While the New Jersey Devils aim to be physically sound on their end defensively, two players on the back end stand out because of their size, weight, and handedness. Ryan Graves is a left-handed 6’5″, 220-pound defender who is an average skater and very agile for their height. Graves has been to the playoffs two times with Colorado and now his third time comes with New Jersey.
Kevin Bahl on the other hand is a 6’6″, 229-pound left-handed defender who has one of the scariest looks you’ll ever deal with in a playoff game. Bahl skates fast, but not at the hypersonic speed that his now teammate Luke Hughes has.
Bahl is agile on his edges and not only uses his long reach, but he isn’t afraid to throw his weight around. The defender averaged 1.52 Hits/game with 38 total blocked shots. If you want to see a measurement, we’ve added points+hits+blocked shots into a stat we call “Sasquatch Score.” Kevin Bahl scored 110 in 42 games. Meanwhile, Graves scored a beautiful 261 in 78 games played.
Kevin Bahl doing his best Dustin Byfuglien impression pic.twitter.com/ngzHLQ2GnP
— full time hater 😸 (@3rikhau1a) April 7, 2023
If you minus off the points, it’s a stat called Sasq isolated Defense or SiD Score. For those tracking at home, it’s hits plus blocked shots. Graves is averaging over 1.5 hits and blocked shots per game. Kevin Bahl had a Sasq isolated Defense score of 102 dividing it into 2.43 SiD percentages. Essentially what this means for Kevin Bahl jumping in the playoffs on Dougie Hamilton‘s pairing means Bahl is going to be just as effective as Graves despite being five years younger.
Add in Jonas Siegenthaler, who amassed 151 blocked shots and 101 hits in 80 games played, and this is a defense that deserves more credit than it gets. Siegenthalers SiD% is 3.15 which tops Graves, and Bahl. These kinds of defensive players can absolutely change the outcome of a best of 7 series. This Sasquatch style of physical play would be perfect not only in the defensive zone but beginning to shut down your opponents in their own zone.
#NJDevils and Jonas Siegenthaler are actually very lucky he didn't get a call from player safety for his hit on Geekie.
— Jack Dawkins Temporary Aid Worker🇵🇱🇺🇦 (@JDsays2much) October 21, 2021
It was high. It was late. His skates left the ice.
If Tom Wilson does this, he's suspended before Geekie hits the ice. pic.twitter.com/d08bgAnQrs
On the forward front, the guys that do pop out as strong and reliable hitting and blocking game are Erik Haula, Tomas Tatar, Nathan Bastian, and Ondrej Palat. These forwards can really reduce the odds of the Rangers trying to transition from their own end to the neutral zone. If Timo Meier comes back ready for Tuesday’s matchup, that can be a game-changer. His mix of physicality and offensive ability is hard to match.
The Devils know they can play well versus the best team in the NHL, and it really could be a good lesson for this core to go up and finish off business vs. the Rangers. Let’s see if this Devils team can play very tight, physically, and cleaner going into this playoff series. They just have to interrupt the Rangers before they can reach the offensive zone where the Rangers struggle on their transition game.