3 Questions New Jersey Devils Should Answer Before Training Camp
The New Jersey Devils are just a few weeks away from training camp starting. They are less than two weeks away from the prospect tournament against the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins. There are a lot of questions surrounding the team, but a large majority of them need a lot of training camp and at least some preseason games to answer. Who will be Dougie Hamilton‘s defensive partner? What will be the Mackenzie Blackwood-Jonathan Bernier split? Who will be Jack Hughes’ and Nico Hischier’s linemates? Will Pavel Zacha play center or wing? Who does Tomas Tatar line up with?
Those questions need the players to hit the ice to answer. There are questions the Devils and the front office can answer while the players are still enjoying their summer vacation.
Are these questions the most important going into the season? Not necessarily, but it has a lot to do with the holes that are still on this roster. The Devils made some serious moves by adding Ryan Graves, Dougie Hamilton, Tatar, and Bernier among others, but there is still a hole at third-line center and the team could use another top-six winger to push some younger players down the lineup.
Tom Fitzgerald had a very busy offseason, but he’s also been going through a lot over the last few weeks with the sudden death of Jimmy Hayes. With that and the usual slow August in the NHL, it’s no surprise things have been quiet in New Jersey since early last month. Now, things will likely ramp up again. So, let’s try to answer some burning questions.
Is this the final roster?
The New Jersey Devils may be done adding to the roster. It would be hard to blame them for not making another move. Fitzgerald guaranteed more than $90 million worth of contracts this offseason including the $63 million they gave to Hamilton. The Devils do still have $12 million in cap space despite the spending spree they went on this offseason.
Should the Devils spend that $12 million, or at least some of it, or should they keep it for a “rainy” day? The Devils definitely could go out there and sign one of the remaining free agents that are looking for a new one. Alex Galchenyuk has been an intriguing name as has Jason Demers and Eric Staal. Former Devils Travis Zajac and Sami Vatanen are also out there, but it just doesn’t seem like the right time to bring either of them in at this point.
There are some interesting veterans the Devils could try out on PTOs. Bobby Ryan and James Neal come to mind immediately. They are very much opposite players, and Ryan might never want to come back to his Jersey roots because of the history here, but for an opportunity anything is possible. The Devils hold the cards here because they have actual starting lineup spots open. The PTO would mean more when the players can prove to be everyday players.
Then, there are the trade possibilities. Vladimir Tarasenko is still on the St. Louis Blues, and nobody can be happy about that. There are rumors out of San Jose that some of their best players (namely Tomas Hertl) could be on the market. There’s always the possibility of a surprise September trade. Also, there’s the very slight possibility the Devils could send an offer sheet to some of the very good young players still available (cough cough, Brady Tkachuk).
Who will get a legitimate shot at the roster?
This one takes a little more leg work, but the Devils can make subtle moves to show who they have high on their list of training camp invites. Alexander Holtz is a name to really look at when it comes to this. Will he be at the prospect tournament in the middle of September? If he is, that means the Devils want to get him as many reps as possible and injury is not as much a concern as development is. Does that mean he is absolutely not in consideration of the NHL roster? No, Jack Hughes was on the 2019 Prospect Challenge roster and he was absolutely making the team. It is just something to consider.
Then, there are interesting other prospects like Dawson Mercer, Nolan Foote, and Graeme Clarke who will almost definitely be at this prospect tournament, but if they have a huge tourney they can turn some heads before training camp. The main message coming from this tournament is which overseas players the Devils will bring here to play. The team wants a closer look at some of these players, but because of when the tourney is taking place, a lot of their seasons have already started. That makes it harder for them to show they are NHL ready, and it will likely lead to them staying in Europe or Russia.
There are also veterans who will likely get a shot like Chase De Leo or Joseph Gambardella, but the likelihood they get into the NHL is very slim. Still, it will be interesting to see how Fitzgerald and head coach Lindy Ruff deal with the roster before training camp starts.
What is the goal of this season?
This is one of those “you know when you know” kinds of answers. The Devils will never actually say what the goal of their season is. There is no point putting that in the public sphere. However, if they go into the season with $12 million of cap space, if they never add to their current crop of veterans with at least PTOs, and if they rely on prospects to fill the rest of the roster, it shows that things can go either way and everyone would be fine.
Sure, the Devils want to compete for the playoffs with the current roster, but with how good the Metropolitan Division is, they can’t make that claim without making at least one more move.
Don’t get us wrong, the Devils are going to be better. Hamilton alone was a huge move and adding Tatar, Graves, and Bernier completely changes the Devils timeline. If Jack Hughes takes a massive step forward like most people think he will, and if Nico Hischier can get back to the two-way play he showed two years ago, the Devils could absolutely compete. That is especially true if they get good goaltending from Bernier and Blackwood.
If the goal is to put a better product on the ice for Devils fans returning to arenas, mission accomplished. This is a much better team, it’s a team that is more fun, and the fans will be much happier with the product now and moving forward.