For a number of seasons, New Jersey Devils' captain Nico Hischier has been subject to some of the most difficult deployment in the entire National Hockey League. According to HockeyStats, in the last three seasons (weighted to favor the most recent season), he has been deployed against 91st percentile competition -- opposing teams' top lines and defense pairings.
As much as Hischier has been able to handle -- and win -- those minutes, it has undeniably hampered his production from a point-getting perspective. After all, it's certainly harder to produce goals for ones own team when being force-fed defensive-zone starts and matchups against top competition than a regular spread of zone starts against middle-six players.
The good news is that it seems like the Devils are aware of this, and actively making strides to alleviate some of this pressure and matchup distribution.
As per Anthony Corona of NJ.com, Sheldon Keefe had the following to say about now-fourth-line-ce
""...his primary role and focus for us is to take on some hard minutes and be a responsible defensive player. He has shown he can do that and still produce and be an impactful offensive guy. With our increased depth, as much as he will take on some tough matchups and defensive zone starts, there will also be a lot of favorable matchups.""Sheldon Keefe
It sure sounds like a good chunk of those brutal matchups will be handed off to players not named Hischier, and for good reason -- Glass is, and always has been, a fantastic defensive forward. His three-year weighted even-strength defensive impact ranks in the 98th percentile. His positioning is excellent and his stick is sound.
From Keefe's quote, we can also deduce that the Devils will take a more balanced approach to defensive deployment. On the third line, then, it can only be presumed that Evan Rodrigues, Arseny Gritsyuk, and Dawson Mercer -- all of whom have been handed their flowers for defensive play -- will handle some of those tough assigments as well.
With that, Hischier and his linemates should be more free to produce offensive opportunities for the Devils. That will likely result in goal-scoring increases for himself and Timo Meier, and a strong inaugural New Jersey campaign for newcomer Luke Evangelista. After all, the Devils are at their best when their elite core players are able to provide offense.
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