There’s some gaps in the lineup for the New Jersey Devils as training camp begins. Perhaps it is time for Nolan Foote, who has been in the team’s system for a bit, to take a step forward and claim a spot.
The New Jersey Devils training camp is open and hockey is essentially back! As camp and the preseason begin, the Devils still have a few personnel decisions to make in an attempt to ice the best lineup possible on a nightly basis. With Dawson Mercer yet to still be re-signed by the team, technically there’s three spots that I could see being open for competition right now, those being a wing spot on the second (probably Mercer), third and fourth lines. There were outside additions and changes made to the roster this summer, but the Devils have also been cultivating their own talent through their pipeline. While he wasn’t initially a draft choice of theirs, one prospect who has been developing in their system that it would be nice to see a healthy amount of contributions from is Nolan Foote.
Foote was initially a late first round choice (27th overall) of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019.
He would sign his entry level deal just a few days after being drafted. Less than a year later, he was sent to the Devils along with a first round draft choice (originally Vancouver’s) in exchange for Blake Coleman. The Devils were shifting the direction of the team slightly, and getting a young prospect alongside a first round choice (which became Shakir Mukhamadullin, and eventually, Timo Meier) to help supplement the group the team was building was the right move.
Foote would start his pro career as a member of the Utica Comets, and he posted solid seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23, reaching the 20 goal plateau in the latter season. 2023-24 seemed primed for Foote to be a mainstay in the NHL, however injury derailed that plan, and wound up costing Nolan almost the entirety of what was to be his third pro season. While he would come back and join the team with only a few games remaining, and the Devils already being eliminated from the playoff race, he would record just one goal in relatively minimal ice time.
I want Foote to burst out and be important in 2024-25, but I also want to temper expectations here; no one is expecting Foote to come in and become the missing link on the first line to complement Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt. What would be nice is if Foote can become a roughly 30-40 point player who provides some bottom six offense, while also using his large frame to help protect and move the puck up ice. Now some might say, “Well that in itself is unrealistic because you’re expecting a guy with only 23 games under his belt to produce that much.” If you take Foote’s eight points that he has had so far and extrapolate across an 82 game pace, it equates to roughly 29 points. Asking one more to hit at least 30 isn’t much to ask, and if Foote is healthy and has further his development, asking him to contribute at a pace of .49 points per game rather than .37 honestly isn’t asking for a whole lot more either.
I also mentioned the fact that Foote needs to use his size; he’s not the biggest player at 6’3” and 196 lbs. (hopefully he’s added some muscle to that with last season’s injury behind him) and I’m not saying he has to go out and a play a game that he’s not really known for. At the same time, size can be used to shield pucks, or push other players off of them, or even outreach other guys. Foote needs to use his frame to his advantage; if he adds some hits here and there and they’re smart hits, then I’m all for it. At the very least, he needs to make sure he’s not the one being moved around easily on the ice if he wants to carve out a regular role for himself.
And what if Foote falters and doesn’t make it as a regular? I think if his points fall below the projection that I had for him, as long as he isn’t hurting the team, he could still be a useful player. He would still need to put up some level of points, but if the team determines that the best spot for him is as a bottom line wing, he might not quite hit 30. Conversely, the Devils do need production from outside of their top two lines and if Foote isn’t finding a way to help fill the scoresheet, the team might look to fill that spot with someone else who will.
2024-25 could be a very important season for Nolan Foote, as it might be the year that he solidifies himself as an NHLer, or it could be the one where the team might decide to move on from him.
What are your thoughts on the contributions of Nolan Foote this season; do you think he needs to become a regular contributor? Do you think he winds up with a lesser point total, but still carves out a role? Do you think he winds up being inconsequential, or even cut during training camp? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!