It’s so nice to have honest to goodness New Jersey Devils hockey back, isn’t it? The Devils played their first two games of the season last week, dropping their opener in Carolina before bouncing back with a strong win in Tampa Bay. Against two Cup-contending teams on the road, a split is a fine result.
It is of course way too early to draw any definitive conclusions from just two games. But it’s not too late to react and take stock of how the team looked in the first week of the season. Here are a few observations on who’s up, who’s down, and where New Jersey can go from here:
Up: Gritsyuk Starting Strong
After years and years of anticipation, Arseny Gritsyuk has finally made his way over to North America. The Russian winger marinated in the KHL for a long time, and he enters the Devils’ lineup this season with hopes of bolstering the bottom six. And through two games, the results have been promising.
I say that despite the fact that he got run over pretty handily in the season opener. According to Natural Stat Trick (all numbers 5-on-5), Gritsyuk posted a Corsi For% of 39.13% and an Expected Goals For% of 25.80%. He lost the Scoring Chances For battle 2-12, and the High Danger Corsi For battle 1-6. It was a very bad night for Gritsyuk, but then again it was a bad night for just about every Devil, so it’s hard to pick on him too much.
He bounced back in a big way against Tampa Bay, though. In that game, he posted an xGF% of 52.16%, and despite losing the Corsi battle 9-10, he was in the black in SCF% and HDCF%. And of course, he registered his first two career NHL points, his first one being a particular beauty:
The zone entry, the vision, the pass…and to think, we were told his best asset is his shot, which we have not seen him get a chance to fully unleash yet. Again, it’s only two games, one of which was not particularly good, but I have liked Gritsyuk’s performance thus far.
Down: Markstrom Needs To Tighten Up
I’m not worried about Jacob Markstrom, he’s a pro and I have confidence that he’ll figure it out. That being said, his first two games have not been good at all.
In Carolina, he made 27 saves on 32 shots, and in Tampa Bay, he registered 14 saves on 17 shots. That’s good for an .837 save percentage and a Goals Against Average just over 4.00. Per Natural Stat Trick, Markstrom is -3.03 in the hole as far as Goals Saved Above Expected go, fourth-worst in the league.
Again, it’s way too early to draw conclusions. I have faith in Markstrom to right the ship. But it’s a minor miracle the Devils won one of their games last week despite Markstrom not delivering.
Up: Luke On The Cusp
On the cusp of what? On the cusp of taking that next step in his development.
After a very, very lengthy contract negotiation that saw Luke Hughes miss the entirety of training camp and preseason action, Hughes has come back and performed quite well in his first two games. His numbers from the Carolina game don’t jump off the page, but as mentioned before, nobody really looks good based on the advanced numbers from the season opener. Despite losing in the run of play though, Hughes did manage to win his 5-on-5 minutes, outscoring the Hurricanes 2-1. He made a terrific play to spring Cody Glass on a 2-on-1 that Glass finished himself. Meanwhile, Hughes dominated in the Tampa Bay game, out-attempting the Lightning 18-7 in his minutes, while registering an xGF% just under 70%.
Through two games, Hughes has four points. Granted, three of those are secondary assists, but a year after Hughes was pretty snakebitten by bad on-ice shooting luck, it’s nice to see some of that luck bounce the other way this time. He’s not quite there yet, but Hughes is inching closer to becoming that number one stud defenseman we all know he can be. The results are starting to line up with his potential.
Down: Jack Held In Check
It was another long road back for Jack Hughes. After suffering yet another serious shoulder injury in March, Hughes missed the final 20 games of the regular season and the playoffs. He shook some rust off in the preseason, and last week was the first game action we’ve seen him in since he was tripped into the end boards in Vegas by Jack Eichel.
So far, Hughes has only registered one point in the first two games, an assist against Carolina. He only registered one shot on goal in that game as well. It seems like Hughes is fighting it just a little bit, and through two games the production hasn’t been up to his usual standard. Much like Markstrom, though, I have all the confidence in the world that Hughes will start racking up the points soon. He’s too talented to be held down for long.
Up: Jack Held In Check
Yes, it’s the same thing as the last section, except this time we’re taking a glass half full approach.
Despite Hughes being held to only one assist through two games, the Devils are 1-1. That’s not bad at all considering the circumstances. So if New Jersey can hold their own in two brutal games to start off while getting little production from Hughes, imagine what they’ll look like once he heats up.
Meanwhile it’s not like Hughes isn’t contributing in other ways. I mentioned that he only put up one shot on goal in Carolina. Well he more than made up for that by firing an absurd seven shots on net in Tampa Bay. Hughes was also one of the few Devils that actually had the better of the run of play against the Hurricanes. Natural Stat Trick had him at a 53.50 xGF% in the season opener, quite impressive considering how bad the rest of the team looked. And in Tampa Bay, Hughes absolutely dominated, registering an xGF% just under 77%. And for good measure, while no goals were scored for or against with him on the ice against the Lightning, when Hughes was on the ice against the Hurricanes, New Jersey outscored Carolina 2-1.
The points have not rolled in yet, but aside from that, Hughes has picked up right where he left off. It’s only a matter of time before New Jersey’s superstar starts racking up the points again.
Down: Dadonov To IR
Evgenii Dadonov was given the first chance to ride shotgun with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt this season. That only lasted about two periods sadly, as Dadonov fractured his hand in Carolina and was placed on IR on Sunday. It is unclear how much time he’ll miss exactly (I’m just shocked we even got a specific injury out of the team), but we won’t see him for at least a couple weeks I’d say.
That’s a shame because while he wasn’t lighting the world on fire in Carolina, I was still excited to see what he could do with Hughes and Bratt. Here’s hoping he returns soon.
Up: Bratt Doing It All
Speaking of Bratt, what else can be said about him at this point? He drives play, he produces, and he keeps finding new ways to wow us. Through two games, Bratt has a pair of goals and an assist. In particular, his shorthanded marker in Tampa Bay was a sight to behold:
Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier might be better overall players than him, but Bratt has proven to be the most consistent star on the Devils. He is a metronome of production and play-driving. Wind him up in October, let him go until April, and when all is said and done he gives you point per game production with strong underlying metrics, every single season. What a player.
Up: Meier Madness Before March
I know we’ve been alternating Ups and Downs, but let’s end on a positive note, as I do believe there are more positives than negatives with the team right now.
Through his first two full seasons in New Jersey, Timo Meier has made a habit of struggling to produce until March rolls around. That’s when he goes on a scoring bender and gets reasonably close to what we all wanted him to end up with in the first place.
Reasonably close. But still not good enough.
Is this season different? Meier was held without a point in Carolina, but picked up a goal and an assist against the Lightning. At 5-on-5, when Meier is on the ice the Devils have outscored their opponents 3-2, including 2-1 against Carolina, a game that New Jersey lost handily. He’s also registered seven shots through two games thus far, a very good mark.
I highly doubt Meier produces at a point per game pace (though I do think he has it in him). But getting to the 40-goal plateau (or close to it) would be such a welcome sight for both Meier and Devils fans.
Final Thoughts And Your Take
It was a tale of two games for the New Jersey Devils last week. Game one had it’s moments, but was overall a dud. Game two was an utter domination, even if it didn’t quite look that way on the scoreboard. Overall I do think there are more positives than negatives going on with the team right now, and the above observations are some of the most important ones to me. I could’ve added more, such as Connor Brown scoring twice on Saturday, Brett Pesce being an absolute warrior battling through early-season wounds, and Jonas Siegenthaler continuing to be the suffocating defensive presence New Jersey needs him to be. I also could have included the power play ineptitude as a Down, but I did think that unit started to look better in the Tampa Bay game after the first man advantage. And sort of like my points about Jack Hughes, you could spin it as a positive that New Jersey got a convincing win against an elite team on the road despite a dysfunctional power play which won’t be dysfunctional for long. Nevertheless, things are looking good for New Jersey as they enter week two of the season.
What did you make of last week’s games? Do you agree that there are more positives than negatives so far? Do you disagree with any of the observations listed above? Would you add any to the list? As always, thanks for reading!