New Jersey Devils Q&A - February 1st, 2024

I answered your questions re: playoff chances, trade targets, Holtz' next contract, and much more.

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I haven’t done a Q&A post in what feels like forever. With the New Jersey Devils in the midst of a bye week, now felt like the perfect time to rectify that.

Let’s dive right in.

Q: What do you think needs to happen for the Devils to make the playoffs this year? Do they make the playoffs if they wait for everyone to be healthy again/minor depth trades or does Fitz need to make a big splash?

Getting healthy(ish) is certainly the most important thing. If the Devils are constantly going to be playing without multiple stars, or dealing with cluster injuries on defense, it won’t much matter what else happens. They could get a goalie like Jake Allen. They could add a veteran defenseman like Chris Tanev. It won’t matter.

They need the likes of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier to be healthy and play the bulk of the games the rest of the way. If that happens, I like the team’s chances of getting in – even if there aren’t many external adds of note.

The competition isn’t that fierce. The Flyers are five points ahead and have played three more games. Carter Hart is out of the picture and Samuel Ersson is struggling mightily; they can definitely be caught.

The Red Wings are bleeding shots and chances every night and relying on excellent finishing (and Alex Lyon playing lights out) to get wins. How long will that last?

The Penguins are paper thin and couldn’t do damage on the power play if the fate of the world depended on it.

The Isles are OK but I just don’t think there is much of a ceiling there.

Point being, the teams the Devils are competing with aren’t all that good. There’s a reason the Devils are still right there even though they’ve dealt with 300 injuries and poor goaltending. If they’re relatively healthy, I think they get in.

Q: What odds would you give this team making the playoffs?

Dom’s model at TheAthletic gives the Devils a 38% chance. I think their chances are closer to 50%. The reason I’m not going higher is because the Devils have ground to make up; as I already alluded to, it’s not due to their competition being all that impressive.

I believe a healthier version of the Devils with most of its stars – which we haven’t seen a lot of this season – will be very difficult to deal with.

Jack Hughes will make the team much better at 5v5 and give their power play some needed juice. Meanwhile, their penalty kill has gone from very bad to quite solid of late. Things are coming together.

The problem is a) they are behind the 8-ball a little bit and; b) there’s always the potential for injuries to get in the way.

What if Jack Hughes goes down again? What if the injured bodies on defense take longer than expected to return? Suddenly making up a few wins is a lot more difficult.

Q: If you had to guess, is Lindy Ruff finishing out the season behind the NJ bench?

Yes but that would say more about the team than him. What I mean by that is Ruff has survived what should be the worst of the season. All the injuries, all the horrendous starts, etc, etc.

Timo Meier recently came back from injury up front. Colin Miller is healthy again on defense. Jack Hughes’ return should be just around the corner. Real help has arrived (or will soon arrive).

One would think the Devils will mix in a few opening goals, post better metrics, and win more games with a healthier lineup.

If that’s the case, Ruff’s seat will cool off and Tom Fitzgerald probably won’t feel a need to make a change.

Q: Are there any players with Rico-like impacts that don’t come with the Rico-like price tag in both cap and trade cost?