The Devils won the most games in franchise history last season, and made a lot of changes this off season in hopes of getting even better in 2023-2024.
Jack Hughes exploded for 99 points, Vitek Vanecek was a solid starting goalie (most of the time), Timo Meier joined the squad, Akira Schmid shined in the playoffs… for like five games… Nico Hischier proved he was elite at both ends of the ice all year, Dougie Hamilton earned every penny of his $9 million salary, Dawson Mercer took a big step in his development, and Luke Hughes showed late and showed he is ready to be an NHL regular in April and May. There were a ton of positives from last year and the team showed the growth we as fans spent the better part of a decade praying for. However, this years version of the Devils will be significantly different from last season. Who left and who replaces them?
The Devils lost Damon Severson in the off season by trading him to the lowly Blue Jackets. The Devils also lost Ryan Graves via free agency to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Severson played about 20 minutes per game last year and was a fixture in the Devils top four. While Severson made plenty of mistakes that caused a vocal contingent of Devils fans to despise him, he is a pretty solid player (most of the time) that the Devils counted on in all situations. Ryan Graves played just as much as Severson did and was called upon to kill penalties and protect leads late in games. With those two important pieces gone, the Devils are going to rely heavily on first round picks from 2021 and 2022, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec. Hughes spent two years developing in the NCAA before making his presence felt late last season and briefly in the playoffs. Luke seems like an absolute lock to make this team out of camp. Simon Nemec spent last season in Utica of the AHL and played well at last week’s prospect camp/tournament. Nemec will be given every opportunity to earn a spot in the Devils defense. The Devils also brought in depth defense with the likes of Cal Foote and Colin Miller in the event that Nemec is not ready for full time NHL duty just yet.
The Devils lost some important pieces from last year’s forward group as well. Tomas Tatar, Yegor Sharangovich, Jesper Boqvist, and Miles Wood all moved on from New Jersey in the off season. To fill the voids left, the Devils brought in Tyler Toffoli and Tomas Nosek while counting on some prospects to step up. Alexander Holtz failed to earn a full time spot in the NHL lineup last year and spent a ton of time as a healthy scratch before being sent down to the AHL. If Holtz can’t earn regular playing time at the NHL level this year, look for the Devils to move on from him before the trade deadline. There is also Graeme Clarke and Josh Filmon, both of who had strong showings at the prospect camp/tournament earlier this month. Clarke is 22 years old and has played the last three seasons in the AHL. Last year, Clarke put up 25 goals and 33 assists in 68 AHL games. Filmon is 19 years old and scored 47 goals in 64 WHL games last season. Both of those guys are strong contenders to fill the bottom six roles left vacant by Miles Wood and Jesper Boqvist.
There will be plenty of exciting battles to watch at Devils camp as the franchise looks to build upon the winningest season in NJ hockey history. My early prediction is that Luke Hughes and Cal Foote both start the season in the NHL, filling the voids left by Graves and Severson. Meanwhile, I think Holtz will get another chance on the second or third line to start the year, Nosek will slide into the bottom six, and Tyler Toffoli will obviously be on one of the top two lines. But, any number of other prospects could show up to camp and earn a spot for themselves instead. Only time will tell. The Devils had to make some significant changes, but Tom Fitzgerald has built such a deep and well rounded organization that the Devils are still poised to get even better than they were last year. October 12th is under a month away and I cannot wait to see what this team can do. Let’s go Devils!
The Morning Skate 