New Jersey Devils: 3 Choices To Build A Dynasty
By Nick Villano
2. Set Up Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec for Success
The Devils defense is losing two veterans this offseason. There is no way the Devils can afford to pay Ryan Graves and Damon Severson. The Devils have to decide whether Simon Nemec is as ready as Luke Hughes showed to be. If Hughes and Nemec can jump into the lineup full-time, it saves the Devils a lot of headaches and a lot of money.
Dougie Hamilton, John Marino, and Jonas Siegenthaler are signed long-term. Kevin Bahl is a restricted free agent, but he should be an easy contract to fix. So, the Devils need to figure out what to do with that last right-handed spot. The Devils won’t know if Nemec is ready or not until training camp. Will they risk it by just signing a PTO or will they bring in a decent veteran to take that spot?
Meanwhile, Hughes is in the NHL next season. That’s a guarantee. He was fantastic in his short time with the Devils last season. Now, the Devils need to find his right partner. He had very different results in the playoffs with the different veteran defensemen. He didn’t really play with Hamilton, which makes sense. He split his time mostly with Marino and Severson.
He actually had better overall numbers with Severson. They had a majority of the chances when they were on the ice. They had high-danger chances, and the play was volatile. They allowed three goals on the ice while scoring three. With Marino, Hughes gave up zero goals in 20 minutes, but he wasn’t on the ice for any goals.
The Devils need to develop Nemec correctly. If that means another year in the AHL, so be it. Hughes needs to find the right partner. There is no Severson, so the Devils have to decide if that’s Marino, or if they want to find a veteran that’s Taylor made for Hughes.