New Jersey Devils notes: On Hamilton's offensive impacts, Pesce nearing a return, and more

Dougie Hamilton showed encouraging signs offensively during preseason play. Plus, notes on Pesce's imminent return and sheltering the Seamus Casey pairing.

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A few New Jersey Devils notes as we all eagerly wait the season opener:

Dougie being Dougie

Dougie Hamilton didn’t have a perfect preseason – there were some hiccups in the defensive zone while adjusting to a new partner and head coach – but he was certainly his usual self in terms of driving offense.

The Devils generated 72.46 shot attempts and 12.08 high-danger chances per 60 with Hamilton on the ice at 5v5.

None of the other 44(!) Devils skaters were able to help the team generate shot attempts at a higher rate while Hamilton’s impact on high-danger chances was best of 16 eligible defenders.

Put another way, the Devils were piling up the shots and Grade A looks at an unmatched rate during Dougie’s minutes – as they have for years.

Preseason is preseason, yadda yadda yadda, but it’s great to see Hamilton bringing the juice offensively. I think he’s going to have a huge year.

Defensive help is on the way