The New Jersey Devils got more bad news on the injury front. After losing Evgenii Dadonov, Stefan Noesen (who has since returned), Seamus Casey, Juho Lammikko, Zack MacEwen, and Jacob Markstrom, on top of losing Johnny Kovacevic coming into this season, the Devils are now going to be without Cody Glass for weeks.
That’s obviously not good news. Glass has been playing very well, and his absence is obvious. It really impacts the structure of the lineup. Now, the Devils have to put Dawson Mercer at third-line center and move Arseny Gristyuk on the second line. The top six won’t lose much by replacing Mercer with the Russian rookie, but it’s the impact of the bottom six that’s important.
The Devils have been playing well based on depth scoring. Eleven players have scored the Devils’ 31 goals this season. That includes two by Glass and three by Mercer. Messing with this apple core could be impactful.
Luckily, Mercer has been good this season. He was good in the second-line wing role, and he’s been just as good as a center.
Against the Minnesota Wild, Mercer had two assists at 5v5. Nobody looked great against the San Jose Sharks, but Mercer was fine in that game, too. He also had an individual high-danger chance.
The Devils are lucky that Mercer is playing this well. If not, the Devils would be looking at Luke Glendening, who has struggled in the past few games, and Angus Crookshank from the Utica Comets.
Pucks and Pitchforks asked Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe about Mercer’s play and how he’s fit on the third line after their 3-1 victory over the Sharks.
"He did that exact job (playing third-line center) at the hardest time of the year in the playoffs for us. He did a good job for us there. He can do it when we need to... It's certainly nice Mercer can take those reps and give us that option. "Sheldon Keefe, Devils head coach
The Devils are playing with fire with all these injuries. It’s way too many players going down, and the depth is hurting because of it. Without Glass and Lammikko, the Devils are forced to take one of their top-six forwards and make him a bottom-six center. However, if it gives the Devils a complete top nine, then it makes sense, for now.
Mercer is a great option with the way he’s playing right now. If he can keep putting up points at this rate (eight points in eight games), then the third line will do well. The fourth line is severely struggling with the injuries, but that’s a completely different issue.