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Metropolitan Notes: Devils Defense, Santini, Svechnikov

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The New Jersey Devils outlook for their future shot upwards a few weeks ago during the draft lottery after they won for the second time in three years, and now have the opportunity to add top prospects Jack Hughes or Kappo Kakko. However, one thing that is missing from a potential playoff roster in the future is a dominant defenseman.

The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required) divides up the current roster, but makes it clear on many occasions that what the team truly needs is a dominant defenseman who can run the defense. Even with 2018 first-rounder Ty Smith likely to join the team next season, the team could very well be on the lookout for a dominant blueliner via trade (if one can be found), suggesting the team may have to move one of their current top three to make a deal like that work in either Damon Severson, Will Butcher or Sami Vatanen.

Both Severson and Butcher are listed as unlikely to be traded unless a blockbuster deal can be found are both considered to be top-four defenseman along with Vatanen, but both blueliners would have significant value in return for an elite defenseman. Vatanen would unlikely have much trade value due to his age, but more importantly due to his injury history.

  • Sticking with the Devils defense, the team hopes they have found a regular to their defensive core as defenseman Steven Santini seemed to have found his niche in the final six weeks of the season. The 24-year-old had dealt with injuries and time in the minors, but looks to have a good chance to establish himself as an everyday defenseman next season for New Jersey, according to NJ.com’s Chris Ryan. After missing a large chunk of the season after breaking his jaw on the first game of the season last year, Santini came back in December, but needed time to find his game. His opportunity came at the trade deadline when the team traded Ben Lovejoy to Dallas, giving Santini a shot at Lovejoy’s minutes. He took advantage of them. “He’s got to be difficult to play against. Tight gaps on line-rush defense. He needs to be hard at the net front. He needs to be able to end plays defensively down low,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “We’d like to see him take a step on a penalty kill, missing a guy like Ben Lovejoy where he could fill into that type of role. And understanding that his puck skills need to improve.”
  • With Game 2 lineups out, the Carolina Hurricanes still don’t have injured forward Andrei Svechnikov back in the lineup. The 2018 second-overall pick has been in concussion protocol after suffering a head injury in a fight with fellow-Russian Alex Ovechkin in the first round of the playoffs. News & Observer’s Chip Alexander reports that a Game 3 return would be perfect timing for the Hurricanes and would get the home crowd even more hyped up, regardless of Carolina’s Game 2 performance.

Devils’ Steven Santini Suffers Broken Jaw

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When the Devils started Steven Santini over Ben Lovejoy on Saturday, it was in hopes that the young defenseman could help suppress some of the Philadelphia Flyers’ offense after a 5-goal effort from the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. Not only did the Flyers win 5-2 today, but the Santini experiment barely even got off the ground. On just his second shift of the night, Santini took a puck up high and was forced to leave the ice. He did not return. In speaking to head coach John Hynes after the game, beat writer Amanda Stein reports that Santini suffered a broken jaw. He will be out indefinitely.

This is an unlucky blow for both the player and team. Santini was making his first appearance of the season for the Devils and hoping to stick in the top six this time around. The 23-year-old defenseman played in 38 and 36 games respectively in his first two pro seasons, but has yet to even play half an NHL season, nevertheless establish himself as a starter. A second-round pick in 2013, Santini was a mainstay of the U.S. Juniors program and a standout defender at Boston College for three years. Santini is a stay-at-home type and does not bring much in the way of offensive potential, but is a smart, safe option on the back end and seemingly has the skill set and demeanor of a solid bottom-pair defenseman.

While that may not sound all that exciting, Santini is the exact type of player that the Devils could use right now. After a hot 4-0 start to the season, New Jersey has allowed ten goals in back-to-back losses and have the Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning on the docket this week. With a less-than-stellar goalie tandem of Keith Kinkaid and Eddie Lack and a defensive corps that is top-heavy with offensive-minded puck movers like Sami Vatanen, Damon Severson, Will Butcher, and Mirco Mueller. The team could use more conservative, tight defensive play right now and hoped Santini could provide it. Instead, the onus could be back on banged-up Lovejoy to pick up the slack in the defensive end.

Metropolitan Notes: Columbus’ Defense, Maatta, Butcher, Kreider

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With losses of both Jack Johnson and Ian Cole this offseason, the Columbus Blue Jackets will have some changes on their defense. Those changes could alter the entire defense, as head coach John Tortorella said recently in a Q&A with The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required). In fact, Tortorella said he will have to consider whether he’s ready to break up his two star defensemen in Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. At the moment, he’s not ready to do so.

“It certainly makes me think about it, and I have thought about it this summer,” Tortorella said. “I’m going to let it play out. Right now I’m going into the season with ‘Z’ and Jonesy together, and we’ll see what comes of that second pair.”

Jones had a breakout season a year ago, while Werenski had an off year, but dealt with a shoulder injury that hampered him all season. However, Tortorella hopes that others will fill in for the team’s offseason losses, including Markus Nutivaara and Ryan Murray.

“I think (Markus) Nutivaara has improved tremendously,” Tortorella said. “I think (Murray) looked different to me in the playoffs. He can’t even grow a beard yet, he’s just got this stuff all over his face, but he looked different to me. He had more of a game face than I’ve seen since I coached him. He was really good in the playoffs. Can he take those minutes? I know he wants to. I know he’s pissed at me that I don’t give him enough time at certain times, but hopefully, he stays healthy and plays with an attitude.”

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins look to be breaking up their top-four as well as the team promised to give top minutes to free-agent signee Jack Johnson, which will force the team to make some changes, according to Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Jason Mackey in a Penguins’ chat. While the team has no intention of breaking up their top defensive pair of Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang. That means the likely second line will be Johnson and Justin Schultz, which will likely force Olli Maatta out of the top four. Maatta, who tied a career-high in 29 points last season, will likely be moved to the third pairing next to Jamie Oleksiak.
  • The Athletic’s Ryan Clark’s (subscription required) writes a Q&A interview with New Jersey Devils defenseman Will Butcher, the second-year defenseman has said he’s spent his offseason working on his shot. “My huge emphasis this summer has been on my shot from one-timers to just getting it off quicker,” Butcher said. “Just try to shoot the puck more. Look to shoot the puck more than pass.” The 23-year-old posted impressive numbers in his first year in the league, putting up five goals and 39 points last season. An impressive shot could improve his goal numbers in the future.
  •  When New York Rangers winger Chris Kreider returned from a two-month break when he was recovering from a blood clot, the 27-year-old had lost 15 pounds, which actually proved helpful to him, according to The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman (subscription required). In fact, Kreider played some of his best hockey upon his return, which could fit in well around head coach David Quinn’s new system. The scribe writes that Kreider found the perfect balance between his size, speed, strength and skill, which could carry over to this season, especially now that he’s out of Alain Vigneault’s system that focused only on his speed.

New Jersey Devils Slowly Developing A Contender

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The NHL offseason usually revolves around the salary cap. Teams struggle to fit in as much talent as possible under a fixed ceiling, and are hindered in trade negotiations because of their limited cap space. The Edmonton Oilers for instance have done little this summer despite a desperate need to return to the playoffs, strangled by their expensive long-term contracts. Few teams in the league find themselves as unencumbered as the New Jersey Devils do currently, with less than $60MM in cap commitments for this season and only two players under contract for more than three years.

Even with the most cap space in the league the Devils haven’t done much to improve their team this summer, instead deciding to take an extremely slow approach to developing a contender. Amazingly, it could pay off sooner than later. New Jersey returned to the playoffs last season on the back of a Hart Trophy-winning year from Taylor Hall and solid debuts from several of their young players. Will Butcher jumped from winning the Hobey Baker award as the best college player in the country to quarterbacking an NHL powerplay, and finished his rookie season with 44 points. That put him 20th in the league among defensemen, ahead of star players like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Aaron Ekblad and Zach Werenski. While there are other flaws in Butcher’s game, the Devils used him perfectly in a role that was best suited to take advantage of his talents.

Jesper Bratt started the year off on fire with 12 points in his first 13 games, and finished the year with a solid rookie total of 35 points. After turning 20 just a week ago, Bratt will be relied on as a key piece for years in New Jersey, despite his sixth-round draft pedigree. At the other end of the spectrum was Nico Hischier, who put up 52 points after being selected first overall and took over the team’s first-line center duty by the end of the year. The teenaged Hischier looks like he could be a Selke candidate in the future, along with having big offensive potential.

While Hall has just two years remaining on his modest six-year, $36MM contract the team seems in no rush to surround him with expensive free agent talent in order to take advantage of his bargain price. Instead, seeing as they’re already a playoff-caliber team, they will wait for their internal talent to blossom before eventually sitting down with Hall for a long-term extension. Hischier, Bratt, Pavel Zacha and others will mature on the roster while prospects like John Quenneville, Michael McLeod, Ty Smith and Jesper Boqvist will fight to secure jobs on it. Unlike Edmonton, who is fighting to improve the roster without any flexibility, New Jersey finds themselves in a position to wait for the right moment.

At the trade deadline last season, the Devils rewarded the solid play of their young team by adding Michael Grabner and Patrick Maroon for a playoff run. The team gave up relatively little in future assets—a pair of draft picks and two unsigned prospects—to try and make a bit more noise in the postseason. Though they wouldn’t find much success against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they would gain some good experience for the future. Even Hall, who will turn 27 this November, had never reached the postseason before last year. You can bet they will be interested in doing something similar should they find themselves in a playoff hunt again this year, given their ample cap space.

The other consideration is the expected free agent class of 2019, which should include several (if not many) star-level players. GM Ray Shero already admitted that he pursued James van Riemsdyk this summer before the price got too high, but perhaps that threshold would raise when dealing with someone like Tyler Seguin or Artemi Panarin. Both are still scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next summer, along with names like Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle, Jeff Skinner, Blake Wheeler, Joe Pavelski, Max Pacioretty, and dozens more. While many of those players will be re-signed before New Jersey ever gets a chance at them, they might find themselves in a situation where they can outbid basically any other team in the league for whoever is left.

Metropolitan Notes: Dundon, Schneider, Devils Defense, O’Brien

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When Tom Dundon took ownership of the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this year, he said he was going to make changes. Trading one of its top scorers in Jeff Skinner certainly qualifies, but the owner made it clear that it wasn’t even a hard decision to make, according to Chip Alexander and Luke DeCock of the News & Observer.

“It had to be done,” Dundon said Friday. “The consensus in the organization, and it has been for a while, was it was better for all parties. It’s good for him, too.”

The team didn’t get a top return for the 26-year-old who has scored 204 goals for Carolina over the course of eight seasons. He had a no-trade clause and could have chosen to play out his final season in Carolina and then walk away leaving the Hurricanes with nothing to show for him. Instead, Carolina walked away with prospect Cliff Pu and three draft picks, none of which are first-round picks. Buffalo has three of them in 2019.

“This was not money motivated,” Dundon said. “This was simply that we think the team has a better chance to perform at the level we think it can perform at right now.”

  • New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider isn’t going to be rushed back after undergoing hip surgery this offseason, according to Corey Masisak of The Athletic (subscription required). The 32-year-old goaltender had another turbulent season in which he started the season strong, struggled and then fared well to end the season. He finished the season with a 2.93 GAA and a .907 save percentage in 40 games, his worst season statistically of his career. Masisak says the timetable for Schneider to return remains murky and general manager Ray Shero has commented on Pekka Rinne’s post-surgery success on multiple occasions, suggesting the team will almost certainly be starting the season with Keith Kinkaid as their starter.
  • With four top defenders on their roster, the New Jersey Devils have to choose their new pairings between Sami Vatanen, Will Butcher, Andy Greene and Damon Severson. While the obvious choice might be that Vatanen and Greene should remain together as their shutdown line, Todd Cordell of HockeyBuzz writes that they should look at a different option which would be to match Severson with Greene instead, pointing out that Severson’s numbers alongside Greene have been as good, if not better, than Vatanen’s. That would leave Butcher with Vatanen, which could also provide a solid pairing.
  • Bill Meltzer of NHL.com writes that the Philadelphia Flyers walked away with a good feeling about many of their prospects at the World Junior Summer Showcase today, especially with the success of their 2018 first-round pick Jay O’Brien. The 18-year-old has not had much of an opportunity to play against top competition against his own age, but thrived in the game against Canada where he was named Player of the Game for Team USA after potting two goals and showing a great defensive presence.

Devils Closing In On Signing Yegor Yakovlev

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While there has been rumors of the New Jersey Devils intention of signing KHL defenseman Yegor Yakovlev this offseason, no deal has happened. However, international journalist Igor Eronko spoke to New Jersey’s general manager Ray Shero, who confirmed that the team hopes to sign the defenseman after the IIHF World Championships.

“We haven’t officially signed him yet, but once IIHF Worlds is over, we’ll see coming back on Monday. Hopefully we can finalize something,” Shero said.

Yakovlev also said that he is eager to sign with the Devils, according to Eronko.

“The Devils have scouted me for 3 years,” Yakovlev said. “They really wanted to see me on the team. That’s why I chose New Jersey and I’m really happy to join the organization. I know they play a fast smart hockey and I like it.”

The 26-year-old defenseman could continue to add depth to a team that more than a year ago had little defensive options. In the last year, the team has upgraded some of its defenders with college free agent Will Butcher, who had a solid rookie season, as well as trading for Sami Vatanen from the Anaheim Ducks.

Yakovlev has spent the last three years playing for KHL powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg. He tallied five goals and nine points in 35 regular season games and also played in the Olympics this year in Pyeongchang for the Russian team that won the gold medal.

 

U.S. Announces 2018 Men’s National Roster

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USA Hockey announced their initial 2018 national roster for the upcoming 2018 IIHF Men’s World Championships on May 4-20 in Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark, headlined by Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane.

Kane, who announced he’d play this summer after his Blackhawks season ended with no trip to the playoffs, represented the U.S. twice in both the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games, leading the U.S. to a silver medal in 2010, was named the captain of this team back on April 9. He will be joined by four others with World Championship experience, including Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin, New York Islanders forward Anders Lee, Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy and the Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau.

The one interesting roster note is the addition of 18-year-old Quinn Hughes, who is considered to be a likely top-10 pick in the upcoming NHL draft. The full roster can be found below:

G Scott Darling
G Keith Kincaid
G Charlie Lindgren

D Will Butcher
D Quinn Hughes
D Nick Jensen
D Alec Martinez
D Connor Murphy
D Jordan Oesterle
D Neal Pionk

F Cam Atkinson
F Blake Coleman
F Alex DeBrincat
F Johnny Gaudreau
F Brian Gibbons
F Patrick Kane
F Chris Kreider
F Dylan Larkin
F Anders Lee
F Sonny Milano
F Derek Ryan
F Tage Thompson
F Colin White

 

Devils Close To Deal With Defenseman Yegor Yakovlev

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Another team eyeing overseas talent this off-season is one whose off-season has yet to begin. Russian news source Sport-Express reports that SKA St. Petersburg defenseman Yegor Yakovlev is planning to sign with the New Jersey Devils. It seems that GM Ray Shero and company have stayed busy on the talent acquisition front for next season, despite the team still being focused on their first-round playoff series.

Yakovlev, 26, is yet another talented member of KHL powerhouse SKA. Teammates like Ilya Kovalchuk, Nikita Gusev, Sergei Plotnikov, and Mikko Koskinen are among many on the roster who could sign in the NHL this summer, but Yakovlev seems to be closest to a concrete deal. Yakovlev lost games due to injury in 2017-18, but last season set career highs with 21 points and a +30 rating in 56 games. He made up for some missed time this year with a strong showing for Russia at the Olympics as well, skating on the team’s top pair. A high-energy two-way defenseman, Yakovlev certainly appears to have the talent to push for a regular role in the NHL.

Where exactly he fits in New Jersey is a different question. The Devils surprised many this season by earning a playoff berth just one season after finishing near the bottom of the league. Part of that turnaround has been the improved play on the blue line, greatly aided by the additions of Sami Vatanen and Will Butcher. On the left side, where Yakovlev plays, New Jersey has Butcher, captain Andy Greene, and – for now – John Moore. While admittedly it’s not as strong as the right side of Vatanen, Damon Severson, Ben Lovejoy, and seventh-man Steve Santini, it’s still a solid group and a consistent one at that, with all three playing in 81 games this year. Even if Moore, an impending unrestricted free agent, was to leave the Devils, Mirco Mueller is a promising lefty in need of some play time. While healthy competition never hurts, it certainly seems like Yakovlev is signing on to a situation where he won’t be guaranteed a starting job without earning it.

Devils Notes: Butcher, Hischier

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When the New Jersey Devils added Will Butcher to the fold back in August, not even in his wildest dreams could general manager Ray Shero imagine that the young d-man would have eight points in six games. The 22-year-old also (as of this writing) notched his ninth point tonight with an assist on a Nico Hischier goal and also had a nifty pass that was nearly converted into another goal. Butcher is tied for second in points among NHL defensemen, and has backed up his belief that he was absolutely NHL ready. Though many teams passed on the Hobey Baker winner, it’s fair to say that the Devils grow happier with each passing day that they inked a potential cornerstone defenseman.

  • Not to be outdone, 2017 first overall pick Hischier not only potted his first goal tonight, but added another before the end of the first period. The tough schedule early on may have benefitted the youngster the Record’s  Andrew Gross wrote yesterday.  Hischier finally broke through with a couple tonight, but as Gross reported, Hischier had four assists in his first six games. Having Taylor Hall on a wing certainly helps, but Hischier is showing the talent he possesses that landed him as the top pick in back in June.
  • The Devils have had one of the many surprising starts in the league, jumping out to a 5-1 mark and challenging preseason favorite Columbus for the top spot in the Metropolitan division. It’s still early and the Devils are certainly still in “rebuilder” status. But the infusion of young talent, namely Butcher and Hischier, could certainly jumpstart a team that appeared a couple seasons away from making some noise. If the “kids” continue to produce, a playoff appearance may be sooner than many initially thought.

Eastern Notes: Toronto’s Defense, Prospects, Butcher

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have received plenty of attention this offseason with their moves, including the surprising signing of San Jose veteran Patrick Marleau to a three-year deal. Add Marleau to the young cast of offensive weapons the team already has like Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, William Nylander and Mitch Marner, the team has hopes of making a run towards a Stanley Cup Finals this season.

However, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun is quick to point out that the Maple Leafs need to emphasize defense too. He writes that many people have forgotten that the team finished 22nd in goals against last year. Every team that finished behind them didn’t make the playoffs. And when you look at the moves the team made, very little of it was to help the defense. The team did sign 36-year-old Ron Hainsey, but how much will that help? He’s 36 years old.

Simmons writes that Toronto leadership knows the importance of defense. Coach Mike Babcock, who has won a Stanley Cup in 2008 with the Detroit Red Wings, had a team that was first in goals against that year. General Manager Lou Lamoriello won his last Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2003, they were also first in goals against.

However, the team’s defense should be stronger. The team boasts a number of young, developing defensemen like Nikita Zaitsev, who is just 25 years old. Morgan Rielly is only 23 years old. Jake Gardiner is 27. Martin Marincin is 25 as well, while Connor Carrick is 23. That’s a young defense and maybe a major reason why the team brought Hainsey in. However, even with a year of development, how much better can this defense be?

  • With rookie camps just a week away for many teams, Fanrag’s Craig Morgan put together a detailed list of rookies who could make an impact on the team. While it has the usual candidates like Nico Hischier, Nolan Patrick and Clayton Keller, there are quite a few lesser known ones as well. Players like Washington’s Jakub Vrana, New York Islanders’ Ryan Pulock and Columbus’ Pierre-Luc Dubois are players rarely mentioned who could make an impact this year.
  • Sports Illustrated featured New Jersey Devils Will Butcher after he chose the Devils last weekend. Butcher claims he sees similarities in his game to three NHL players including Chicago’s Duncan Keith, Boston’s Torey Krug and New Jersey’s Andy Greene. ”If I was fortunate to make the big team, he would be a great mentor to me, just because he does everything,” Butcher said of Greene. ”He penalty kills, power play, all situations. He is a smart player, not necessarily the biggest guy, but he uses his abilities to defend well and play the game of hockey.”

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