New Jersey Devils Q&A - Nov. 14, 2022

I answered your questions re: updated season expectations, Mercer's struggles, deadline targets, and more.

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I haven’t written a Q&A post since The Stone Age. With the New Jersey Devils piling up the wins, and soaring above all expectations thus far, I figured now was a good time to put one together.

Let’s get right to it.

Q: Fabian Zetterlund or a healthy Ondrej Palat for line 1?

I’m assuming Lindy Ruff and co. will go back to Ondrej Palat when he’s healthy and available.

I know Zetterlund is the apple of everyone’s eye right now – he is playing very well – but Palat posted a near 62 xGF% with Nico Hischier before going down to injury. It’s not like he was struggling out there.

Palat plays that same sort of heavy, workman-like game, he has Stanley Cups, and he generally produces 50+ points per 82 games. The Devils paid him handsomely because they value those things so I’ll assume he’ll get the nod and only be moved out of there if it’s clear changes need to be made.

When healthy, my guess is the Devils go with the following: Palat-Nico-Tatar, Haula-Hughes-Bratt, Zetterlund-Mercer-Sharangovich, BMW.

Zetterlund, Palat, and Haula can kind of shift up and down the lineup depending on the matchups, what’s working, and what isn’t.

Q: Of our pending UFAs, who would you want to sign to an extension?