5 Lineup Changes To Help New Jersey Devils Scoring
The New Jersey Devils are seeing some major defensive issues over the latest stretch. It doesn’t help that they have Jon Gillies and Akira Schmid, their fourth and sixth options in net. However, the excuses are beyond that. They’ve lost six games in a row and 10 of their last 13 since the New Year. In those games, they failed to score three goals in seven. If you take out the first four games of the year, where they scored exactly three goals in every game (not counting overtime), it’s now less than three goals in 7 of their last 9 games. In one of those games where they did score more than three, they allowed four goals in the third period to the Maple Leafs to blow a two-goal lead.
This team can’t put all of their excuses on the defensive side. Their offense isn’t scoring again, and it’s dragging the team down no matter what performance they get from the goalies. This is a team with a lot of talent up front. When Jack Hughes, Nico HIschier, Dawson Mercer, and Michael McLeod are your centers, things should work pretty smoothly. They are all incredible young centers that can distribute and score when needed.
Yet, the Devils are 21st in the league with 2.8 goals per game. That wouldn’t be terrible for the late 90s or early 2000s Devils who had the best goalie and defense combination in the league. For this year’s Devils team, especially when Dougie Hamilton is out of the lineup, it’s basically impossible to win games on a consistent basis.
However, the Devils could make some slight adjustments to get the scoring going. There is time to at least salvage some development out of this season. They aren’t making the playoffs and they will be deep in the lottery for the NHL Draft, but at least they can make some moves towards the positive.
Play Dawson Mercer With Nico Hischier
Dawson Mercer is one of the few stories that are positive about the Devils this season. He came into training camp straight from the OHL, and he was clearly one of the best players on the ice. Every game he earned himself more and more playing time, whether it was a training camp scrimmage or a preseason game. He eventually proved it in NHL games that count, scoring five points in his first seven games. He also had nine points in the month of November. He’s doing this as a 20 year old on a team of incredibly young players.
Those stats have seriously gone in the tank as of late. In December, Mercer only had four points total. In January, he had five assists and zero goals. His numbers have dropped pretty much as soon as Lindy Ruff took Jesper Bratt off his line. It’s more important to keep Jack Hughes scoring than Dawson Mercer, so that’s not an option right now. The Devils don’t have another winger that is going to get this team going, but that might be the solution right there.
Mercer played on the wing for two games earlier in the season, and it went pretty terribly. However, it’s a 20 year old trying to learn an entirely new position. The Devils should try to put him back there and see what happens. His motor would be perfect next to Nico Hischier, who is desperate to get anyone on the wing who can score. Pavel Zacha is ice cold, and he’s dragging down Hischier as a result. Mercer would give Hischier an option to score or to distribute more. At this point, it would be best to put them together and see what happens.
Move Zacha Back To Center
Listen, this isn’t advocating for Pavel Zacha to be a full-time center, but this is basically trading Zacha and Mercer. In years past, we thought it would be necessary to get Zacha going to drive the Devils’ forwards, but it’s just not happening. He’s playing pretty terribly as of late. Despite scoring against the Toronto Maple Leafs this week, he’s been awful.
In the past 16 games, he’s failed to score or get an assist in 13 of them. 13 scoreless games in a month is unacceptable. Take out the fact that Zacha was a former sixth-overall pick, Zacha was this team’s top scorer in 2021. He needed to have a similar season to that. At the beginning of the year, it looked like he just found his stride and he could be a 50-point scorer. He had his eighth goal by game 17 this season. He has had three ever since. He’s not getting assists, he’s playing badly defensively, his special teams’ time has dwindled, and it’s becoming an even bigger bust to have Zacha on the team.
So, put him at center on the new fourth line. Let him play with some of the players that come up with grit and determination. Zacha is missing some desperation in his game. He needs to see some of that on the ice. He is playing timidly on the defensive end which is causing the other team to get high-danger chances. Then, he holds his stick too tightly on the offensive end.
He has 42 shots in 360 minutes of ice time since December 1st. Zacha should just shoot the puck at will when he has it. Being the only option on the ice might be good for him.
Play Top Line 21 Minutes Per Game
Jack Hughes has made some mistakes as of late, including some no-look passes that were definitely ill-advised. However, more times than not he makes up for that mistake with a great offensive play on the other end of the ice. Right now, Hughes only plays between 20 and 24 shifts per game. He needs to play closer to 26 for the Devils to get the most out of him.
The rest of the Devils lineup is just not getting the offensive pressure they should. So, the Devils should put their only line that’s working out there as much as possible. While the other lines find their way, take Hughes, Yegor Sharangovich, and Jesper Bratt and make sure they get as much time to make plays as possible.
It might not seem that another year or two would make a difference in the lineup, but it absolutely would. It takes five seconds for Hughes to find space and score a goal or set up his teammates for a great play. He needs as many five-second intervals as possible to find the space to make it happen. The Devils need to play this line like a true first line. They are the leaders in the clubhouse, and Hughes needs as many reps as possible to hit the point total goals he should have for himself.
There is a lot of evaluation going on for this lineup, but the Devils know what they have here and they should focus on having them build as much confidence as possible. Even in the losses, just the extra time together will help that.
Sit Janne Kuokkanen
The New Jersey Devils have a lot of struggling forwards right now, but nobody is struggling quite as much as Janne Kuokkanen is this season. He has 11 points in 42 games this season. He’s taken an incredible step back. Last season, he had 25 points in 50 games. This season, he has basically half.
He’s found himself between the last line next to Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian or on the third line next to Jesper Boqvist or Dawson Mercer. He just hasn’t clicked anywhere. Last season, he was on the top line with Sharangovich and Hughes. This season, he can’t fit anywhere.
The Devils need to sit Kuokkanen down and let him re-evaluate what he’s been doing this season. Make him watch all of his shifts on tape and see where he’s making his mistakes. He can take a look at the ice from the owner’s box which multiple other players have said has helped them in the past.
Kuokkanen isn’t a player who’s making a ton of money, so if he does end up being a bad investment it doesn’t matter. He’s making less than $2 million next season. However, he truly is an asset as a prospect and NHL player. He’s still just 23 years old and he’s salvageable, but he’s not helping the offense right now.
Put Jimmy Vesey With Bastian And McLeod
It’s clear that Nathan Bastian and Michael McLeod are best when they are playing together. When the Seattle Kraken took Bastian in the expansion draft last offseason, a lot of people were worried about what this meant for McLeod. They were right to question, and McLeod looked much, much better since Bastian returned. The Devils have tried to put Bastian in other places in the lineup since he has a scoring touch, but it’s clear where he should be.
With Miles Wood still recovering from preseason hip surgery, there’s a huge hole on that line. Those three just made perfect sense together. Last season, there were three lines the Devils looked like would work. Wood-McLeod-Bastian might have been the best in terms of chemistry.
This season, with no Wood and a late start for Bastian, it was a late start chemistry-wise. It seems like things are back to normal for the Super Buddies, but with Wood likely out for weeks, it’s time to find someone to work with them.
Jimmy Vesey has been with Bastian and McLeod for part of the season. He’s played close to 55 minutes with them. His numbers aren’t great, but they are actually much better than Bastian and McLeod’s without him. With Vesey, the line gives up fewer chances overall. McLeod and Bastian do get more chances, but with more time we’re confident Vesey will get there as well. This seems like it should be obvious. Vesey has been a defensive-focused forward this season. With the Devils using this line against the opponents top line, it makes sense he would get this opportunity.