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Over the last few years the New Jersey Devils have consistently been at the bottom of league scoring.
Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise bolting without any assets coming back to the Devils certainly didn't help their cause but there is more to it than that.
The Devils, like most teams, have continued to trot out the traditional top-6/bottom-6 group of forwards.
Given the Devils haven't had a ton of high-end talent on their roster the top-6 has struggled to out score opposing team's top units, although that wasn't as much of an issue last season, while their bottom-6 has given them next to nothing offensively.
If you take a look at the teams that are having success now they have put a premium on skill players and tried to improve their offense by going with three scoring lines.
Take the Pittsburgh Penguins, for example. They are probably the favorite to win the Stanley Cup - or at least they should be - and they have completely abandoned the top-6/bottom-6 mentality.
They have Sidney Crosby leading the way on the top line, the Phil Kessel - Nick Bonino - Carl Hagelin unit as the 2nd line, if you'll call it that, Evgeni Malkin on the 3rd line, and Matt Cullen on the 4th line. Cullen takes on some of the tougher defensive assignments and plays on the penalty kill but he can also score. The Penguins have players that can contribute on all four lines.
Obviously the Devils don't have the option of putting a top-5/10 player on their 3rd line but, with a couple solid additions, they could have a potent, balanced top-9 and a new-era 4th line that can contribute at both ends of the ice.
I envision something like this:
xx - Henrique - Palmieri
Cammalleri - Zajac - xx
Elias - Zacha - xx
Kalinin - Josefson - xx
A few notes:
- The missing slots in the top-9 would include two of Reid Boucher, Joseph Blandisi and/or Devante Smith-Pelly as well as a top-6 forward acquired via trade or free agency. You can mix and match those guys any way you want but it'd give the Devils scoring options on all three lines.
- In a perfect world the Devils let their plethora of bottom-6 guys go, besides maybe Tyler Kennedy, and bring in a shot suppressor/specialty player to go alongside Jacob Josefson and Sergei Kalinin. A 4th line of Josefson, Kalinin and Viktor Stalberg, for example, would be capable of holding their own against tougher competition and would free up the scoring lines for easier minutes. Even if they were simply used to go toe-to-toe against opposing 4th lines they'd likely come out on the positive side of things more often than not.
- In today's NHL I see no reason to continue on with the traditional setup and have, let's say, Bobby Farnham - Stephen Gionta - Jordin Tootoo trot out there on a nightly basis and be caved in every time the Devils play a team with any sort of forward depth.
Doing that makes even less sense when you factor in how tough it has been for the Devils to score in recent years. They don't have the high-end, elite talent to fill the net frequently and the only way to make up for it is by adding depth and scoring by committee.
If the Devils want to accelerate the process and become a playoff team sooner than later I think they have to abandon the traditional top-6/bottom-6 setup.
We'll find out soon if Ray Shero agrees.
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