New Jersey Devils: Takeaways From Big Changes In Practice

Toffoli with Hischier & Bratt

Tyler Toffoli hasn’t played all that poorly but is gaining confidence along with familiarity in a new system. It is more so repetitions, comfortability mixed in with skill and luck that will lead to success on this team. Toffoli is not the fastest winger, but he knows how to cheat up the ice when he gets ready to transition through the neutral zone. Nico Hischier is trying to get his timing down with his passes and improving his faceoff draws in the first three games. Jesper Bratt has been nothing short of amazing with his scoring in the past three games and could easily hit another 30-goal season.

Hischier brings a Selke-caliber style of play, but so does Dawson Mercer on the first line. This should help both top lines balance out properly and not be too defense-heavy. Toffoli and Bratt are both very highly skilled shooters and are capable of scoring at even strength and on the power play. Having Hischier around theoretically yields more counterattacks when getting the puck from opponents.

Palat with McLeod and Holtz

Ondrej Palat is looking to have a bounce-back season after a lower-body injury last season hampered his play before the playoffs. The Czech winger is an all-out effort player who can score goals, win puck battles, and make phenomenal grade-A passes on a 3rd line. Alexander Holtz just needs to play well enough defensively in his own end like he has been. He’s looked good so far. Holtz on the forecheck and away from it has made his offensive presence known he’s looking to make his goal-scorer mark at the NHL level.

If Holtz and Palat both find the back of the net more consistently with Michael McLeod, who can also be a presence as a two-way forward, then there could be something good. There is a lot of creativity between those two players that can absolutely diversify the New Jersey Devils offensive attack.

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Defense

There is still a lot of time to get things corrected, and that is on Ryan McGill’s watch to turn the defense around. Every time you bring up a young defender like Luke Hughes who is an offensive defender he is gonna learn from making mistakes. Nobody is perfect, but he also is a year younger than Owen Power the top defenseman from his draft class.

Luke Hughes will learn quickly. He will get a feel for the non-NCAA level game where opponents anticipate his high-risk passes. He and John Marino also have to improve upon their decision-making because they are going to be the pillars in the long term. Kevin Bahl is gonna do his very best to play the puck first and play the body, but can also rip the puck on the net to create scoring chances.