The New Jersey Devils finally put their main lineup out there in preseason Game 2. Against the rival New York Rangers, the Devils had a ho hum effort against what looked like the Rangers’ AHL squad. It was an interesting game with the Devils having a decent amount of the chances, but it was clear the top guys weren’t going 100 percent.
The goal for guys like Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are to get their legs and stay healthy. That is really it.
However, for a guy like Anthony Mantha, he’s trying to build important chemistry with another new franchise. When Mantha signed a two-year deal late in July, it became his sixth NHL franchise. Last season, he scored a career-high 33 goals, giving the Devils an interesting plater to build around.
Mantha is used to new linemates by now. This year will be the fourth consecutive season where he is playing for a new franchise, and we’re not even including the midseason trade with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023-24.
After signing Mantha, the Devils traded for Luke Evangelista, solidifying their top six and giving them one of the best forward groups in the league. The Devils finally built property around Hughes and Hischier.
And now, the Devils, and specifically Sheldon Keefe, had to figure out who deserved to play with Hughes and who deserved to play with Hischier. At the most surface-level level, Hughes and Jesper Bratt could use another scorer, Mantha, and Hischier and Timo Meier could use another distributor, Evangelista.
On Monday, the Devils took on the New York Rangers in their second preseason game. Mantha didn’t look great. While Hughes and Bratt seemed to revisit the chemistry they had last season, Mantha looked like he was trying to figure out which place suited him best.
Anthony Mantha is still the right choice for the top line of the New Jersey Devils
And there’s a lesson to be learned here. Mantha will take time to learn what it means to play alongside Hughes and Bratt. Those two are a machine, and the Devils have tried multiple combinations to exploit their chemistry. Nothing has really worked. The closest they got was Tyler Toffoli in 2023-24 and Connor Brown last season. Still, it wasn’t perfect.
Mantha might not be perfect, either, but the Devils should give this a long time to build chemistry. Evangelista isn’t the right fit on that line, and we’ve tried guys like Mercer and Brown there. Those options have a ceiling. Arseny Gritsyuk is an interesting option, but he's been great alongside Cody Glass.
For the good of the entire lineup, Sheldon Keefe needs to be patient. Let these lines percolate. Don’t overreact to anything in October. If things still aren't clicking as we start choosing our Halloween costume, we can test another option, but for now, Mantha is the best fit on the top line.
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