Taking stock of the New Jersey Devils' depth chart

Let's take a look at where things stand following the draft and (most of) free agency.

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We are slowly entering the dog days of the NHL off-season.

The draft has come and gone, only bargin bin players remain in free agency, and a lot of the heavy-lifting has been done league-wide in terms of roster movement.

There can, and will, still be more activity; including from the New Jersey Devils.

However, with the heart of the off-season behind us, I thought it’d be a good time to zoom out and take stock of how the depth chart is shaping up.

Note: I included players who a) are on one-way contracts; b) have a realistic shot at making the team or; c) stand out as immediate callups when injuries arise.

Forwards

The center position is pretty cut and dry. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are stars who will chew up a ton of minutes, Cody Glass is a competent 3C, and Juho Lammikko’s best path to a regular spot in the lineup is in the middle of the ice.

Lammikko took well over 600 draws – and won 51% of them – in his last NHL season so he has the experience and capability to play center.

Tomas Bordeleau is a nice ace in the hole who can give the team a jolt offensively if the offense goes stale or if injuries arise. I don’t think an everyday spot is in the cards, barring injury.

The wings are well stocked. Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier are the only difference makers, per se, but scoring depth should not be an issue on this squad.

I penciled Dawson Mercer into the RW1 role simply because he has produced at a top-line rate with Jack Hughes in the past and it’s the spot we know the Devils can get the most out of him. Hughes also seemingly always has a workmanlike winger attached to his hip.

Connor Brown makes sense alongside Timo Meier and Nico Hischier because he’s smart, defensively responsible, and he isn’t a shot-hog who needs the puck on his stick.

That’s important as Meier’s one of the best volume shooters in the league while Hischier is an extremely efficient finisher who has scored on at least 14.8% of his shots in back-to-back years. You want those two shooting the puck.

Arseny Gritsyuk possesses some scoring ability and Evgenii Dadonov is coming off a 20-goal campaign while playing just over 13 minutes per night.

Pairing the countrymen with a pass-first, play-driver like Cody Glass could help get the most out of everyone. There are no wrong answers, though.

I stuck Paul Cotter and Stefan Noesen on the 4th line as a crash and bang duo but Noesen, in particular, is someone who will likely spend plenty of time up the lineup as well.

Ondrej Palat sticks out like a sore thumb on this depth chart. If Gritsyuk is ready for NHL minutes, Paul Cotter is the only winger Palat has any case to play over. That said, the Devils value Cotter’s physicality and speed.

Not to mention, only Hischier, Meier, and Jack Hughes scored more 5v5 goals than Cotter last season.

Throw the price tag out the window and Palat would be a great piece to have around and move in/out of the lineup as needed.

A $6 million cap hit is crazy high, though, so shedding as much as possible and finding a cheaper alternative for depth would certainly be preferable.

Overall, I would say the forward group is in very good shape.

Could the Devils use another bonafide, undisputed top-6 scoring winger? Sure. Could they use a higher ceiling insurance policy down the middle in the event of injury? You bet.

But if I’m Tom Fitzgerald, I’m not feeling any pressure to overpay for a solution in the here and now. A wise man once said when you have time, you use it.

Defense