Six New Jersey Devils thoughts entering the final stretch

Alex Chauvancy shared his take on securing home ice, stabilizing line combinations, and more he'd like to see over the final couple of weeks of the regular season.

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By Alex Chauvancy (@AlexC_THW)

The hardest part of the New Jersey Devils' regular season schedule has come and gone. With seven games remaining before the playoffs, they have a favorable slate of games – other than a nationally televised tilt against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins next weekend. 

The Devils are playing well and have been for quite some time. So, what should they be looking to accomplish in their final seven regular season games?

Here are some thoughts as April begins and the last two weeks of the regular season get underway. 

Secure home ice advantage

The Devils have been in second place in the Metropolitan Division for quite some time. Their 2-1 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday puts them three points ahead of the Rangers for second place after New York's OT loss to the Buffalo Sabres last night. The odds are in the Devils' favor. 

Aside from the Bruins game, the New Jersey will likely be favorites in their other six contests. They play four teams out of playoff spots (Chicago, Columbus, Buffalo and Washington) and a Pittsburgh Penguins squad they haven't had much trouble with in 2022-23. Winning a majority of those tilts should secure home-ice advantage ahead of a potential first-round matchup with the Rangers. 

Personally, I don't think home ice will matter as much as some may believe. But you know it matters to the players and coaching staff. Securing it in the final weeks of the regular season when they've been in such a position for so long would be another box to check off. 

Get Palát going

Ondrej Palát hasn't had the season many imagined after the Devils signed him as a free agent last summer. Part of that is injury-related; he had groin surgery in late October and missed two months of games. But 20 points in 43 games is a 38-point pace over 82 games, well below his $6 million cap hit. 

The good news is Palát has been solid despite the offensive production not being there. He's played well defensively. Now it's a matter of finding more offense: 

For the last couple of games, head coach Lindy Ruff has placed Palát on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. It's not the first time he's used this combo and understandably so.

In a small sample of 70 minutes, this trio has a 60.17 expected goals percentage (xGF%) and has controlled 64.86 percent of the high-danger chances. 

If that continues, they should start scoring more often. Given that Bratt and Hughes will likely be in on the scoring, Palát should benefit. You can probably argue Tomáš Tatar is a better fit alongside Hughes and Bratt, but it's more important to get Palát feeling good about his game before the playoffs. 

Consistent line combos

That leads me to my next point...ease up on the line shuffling! It looks like Ruff may be thinking the same, as he did not shuffle his lines once during the Devils' 2-1 win over the Rangers, one of the only times he's done that this season. All four units remained the same from start to finish.

Part of the reason for staying consistent with line combos is to get Timo Meier settled in over the final seven games. If it feels like Meier has been with 15 different line combos since the Devils acquired him, it's probably because he has. 

Cutting down on the line shuffling isn't just about Meier. Ruff has used plenty of line combinations that he knows will work.

From Tatar, Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer to Erik Haula, Hughes and Bratt, Ruff has sets in his back pocket that he can turn to if he needs to make a shuffle in the playoffs. Now, it's about optimizing the lineup as best possible, and the four lines they rolled against the Rangers are close to that:

• Meier - Hischier - Mercer

• Palát - Hughes - Bratt

• Tatar - Haula - Jesper Boqvist

• Miles Wood - Michael McLeod - Yegor Sharangovich/Nathan Bastian

Managing Vanecek's workload