5 Things We Learned From Devils’ Season-Opening Back-to-Back

The New Jersey Devils opened their 2023-24 campaign with a back-to-back set at the Prudential Center against the Detroit Red Wings and Arizona Coyotes. The early results? Largely a mixed bag, and not due to the contemporary reasons we might’ve expected from the offseason.

The team went through a lot of turnover over the summer, and the integration of young players as a result of that was a cause for concern. With the losses of Ryan Graves and Damon Severson, the Devils were expected to regress defensively, and through two games, that regression has hit them like a bus.

#5. Vanecek shakes off poor postseason performance

The good news is that the Devils appear to have reliable goaltending again; Vitek Vanecek’s rocky postseason cameo for New Jersey brought on a deluge of trade rumors that were mainly centered around the Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck.

The former Washington Capital had a very solid outing against the Detroit Red Wings, saving exactly one goal above expected on 3.997 xGA. Overall, Vanecek finished with 32 saves on 35 shots, posting a 0.914 save percentage.

If the Devils – as a team – continue to struggle to prevent shots in general and fail to limit high-quality chances, they’re going to need to rely on Vanecek and Akira Schmid. The 27-year-old gave them a shoulder to lean on in Game 1, but they just can’t expect Vanecek to be lights out every night if they allow 33 or more shots on goal each game. However, ‘The Vitek’ has proven that he’s put his dismal spring in the rearview mirror early on in the new season.

#3. The Brendan Smith experiment isn’t working

Last year, we were all fooled when we thought Brendan Smith was keeping Kevin Bahl out of the lineup for so long. With Graves out of the picture and Luke Hughes coming into the picture full-time, it was assumed that Smith would be the odd man out. That assumption was false.

To start this year, Smith started on the bottom defense pairing with Hughes on his right, which means no Colin Miller and no Simon Nemec. As it goes with him, the veteran defenseman hasn’t played badly at all, but it’s his propensity for mistakes that gets him in the doghouse of both Devils fans and Devils coaches.

The Devils actually dominated with Smith on the ice against Arizona. He had a shot share of 69.23 percent with 18 shots for and only eight against. Hughes wasn’t far behind him, but Smith’s third period penalty was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

Naturally, the 34-year-old’s tripping penalty came right after Jesper Bratt’s breakaway miss, and there was never any doubt that the Coyotes would convert on their seventh power play of the night.

Overall, Smith finished the night with five shots in only 15 minutes of ice time (every other defenseman had 19 minutes or more). If he’s taking that many shots and the Devils are still trying to shelter him, just give Nemec a chance to play and to learn. Go for broke on offense since the defense clearly isn’t there anyway.

#2. Devils desperately need to improve penalty kill and discipline

Bad refereeing be damned; the Devils desperately need to improve on the penalty kill. Further to that point, they should try staying out of the sin bin in general. New Jersey took eight penalties against the Coyotes and six against the Red Wings. That’s an average of seven penalties a game, equating to… 574 penalties over an 82-game season. This road only leads to one destination, and it’s not one where many hockey games are won.

Of course, many of the calls just weren’t good calls, but the Devils need to be observant enough to be aware of that fact and to play accordingly. They haven’t been, and the penalty kill has been worse for it. On 14 opportunities, they’ve allowed four goals, giving them a penalty-kill percentage of only 71.4 percent. That’s a very far cry from their 82.61 percent last season, which placed them well above the league average of 78.69 percent.

Sure, this is only a two-game sample size, but the shorthanded units just look lethargic and passive and just lack energy. The team lost plus skaters like Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Boqvist and haven’t replaced them on the penalty kill. Time will tell, but that lack of balance and harmony may come back to bite them later, given the depth options they have.

#1. The Hischier line has just been plain bad

There’s no way around it, and there’s no way to sugarcoat it: Nico Hischier’s line has not been good for a single minute so far. As a unit, Hischier, Timo Meier, and Dawson Mercer have been out-attempted 18-26 through two games. Against the Coyotes in particular, they produced only five shots and conceded nine. It’s not good enough, simply put.

For the entire preseason, Hischier and Meier were paired up with Alex Holtz, and at times, Ruff wasn’t their biggest fan. Naturally, Ruff swapped Holtz with Mercer prior to the game against Detroit, and they managed to get even worse. The bottom line is this: if Hischier and Meier weren’t good with Holtz and they haven’t been good with Mercer, it might be time to split them up altogether.

None of these three are bad players – far from it – but this combo just isn’t working. The Devils desperately need offense (and defense) from their top guys, but instead, they get lifeless and uninspired shifts that usually result in the puck dying along the boards. Rinse and repeat for the shifts that follow.

Only the coaches know what they see in practice and in the games, but the only thing that matters is the score when the clock hits 00:00. The game against the Coyotes was a winnable one, penalties notwithstanding. The Devils brass cannot allow this trend to continue much longer than this.

*Advanced stats used are credit of Natural Stat Trick

Again, this is a small sample size, but the Devils do need to solve this puzzle. New Jersey just won’t win many tough games, with three of their best players idling in second gear.