The Devils made a commitment to being tougher to play against this summer, and it has paid off early this season
The NHL will always be a copycat league.
The Florida Panthers have reached the last two Stanley Cup Final. And while their speed and skill has been a big part of their success, their brash, physical, in-your-face style of hockey is a big part of the equation as to why they were successful as well. The Panthers had a roster full of players who bought in to the system they wanted to run and how they wanted to play. The result was a lineup full of players who were miserable to play against on top of being really talented. Any given night the last two seasons where a team played against the Florida Panthers was not going to be an easy night for the opposition.
For the most part, the New Jersey Devils had the speed, skill, and talent part of the equation down to be in the conversation among the better teams in the league. They did not have the physicality, willingness, compete level, energy level, or ‘tough to play against’ aspects down. Not even close.
Last year’s team was soft and that was before they got embarrassed every time they saw Matt Rempe do Matt Rempe things against them. But let’s just say hypothetically that the Devils from the last few years didn’t tuck their tail between their legs and they didn’t let things slide whenever their players were on the receiving end of a big hit by the Jacob Troubas of the world. Last year’s team STILL would have been soft in regards to things like having a consistent forecheck, winning in the corners, going to the high-danger areas, having the right compete level, and being hard to play against.
You know, the things that championship-caliber teams like the Florida Panthers do?
The things that almost every Stanley Cup champion ever have done?
The things that the Devils used to do once upon a time in a different era when they did compete for championships.
More than two decades removed from their last championship, its easy for people to forget what the Devils used to be in their heyday. Almost everybody from those teams are gone and its not like this present-day team is studying tape from 1995 to see how they should be playing if they want to be physical and shut someone down defensively.
But like I said, this is a copycat league, and physicality come playoff time hasn’t gone out of style in the years since.
I don’t know if the Devils saw from afar what Florida was doing and decided they needed to add some of that to their toolkit. I don’t know if the Devils finally had enough of the Rangers running roughshod against them and said “that’s it, no more”. We’ll probably never know what exactly the tipping point was, although I’d guess Rempe and Trouba providing the Devils their “Tom Wilson ragdolling Artemi Panarin” moments last year might’ve been the final straw like it was for the Rangers a few years ago. Either way, its nice to see this need be addressed in the manner that it was this summer. And while the 2024-25 Devils are still a work in progress when it comes to learning how to play together, learning Sheldon Keefe’s system, being defensively responsible, and figuring out how to win hockey games in the meantime while all of this is going on….the emphasis on imposing one’s will and competing through six games has not gone unnoticed.
The Paul Cotter trade was not a popular one when it was made. Even I reserved judgment in the comments section of that post since I wasn’t all that familiar with Cotter’s game even though I knew he was an NHL player. I get why people would be upset about the idea of “selling low” on Alexander Holtz. I get why they would be upset about Holtz’s development (or lack thereof) in general leading up to the trade. I can understand why someone might see what Akira Schmid did the previous spring against the New York Rangers and think to themselves that he should be part of the future for a team with an uncertain long-term future in net.
That said, Fitzgerald nailed that trade as Cotter has been exactly what this Devils team needs. Because Cotter is a hard-nosed energy type of player, he can be called upon on a whim to give the third line a shot in the arm that they needed, like what happened in the win over Washington this past weekend. The fact that he’s contributing offensively as well is a bonus, even if its just a heater and he’ll wind up reverting to his career norm when it comes to the counting stats like goals and assists. Paul Cotter is only 24 so perhaps there’s a little bit of untapped potential there. But even if he doesn’t become any better than he is right now, he plays an abrasive style of hockey that will play once the Devils get to the postseason.
The Johnathan Kovacevic trade was an under the radar acquisition by Fitzgerald this summer. He’s been a perfect addition to a blueline that not only needed a little more edge to it, but frankly, also needed to defend better. The Jonas Siegenthaler-Johnathan Kovacevic pairing has been the best pairing for the Devils through the early portion of the season, and while I don’t pretend to know what the Devils will do with their blueline once they get reinforcements, I’m smart enough to know that they’d be foolish to mess with something that has been working. Lines and pairings don’t last forever, but there is zero reason for the Devils to get away from a Siegenthaler-Kovacevic pairing as long as they’re…..(checks notes)….one of the better defensive pairings in the NHL.
Add in a Stefan Noesen, who certainly has some abrasiveness to his game. He knows how to forecheck and he knows how to get to the dirty areas of the ice to make things happen. Add in a Brenden Dillon, whose physical presence speaks for itself. Add in the fact that some of the holdovers from last year’s version of the team are getting in on the forecheck and its a good sign for a team trying to establish an identity. It’s notable that players like Dougie Hamilton have bought in and you’re seeing that in the early portion of the campaign with him throwing the body around.
As a result, the Devils are getting the results that they haven’t gotten in years past. The Devils typically have matched up poorly with Washington, a veteran-laden team that plays a heavier game. But they got the win the other night.
They’ve also gone from a team that has been bullied to one that can bully others as we saw in the Utah win. And because they were physical, it led to better defensive play.
We talked about this on the postgame, but this felt like a game where the Devils defensively did to Utah what good teams did to defend the Devils the last couple years. They used their physicality to really limit Utah’s chances.
— Bill Spaulding (@BillSpaulding) October 14, 2024
It goes noted that a smaller, skill player like Logan Cooley had a rough go at it once the Devils ramped up the physicality. I don’t doubt that Cooley will eventually figure it out and have a long, productive career, but I am making note of it after other teams have gone out of their way to test Jack Hughes in the same respect and see how he handles it.
I’m not saying that the Devils are all of a sudden the standard across the league when it comes to physicality. I’m not saying that they’re going to be feared across the league or that teams will think twice before taking liberties. I’m not even saying that its perfect and they’re a finished product now. We just saw an experienced Carolina team with years of a head-start in their system frustrate the Devils once again with their forecheck and their pursuit of the puck.
But the Devils adding this weapon to their arsenal was a necessary and required step in the evolution process of what they want to be as a hockey team. The Devils were never going to win anything playing the soft, gentlemanly brand of hockey they were playing. They needed to make some commitment to their willingness to battle and raise their compete level. They needed to be tougher to play against. They needed players who will approach that proverbial line, straddle it, and sometimes, even cross it. And if it results in a quick trip to the showers or an occasional suspension, so be it.
The Devils needed to make it so where playing the Devils wasn’t going to be an easy night for the opposition. Whether that was on October 14th, February 14th, or May 14th, it had to happen. Speed and skill and talent, while all very good to have and all important in their own right, aren’t enough to win hockey games. Especially once the stakes get higher later in the year.
I don’t think this last point can be understated either. Playoff hockey is a different animal than regular season hockey. It might be an overused cliche, but it really is a war of attrition. If you can’t stand up to the physicality that time of year, you will get exposed at some point. You don’t necessarily need to be the most physical team in order to win a Stanley Cup, but you do need to be willing to play in the mud if the situation warrants.
After watching 82 games of last year’s team, I have no doubt that had last year’s Devils managed to stop shooting themselves in the foot for long enough to squeak into the playoffs that they would’ve been a one-and-done team. Not just because the goaltending was bad and that they didn’t defend well. Not just because guys like Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton were injured. They weren’t built to handle the opposition forechecking or win puck battles. It’s a big part of the reason why they lost the Carolina playoff series in the manner that they did.
Fortunately, it does appear that the Devils have done the work this offseason and through the first two weeks of the regular season to fix that weakness. There’s still a lot of season left to go and while they’re 4-2-0 and the results have mostly been good, there is room for improvement in other aspects of the game.
I leave you with this quote from Scott Stevens to Matt Cullen in 2009, which seems apropos given the topic. He had this to say when his textbook, physical brand of hockey was criticized by former Hurricanes goalie Arturs Irbe, who suggested he was deliberately trying to kill players or knock them out of the playoffs.
“What kind of respect do I get? Just because I’m a physical player, it’s OK to come at me and do what you want? Hey, it’s a hockey game. It’s not figure skating. You know what? I can take a hit and I can give a hit. I don’t care who it is. No one gets a free ride out there. I don’t get a free ride, and no one gets a free ride from me.”
Too many opponents got a free ride last year when facing the Devils, and as a result, the Devils made things too easy for the opposition.
The days of those free rides are hopefully over.