The defensive crew that will start the season will surprisingly have eight to start the season rather than the more conventional seven but considering the talent involved, I understand why the feeling that depth is a bit more important.
The first pairing is the only one that is likely written in stone with veteran Andy Greene and Damon Severson.
The soon to be 35 year old Greene lends the proverbial veteran influence as well as still being the best all-around defenseman that the Devils have, while the Devils have hopes that Severson develops in the type of offensive defenseman that the team has lacked since Scott Niedermayer left for Anaheim.
The Devils backed up those hopes with dollars as they signed Severson to a long-term contract in the offseason.
Greene is naturally declining, so the team is hoping that someone of their younger defensemen will step up soon.
Once you get by the number one duo, the rest might (like the forwards) be shuffled in an attempt to see just what they can shake out.
The best hopes from this bunch look to be the highly regarded amateur free agent signing Will Butcher, returnee Steve Santini, and reclamation project Mirco Mueller.
Butcher would be a rare puck mover on the Devils but will see his share of downtimes so there will be a learning process, while I liked some things that I saw from Santini last season, I'm not sure that he becomes any more than a third pairing blueliner on a good team.
Mueller was considered a disappointment in San Jose after being a first-round selection in 2013 and most thought the Devils overpaid for him at the draft (a 2 and 4 for Mueller and a 5), Mueller's defensive style might be a good fit with the other two younger players, especially the more offensive based Butcher.
Mueller might not have another (or better) chance to turn a career around than this one, so hopefully, he realizes this and turns his career around.
The remaining three veterans are players that on a good team, maybe one of them might be around as a seventh defenseman.
On the Devils though, they'll see more playing time than they should and you will likely be seeing two of them in particular as a defensive pairing that teams might be salivating when they see them on the ice.
John Moore is the best of the group, mainly because once in a while, he can score a goal, but still is a top-six d-man at his peak value.
Lovejoy was just awful last season after being signed from Pittsburgh and is such a slow skater that he cannot keep up with players of even average speed.
Dalton Prout is an enforcer in an age without them...
Cory Schneider returns in net after a year that he struggled at times that saw him notch career lows in both goals against and save percentage.
If the Devils have any type of long-shot playoff chance, it'll be because Schneider is able to return to form.
Schneider turns 32 before the season ends, so if he does bounce back and the Devils still don't contend, I can see a scenario where Schneider is shopped around at the playoff deadline if the price is right.
Keith Kinkaid was re-signed to backup Schneider and play on rest days..
I think the Devils will show improvement.
I don't think it will be anywhere near enough to contend for a playoff spot, but they will be more to watch offensively and likely last place in the Metropolitan Division.
That should give the Devils another high pick and hope for more lottery luck to assist in the revamping of the organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment