New Jersey Devils: 5 Things We Actually Learned In 2022-23
The New Jersey Devils had a fantastic season in 2022-23. Going into the season, they had a lot of questions. Most of which were answered.
There were so many positives this past season. The Devils won more games than the franchise has ever won. They had more points than this team has ever recorded. Jack Hughes scored more points than any Devils player ever. It was positive after positive after positive, leading to the Devils ending the New York Rangers season in Game 7 of the first round. Let’s lay out exactly what we learned this past season.
Jack Hughes is a Superstar
Jack Hughes is not only a superstar, but he might be the best young star in the game, depending on what you consider young. When talking about players under 22 years old, there is Andrei Svechnikov, Tim Stuzle, Rasmus Dahlin, and the incoming Connor Bedard. Even with the hype around Bedard, Hughes is still the top star among them.
Hughes broke the Devils all-time franchise points record for one season, beating Patrik Elias’s mark from 22 years ago. Not even Taylor Hall’s MVP season was better than Elias’s 97 points from 2000-01. Hughes blew past it and almost became the first Devils player with 100 points.
This player is 21 years old. He is just touching the surface of his abilities. Hughes will get better and better as the years go by. By next season, we expect him to be a top-five center. The Devils are a contender because of Hughes. He could be this generation’s Sidney Crosby.
Nico Hischier was worth first-overall
This one is complicated because we can’t say that Nico Hischier is better than Cale Makar or Elias Pettersson. There will always be players who have a chance to be better than first overall when there’s not a clear talent at number one. 2017 was one of the strangest NHL Drafts in recent memory. There was clearly a lot of talent at the top, but most of it hadn’t come to fruition or it came with major question marks.
The consensus was Nolan Patrick vs. Hischier for number one. A small contingent wanted to go with Miro Heiskanen, and there are rumors a Devils scout was pounding the table for Cale Makar. However, it seemed like the choice was between the two centers. The Devils made the right choice in Hischier.
After a few years where Hischier was good but not great, he hit another level in 2022-23. Not only was he a Selke Trophy candidate, but he hit his career high in points by a mile. His 80 points were tied for 29th in the league, tying John Tavares and Kyle Connor. He also recorded his first 30-goal season.
While Hischier isn’t Makar or Pettersson, he is playing at a level that is worthy of a number-one overall pick. This isn’t a bust we’re talking about. This is a certified star on a team that looks to be a contender for a long time. On top of all that, he’s this team’s captain. We wouldn’t have it any other way, even if you gave us a time machine to go back to 2017.
Vitek Vanecek Can Hold Down Regular Season
This one might be hard to convince, but for all the issues Vitek Vanecek had in the playoffs, he was just as successful in the regular season. All the accolades were well covered. He’s the only goalie not named Martin Brodeur to win 30 games. He had a .911 save percentage. Vanecek was one of the main reasons the Devils ended up with the third-best record in the NHL. After a season where seven goalies couldn’t stop a beach ball, Vanecek was a breath of fresh air.
Yes, we know. The playoffs looked more like Jon Gillies at his worst than the regular season Vanecek. He was the second-worst goalie in the playoffs on any team. We cannot ignore that in this point. The Devils goaltending cannot be “Vanecek or bust” this season. However, he can absolutely hold down the fort when the pressure is off.
What do the Devils do in the playoffs? If they go with the current group, the idea has to be that Akira Schmid takes the net. There’s no other option at this point. Nico Daws is very hurt and will miss the beginning of the season with a hip injury. He likely isn’t an answer, at least this year.
Vanecek will likely start next season in Newark. Unless a massive goalie trade is in the works, the Devils are sticking with the current group.
Lindy Ruff Can Lead This Team
“Fire Lindy” could be heard from the entire Prudential Center during the home opener. It might have been one of the loudest chants of the season. The Devils had gone through two terrible seasons led by Head Coach Lindy Ruff. His system was getting the most out of Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes, but the rest of the team lagged behind. The defensemen were often left out of place due to the ask on each shift, and the power play was absolutely terrible.
Then, Ruff completely revamped his assistant coaches, and the formula finally worked. The Devils had the best record they’ve had in their 40-year history. They were one point away from winning the Metropolitan Division. Ruff was a major proponent for how this team worked.
In the playoffs, Ruff showed he was able to overcome some weaknesses that led to losses in the regular season. He tends to hope his goalie carries the day when he trusts them. In the playoffs, it was clear that wasn’t Vanecek. He went with Schmid, and it won them the Rangers series.
Ruff is a good head coach. He has been doing this for a long time, and that might be exactly what this team needs. His veteran style overcomes the lack of veteran presence in the locker room.
Dawson Mercer Is The Real Deal
Many were curious if Dawson Mercer would suffer a sophomore slump. He did the exact opposite of that. There was a time during the season when Mercer was the best player on the team. He had a stretch where he posted 10 goals in eight games near the end of February and the beginning of March. He added five assists in that time, making it 15 points in eight games.
Mercer finished the season with 27 goals and 29 assists. He is being penciled into a very good Devils top six. Will he be the wing next to Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier? It doesn’t really matter. He will be a 30-goal scorer with just a little progression.
After starting the postseason with no points in four games, he finished the playoffs with seven points. That was Mercer all season. He could go through a small slump and bounce back with a vengeance. His first-ever postseason goal came on the penalty kill, pushing the Prudential Center over the edge and giving the Devils a 3-0 lead in Game 5.
Next. Nico Hischier Will Win A Selke Trophy. dark
We forget just how young some of these players are. Dawson Mercer is 21 years old. He has so much more growing to do as a player. For now, we know this is a great player who has a 55-point floor.