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After missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, in large part due to a lack of scoring, New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero took it upon himself to make sweeping changes.
Acquiring Taylor Hall was the headliner, obviously, but there is plenty of other new blood in the mix. P.A. Parenteau, fresh off a 20-goal, 40+ point campaign was picked up on waivers, they acquired Beau Bennett, who will not play tonight, via trade, they signed Vern Fiddler, and rookies Pavel Zacha, Blake Speers and Miles Wood also cracked the opening night lineup. And those are just the changes up front.
Whether or not the kids are able to make meaningful contributions right away remains to be seen but the Devils are certainly better off with them than the likes of Stephen Gionta, Tuomo Ruutu, Bobby Farnham and Jordin Tootoo stuffing the bottom-6. They'll have their first chance to prove it tonight.
Here is the projected lineup for the Devils (subject to change):
Taylor Hall - Adam Henrique - Devante Smith-Pelly
Mike Cammalleri - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri
Jacob Josefson - Pavel Zacha - P.A. Parenteau
Miles Wood - Vern Fiddler - Blake Speers
Andy Greene - Damon Severson
John Moore - Ben Lovejoy
Yohann Auvitu - Steve Santini/Kyle Quincey
Cory Schneider
And the projected lineup for the Panthers (subject to change):
Jonathan Marchessault - Aleksander Barkov - Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen - Vincent Trocheck - Reilly Smith
Jared McCann - Denis Malgin - Colton Sceviour
Greg McKegg - Derek MacKenzie - Shane Harper
Keith Yandle - Aaron Ekblad
Michael Matheson - Jason Demers
Mark Pysyk - Alex Petrovic
Roberto Luongo
A few notes:
1) Hall has a bitter taste in his mouth about not being seen as part of the solution in Edmonton and will be out to prove the Oilers wrong all season long. In New Jersey he is the undisputed go-to-guy and the coaching staff will give him everything he can possibly handle. I think he's going to have a big season; starting tonight.
2) Smith-Pelly is getting the first shot on the top unit alongside Hall and Henrique but I think this will be a revolving door all season long. DSP will need to really good if he wants to stick there.
3) Severson was all over the map, in terms of lineup placement, in the preseason but he'll start the year with Greene on the top pairing and is also expected to play on the second power play. I hope that he is given some time to settle in these roles and establish himself because I think he has the talent to handle these assignments. He can't have a short leash and be moved down the depth chart the second he makes a mistake, which has tended to happen over the last year or so.
4) I like what John Hynes and co. are doing with Zacha. He's playing with two responsible players, one of which is a pretty good scorer, at even-strength and is also being given an opportunity on the top power play unit. The best way to develop players is to put them in positions to succeed and the Devils are doing just that with Zacha.
5) I really like the Panthers this season but the Devils are catching them at the right time as Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad, two important players, are out of the lineup with injuries. The Devils have a pretty tough slate of games to open the season so it'd be big to get a win tonight.
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