Way back on Dec. 16, 2019, the New Jersey Devils acquired a random third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft in the package they received from the Arizona Coyotes for Taylor Hall. A little over two years later, they surprised many when they flipped that pick to the Washington Capitals for Jonas Siegenthaler, who had played 97 NHL games at that point. What was really surprising is it happened near the NHL Trade Deadline.
Here in the present day, at the start of the 2023-24 NHL season, Siegenthaler now has played 257 NHL games/160 with New Jersey and is one-half of the Devils top defense pair alongside Dougie Hamilton. He is also one of their best penalty killers and often on the ice in critical, late-game situations with his squad protecting a lead. When Siegenthaler is at his best, you barely notice him on the ice. He plays that quiet game, where he’s always making the right poke-check, or the right pass, or closing down a passing lane to allow a teammate to skate back into position.
Through the Devils’ first three games this season, Siegenthaler has surprisingly chipped in three assists already (all on opening night), but he isn’t be challenging Jack Hughes or Erik Karlsson for the Hart or Norris Trophies.
It's Jack's world. We're just living in it. pic.twitter.com/IgQWMYwUQz
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 13, 2023
“I know I had a couple. I don’t know how many. I’m not aiming for that (points), if it happens, it happens. Obviously, it’s nice, but it’s not my main goal here,” Siegenthaler told reporters after the opening night win, where Hughes potted two goals.
“It’s not easy (to play against him). He’s so shifty, so fast; you see it out there,” said Siegenthaler. “He goes from left to right and right to left in such a short time. Luckily, I don’t have to play him anymore.”
Despite the opening night win, the team wasn’t satisfied and knows there is room for improvement.
“In the end, it wasn’t that pretty, but we got the two points. It’s the first game of the season. You want to get better every day and we saw what we needed to work on,” Siegenthaler told reporters after the sold-out home/season opener for the Devils.
“It’s always nice to play in a sold-out rink. You really feel the energy on the ice; we feel the support, and it’s pretty cool to play like that, and we appreciate that.”
Now in his sixth NHL season, Siegenthaler feels the most confident he ever has – both about his own game and where New Jersey is (as a group on the cusp of becoming a perennial contender).
“If I look at the roster, I feel pretty comfortable with the team (here) going forward. We have a pretty good team, and we’ve set the bar pretty high,” Siegenthaler told Pucks & Pitchforks. “We have to continue where we ended last year, and I think we can only get better. That’s our main goal – to work in practice and get better every day.”
He also admitted it was hard not to be excited about GM Tom Fitzgerald’s moves for the Devils during the offseason.
“One hundred percent. You see guys like Bratter and Timo re-sign during the summer. It’s exciting, and they’re such good guys. You have them here for a long time, and that is exciting.”
Devils fans have much to be excited about with this group and what they could become. And Siegenthaler, thanks to Taylor Hall — who also netted New Jersey a couple of other fellas named Dawson Mercer and Kevin Bahl, is a big piece of the championship puzzle Fitzgerald is trying to put together.