New Jersey Devils Realizing Size Matters On Defense

It has been a transformative offseason for the New Jersey Devils (possibly with more moves to come), namely on the backend. Dubbed one of the team’s most crippling detriments in recent years, New Jersey hasn’t had a formidable defense corps since their time as perennial playoff contenders. Making it a top priority this summer, Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald stayed true to his promise, giving the blue line a grossly-needed overhaul.

When comparing their current defense corps to the team’s top-eight defensemen (based on games played) this past season, one big distinction that exists between these two groups is size.

Only two of New Jersey’s top-eight defensemen were taller than 6’1’’ last season (average NHL player height), with Matt Tennyson and Damon Severson being the tallest blueliners at 6’2’’. While susceptible to change, six out of New Jersey’s projected top-eight defensemen are currently 6’2’’ or taller.

Especially considering how many believe New Jersey’s offseason moves are signaling they intend to compete for a playoff spot next season, the increased stature of their defensemen isn’t incidental. Perhaps New Jersey Devils management learned something from watching this year’s playoffs, namely some prevalent trends among teams who made the deepest runs.

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There seemed to be a correlation between the size of a team’s defense and their playoff success. Of those 16 playoff participants, 10 had at least four of their top-eight defensemen (based on regular-season games played) above the average NHL player height. Breaking it down further, of the eight teams who advanced beyond round one, six of them had at least five defensemen 6’2’’ or taller.

The final four teams—Vegas Golden Knights, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning—all had at least five defensemen 74 inches or taller in their top-eight. Seven of eight defensemen on Tampa’s championship roster were above this threshold, with Montreal having five blueliners exceeding the NHL average player height.

At least four of the top-eight defensemen among 10 of last season’s 15 non-playoff teams were 74 inches or taller—giving the majority of NHL teams (20) above-average blue line corps (height-wise). Having said that, at least five of the top-eight defensemen among last year’s bottom-10 teams were 73 inches or smaller.

Simply put, of 11 teams in 2020-2021 who had at least four defensemen in their top eight that were 73 inches or smaller, only two advanced beyond round one of the playoffs (and no further). Relatively speaking, undersized defense corps were most abundant among the league’s 10-worst teams (50 percent), compared to playoff teams (37.5 percent) and non-playoff teams in general (33.3 percent).

While there’s been quite a demand for grit and physicality this summer, the New Jersey Devils seemed to address that particular facet by following a paradigm that became apparent after looking at what teams succeeded this past postseason. The bolstering of New Jersey’s defense was long overdue, and doesn’t necessarily guarantee a 2022 playoff appearance, but is a strong indication that this team’s sentiments on their capabilities are changing.