New Jersey Devils: Predicting Opening Night Forward Lines

The New Jersey Devils are going to look very, very different this season. After an offseason where they added Dougie Hamilton, Ryan Graves, and Jonathan Bernier to solidify the back half, it’s the forwards that are going through the biggest wholesale changes.

The lines to start even last season looked completely different. After making multiple trades during the season then making major changes in the offseason, this looks like a whole different team. These were the lines in the first two games of last season.

Sharangovich-Hughes-Palmieri
Johnsson-Zacha-Gusev
Wood-Zajac-Boqvist
Bastian-McLeod-Kuokkanen

Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac were traded to the New York Islanders before Zajac returned to New Jersey to retire this offseason. Nikita Gusev was cut in the middle of last season because he could not cut it in the Lindy Ruff offense. Nathan Bastian is now in Seattle after he was taken in the expansion draft. The rest of the players are on the roster, but most of them are in very different roles.

Which lines make the most sense for the New Jersey Devils?

When looking at what the line combinations might be, one has to try and predict what Lindy Ruff could do. There are at least two spots wide open in the forward group. There are three if you consider Andreas Johnsson someone who will go in and out of the lineup. It seems like that’s not a ton of change, but the team is going to look much different.

Obviously, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt weren’t in the lineup during the first few weeks last season. That’s not the case here. Also, Dawson Mercer and Alex Holtz are making a real push to make the lineup. Have they done enough to make it into the opening night roster?  If they do make the reason, which line should they play on? Should they play together? There are a lot of questions to answer, but let’s make some predictions on the opening night lines when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks.

Yegor Sharangovich – Jack Hughes – Alexander Holtz

That’s right. Not only did Alex Holtz make the opening night roster, but he’s on the first line. These three were absolute magic together in the team’s first preseason game against the Washington Capitals. They had three goals, with each getting a single goal to get everyone involved. They played well off each other. Someone brought something different to the table. Most importantly, this would give Jack Hughes two players who are able to finish from anywhere on the ice.

Hughes is primed for a huge year. On paper, it might not be ideal to put him with a rookie and a second-year player, but first and foremost the Devils need to surround him with talent. Holtz and Sharangovich have proven they are overflowing with talent. They can score, they can skate, and they can all make a move that gets them into open space. Also, they both have wicked shots that will take the focus off of Hughes.

Sharangovich looks like he is ready to build off of his breakout year. He was able to make his own chances, and he scored the overtime winner against the Islanders on Saturday after Jack Hughes left the game with an injury. He can do it by himself if he must, but he’s much better when he has Hughes setting him up.

Pavel Zacha – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt

This is the same exact line as it was at the end of last season. Hischier and Bratt started off last year away from the team for different reasons. Hischier got injured right before training camp, and he didn’t really start his season for a month. Now, he gets the training camp ahead of a very important season. Hischier is the second-highest player on the team behind P.K. Subban. This is his first season going in as the captain. Everyone is looking at Hischier to make an impact right away.

Bratt, on the other hand, missed the beginning of last season because of a contract dispute. He signed his deal very late into training camp, and that caused a visa issue that went well into the season. After a really impressive 2019-20 season, Bratt took a step back last season. He started going on a little run towards the end, but his finishing ability was not there. Things started clicking once this line got together.

The Devils gave Zacha a chance to establish himself at center again this preseason. Like it has every time before, it just didn’t work. Zacha is like Blake Coleman at this point. He’s a full-time wing who can be a center in a pinch. The Devils aren’t in a pinch. They have a few other options to play center. This line needs to stay together.

Janne Kuokkanen – Dawson Mercer – Tomas Tatar

This one is really thrown together, as they haven’t played a lot together and they all come from different places. Janne Kuokkanen was on the team last season, and he was actually on the top line with Sharangovich and Hughes. They played well together, but he was clearly the “weak link” (although he was still really good). Tomas Tatar was with a different NHL franchise last season. He signed as a free agent with the Devils in the offseason. Dawson Mercer is the exciting rookie that worked hard and earned a spot on this roster.

It would be best for Mercer to have some veterans on the line with him. It might be disappointing to some to have Tatar outside the top six, but that is what we predicted in one of our previous pieces. It makes a lot of sense if the Devils put Holtz on the top line. Tatar providing secondary scoring is well worth the price he is getting. This line is still very important, and it will get just under what the top lines are getting. If Tatar gets 11 minutes of 5v5 ice time while still getting power play duties, he won’t care if he’s on the “third” line.

Mercer is the one fans are excited about here. Making the roster would be huge, but getting on a line with legit players like Kuokkanen and Tatar would be even better. He’s going to have a really nice career, and learning the ropes of the NHL like this would be huge for him.