When the Devils hosted the Vegas Knights earlier this season in New Jersey, the size advantage of Vegas was very evident. It was wave after wave of big guys hopping the boards on both forward and defense. Barbashev, Stone, Hanafin,Theodore, Hertl, McNabb, Howden, Korzcak, Kolesar, Smith, Whitecloud and more. The few guys that weren’t physically large in Dorofyev, Eichel and Marner were huge in other ways.
Fast forward to the Stanley Cup Finals and not too surprisingly, Vegas is one of the last two teams standing. Already with a 1-0 lead, the size of Vegas should continue to wear on a smaller Carolina forward group. Guys like Aho, Ehlers, Jarvis, Stankoven, Hall and Blake won’t be able to generate the sustained offense we’ve seen as they waltzed through a weak Eastern Conference playoff bracket. So despite what she tells you, SIZE DOES MATTER!
With that said the Devils, who no one would describe as a “big” team, were bigger (on paper) than Vegas in this past season. The Devils averaged a height of 6’2” and a weight of 203 lbs. Where Vegas at the same average height was on average 2 lbs lighter. So did they measure the Devils with their skates on after a big meal? Or do they just play small?
Some of the Devils bigger players, Hamilton, Siegenthaler, Cotter and Noesen are not heard from enough in the physical side. Hamilton at 6’6” and 230lbs was the Devils biggest defender in 2025-26’, yet often played smaller than Lane Hutson in his own end.
When it comes to the forward group, only Timo Meier can be considered as an imposing force. Meier has been an absolute bull at times, but seems to be saving those efforts mostly for big games and playoffs(which there haven’t been many of in NJ). Connor Brown, Nico Hischier, and Cody Glass aren’t scared to mix it up, however they are not the wrecking ball type players you would see in Vegas.
Late additions of Bjugstad and Tysplakov along with the injured Zac MacEwen gives the Devils some size in the bottom of the forward group that lack the skill to play up in the lineup. Throwing one line of big guys that’s only getting 3-6 minutes of ice a game is not addressing the issue. So what can New Jersey do?
The players that are bigger in stature but small in physicality need to either change their mindset and approach to the game, or change their sweater. As David Puddy said “We are the Devviiiilllllssss! The Devvviiiillllsss!”, so let’s start playing like it…