While the offseason days leading up to training camp tend to see speculation of players who could join NHL clubs, that won’t be the case for the New Jersey Devils. We look at why that’s good today.
As the summer continues on, hockey news isn’t always breaking as it does during the season and during the draft/free agency portion of the offseason. Time, however, will keep creeping forward until it is time for our New Jersey Devils to hit the ice for another season. As we get closer to each season, usually there is some analysis or speculation about a prospect who may be near NHL ready or has shown some brilliance that could merit a closer look. While the closer look portion could still apply to a number of younger players as training camp and the preseason take place, I don’t believe we will see the usual speculation regarding a unexpected player making the roster.
Now I feel this is true this summer due to two things: the first being that there simply won’t be space. With Dawson Mercer and Nolan Foote still to be re-signed prior to 2024-25 beginning, the Devils according to Puckpedia (RIP CapFriendly) already have 22 players under contract. Once the RFA pair signs, the Devils will sill have to send down/waive to attempt to send down one player just to have a compliant 23 man roster for opening night. The second part of this is that while the Devils still have a lot of talent in the pipeline, there’s not really anyone left who is viewed at this point as a bona fide difference maker. There are absolutely prospects who could one day be good, heck even great NHLers, but right now no one is ready to step up and be a comfortable every night player.
Now maybe some of you reading this will think this is a bad thing; the Devils have pulled the brightest stars from their prospect pool, and things were bad last season. Well, yes and no. The Devils best young pieces are now NHL players, but to say that guys like Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec have already peaked would be ludicrous. Both players already demonstrated competence last season as rookies; with some more seasoning, coaching and some of the rookie jitters gone, they will continue to trend up. The Devils also have a much improved roster on paper, so less will be demanded of some of the youngest players, allowing them to play with less pressure and hopefully produce more as a result. The main club will be just fine.
Now as for the prospects, what’s the biggest benefit of not needing to incorporate any more of them to start this season? The answer is that it allows them to play at a level of competition that is appropriate and best for their development. Recent signees such as Seamus Casey, Mikael Diotte and Josh Filmon will start in a less intense league and get the playing time that they need to continue to hone their skills. As they do so, when the Devils eventually need them to join the main roster, they will be able to play a more complete game, and jut learn how to adapt their skills to the NHL level, rather than trying to do both at the same time.
The Devils have struggled to consistently develop players for a while now. There haven’t been too many who have passed through the Devils’ minor league system to join the main club. Part of this could be attributed to the rebuild from the mid-2010s that resulted in some of the team’s most talented prospects skipping the AHL. Some of it certainly falls on management and coaches; in some cases it is on the players themselves. Not needing to rush players is certainly going to help going forward as well. The Devils are trying to compete at the NHL level right now; to get another long window of competitiveness, as they had in the late 90s/most of the 2000s, they need to make sure to not rush any prospects that they intend to keep. Not needing one to fill the roster to start the 2024-25 season is a step in the right direction for this philosophy.
To close, I will miss being able to write an article speculating about a prospect possibly making the opening night roster. At the same time, I’m happy that I won’t be writing one because it means the Devils have a more complete NHL team already and that the prospects will continue to marinate in appropriate environments for them. The name of the game is long-term success and giving prospects the right environment to develop in is a part of that.
What are your thought on the Devils lack of space for a surprise opening night roster addition: do you think this is best for long-term success? Are you pleased that the Devils’ roster seems mostly locked for the 2024-25 season? Do you disagree and think there is a player who could outplay others and make the roster? Who do you see getting pushed down the lineup, both to the AHL and the press box if that’s the case? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!