The New Jersey Devils are undeniably embracing a youth movement but that doesn't big minutes will be handed out to the young guys left, right and center. Ice time will have to be earned.
John Hynes and co. are proving that theory early on as 24-year-old blue liner Eric Gelinas and 21-year-old winger Stefan Matteau are expected to sit in the press box in New Jersey's season opener Friday night.
On that and some other tidbits:
- I'm a little disappointed Gelinas is getting the short end of the stick opening night. He was by no means an impact player in the preseason but I thought he played pretty well despite being stuck with a couple of the lesser defensemen in camp in Seth Helgeson and Vojtech Mozik. To me Gelinas looked more comfortable/less panicky in the defensive zone and we all know what he can do offensively. He probably won't have to wait long to get back into the lineup but he won't have much leash next time he plays and that could put a lot of pressure on him and alter the way he plays. As we saw for years with Adam Larsson it is tough to perform when the assumption is you'll be benched after one mistake.
- I was on board with the decision to sign David Schlemko and think he will be a good depth blue liner for the team but I'm surprised he's been rotating with Andy Greene on the 2nd power play unit. I think every blue liner on the roster has more to give offensively and is better suited to play on the PP but maybe I'm missing something.
- I'm not at all surprised Stefan Matteau will sit in the press box tomorrow night. He had a very mediocre preseason and didn't really do anything to separate himself from the pack. Ideally he'd play over one of the veterans on the 4th line but, as mentioned above, Hynes isn't going to give Matteau NHL minutes if he didn't do anything to earn them.
- Jacob Josefson has been practicing on the 2nd line and on the top(!!) power play unit. I'm glad to see he'll finally be given a legitimate chance to make meaningful contributions. It's been a long wait for him.
Recent Posts Devils acquire Brian O'Neill from Kings