Breaking Down the Devils’ Projected Forward Lines

Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald was undoubtedly impressed as he witnessed his team break the franchise record for wins and points in the 2022-23 season. However, he still worked to improve his club this offseason.

Fitzgerald’s headline move was acquiring 2014 Stanley Cup champion Tyler Toffoli from the Calgary Flames, adding even more firepower to his lethal forward core.

Toffoli, 31, is an offensive-minded winger with a high-end shot that can be weaponized on the power play. He posted a career-high 73 points (34 goals and 39 assists) in 82 games last season with Calgary, including 10 goals on the man advantage.

Fitzgerald continued by inking Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier to eight-year extensions, finally securing the last of the long-term commitments he had been seeking from his core. 

With the majority of his boxes now checked off, Fitzgerald has every reason to believe that the offense he's assembled can be the best in all of hockey — and puts the Devils in a prime position to win a Stanley Cup for years to come.

"We want to be the best top-nine team in the league, along with a fourth line that can play against any other top line to help offset matchups," Fitzgerald told MSG Networks. "You look at the champions that have won, that’s the culture we're building here in New Jersey."

Here are BryceSalvador.com's forward line projections for the start of the 2023-24 season.Since debuting in the 2017-18 season, Bratt, 25, and Nico Hischier, 24, have consistently stood out when paired on a line. In fact, they have statistically become one of the better duos in the National Hockey League.

For reference, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl duo is one of, if not the most dominant duo in NHL history. 

Hischier and Bratt have actually accumulated a higher goals-for percentage (goals for vs. goals against) in their time playing together at 5v5 over the past two seasons than McDavid and Draisaitl (62.96% vs. 56.32%). Bratt and Hischier have even generated a higher rate of scoring chances and high-danger chances (for vs. against) on the ice together at 5v5 than McDavid and Draisaitl have over the past two seasons. 

The two are now the team's longest-tenured players on the roster since the departures of Miles Wood and Damon Severson during the offseason, and evidently, they have an extremely significant impact on each other and the team's success when they play together. 

Looking ahead, Toffoli could be the perfect linemate for the duo. His shot-first mentality and ferocious anticipation of plays complement the styles of Bratt and Hischier, who both play a pass-first, unselfish brand of hockey. Hischier and Bratt also share a knack for turning defense into offense, taking pride in an exceptional 200-ft game that allows the offense to flow seamlessly in transition and set up quality scoring chances on a consistent basis.

One example of what this trio can do came from back-to-back goals in the Flames-Devils game at Prudential Center last season. Shown below is a rip by Toffoli to tie the game, followed by a Hischier game-winning goal off a rush that was sparked by a successful wall battle and outlet pass by Bratt.

“He’s a right shot, he’s a top-six player, he’s proven that he’s a pure goal scorer,” Fitzgerald said of Toffoli. “To win hockey games, you gotta score goals, so we’re thankful we got that.”A near-perfect combination of grittiness, speed, skill and goal-scoring.

That description was on full display in Meier, Jack Hughes, and Dawson Mercer's time together against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They were a bright spot for New Jersey in that series, combining for 14 points in five games. As a line at even strength, they scored 50% of the Devils' total goals (5/10) and were on the ice for just one of the 19 goals against.

The first goal of Game 3 was a perfect example of what they can do: Mercer hunts after the puck; Hughes makes a one-handed no-look pass between his legs; and Meier stuffs it home to get the Devils on the board.

Mercer's tenacity, heavy forecheck, and all-around offensive upside make him an excellent linemate for Hughes and Meier, who were both 40-goal scorers last year. Mercer scored 27 goals; a solid showing for the 21-year-old.

If he continues to grow his game this season alongside two of the league's elite forwards, this could be one of the most exciting lines in hockey. In the Devils' case, it's not really a second line — it's more of a 1A-1B situation.Fitzgerald wants his team to have the best top-nine in the NHL, so he'll need his third line to help accomplish that as the final piece of the puzzle.

Despite a lack of production for the majority of the regular season, Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula undeniably elevated their games in the postseason. The 32-year-olds combined for an impressive 11 points (six goals and five assists) in the seven-game series against the New York Rangers in the first round. 

The Devils will need them to pick up where they left off starting in October for this third line to be successful.

Emerging as the right-winger alongside them could be Alex Holtz, a 2020 seventh-overall pick and top forward prospect who was highly touted for his shot.

Holtz could reap plenty of benefits from playing with the two veterans as he looks to finally establish himself as an everyday NHLer. The 21-year-old has been behind schedule in terms of his trajectory of playing and making an impact for the Devils, but his chance will come this year.

"I'll take full responsibility [for Holtz's slow development], but we do believe in him as a player," Fitzgerald stated firmly on the Spittin Chiclets podcast. 

"What he can do on the ice, we can't teach. He's going to get an opportunity here to play with some good players."Internal competition — it's a good problem to have. For us, this fourth line was by far the most challenging to pencil in. We expect head coach Lindy Ruff and his staff to have just as much of a burdensome task on their hands at the conclusion of training camp.

The reason why? Well, Fitzgerald has filled his depth chart with an arsenal of bottom-six forwards to mix and match. To wit, the list includes Nathan Bastian, Curtis Lazar, Nolan Foote, Michael McLeod, Tomas Nosek, Chris Tierney, Tyce Thompson and Graeme Clarke.

But that's what can make his team so hard to play against. Fitzgerald knows his Devils are going to be four lines deep because every player on his fourth line will have to earn their spot more than the next guy.

With that being said, we presume that at the start of the season, recently signed veteran Nosek is the most likely candidate to slot in as the left-winger alongside McLeod and Bastian as his counterparts. 

We do believe, however, that 22-year-old Foote will be the strongest contender for Nosek's spot right away, and will eventually become the long-term guy for the role.

Nosek, an undrafted left-wing/center from Czechia (Czech Republic), completed his eighth season in the NHL in 2022-23, posting 18 points in 66 games for the Boston Bruins. He tallied two assists in seven postseason games before signing a one-year contract with the Devils in July. 

The 31-year-old can add a lot of value to New Jersey's penalty kill unit. He played a significant role in the success of the Bruins' top-ranked penalty kill, which had an outstanding 87.3% efficiency rate, and chipped in a pair of shorthanded goals, too.

Last season, the Devils' PK had an impressive 82.6% rate, the fourth-best percentage in the NHL.

Nosek can be relied on as an important faceoff taker as well. Playing center in the Bruins' bottom six last season, he won 59.3% of his 597 faceoffs taken in the regular season and 60.4% of the 91 he took in the playoffs.

Note that the 6'3", 205 lb left-wing/center started 26% of his shifts in the D-zone, which was the seventh-highest of any forward in the league. That percentage rose to 32.4% in the postseason, the highest of any forward to play a game in the playoffs. For comparison, McLeod was 11th and 17th in those respective ranks.