Looking at a variety of recent New Jersey Devils topics, including the rise of Cody Glass, Timo Meier once again stepping up in March, and…an apology for Jake Allen? All this and more today!
The New Jersey Devils have entered their final stretch of the 2024-25 NHL season. While we typically spend time discussing issues in depth, sometimes I like to bring up a variety of Devils related topics to discuss. We bring the Thursday Thoughts format back today as the team prepares for Game #70 tonight.
1.) Eight of Thirteen Wouldn’t Be Bad
Including tonight’s contest at home against the Calgary Flames, the Devils have 13 games to go. While they currently sit third in the division, there are other teams making a push for playoff spots as well, including a few with one or more games in hand on the Devils. The team has won four of its last five games, and another stretch or two like this last one would be helpful in securing a playoff berth. The good news here is that Tankathon as of this writing has the Devils with the eighth easiest remaining schedule. Another positive note is most of the teams chasing are not in those top seven easiest schedules, with Ottawa as the only exception.
This doesn’t mean the Devils can stop playing strong hockey, especially with Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler all done at least for the regular season. There’s not really a number that’s ever “safe” for playoff qualifying, but I’d estimate taking at least eight wins would all but cinch it. Nine games are home games as well; the team has enough going their way that eight wins should be their minimum goal.
2.) Cody Glass, Deadline Gem
Show of hands, who was disappointed with how the Devils handled the trade deadline? Everything done back on March 7th seemed so underwhelming the it prompted John to provide Tom Fitzgerald with a new nickname. With the Devils needing to make a splash to refresh a floundering group, “Soft Tom” seemingly didn’t get the job done.
While there’s still debating that could be had with the deadline in general, one move that’s looking to have addressed a need is the acquisition of Cody Glass. The Devils Bottom 6 forwards have been an adventure this season to put it nicely. Glass so far has brought some production, defense and face off wins to that ailing group. Jack Hughes he certainly isn’t, and he won’t replace his offensive production either, but he’s still impacting the team positively. Glass has struggled to find a permanent NHL role and home since he broke in the league; let’s hope he can continue to find both here in New Jersey.
3.) Meier March Madness: The Redux
It’s been brought up on recent game broadcasts, but just like last year for some reason, Timo Meier is heating up in March. Last season, he posted 13 goals and seven assists in 15 games. He would add four more goals and two assists in the eight games of April to finish out the year with 26 points across his last 23 games.
So far this March, Timo has five goals and two assists in nine games. Not exactly the pace he had last season, but seven points in nine games is a much better pace (0.78 points per game, 64 over 82 games) than his points per game (0.64 points per game, 53 over 82 games) in the first 59. Maybe as the weather warms up, so does Timo. For the Devils to make the playoffs and potentially do anything in them, March Meier needs to stick around.
4.) An Outside Chance at 100
Speaking of players who have turned up the production lately, how about Jesper Bratt? He was one of the few Devils not drawing fan ire already because his production has been strong all season. Since his line mate Jack Hughes was lost for the rest of it, Bratt has somehow managed to turn it up even more. In seven games without Jack, Jesper has 12 points! He’s cracked 80 for the second straight season, and he’s still got 13 more games to add on four more for a new career high.
Which leads to this crazy fact: if Bratt were to continue posting points at a post-Jack pace (1.71 points per game) he would be able to add 22 in the remaining 13 contests. This would give him the first 100 point season in New Jersey Devils history, a feat that Ian and I both had him picked for as our bold prediction before the season began. I’d love to see it happen, not just because it would mean Ian and I had a correct prediction on the season, but it would be one heck of a milestone for all Devils fans to celebrate. Jesper is already going to have a piece of Devils’ history with just one more assist; imagine if he sets a new single season assist record the same year he becomes the first Devil to break into triple digits.
5.) I Owe Jake Allen an Apology
Part of what we do on this site requires being pundits. We look at stats, trends and in game action, and not to speak for all of the writers on this site, but I think each of us has our own factors from those that we weight more heavily when analyzing players and the team. With us being human, sometimes our analysis is spot on, but sometimes we get it wrong too.
There’s an EXTREMELY good chance Jake Allen doesn’t read this site and has no idea who I am. A few weeks back, I suggested demoting him, one way or another, to third string goalie. His stats weren’t bad at all, but as I said in the piece, the team wasn’t getting results with him in net and his confidence appeared to wane in games after surrendering the first goal against.
Flash forward to this moment, where Allen now sports a .914 save percentage (vastly superior to Jacob Markstrom’s) and the third best goals saved above expected in the league. Between those two factors and him absolutely robbing Columbus of any points this past Monday, he’s been everything the Devils have needed and then some.
I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. Jake Allen you have my apologies sir. Keep doing what you’re doing to help this team get into the postseason.
Your Take
Now I’d like to hear your thoughts on the above topics. How many games do you think the Devils need to win of their remaining 13? Are you a fan of the Cody Glass trade with how he’s played? Has it affected your opinion of Tom Fitzgerald? Do you also owe Jake Allen an apology? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!