Small changes on the blue line
The back end is a little simpler to piece together, based on recent pairings. Although Dougie Hamilton is skating again, there is still no timetable for his return and it's unlikely we'll see him on the ice at any point in the first round.
That leaves Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce as the undeniable top pairing. Luke has stepped up in a big way recently to provide much-needed offense from the back end, while Pesce leads the Devils with 132 blocked shots. Pesce also owns the lowest rate of giveaways per 60 mintues among all Devils defensemen with 2.39. The duo has developed into an efficient top pairing and one that is likely to stick together given the scarcity of legit contenders for the top spot.
Similarly, the pairing of Brian Dumoulin with Johathan Kovacevic is unlikely to be changed. They put up good possession numbers together, sporting a CF of 53.3% and limiting opponent's scoring chances by a rate of 94 for and 71 against.
The final pairing would see Brenden Dillon skating with either Simon Nemec or Dennis Cholowski, and the latter has played better since joining the Devils. On a pairing with Dillon, Cholowski has an expected goals against of 2.31, while Nemec has an xGA of 5.50. It's a toss up, though, and an argument could be made for either of the two to get first dibs at playoff action. The addition of Seamus Casey could prove to be a wild card if Keefe if decides to insert him into the lineup at any point.
Hughes-Pesce
Dumoulin-Kovacevic
Dillon-Nemec/Cholowski
There are a lot of moving parts to figuring out an ideal lineup, and it's not an enviable task for Sheldon Keefe. But the potential to run four lines while relying on consistent D-pairings is there -- now, it's just about narrowing down the best possible combination of skaters to match a strong Hurricanes team.