Every week NHL.com publishes their mailbag of questions as answered by Dan Rosen. The first question for this week was, “Will the New Jersey Devils make the playoffs?” Rosen quickly and bluntly said no, although he expects the team to be much improved.
Rosen went on to give a lengthy explanation that it is possible the Devils can contend for a playoff spot. A lot of thing would have to go right for them to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, and Rosen named a few and described them in detail. Two specific ones stuck out. Let’s see how likely they are and if Rosen was right about them.
Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes Combine for 125-points
The 125 points number was surprising to read. Rosen’s main point is that the Devils need more offensive production out of their top two centers, and when someone would inevitably ask, “how much?” He had a nice little reference number for them. If you combine both of their season’s highs (Hischier in 2017-2018 and Hughes last season) you get a grand total of 82 points.
It’s a daunting task to ask for a combined offensive effort in the triple digits, but is it likely? NHL.com also published a piece of “bold predictions” that had Hughes reaching 80-points this year. Hischier’s best season was his rookie season, where he played in all 82-games and mostly with Taylor Hall during the best season in his career. Hischier’s best points-per-game percentage came the next season during an injury-shortened campaign where he didn’t play next to Hall. This after an injury kept Taylor out of the lineup most of the year. Let’s use that points-per-game percentage (0.68 per game during the 2018-2019 season) and over 82-games. That comes out to 55.85-points.
Let’s be cautious and call that 55-points. Add in the 80-points from Hughes if their “bold prediction” plays out and we got 135-points. Thing is, 55-points seems like an easily obtainable number for Hischier, so it’s a safer bet than Hughes almost getting into point-per-game territory.
New Faces on the Penalty Kill
New Jerseys’ special teams were more dead than roadkill on the side of the Garden State parkway and downright terrible last year. As Rosen pointed out, big name free agent defenseman Dougie Hamilton should help out on the power play. What about the penalty kill? Which finished last in the NHL last season?
Don’t expect much from Hamilton on the penalty kill. Rosen points out last season he averaged 1:26 minutes on the penalty kill per game. Rosen then goes on to say the Devils might have to turn Hamilton into a penalty-killer.
Completely lost in Rosen’s explanation is that the Devils acquired Ryan Graves as well this offseason. Graves’ shorthanded stats are encouraging. Graves averaged 3:32 minutes of shorthanded ice time per game last season. In the playoffs that slightly increased to 2:40 minutes per game. He also saw his per game blocks and giveaways increase and decrease respectively the past two season. A steady increase in shots on goal during the penalty kill during his career also suggest he’s getting more aggressive with shorthanded scoring chances.
Overall, it’ll be interesting to see if the New Jersey Devils can, “shock the world,” and make the playoffs. Will what Dan Rosen say have to happen? Will other occurrences go further in giving the team a shot? Only time will tell.