Three New Jersey Devils forwards to watch as their quest for the Stanley Cup begins.
The New Jersey Devils' postseason journey will begin on Tuesday, April 18 when they host the New York Rangers at Prudential Center. The team's young stars led the way in the regular season with Jack Hughes' 99 points while captain Nico Hischier celebrated the first 80-point season of his career.
As everyone knows the playoffs are a completely different animal. While the team's stars get their team into the postseason, it is the depth players who step into the spotlight in April. If you're looking for proof look no further than Mike Rupp's Stanley Cup-winning goal or Tampa's third line during their 2020 and 2021 championships. Keeping that in mind, let's look at three Devils players who could step up and be playoff heroes.
Erik Haula
It was a slow start for the veteran as he did not score his first goal of the season until Nov. 19 versus the Ottawa Senators. Even though the 32-year-old was not contributing to the scoresheet early in the season, he showed his value in other ways. He earned a faceoff win percentage of 54.2, which was second on the team behind Michael McLeod. He was a big contributor to the penalty kill and according to Jesper Bratt, became one of the vocal leaders in the locker room.
“Yeah, he’s obviously a key guy. He’s been around for a long time, and has played for a lot of successful teams", Bratt said. "Obviously, that brings a lot of maturity and a good voice in the room for us who on paper, are a younger team."
Haula is no stranger to the postseason having made eight appearances throughout his career. In 61 playoff games, he has 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists). The former seventh-round pick ended the 2022-23 regular season on a high note with three goals in his last two games and three multi-point games over his last five contests.
He may have only had one goal through his first 18 games of the season but finished strong with nine goals in his last 18 games. Haula is a versatile forward that can continue to move throughout head coach Lindy Ruff's lineup. He is known for playing a fearless responsible two-way game and is entering the postseason with a hot hand.
Nathan Bastian
One of the stranger stats of the Devils' regular season is the team's 33-7-3 record with Nathan Bastian in the lineup versus 19-15-5 with the six-foot-forward out of it.
Fans saw the Kitchener, Ontario native carve out an interesting role for himself this regular season. He found himself being utilized on both the power play and penalty kill while never shying away from the physical side of the game being credited with 99 hits in 43 games.
"I almost have a little bit of a unique role. I'm on a fourth line that is valued on this team," Bastian said back in November. "I don't think many fourth-liners get a crack at the first power-play unit, and they use me there. The penalty kill is something I've been working at and kind of all different areas of the ice. It's nice that Lindy trusts me and just all kinds of small areas of my game I've been trying to build on."
Entering the postseason, Bastian is one of the more interesting forwards on the roster because, over the past several months, fans have seen the impact that he can have when in the lineup.
Ondrej Palat
Ondrej Palat's first season in New Jersey did not go according to plan.
He appeared in six games with his new club collecting three goals, before undergoing groin surgery on Nov. 1 at The Vincera Institute in Philadelphia. He made his return to the lineup on Jan. 5 and in 49 games scored eight goals and finished with 23 points.
While some might find his regular season numbers disappointing considering his $6 million dollar cap hit, it's Palat's winning pedigree and postseason experience that put him at the top of Fitzgerald's list.
"He understands what the regular season means, how to get to the playoffs, and the small things," Fitzgerald said. "He's probably the closest thing to a player/coach there is out there because of how he thinks the game, his beliefs in how to practice, the habits, and the details you need to create that winning culture. So a championship pedigree was something that was important to me because I know how this is going to pay forward. I believe this is going to pay forward with our younger players."
Entering Tuesday night, there may not be a single player on the Devils' bench with more pressure on him than Palat. He holds that Tampa Bay Lightning record for most playoff game-winning goals (12) and his 94 postseason points are third-most in their franchise history behind Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov.
Regardless of what happens when the playoffs begin, the Devils have already exceeded expectations. They tied and broke multiple franchise records and finished with the third-best record in the league. The stage is now set for players like Haula, Palat, or any member of the "BMW Line" to make Devils' history as their race to the Stanley Cup begins.