New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe shares his reasoning for putting Nathan Bastian with Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat.
New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe shares his reasoning for putting Nathan Bastian with Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat.
NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe debuted four brand new lines when his team hit the ice for a 45-minute practice at RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House:
Ondrej Palat - Jack Hughes - Nathan Bastian
Stefan Noesen - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier - Paul Cotter - Dawson Mercer
Kurtis MacDermid - Curtis Lazar - Tomas Tatar
Brenden Dillon - Dougie Hamilton
Jonas Siegnethaler - Johnathan Kovacevic
Luke Hughes - Brett Pesce
Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen
For many, the biggest head-scratcher was seeing Bastian elevated from the fourth line to the top line to skate with Hughes and Palat. After practice, Keefe spoke about the 6-foot-4 winger.
"He is playing his best hockey of the season," Keefe said. "He is super confident right now. In the last stretch, we have scored four goals at five-on-five, and (Bastian) has been on the ice for three of them. He is just working, skating off the puck, and if that can help get Jack's game going a little more straight lines and pace and simplifying things a little bit more as a line, a trio, and the way Jack and Palat work together. Bastian can be around the net. I am excited to look at that."
Confidence can be overlooked but is a huge factor in the game, as defenseman Brenden Dillon told The Hockey News on Tuesday afternoon.
"Confidence is a big thing in this league," he said. "It does not matter how much money you make. It does not matter how many career goals you have. It does not matter how much ice time you get per night. When you are actually feeling good, it helps and cures a lot of things."
This past weekend, the Devils dropped both games in their back-to-back matinees to the Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators. While most of the team looked disconnected and fatigued, Bastian shined, playing with pace and earning one assist. He and his linemates were on the ice for both goals New Jersey scored over their last two matchups.
"When Bastian is putting his gear on, he is confident," Keefe continued. "He is playing with a clear mind. He is out there doing his thing. Other guys maybe start to overthink things a bit, he is not. So, I want to see what kind of effect that can have having him play higher in the lineup."
Line combinations are never set in stone, and even if Keefe begins tomorrow's game with the above lines, it doesn't mean it will look like that by the final buzzer.
Keefe, Nico Hischier, and Jonas Siegenthaler have recently spoken about his team needing to simplify things as they are amid this funk. Bastian is a player who does not deviate from the system and plays a simple, hard-nosed game.
With New Jersey's 2-5-3 record over their last 10 games, there is no better time to change things up and see if Bastian's confidence can rub off on his new linemates.
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