, he finally broke the proverbial ice. Now, he has goals in back-to-back games.
Hughes has been the Devils’ best forward all season. Full stop. He has eight points in nine games despite the Devils’ offense struggling at times. There were games where he put the team on his back to try and win. Hughes could make any line work, but it makes the team as a whole better when he’s with good linemates.
Speaking of good linemates, Jesper Bratt has been phenomenal since he joined the team after a lengthy contract negotiation this offseason. He hasn’t scored yet, but that’s coming. He’s been all over the ice, and he played more than 20 minutes in his first game in almost 11 months. He immediately had his feet under him, and he fits perfectly with Hughes from the jump.
The Devils COVID situation really put a damper on what was becoming a really fun line. Hughes was on the cusp of becoming a star across the league, and the Devils need to keep them together when they return.
Line 2: Gusev-Hischier-Palmieri
The New Jersey Devils have a very big issue in the middle six. After taking Miles Wood off the third line to put him on the fourth, now there’s nobody contributing outside the first and fourth line. A lot of that has to do with Nico Hischier’s absence from the lineup.
Hischier has been added to the COVID-19 list on Monday. Hopefully, that means he’s ready to join the team and not that it means he’s been exposed. It’s impossible to tell right now. Either way, we expect Hischier to make his season debut when the Devils return from their COVID pause.
That puts one of the best players on the team back in the lineup. The Devils have so many options to put on Hischier’s wing. He makes that line so much better on both the offensive and defensive side of the ice.
Where the Devils need to start is with struggling wingers Kyle Palmieri and Nikita Gusev. Both have zero goals this season, which is already nine games in. That’s unacceptable from two forwards who are looking to cash in this offseason. Something is off with both of them, and their lofty expectations are already in the tank.
Putting Hischier between them gives them a chance to work through their problems together. It has a slight chance to go very wrong, but it’s more likely this will help get everyone going. Especially with the long pause, Palmieri and Gusev have a chance to forget the weak start.
Line 3: Zacha-Zajac-Kuokkanen
This one comes down to who the Devils want to sit. It’s actually putting the Devils in a very strange position because they have to send one of Jesper Boqvist, Janne Kuokkanen, Pavel Zacha, or Yegor Sharangovich to the taxi squad. Honestly, two probably have to go. Also, someone like Nick Merkley probably has to play for the Binghamton Devils.
For argument’s sake, we believe the Devils are going to give the first chance to Zacha and Kuokkanen with a returning Travis Zajac. That takes Sharangovich out of the lineup for the first team, but he’s not waiver eligible so he can go to the taxi squad for free. The same goes for Boqvist, who’s once again out of the lineup. This is the one place where the Devils have too many forwards.
The Devils also have to make a decision with the extras. They have been using Will Butcher and Connor Carrick as the extras with Matt Tennyson playing third-line right defense. With Vatanen returning, they have to put one of those three through waivers. If they want to keep extra forwards, another defenseman might have to go through waivers.
Zacha, Zajac, and Kuokkanen aren’t going to get anyone excited. Honestly, head coach Lindy Ruff might use this as a fourth line. They have been fine on other lines, but Zacha has been tanking most of his lines despite scoring two goals and putting up four points in nine games. This line could change after one game, but based on the waiver priorities, this is likely how it starts.
Line 4: Wood-McLeod-Bastian
In terms of time on ice, the Miles Wood, Michael McLeod, Nathan Bastian line could be closer to a second line when the Devils return. They were literally unstoppable. McLeod is playing the kind of hockey that made the Devils happy to make him their 1st-round pick. He has four points in the past four games including two goals in the last game before the pause. After going two seasons without scoring an NHL goal, he already has three this season.
Wood has been the biggest surprise on the Devils this season. He leads the Devils in goals (5) and points (8). He’s the change of pace forward the Devils hoped he’d be when they signed him to a four-year contract. Wood is the perfect fit in the Lindy Ruff system. He’s playing with irrational confidence while also avoiding unnecessary penalties. He’s taken one minor penalty since the first game of the season.
Bastian has been good as well and brings a size element to the lineup the Devils have been missing since Pat Maroon and Brian Boyle left. He can score and put someone on their butt. Usually, when someone says the team needs to add someone for “size”, it usually comes with a perceived lack of skill. That’s not the case with Bastian.
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This line has been great. There’s no need to do anything with them. Just ride the lightning and hope they provide necessary secondary scoring to Hughes’ and Hischier’s lines.