Way-too-early New Jersey Devils Opening Night forward lines predictions

The New Jersey Devils did not sit idly by during this offseason, making changes at every single level. They took away some question marks in Alexander Holtz, Tyler Toffoli (at the deadline), and Tomas Nosek/Chris Tierney (felt like the same person in the NHL last season), and replaced them with Paul Cotter, Stefan Noesen, and Tomas Tatar. The Devils tried to get a massive fish in free agency, but it didn't work out with Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. It is what it is.

Just because the Devils don't have six solidified top-six forwards doesn't mean they won't have an insane top six. They have four mega stars offensively. They have two amazing centers in Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. The question is, how do the pieces fall around them?

Line 1
Jesper Bratt - Nico Hiscier - Timo Meier

There is one thing that HAS to happen with the lines this season. The Devils must keep Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt together. There is no other way about it. They cannot be broken up unless we see an on-ice reason to do it. 

Natural Stat Trick says they’ve played 224 minutes together at 5v5. Despite goalies stopping pucks less than 87 percent of the time in those minutes, they still outscored their opponents 18 to 15. Meier on the ice without Bratt saw 27 goals scored and… (checks the stats again because this seems preposterous) 43 goals against. Meier had such a rough time away from Bratt. He’s worth too much to this team to mess around with him.

We chose to keep Bratt and Meier with Nico Hischier. We understand that one of the reasons Tom Fitzgerald signed Tomas Tatar was his chemistry with Hischier, but we can’t build lineups that way. The Devils have to make sure it works across the board. Hischier with Bratt and Meier was magic. Now imagine what they look like with a competent coach, a good defense, and a goalie who can make stops. This year should be fun.