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New Jersey Devils: 5 Harsh Truths About 2023-24 Season

By Jonathan Bailey

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 30: Akira Schmid #40 of the New Jersey Devils takes the ice before playing against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on November 30, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 30: Akira Schmid #40 of the New Jersey Devils takes the ice before playing against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on November 30, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /
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New Jersey Devils
Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

4. The Devils have no offensive chemistry

Even though Jack Hughes is having a rockstar 2023-24 campaign, the Devils have done very little offensively. And they’ve done very little offensively on a consistent basis. Sure, Hughes and Nico Hischier both missed sizeable portions of the season’s first quarter, but it’s a team game. When the A-game isn’t there, the Devils should turn to their B-game or C-game. That’s not something they have because the team’s playstyle relies on the speed and skill of players like Hughes, Hischier, and Jesper Bratt.

The turnover from last season is partly due to inconsistency. For example, Dawson Mercer looked great next to a play-driving ace like Tomas Tatar and Hischier. The youngster has been less great this season but has looked better recently on lines with Hughes and Tyler Toffoli, and Erik Haula and Curtis Lazar, respectively.

The one Devils line that has been elite – and we mean the only one – is the Ondrej Palat-Hischier-Bratt line. They have an xG% of 77.8%, while no other Devils line has surpassed 66%.

New Jersey still has a lot of work to do on this front because a lot falls to the wayside when injuries happen. Timo Meier didn’t have a great game against his old Sharks playing on the third line, and the team sorely misses Erik Haula. The Devils can’t sleepwalk towards the spring, hoping everybody is healthy and firing on all cylinders.

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