Four things I'm thankful for: New Jersey Devils edition
Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess
Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey, and everything else, with me and fellow subscribers.
Infernal Access is the home of wall-to-wall New Jersey Devils coverage. If you’re a fan of the team, and are considering subscribing, now is the time to join. Be sure to take advantage of the special I’m running this weekend, which gets you 35% off subscriptions for up to a year.
If you’re already a subscriber and wish to support IA further, be sure to check out the inaugural merch drop. Hoodies, long sleeves, coffee mugs, and stickers are available in a variety of colors and sizes.
First off, I’d like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. I hope you all have terrific weekends filled with football, food, beer, red bull and whatever else your heart desires.
While you’re preparing for a Thanksgiving feast, I thought it’d be fun to share what I am thankful for this Holiday season.
Let’s dive right in.
Trader Tom™
I know Tom Fitzgerald is early in his tenure as Devils GM. I also know that, generally speaking, it is easier to get value tearing the team down than building it back up.
With that said, it is hard to be anything but optimistic about what Fitzgerald has shown us so far. He has made a handful of trades in 2020, and the vast majority of them look to be clear victories.
I love Blake Coleman – love him! – but, unfortunately, he didn’t fit in with the team’s core and was heading for a big raise.
In exchange for a season and change of a player they weren’t going to keep around, the Devils landed an A-level prospect (who brings goal scoring and physical elements the team lacks) in Nolan Foote and an additional 1st round pick.
Fitzgerald traded Sami Vatanen for Janne Kuokkanen, who might well be a regular as soon as this season, and a 3rd round pick. Getting that return for seven games of Vatanen, who still doesn’t even have a contract, is impressive.
Those two moves were the headliners in Fitzgerald’s first foray into the trade market, although he also did well getting a 2nd for Andy Greene and something for Wayne Simmonds.
Fitzgerald continued to build on his impressive trade resume this off-season, converting Joey Anderson and a 5th round pick into a top-6 offensive winger (Andreas Johnsson) and a stout top-4 defender (Ryan Murray).
Sure, Fitzgerald had cap space on his side when not many others did. But he deserves credit for taking advantage of that.
Beyond all the good trades, Fitzgerald spent smartly in free agency and, for the most part, had a really good draft. Alexander Holtz should be an offensive star sooner than later, Dawson Mercer already looks like a steal and Mookie is Mookie. I also liked that Fitzgerald gambled on upside with some of the later picks.
Realistically speaking, I don’t think his GM career could be off to a better start. I’m thankful the Devils gave him a shot.
Nico Hischier
Hischier is under appreciated league-wide, but the vast majority of Devils supporters seem to know what they have in Nico. And what they have is a highly skilled center who produces at 5v5, drives play, and gives absolutely everything he has every time he is on the ice.
Would it be nice to see him put up a few more points? Absolutely. I am confident saying that is coming.
If he doesn’t *really* pop offensively? Well, what he brings to the table in terms of production, play driving ability, penalty differential, work ethic, and leadership already makes him an extremely valuable player.
Our beautiful Swiss son has a career GAR of 36.2, according to Evolving-Hockey.com. That ties him with John Tavares for 30th among forwards over the last three seasons – and ranks him ahead of players like Mathew Barzal, Mark Scheifele, Sebastian Aho, and Filip Forsberg.
Our beautiful Swiss son is already a heck of a player, and the best is yet to come. Be thankful for No. 13.
Competent goaltending
It almost feels wrong complaining about New Jersey Devils goaltending but, man, the last few years were ROUGH.
The Devils hitched their wagon to Cory Schneider for as long as they possibly could and, well, it did not pay dividends. His numbers declined in five consecutive years, and it got to the point where he was literally unplayable. That’s always what you want to see from the guy you penciled in as your starter.
Mackenzie Blackwood’s emergence last season allowed the Devils to at least hang around in a bunch of games, but it was still a lost cause any time the net belonged to somebody else.
You can’t have only one good goaltender in today’s NHL and, for a while, the Devils had zero.
Now, they appear to have have two. Blackwood is one of the most promising young netminders in the league, and Corey Crawford has posted a .917 save percentage or better in seven of the last eight years. He is consistently excellent.
After three or four years of having one of the worst tandems in the NHL, the Devils figure to have one of the best in 2020-21. For that, I am thankful.
Jack Hughes’ hair
No. 86 should be playing with a lot more confidence in 2021. Not because he has a year of NHL hockey under his belt, as well as an unexpectedly long off-season to make necessary adjustments and bulk up. No, get out of here with that nonsense. The real confidence booster comes from Hughes’ slick head of hair.
It’s impossible not to hit a different level when you’re rocking the kind of mop Hughes is. I mean, you could probably build a house in that thing. It is glorious.
I think it was really thoughtful of Hughes to grow that out and give rival defenders – hello, Jack Johnson – something good to look at after he blows their doors off in the neutral zone.
If you enjoyed this post, why not help us grow by clicking the share button below?