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On Travis Zajac and Mike Cammalleri

July 24, 2014, 10:58 AM ET [80 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell

When the Devils signed Mike Cammalleri to a lucrative five-year contract worth $25 million, they surely envisioned him playing on the top line with Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr on his right.

Cammalleri is a natural goal-scoring winger who did most of his damage at full strength (20 of his 26 goals were scored 5 vs 5). Cammalleri's goal scoring efficiency at 5 vs 5 ranked him 7th among all NHLers, an area where the Devils as a team ranked 29th only ahead of Buffalo.

While playing with the Flames, Cammalleri spent a decent chunk of his time centred by an underrated two-way possession driving center in Mikael Backlund. They're not big names, per se, but this duo posted elite numbers together last season.



Note: Backlund and Joe Colborne are the two centers Cammalleri played most with in 2013-14.

Cammalleri and Backlund not only drove possession, but they also posted unbelievably good numbers in the goal department. When those two were together at full strength, the Flames scored better than 7-10 goals. That's remarkably impressive, to say the least.

Cammalleri didn't fare nearly as well away from Backlund as his numbers with Colborne - his 2nd most frequent center - dipped quite a bit. That said, playing on a low-scoring team that didn't do too well in possession, the numbers are still certainly respectable. There's no denying Cammalleri was much better playing with Backlund, though.

The good news for Cammalleri: in New Jersey he'll be playing with a better version of Backlund in Zajac. Not only did Zajac post more points while playing tougher competition, but he also posted better possession and goals for numbers.



It's unreasonable to expect Zajac and Cammalleri to match the 72 GF% he had with Backlund last year given Zajac and Cammalleri will likely a) spend much more time together, which will lead to inevitable regression and; b) consistently play top competition.

That in mind, their styles should compliment each other well and - with Jagr in the mix on the right side - there's no reason to believe they won't form a very good top line.

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