One of the Devils more intriguing acquisitions this summer was the signing of French defenseman, Yohann Auvitu. He was the defenseman of the year in Finland last year and had an impressive showing at least year’s World Championships for Team France where he tallied 5 points in 10 games. His roster spot was certainly not a lock coming into camp, but he earned it with a strong preseason and has continued to build off that in the early part of the regular season.

Through 8 games, Auvitu has a 57.7% possession line and a Relative Corsi of 10.4, which is second best in the league for a defenseman. He’s carrying possession better than any of the other Devils defensemen to start the season and only Beau Bennett has better possession numbers on the team than Auvitu. Granted, it’s still quite early in the season and Auvitu’s numbers will likely come back down to earth as the season progresses. He’s also starting a majority of his shifts in the offensive and neutral zones, which will help pad his shot metrics a bit. Still, that doesn’t take away from Auvitu’s impact for the Devils on the blue line.

New Jersey didn’t bring him in to be a shut down defenseman, and they haven’t been using him in that role to begin the season. Auvitu is second on the team with 22 shots on goal. Only Taylor Hall has more than him. When Auvitu has been on the ice, the Devils have 71 shots on goal, as opposed to 51 shots against (via Corsica Hockey). His 58.2% shots on goal percentage is third best on the team. Only P.A. Parenteau and Kyle Quincey have better percentages and John Hynes has been sheltering Quincey for the most part. Mostly good things are happening when Auvitu is on the ice. The Devils are generating possession and from that possession is coming shots on goal. He’s not racking up the scoring chances, yet. He has 9 on the season, which is middle-of-the-pack on the Devils, but if he keeps driving possession like he is, the scoring chances will come.

Even though Auvitu only has 2 points on the season, those will begin to add up, too. Through 8 games, he’s averaging 2.75 shots on goal a game. At that pace, he would finish with 226 shots on goal through 82 games. However, that pace might not be sustainable. Last season, there were only nine defensemen to finish with more than 200 shots on goal (via Hockey-Reference). If Auvitu is able to sustain his current pace, he’d be in good company. Of the top-50 players in shots on goal in 2015-16, only seven of them were defensemen. If Auvitu manages to finish with 226 shots on goal, he’d fall in between Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Kris Letang, both of whom finished 228 and 218 shots on goal in 2015-16.

Going forward, John Hynes and his staff will probably continue to use Auvitu in an offensive role; at least for the foreseeable future. Aside from Damon Severson, who’s off to a fantastic start himself, the Devils don’t have a lot offensive fire power from their back end. Auvitu gives them something they’re lacking and helps relieve some pressure from Damon Severson as far as creating offense. He’s been used in an offensive roles at even-strength and has been getting a fair amount of time on the power play. Expect that to continue and for Auvitu to become one of the steals of the offseason if he manages to continue to build off what he’s started early this season.