Likelihood Current New Jersey Devils Players Make Final Roster
The New Jersey Devils made another round of cuts on Tuesday afternoon. Prospects Jack Dugan, Michael Vukojevic, Joseph Gambardella, Tyler Wotherspoon, Robbie Russo, and Jeremy Groleau, along with PTO turned AHL signing Zach Senyshyn, were all cut from the training camp roster and sent to the AHL. That leaves the Devils with 37 players on the roster. The Devils need to get down to 23.
The Devils are pretty set on defense and in net. Unless Jonathan Bernier is somehow miraculously healthy or someone outside Kevin Bahl and Nikita Okhotyuk impresses, we pretty much know the starting lineups from the blue line out. As for the forwards, that’s not clear at all. There are plenty of locks, but it’s becoming more and more apparent who’s standing out in training camp and the preseason.
With that said, This list will focus on the forwards only. There are 20 left on the roster. Let’s see where everyone stands with two preseason games left. Let’s start with the locks. These are players that are making the roster no matter what. Literally, these are 100%.
100%: Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, Eric Haula, Miles Wood, Ondrej Palat, Yegor Sharangovich
There are eight players that are in the Devils’ starting lineup. Nothing can stop them from making it this far. Barring an injury, everyone will be in the Devils’ lineup on October 14th. Miles Wood might be the only slight surprise here, but he’s going to be in this lineup somewhere. They have high hopes for what he brings to the table. The team sorely missed him in the lineup last year.
>1%: Brian Pinho, Tyce Thompson, Aarne Talvitie, Brian Halonen, Graeme Clarke, Nolan Foote
Some of these players had a real chance to make the roster, and other players weren’t really given much of a chance from the get go. Either way, it’s surprising that all five of these players are still here. Nolan Foote, Tyce Thompson, and Graeme Clarke are important prospects for the Devils in the grand scheme of things. Maybe the Devils wanted to get as many looks as possible at those three.
In fact, they all might need another chance to prove themselves just in the eyes of Tom Fitzgerald. None of them have impressed. In fact, some did the opposite of that. Clarke’s decision-making hasn’t been the best. He has scored a goal, but he’s also been directly at fault for a goal the other way. Foote and Thompson haven’t scored. Beyond that, Foote hasn’t taken a shot that’s hit the net. His incredible shot got the Devils excited for him when they traded Blake Coleman for him. Now he’s not even using it.
As far as the Brians go, Pinho has two career NHL games and he’s already 27. Halonen is much younger at 23 years old. He’s one of the many prospects with a ton of upside but just as many question marks. He’s coming off a season where he was a top 10 finisher for the Hobey Baker Award. He’s a decent prospect, but he still needs time to percolate in the AHL. The same goes for Aarne Talvitie, who has never looked the same since his knee injury at World Juniors.
35%: Jesper Boqvist
Jesper Boqvist is a player who could quickly get lost in the shuffle when it comes to Devils prospects. He’s a former second-round pick who the Devils once had high hopes for. When he came over from Sweden, many expected him to make an immediate impact. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened. Boqvist did have his best run in the NHL last season, playing 56 games in the NHL and scoring 23 points. Some hope he could take a jump this season, but he hasn’t been impressive in the preseason.
The number is low. Boqvist is waivers eligible, and some other team would likely claim him. He’s still young, and he did show an ability to be an NHL player last season. However, the math is not in his favor. There are too many players who are waiver eligible and not enough spots on the NHL roster to go around. Unless someone gets injured, it will be hard to keep Boqvist on the roster.
40%: Andreas Johnsson
Maybe this is wishful thinking, but Andreas Johnsson doesn’t seem to have a spot on this roster. His contract situation tells a different story. He’s making $2.5 million in cash and his cap hit is $3.4 million. The Devils have given him a chance for three years now, and his inconsistency is a killer. Last season, he looked phenomenal alongside Mercer and Bratt. After that line got broken up, Johnsson looked lost.
We’ve talked about what Tom Fitzgerald needs to do. If he wants to keep his players where they are, he has to send someone down to the AHL who is on an NHL contract. Johnsson makes the most sense. He has the talent to bounce back with a wake-up call, and it’s very unlikely he’s getting claimed on waivers.
50%: Michael McLeod
Yeah, we have no idea how this one is going to end. We all know the situation with Michael McLeod. After some pretty pathetic hearing involving Hockey Canada, we don’t see anything coming from this investigation into the 2018 team. That means don’t expect any answers on McLeod’s involvement or lack of involvement. He already gave no comment in the preseason press conference. It will be more of the same for the rest of the season.
So, do the Devils want to deal with that every single day? One might think not, but it seems like they are going with the innocent until proven guilty method with McLeod. That’s fair based on what we know right now, which is pretty much nothing except McLeod is one of the only ones who said nothing. However, that doesn’t take away from the distraction that comes with it. It also doesn’t take away from the equally fair perception that since he’s said nothing, he’s far from free from implication.
55%: Fabian Zetterlund
This one is so hard to pinpoint. Fabian Zetterlund was late to training camp because of a visa issue. That likely put him behind the eight-ball when it comes to the competition. He hasn’t looked that good in preseason, and he’s been able to play in three games. He did get an assist, but there’s not a lot to go off besides that.
Zetterlund is waivers eligible, and that will likely drive the Devils decision. They don’t want to lose Zetterlund for nothing, especially after he played so well at the end of the season. However, it’s also becoming a math issue here. Don’t be terribly surprised if Zetterlund ends up on waivers, however it’s more likely than not it doesn’t happen.
75%: Alexander Holtz
The Devils have given Alexander Holtz premium real estate in this lineup from day one. He was immediately placed on a line with Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat. They looked phenomenal together at first. The offense as a whole slowed down, and Holtz was actually on a different line the last game, but it seems pretty clear the Devils want to start the season with Holtz in the lineup.
There are two scenarios where the other 25% could come up. The Devils might send Holtz down very temporarily since he is waivers exempt. That would allow them to keep the likes of Boqvist and Zetterlund. However, that would only delay the inevitable. It’s much more likely the Devils start the season with the former seventh-overall pick in the NHL.
80%: Nathan Bastian
We won’t waste a lot of time here. Nathan Bastian is a really good player for what he is. He brings size, toughness, hitting, and scoring to the lineup. He had 12 goals last season after he was claimed back on waivers. There’s a very little chance he doesn’t make this roster.
85%: Tomas Tatar
If we did this exercise two weeks ago, things would be totally different. Tomas Tatar was in the same boat as Andreas Johnsson when it comes to fighting for their place on this roster. Now, Tatar might have earned himself a spot in the top six. Tatar has three goals in three games. He had the only goal in the game against the Bruins. He’s gotten into open ice and he shows he still has a finishing ability.
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Tatar is pretty close to a lock on this roster. Since locks are only 100%, we can say that something wild could happen here. It would be more likely that “something” would be a trade, but the NHL is wild. Things can happen.