After losing Nathan Bastian to a fight and Curtis Lazar to a hip check to the knee, the Devils suddenly don’t have much of a fourth line.
Coming into this season, the New Jersey Devils figured they would be getting most of their offensive contributions from the top six, while the bottom six was designed more to be a defensive group that keeps games where they are. In recent times, however, they have lost two of their mainstays in Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian. To this point, Bastian had five points in 12 appearances, while Lazar only had two points. With Bastian out several weeks for his jaw injury, his minor resurgence, coming off a poor 2023-24 campaign, will be put on hold for awhile. Curtis Lazar, meanwhile, just hopes to play in a Devils sweater again after getting knee surgery.
So, for some several weeks, the Devils will have to fill the void in their bottom six. While I have been satisfied with Justin Dowling so far as an emergency fourth center, they will have to make more adjustments with Bastian out. They have a couple options with their current extra skaters, but they are in a bit of a tight spot, and their decisions — at least for now — might not seem so popular.
The Cap Reality
According to PuckPedia, the Devils have $906,595 in current cap space, which would entitle them to adding a contract with an annual average value of up to $3,561,621 at the deadline if they do not add a contract between now and then. This means that these injuries have basically left the Devils with just one extra skater and very little room to maneuver around them. If the Devils put anyone on LTIR, they will cease to accumulate deadline cap space, limiting their moves down the line. So…what options do they have now?
The Boring Option — Play Kurtis MacDermid Nightly
Devils fans might not be too happy about this idea, but the most conservative move for their cap situation, which would allow them to pay higher salaries at the deadline, would be to utilize Kurtis MacDermid in the lineup on a somewhat regular basis. This would allow Sheldon Keefe to run lineups with 12 forwards and six defensemen, though MacDermid hardly plays when he is dressed. To this point, he is playing just a bit more than five minutes a night. Some may see this, then, as the Devils basically running an 11/6 lineup with an enforcer on the bench, but I would expect this to be the primary response for the time being.
The Reasonable Options — Play Simon Nemec as A 7th Defenseman, or Call Up A Comet
With the returns of Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes to the lineup, Simon Nemec last played for the Devils on October 22, when he had an assist — his only point of the season — in an 8-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. After playing 60 NHL games last year, when he played in a top four role and produced consistently, Nemec appeared to have a tough road back to the lineup once the defensive corps reached full health, thanks to the signing of Pesce and the acquisition of Johnny Kovacevic. Had Kovacevic not played so well with Jonas Siegenthaler, Nemec would probably still be in the lineup at least on a part-time basis, but he is currently awaiting his next opportunity.
On nights where there is no clear advantage to be gained by dressing MacDermid, I would expect Sheldon Keefe to have Nemec active. While his pairing with Seamus Casey struggled mightily, Nemec would have the benefit of being placed into situations where Sheldon Keefe believes he is more likely to succeed. Additionally, defensemen would be able to get a bit extra rest at times, especially when transitioning from special teams to even strength play, with Nemec in the lineup.
The Utica Comets are 0-8-0-1. Through nine games, they are the only team in the American Hockey League to be winless, with three teams boasting two wins as the next-worst mark. Fortunately for the Devils, their offensive production from top guys has not faltered too much, despite the ineptitude of their defense and goaltending. Nolan Foote leads the Comets with eight points in eight games, closely followed among forwards by Brian Halonen, who has four goals and two assists in eight games. Justin Dowling is, of course, already in the NHL — he was third among Comets forwards with four points in six games. The only other guy I would consider calling up would be Adam Beckman, who has three points in four games after nursing himself back from a training camp injury.
Of these guys, I would say that Nolan Foote is the best bet to provide something of value to the team over the next several weeks. Foote has a history of playing with many of the Devils on the roster, and his standing out against a horrible Utica squad bodes well for him. Had he not spent nearly an entire season out with injuries, he might not have found himself there to start this season. Still, injuries have given him a lane to prove his worth once more. The unfortunate reason he might not get another chance at the moment, though, goes back to the cap issues that stipulate the Devils only being able to call up one player who makes under $900,000 in NHL salary, which would severely limit their cap accumulation for the deadline.
The Crazy Option — Call Up Seamus Casey to Play…Forward?
The one Utica skater I did not mention among points leaders was Seamus Casey. Despite only playing five of the team’s nine games, Seamus Casey is second on the team with seven points. With the team playing so poorly, his ability to rise above in his first few weeks of professional hockey is impressive, even if he already had a taste of NHL competition prior to joining Utica.
Many of us have heard the stories of Seamus Casey filling in at center in one of Michigan’s exhibition games against the United States National Team Development Program, when several of his teammates were unable to play due to World Juniors or other reasons. He won faceoffs, he blocked shots, and he scored points. With how anemic the Utica Comets are, and how limited the Devils are with roster moves up until the trade deadline, I think it would be cool to see Casey line up at forward for a night, or at least part of one — not on the fourth line, mind you, and not at center. With seven points in five AHL games, looking a bit too slight of build to play defense in the NHL, what would be wrong with mixing him in at wing for a few shifts, dropping someone like Paul Cotter to stabilize the fourth line?
Again, this is the crazy option. But you would watch it!…And I don’t think it would be more of a wasted lineup spot than Kurtis MacDermid.
Last Words and Your Thoughts
The cap situation makes this a potentially difficult time in fielding a full lineup. Without the ability to put a player on LTIR, which would make it so the Devils do not accumulate cap space for the trade deadline, the Devils are hovering dangerously close to running short lineups if a couple more players were to get hurt with day-to-day or short-term injuries. Even the options that the Devils do currently have — play an enforcer, a seventh defenseman, or make a call-up and stop accumulating cap space — are not fantastic.
But they must persevere. It’s only the fourth line.
What would you do about the two lineup spots left behind by Lazar and Bastian? Are you satisfied with Dowling as fourth line center, as I am? What do you think would be the best way to approach injury replacements with their cap constraints? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.