New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald made a plethora of moves this offseason, doing a nice job surrounding the youth with veteran roster pieces. The big splash was, of course, the signing of two-time Stanley Cup champion Ondrej Palat. Other moves brought in savvy veterans like Erik Haula and Brendan Smith, as well as acquiring backup goaltender Vitek Vanecek from the Washington Capitals. But one offseason acquisition stands alone in the shadows. It wasn’t a flashy move, it didn’t light the world on fire, but it was a sneaky move for a very intelligent hockey player. Enter John Marino.
The Devils acquired Marino from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Ty Smith and a 2023 third-round pick. That trade is looking like a steal for the New Jersey Devils just seven games into the season. Marino, 25, is entering just his fourth NHL season, having played the first three in Pittsburgh. Off to a hot start in New Jersey, the former 6th round pick is looking like the diamond in the rough of the Devils offseason.
In 7 games, Marino has tallied three assists and a +4 rating. He is 2nd on the team in ice-time, only two minutes and 23 seconds behind Dougie Hamilton, with a TOI of 147:22, and has logged the most shifts on the team with 189. Marino has shown his passing potential early on with the Devils, collecting his first two assists on Monday night against Washington, including a beautiful stretch pass on Jesper Bratt’s first goal of the season. He added another sweet assist Tuesday night in Detroit on Dawson Mercer’s third goal of the season. His trio of assists have him on pace to smash his single season career bests for both points and assists.
It’s not just the offensive side of the puck that Marino has shown flashes of brilliance, but more evidently in his own end of the ice. The young defenseman passes the eye test. He has made a handful of key plays in his own end to bail out his partner, but the advanced stats back up the eye test as well.
Marino has the 10th lowest HDCA/60 (high-danger chances allowed per 60 minutes) amongst NHL defenseman, 2nd lowest SA/60 (shots against per 60 minutes) amongst NHL defenseman and his CF% (corsi-for percentage) at 5-on-5 stands at a 62.8%, 3rd amongst Devils defenseman, behind Damon Severson and Dougie Hamilton. He has a pair of takeaways, as well as 5 blocked shots, 6 hits, and has drawn 2 penalties. (All stats are from Natural Stat Trick and Hockey Reference).
Marino has made the Devils acquisition of his talents worthwhile with his contributions on the backend and should become a household name with the fans here in New Jersey. He has quickly built a home on the right side of the Devils defense paired with Ryan Graves. Quick side note, while at the game Monday night I overheard a fan call him “Dan Marino”, he is not quite the passer Dan Marino was just yet. All jokes aside, they will know your name soon enough Johnny Apples. This one seems like another fleece job by General Manager Tom Fitzgerald.