With the Devils off to Prague, here are my quick hits after a tough Preseason Game #4 in Long Island:
For me, minus the Meat n’ Mitts line, most of the positives of this training camp have been on the backend. Seamus Casey’s progress has been a pleasant surprise, the Seigenthaler/Kovacevic pairing has been excellent, and Dougie looks healthy and ready to go.
Meat n' Mitts Line
If the Cotter-Lazar-Bastian line can bring the same type of energy they brought to the preseason to most of the regular season games, they could become the most impactful 4th line in the league. This line’s preseason performance was fantastic! In terms of 5v5/60, they controlled 75% of the SATs, 70.47% of the xGF, and a whopping 85.71% of the HDCF!
Yes, they failed to score a 5v5 goal in their 17:28 of TOI, but their underlying numbers point to a process and style of play that is conducive to offensive production vs. other teams’ bottom six forwards. It would not surprise me if one or two of them have 10+ goals this season, including Cotter, who I could see surpassing his career-high 13 goals from two seasons ago in Vegas. The biggest potential risk and reason I hold my breath with this line lies in the chance that HC Keefe promotes Cotter up the lineup, as the organization feels that he was held back in Vegas.
Seamus Casey
Seamus Casey has gotten better and better as camp has gone on. We definitely got a glimpse of his elite skating ability, decision-making, composure, and playmaking. Now, I thought Casey has struggled at times to defend/end plays at 5v5, but to be fair, this is to be expected, and I’m splitting hairs on a kid who has only played in two NHL exhibition games.
When it came to the PP or needing an offensive push with the Devils chasing both games he played in, it appeared “visually” (and I stress “visually”) that Casey might project out to be a better PP2 and offensive option than Nemec in those two situations. Granted, the sample size is extremely small, and we are talking preseason games here.
His size is still the big challenge people want to point to, but make no mistake: Casey appears to have the makings of a future top-four D in this league. Don’t be surprised if he makes the trip to Prague!
Seigenthaler/Kovacevic
Jonathan Kovacevic was the standout D in training camp, among the group fighting for those 5th, 6th, and 7th D spots. Equally strong, though, was Seigenthaler, who desperately needed a strong showing coming off a tough season, both performance and injury-wise. This duo played in three of the four games and were a net positive in essentially every 5v5/60 category throughout their 40:31 of total ice time.
Without Pesce and L. Hughes, this Seigenthaler/Kovacevic pairing will most likely be the Devils’ 2nd pair on opening night in Prague.
Not Enough CHEM Time
I would have loved for the Devils’ main Vets to have gotten 4-5 exhibition games this season. Three games — and in some cases, two games (Mercer & Nemec) or even one (J. Hughes and Haula) — is insufficient to build CHEM with all the moving parts this season: new coaches, new players, and new team systems.
Simply put, Jack’s line needed more than just one game of merely 13:07 5v5 TOI together, in which they produced underwhelming underlying numbers and “didn’t play hard enough,” according to HC Keefe.
Another line that desperately needed more CHEM time was the expected opening night 3rd line of Palat-Haula-Noesen. Their 8:18 TOI 5v5 in their only game together vs. the Isles did not go well. Yes, Haula has been extremely sick and probably shouldn’t have played, but my overall point is a line like this needed a good 3-5 games of solid time together and only got one. Their underlying numbers scream that they need more time!
Systems & Special Teams
Many have asked about my thoughts on the Devils’ new structure, PP, and PK through the first four games under HC Keefe. Again, unfortunately, there is not a large enough body of work with enough of the Devils’ full lineup to draw any fair conclusions just yet. We will have to wait until 5-10 regular season games are played before circling back to this.
Jake Allen
With how shaky the Devils’ goaltending has been, I would have loved for Allen to have gotten one more full game in. Conceding five goals vs. the Isles (yes… including some very stoppable goals) is not where you want to leave things heading into the regular season. Now, he has that game lingering on his mind for over a week until his next potential start, which projects to be Oct. 5, the second half of the back-to-back in Prague.
Jacob Markstrom
While I do personally think Markstrom looked and played solid, his stats do not back the “eye test." His .867 Sv%, 3.71 GAA, and well-below-standards .636 HDSv%, I’m sure, don’t sit well with him. As with Jake Allen, I would have loved for him to get another entire game and potentially a “W” under his belt with his new team. I don’t care what anyone tries to tell me; as a player, a win is a win, no matter when it happens!
Simon Nemec
Tough training camp? Yes, but I’m not worried. Even after 60 GP last season, a young D like Nemec is still learning how to deal with NHL pressure. Your second year in the NHL is a different animal right from training camp, as different expectations are set on you when you’re expected to come in and potentially be slotted in as a top 4 D. It’s much easier to be called up during your rookie season and surprise everyone than to arrive to camp knowing you now have a job to protect!
Hopefully, his shoulder isn’t still bugging him, and he has a dominant first two games in Prague.
Our MSG crew will return to the air Monday night for the NYR game as we get set for a busy month of regular season hockey in October. See you all then!
-Sal
