The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils vs. New York Islanders
The Time: 7:00pm ET
The Broadcast: MSGSN, MSGSN2, Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
New Jersey played their preseason opener on Sunday afternoon, losing a 5-3 decision to the New York Rangers at The Rock. The big story out of that game was Arseni Gritsyuk scoring a goal and adding an assist.
Last Islanders Game
New York also opened up their exhibition slate on Sunday, falling 3-2 in a shootout to the Philadelphia Flyers.
A Promising Debut
Take this with all the grains of salt in the world considering it’s the preseason, but Arseni Gritsyuk looked good in his North American debut. He broke onto the scoresheet with a pretty assist on Paul Cotter’s goal, and late in the game he added a power play goal off a blistering one-timer from the left flank. He also added six total shots on goal and four hits, so Gritsyuk made his presence felt all over the ice on Sunday.
It wasn’t a perfect debut, as I thought Gritsyuk looked a bit out of sorts at the beginning of the game. But as the contest wore on, he seemed to get more and more comfortable. Head coach Sheldon Keefe seemed to agree in his postgame press conference, and he also intimated that we will be seeing a lot of Gritsyuk in the preseason:
I’m not sure that means we are guaranteed to see him again tonight, but even if we don’t, get used to seeing Gritsyuk in the lineup a lot in the runup to the regular season. Hopefully he shows Keefe the improvement he is looking for.
Emerging Patterns
The Devils’ practice yesterday consisted of the players who did not suit up in the preseason opener on Sunday. Here’s how things shook out:
Already we are seeing some lines and pairings start to come together. Hughes and Bratt have obviously been a set for a couple seasons at this point, but it was an open question who would join them on the other wing. For the time being the answer appears to be Evgenii Dadonov, who has practiced next to Hughes and Bratt for a few sessions now. Dadonov has a long history of playing at or near the top of a lineup with elite teammates, so this combination definitely intrigues me, even as Dadonov reaches the twilight of his career.
Elsewhere, Nico Hischier has been centering Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer all training camp. Given how much this trio played together last season, and also taking into account Stefan Noesen’s groin injury, this seems like close to a lock to be A Thing into the regular season as well. This also seems to confirm something I felt in the offseason: despite a lot of rumblings, Mercer will not be the third-line center for this team.
On the third line, Ondrej Palat and Connor Brown have skated a lot together, and the center here has been either Cody Glass or a fill-in. Since Glass played in the preseason opener, he got practice off yesterday, hence Marc McLaughlin’s placement here. This appears to be Keefe’s plan as the third line, so while we might not see Glass tonight, expect to see a lot of Palat-Glass-Brown at some point.
The fourth line is the one unit up front that is hard to comment on, as there hasn’t been much consistency here during training camp. Keefe still has some time to figure this one out, but hopefully we get some answers soon.
On defense, it seems Keefe is determined to roll pairings of Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton, and Brenden Dillon and Simon Nemec. These pairings have gotten a lot of time together during practices, and with Johnny Kovacevic expected to miss a lot of time to begin the campaign, Keefe has apparently seen it fit to reunite Siegenthaler and Hamilton. Let’s hope they can rekindle some of the magic they’ve shown in the past.
As for the last pairing, I believe this is the first time we’ve seen Seamus Casey line up on his offhand this preseason. He was paired with Brett Pesce, and I have to assume Casey is just a placeholder until Luke Hughes finally signs a contract and gets back onto the ice. Assuming this is correct, Hughes-Pesce would be the only pairing that will stay intact from last season’s go-to combos.
By the way, expect to see most, if not all, of this lineup tonight. Per Keefe:
It’ll also be nice to see Jacob Markstrom back in action for the first time this preseason as well, assuming he does suit up. And by the way, congratulations to the Markstrom’s on the birth of their son!
New York Islanders…Emphasis On “New”
This past offseason brought some significant changes to Long Island’s hockey team. Old friend Lou Lamoriello was fired as general manager…or actually, excuse me….his contract was not renewed. Clearly different than being fired. In his place comes Mathieu Darche, a fresh-faced general manager who previously served as the AGM for the Tampa Bay Lightning for three seasons.
Darche got to work taking a big swing in the offseason trade market. Back in June, he traded franchise defenseman Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens for Emil Heineman and two first round picks in this summer’s Entry Draft. Dobson had spent the first six seasons of his career with the Isles, but will now ply his trade in the hockey hotbed of Montreal.
Perhaps Darche felt comfortable dealing Dobson since New York won the draft lottery in the spring, and with it the right to draft defenseman Matthew Schaefer. A product of the Erie Otters of the OHL, Schaefer comes in with lofty expectations, as any top overall pick does. Whether he makes the opening night roster is still a bit of a question on Long Island, but I lean toward saying he does make the cut.
Schaefer made his professional debut on Sunday in New York’s preseason opener. He managed to find his way onto the scoresheet with an assist on Kyle Palmieri’s goal, and he also registered five shots on goal in a whopping 24:39 of ice time. He’s also getting Islanders fans excited by doing the little things right:
Now that is some serious skating talent.
Whether Shaefer makes the team or not, Islanders management and fans alike have high, high hopes for the young defenseman’s future. I’m not sure if we will see him play again tonight, but if we do, keep an eye on him.
Your Take
What do you make of tonight’s game? What do you most want to see out of the Devils? How do you feel about the line combinations and defense pairings that we are seeing early on? What is your take on the new-look Isles? As always, thanks for reading!