The New Jersey Devils missed the playoffs last year, forcing Tom Fitzgerald to restructure his lineup, especially the bottom six. What's changed?
On Oct. 12, 2023, the New Jersey Devils began the 2023-24 season with a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings. The club, which had just lost in the second-round playoffs to the Carolina Hurricanes, was highly expecting to contend for the Stanley Cup.
According to the box score that open night, these were the following forwards and their ice times in the season opener:
- Jack Hughes (18:54)
- Nico Hischier (18:02)
- Dawson Mercer (17:56)
- Jesper Bratt (17:10)
- Timo Meier (16:57)
- Tyler Toffoli (16:16)
- Ondrej Palat (14:35)
- Erik Haula (14:10)
- Tomas Nosek (12:21)
- Michael McLeod (10:34)
- Curtis Lazar (10:21)
Once the campaign's wheels fell off due to subpar goaltending and an injury to star defenseman Dougie Hamilton, the Devils stumbled to 7th place in the Metropolitan Division after coming within a single point of winning it in 2022-23.
Naturally, with a struggling team looking for answers, there was bound to be some movement. Toffoli was traded to the Winnipeg Jets, McLeod took a leave of absence, Hughes missed some time, and AHL call-ups got to play some games.
According to Hockey Reference, 21 forwards skated at least once with the Devils in 2023-24. Overall, 38 players dressed for the team, the third-highest total in the NHL behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (42) and San Jose Sharks (41), who finished fourth and first in the Lottery Draft.
When we look at the season finale, a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Apr. 15, here's a breakdown of everyone's ice times, with bolded players in both the opener and finale:
- Timo Meier (21:46)
- Dawson Mercer (21:41)
- Nico Hischier (21:33)
- Jesper Bratt (20:39)
- Erik Haula (17:27)
- Alexander Holtz (16:51)
- Tomas Nosek (15:23)
- Ondrej Palat (14:20)
- Nolan Foote (13:39)
- Shane Bowers (7:51)
- Chris Tierney (7:36)
On the first day of Free Agency, Devils' General Manager Tom Fitzgerald was busy retooling his team, which included landing big-ticket names like Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon.
However, he restructured the bottom six of the lineup, bringing in Paul Cotter (via trade) and Stefan Noesen. On Tuesday, New Jersey also welcomed back Tomas Tatar, meaning the team will have plenty of options on the third and fourth lines.
Whether scoring or shutting down opponents, the Devils will be a more challenging team to play in 2024-25, and fans should expect to see fresh faces in this year's opening night lineup.
According to CapFriendly, here's a breakdown of available forwards New Jersey can utilize in their season opener, ranked based on their average minutes last season.
- Jack Hughes (20:58)
- Nico Hischier (19:29)
- Jesper Bratt (19:18)
- Timo Meier (17:36)
- Dawson Mercer (17:13)
- Erik Haula (16:53)
- Ondrej Palat (15:39)
- Paul Cotter (12:44)
- Tomas Tatar (12:27)
- Curtis Lazar (12:23)
- Stefan Noesen (11:52)
- Nathan Bastian (10:10)
- Nolan Foote (10:06)
Although the summer just started, and the Devils have roughly $4.9 million left in cap space, how do you, the fans, feel about this group of forwards?
Will Fitzgerald make another move or two, or has he finalized this lineup with more emphasis on goaltending and defense? Only time will tell.