5 Reasons New Jersey Devils Can Win Stanley Cup
The New Jersey Devils took down the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was their first series win since beating the Rangers in 2012. That win sent them to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings. Still, we look on that year fondly because the Devils took down their cross-river rival when it mattered most.
The same goes for 2023. Everything from here on out is gravy. The year is officially a success. Lindy Ruff is officially our coach. We love this team, and it finally loves us back.
Yet, we can’t help but look ahead. How far can this team go? Spoiler alert, this team can win the Stanley Cup. They needed to show they could win in the playoffs. They took on a team littered with veterans. Not only did they win Game 7, they dominated. Despite getting three power plays in the first period, the Rangers never had a chance. The Devils won the game 4-0, sending a Rangers team home with nothing.
The Devils are 12 wins away from its fourth Stanley Cup Championship. It might as well be an eternity. However, they are one of the eight teams left fighting for a title. The Carolina Hurricanes are next on the list, and they have five reasons they can win it all this season.
Reason #1: The Schedule Is Falling In Their Favor
This season always seemed like a learning curve for the Devils. They need to “gain experience” before they can truly make a run. At least, that’s what the pundits said. They faced too steep a hill. Every analyst and expert was picking the Rangers to win the series or win in Game 7. Even with the settings lines falling even, things were not in the Devils favor. Just a week ago, the Devils were 25-1 to win the Stanley Cup. Now, the Devils are 6/1.
The reason the Devils’ odds jumped is more than just beating the Rangers in the first round. The main reason is the Florida Panthers beating the Boston Bruins. That completely changed everything. The Bruins were a favorite, and it wasn’t particularly close. They also had the Devils’ number, and it felt likely they would beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. On top of that, the defending champion Colorado Avalanche lost to the Seattle Kraken. It’s really anyone’s Cup this season.
Now, the Devils face a Hurricanes team without Andrei Svechnikov. They survived the New York Islanders in the first round. If the Devils can beat the Canes (which is a tall task, mind you), they face either a Maple Leafs team who got the monkey off their back, or a Panthers team who is playing with house money. Then, they face a Western team in the Stanley Cup Final. We know how the Devils treated the West this season.
Reason #2: High Danger Chances
The New Jersey Devils were the top team in the league in high-danger chances for 5v5 play and fourth at all strengths during the regular season. In head-to-head play, only three teams had the HDCF advantage. The Edmonton Oilers, Seattle Kraken, and Florida Panthers all had the advantage.
They haven’t faced Edmonton since November, and they won both games. Two of the three Panthers games came in December when the Devils were playing some of its worst hockey (at least on the scoresheet). The last Seattle game was in early February.
The Devils had the HDCF advantage against every other team, including the other four in the playoffs. While the Hurricanes held a serious Corsi advantage, they were peppering the Devils with shot attempts. Meanwhile, the Devils dominated in meaningful chances. They had 65 high-dangers chances in four games.
We know how those Toronto games went. The Maple Leafs came out with two wins in three contests, including the most controversial game of the season. In those three games, the Devils had 72 percent of the high-danger chances. They only allowed the high-powered Leafs offense to have 19 HDCF in three games. The Devils had 49. That’s wild.
Reason #3: Health
The Devils are remarkably healthy. There is one injury on the roster, and that’s Jonathan Bernier. He missed the entire season with a hip injury, and it might actually be the end of his career. That’s okay, because the Devils have Akira Schmid, Vitek Vanecek, and even Mackenzie Blackwood at 100 percent.
The entire forward core is healthy at the perfect time. That gives Lindy Ruff his pick of the litter in terms of lines. He needed a change for Game 7, and he added Miles Wood and Yegor Sharangovich. Jesper Boqvist and Curtis Lazar will do the same later in the Canes series. The Devils are missing no stars. Jack Hughes is hitting at all cylinders. Nico Hischier is playing hard, tough minutes every night.
There was a chance the Devils almost lost one of its stars. Timo Meier took a borderline dirty hit from Jacob Trouba near the end of Game 7, where Trouba’s shoulder made direct contact with his head.
Another look at Jacob Trouba's huge hit on Timo Meier #NYR | #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/feRXfNrvd8
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) May 2, 2023
The good news is we saw Meier at the end of the game. He had to go through concussion protocol, and there will be further tests. However, for now, it seems like everyone is starting the Hurricanes series ready to go.
Reason #4: Stars Will Get Going
Speaking of Meier, he really was snake bitten all series. After scoring 40 goals during the regular season, Meier had zero in the playoff series. Meier started the season with no goals in nine games. Then, he went on a run. He never went more than give games without a goal, and that only happened once. Yet, he went seven games without a goal to start the postseason? Expect the floodgates to burst for Meier, who had 16 individual high-danger chances this series. That’s the highest on the team.
Second on the team was Nico Hischier, who had 14. The captain also finished the season with zero goals. It was nearly impossible to have that happen, but the Devils faced the impossible in Igor Shesterkin. Hischier had his chances, and he’s gone through scoring slumps before this season. He always comes out of them on fire. That will happen again.
Jack Hughes was really good in the Rangers series. He is the reason they even had a chance, scoring the goal that made it 1-1 in Game 3, and the Devils ended up winning in overtime.
Jesper Bratt scored the Devils empty-net goal to make it 4-0. That was a very important goal. Bratt has struggled in this series, maybe more than any other forward. Getting that goal could mean floodgates for him as well.
Reason #5: Defensive Core
The New Jersey Devils defense hasn’t been given the proper recognition. They are the big reason for the Devils win against the Rangers. The Devils were tied with the Vegas Golden Knights with the lowest xGA/60. Sure, Akira Schmid was great, but the Devils only allowed 2.27 xGA per game. The Devils defense was able to hold the high-powered Rangers offense in check in all four wins.
The Devils ended up shutting out the Rangers twice, and allowed just one goal in the other two wins. If one more huge chance got passed Schmid in any of these games, we’re planning the Devils funeral right now. Instead, we’re talking about the Stanley Cup.
The Devils really got the pairings down. After Lindy Ruff benched Jonas Siegenthaler in Game 2, he’s been arguably the team’s best defender. We haven’t even heard the name Dougie Hamilton, and that’s because none of his mistakes have gone the other way. Maybe he’s not even making mistakes, but the issues that plagued him in the regular season never cropped up.
Ryan Graves and John Marino have been really good. Graves had his issues, but he stepped up in Game 7. Marino might be the other “best defenseman” in the series. Adam Fox was in this series, but he was outdueled pretty significantly. Siegenthaler and Marino both even added offense.
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The bottom pairing of Damon Severson and Kevin Bahl might be the best bottom-line defenders in the league. It’s going to be hard to match the depth of this defense.