The New Jersey Devils are trying to find better chemistry amongst the forward group after a spate of injuries. In the last few weeks, the Devils have been playing without Connor Brown, Zack MacEwen, Evgenii Dadonov, and Cody Glass. That has forced the Devils to shuffle their lines, and it’s really impacting their offensive capabilities.
The fourth line has been nearly unplayable. Luke Glendening played 14 shifts on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, while Juho Lammikko played 13 shifts. They were both among the lowest Devils players in ice time.
Luckily, the Devils expect a few players back from injury this week. Both Brown and MacEwen have been skating and should return as soon as Monday evening. Even if it’s a few days, there’s a lineup opportunity that would be worth the wait.
Line 1
Arseny Gritsyuk - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt
Since Dadonov got hurt in the first game of the season, the Devils have been trying to fit a square peg in a round hole on the first line. It started with ole unreliable with Ondrej Palat. No offense to him, because he does bring some impactful assets to a lineup, but he’s not a first-line player anymore. Then, they tried Stefan Noesen. We understand the thought process, as Noesen is one of the best players in front of the net, but he’s also one of the slowest on the team, which really hurts their transition game.
It’s time to reward Arseny Gritsyuk for his incredible play to start the year. Putting him alongside Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt gives him a skill-for-skill match across the board. Gritsyuk also shows he has a good enough hockey IQ to play alongside other skilled players. He won’t be a detriment to the defensive side, and he likely leads to more odd-man chances.
The Devils need offense, and they especially need offense from their top line. Gritsyuk has already shown to have great offensive instincts, and allowing him to build chemistry with Jack Hughes now will only help in the future.
Line 2
Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Stefan Noesen
This is a line that really worked for part of last season. Stefan Noesen was a great finisher to help add points to Timo Meier and Nico Hischier’s stat line. Noesen has been playing with Hughes’s line, but it’s not the best fit. It’s had some decent results, but it’s not what we could expect from Gritsyuk on that line.
Things make a little more sense for Hischier’s line. They are a defensive-minded trio looking to turn things around offensively. Hischier’s line hasn’t had luck with the offense. Sheldon Keefe has been pairing him against the hardest competition. That means that it’s considered a win when they don’t allow goals to the likes of Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid, but that also makes it harder to get goals themselves.
Will Noesen solve that on his own? No, but the rest of the changes should continue to help this. If the Devils share the responsibility to shut down opposing lines, it will create opportunity on the offensive end at 5v5. We already know how to fix the power play, and that will add goals, but we need Hischier’s line to score, as well.
Line 3
Ondrej Palat - Dawson Mercer - Connor Brown
Getting value out of Ondrej Palat might seem hard right now, but it’s really just that he’s out of place on the first line. He still does some things well, including takeaways, where he’s still one of the best on the team. And this is where he makes sense for the Devils. Adding Palat to a line with Dawson Mercer at center and Connor Brown at the other wing allows two players to take advantage of the takeaways Palat still gets.
Brown should be back any game now. The Devils have really missed his presence. Despite missing four games, he already has five goals on the season. Even if he scores 20 goals this season, that would be great coming from a third-line role.
We know Mercer isn’t ideal as a centerman, but it’s the only way this works, and he was fine at it when called upon earlier this year. The team needs to have four centers not named Lammikko or Glendening for now. They need to try a different approach, and Mercer at 3C adds more offense.
Line 4
Paul Cotter - Cody Glass - Zack MacEwen
Like Dadonov before him, Zack MacEwen played one game with his new team, looked pretty good, then disappeared. The Devils traded Kurtis MacDermid for MacEwen right before the season started. The Ottawa Senators were looking for more grit, and the Devils were looking to save money. However, in the one game we saw from MacEwen, he looked like a really good fit for the fourth line. He’s skating right now, so we expect to see him back in the lineup soon.
Pushing Cody Glass to the fourth line and making them a matchup for opposing top players helps open things up for the top three lines. That’s what the Devils want from their fourth line. They want to take out the opposing top line with their fourth line so they can have idealistic matchups for Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.
Paul Cotter has been decent as of late, and his speed allows for the Devils to get chances the other way. We think these three would build incredible chemistry and win their matchups.
Overall, this lineup gives the Devils four working lines that they don’t have to shelter. We wouldn’t be shocked if one game, the fourth line as constructed here would have the most minutes on the team. It would be rare, because you still want Hughes and Hischier out there more often than not, but these four lines can all play as much as possible.
That’s the goal here. The Devils want four lines that can play. They don’t have it right now, but a few small adjustments can get them there.