New Jersey Devils Q&A - July 28, 2023

I answered questions re: goaltending plans, deadline targets, expectations for Dawson Mercer, Post Malone(!), and much more.

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I haven’t done a Q&A post in a few weeks. With next to nothing happening in the NHL right now, it seemed like as good of a time as any to change that.

Let’s get right to it!

Q: Buy or Sell? The Columbus Blue Jackets will finish higher in the standings than the Boston Bruins.

I am selling that. With the acquisitions of Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov, the promotion of top prospect David Jiricek, and Zach Werenski returning to health I think Columbus’ defense will be a lot better. They have some fun forwards, too.

I’m still not sold on their forward depth, though, and they don’t have a ton of proven talent at center. I am also very concerned with their goaltending.

Even though the Bruins lost Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, and had to walk away from Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov in free agency, there are still too many high-end pieces there.

A team with premium players like David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy – not to mention an excellent goaltending tandem – is going to win its fair share of games. I still see the Bruins well ahead of the Jackets.

Q: What stretch of the Devils’ 2023-2024 schedule has you most excited?

There are a few that stand out but I’m going with the eight-game period between November 4th and 24th.

In that span, the Devils square off against rookie phenom Connor Bedard, the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche, the greatest goal scorer of all time in Alex Ovechkin, the Winnipeg Jets (Connor Hellebuyck could be a story, one way or the other), Ryan Graves and the revamped Pittsburgh Penguins, the team’s biggest rivals in the New York Rangers, Detroit (who cares), and then Damon Severson’s Columbus Blue Jackets.

There are a lot of fun matchups, and exciting storylines, in that short period of time.

Q: Do the Devils… a) get Helly B) a Bruins goalie C) different goalie D) start the season with VV/Schmid?

The more time passes, the more I believe the Devils will just go with Vitek Vanecek/Akira Schmid and make a move down the stretch if needed. Not necessarily because it’s their preference – just because of how the market is shaping up.

I think we’re seeing both sides dig their feet in with regards to Connor Hellebuyck. The Jets have the talent to be a Wild Card team so they don’t want to just ship Hellebuyck out for a mediocre return and essentially punt on the season. On the flip side, the Devils don’t want to pay a premium for what will amount to a rental or a goaltender whose next contract will carry a ton of risk.

The Bruins are in the market for a center, no doubt, but as currently constructed they still have $5.5M in cap with only Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic to re-sign. I think they can comfortably fit those two in without making any financial sacrifices.

With Patrice Bergeron no longer in the picture, the Bruins may feel it’s even more important they get quality goaltending every single night. I don’t know that they’ll want to move either guy.

Logan Thompson is another ideal target – he’s solid and dirt cheap – but he makes for the perfect tandem candidate alongside Adin Hill.

I just don’t know that there’s anybody out there the Devils can add without giving a goaltender back, which is not ideal given the team’s rumored hopes of giving Akira Schmid the starting job in Utica.

Q: Lots of 4th liners in the mix. Tierney, Nosek, Lazar, Bastian, Foote, McLeod (case pending), Clarke?, Holtz??? What’s your ideal 4th line for Game 1?

If Michael McLeod is cleared to play – I have no idea if he will or won’t be – then I would say Nolan Foote, McLeod, and Nathan Bastian.

The Devils really like how Foote has progressed and seem intent on giving him a long look to take the LW4 spot. Ideally, he can do that and gets the nod over Tomas Nosek and the others. He has a big frame that he can use to his advantage and a much better shot than you see from most 4th liners.

McLeod, in my opinion, has developed into one of the best at his role in the league and Bastian is quite underrated. His defensive impacts are strong, he is physical, and he can play on either special teams unit in a pinch. Not many 4th liners can say that.

They have potential to be a fun, fast, and physical trio.

Q: Do you have any way too early bold predictions for this season? ––––– If you had to plant your flag on one extremely hot take (league wide), what would it be and why? Could be for a player or a team.