New Jersey Devils getting fourth-line reinforcements back

The New Jersey Devils have some holes they need to fill on the roster, and there are some moves many want to make in the top six, but the Devils real issue for a few weeks has been the fourth line. After losing Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian, the fourth line became basically one good player (whether it be Paul Cotter or Tomas Tatar) and a few AHL players. No offense to the likes of Kurtis MaDermid, Justin Dowling, and Shane Bowers, but the team saw a dramatic drop in play from the fourth line after the injuries.

Taking a look at the lines at Natural Stat Trick, we see Tatar-Dowling-MacDermid (the most popular of the line combinations with 27 5v5 minutes) have been on the ice for three goals against and no goals for. Interestingly enough, the fourth line was just as bad when it was Lazar and Bastian paired with Ondrej Palat, but they were much, much better when it was Bastian-Lazar-Tatar. With two of the three back on the ice, this gives the Devils a much better chance to roll four lines.

The extra body returning is Nathan Bastian. The Devils big body forward is expected back in the lineup on Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In a corresponding move, the Devils sent Nathan Legare back to the AHL.

The Devils have been looking to add offense from anywhere they can possibly find it. They were shut out in their last matchup, but the Maple Leafs don't employ a former Devils' goalie that we know of, so hopefully, the team can score this time.

New Jersey Devils welcome Nathan Bastian back to the fourth line at a very important time.

Bastian isn't going to add a ton of scoring, but he did have two goals in 12 games. That's something, at least more than we were seeing from the fourth line. Hopefully, this is a positive development for the Devils bottom six, and Sheldon Keefe will have an easier time putting his lines together with more people available to him.