New Jersey Devils: Jimmy Vesey Gets Headlines, But Mark Jankowski Could Make Roster

When the New Jersey Devils announced that they were signing three professional tryouts, there was one player’s picture they used on their NHL.com article. It was former New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs’ player Jimmy Vesey. Devils fans are familiar with Vesey because they legitimately thought he could be coming to New Jersey after he became a college free agent. He left Harvard after winning the Hobey Baker Award in 2016.

Despite all that, Mark Jankowski is the player who has the best chance to make this roster. He’s a former 1st-round pick who has a ton of talent that hasn’t been reached. He’s 27 years old, so the potential that made him a 1st rounder isn’t really there anymore. Now, the Devils have to look at what he brings to the table now when they make a decision about him.

Four years ago, Jankowski was able to get 52 individual high-danger chances. That number has dropped directly each of the last three seasons. Why is that? Why is Jankowski having more trouble getting to high-danger areas?

He started last season playing with Jared McCann and Brandon Tanev, but he finished it with Colton Sceviour and Evan Rodrigues. That is a huge drop-off in terms of talent on the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He had his worst xG% of his career (thanks to Natural Stat Trick for the advanced stats). Is he primed for a bounce back? The Devils have to find a way to build his confidence again. He actually plays a pretty legit defensive game, but his offense has to come. In his first two seasons, he had more than one shot per game. That shows he believed his shot would go in. Those rates plummeted in the past two years. That has something to do with his confidence, but it also has to do with his ability to get into open space.

There is going to be talent up and down the lineup. There are young and hungry players with a ton of potential going for spots. If Jankowski is going to make this roster, it will come with certain opportunities. If those opportunities arise, he can show his struggles weren’t for a lack of talent. Vesey, on the other hand, has had a ton of opportunities the past few years that fell by the wayside. Either way, the real leg up for Jankowski is his ability to play center. The Devils need a center right now, and they don’t really have a great option without taking a chance on a center they’ve tried before (Pavel Zacha or Jesper Boqvist) or a prospect whose best chance at development is in the AHL (Dawson Mercer).