With just 72 hours until opening day for the New Jersey Devils, here's my takeaways from the preseason...
- With just 72 hours until opening day for the New Jersey Devils, here are my takeaways from the preseason...
- Anton Silaev will be a very good NHL defenseman, he's just not ready yet.
- Luke Evangelista has fit right in with Nico and Timo. His style is legitimately "plug-and-play" with no time needed for adjustments.
- Anthony Mantha, on the other hand, will need some time to gel with his new linemates. The pace of Bratt and Hughes' game is not easy to adapt to. Expect a spotty output for the big winger for the first few weeks.
- Dougie Hamilton looks refreshed to be Fitz-free. Similar to the fanbase, Hamilton seems to have come to camp with extra pep in his step in the post-Shitzgerald era. Hamilton has wowed me in this preseason, albeit in a short sample size. Hopefully, he can carry that into the season.
- Declan Chisholm has a Chis-ance of making an impact as a bottom-pair D-man here. Coveted by Mehta in prior seasons, the 26-year-old blueliner had a very solid camp.
- Arseni Gritsyuk added some strength this off-season and it was clearly evident in both his wall play and shot. 81, already equipped with a great shot, made it even better. I'm curious to see how this translates over 84 games.
- Last but certainly not least is the goaltending situation. Nico Daws had the opportunity to really solidify himself as a piece of the puzzle between the pipes in NJ. Giving up two floaters in the first game vs. the Islanders definitely did not help; however, he bounced back at MSG last Thursday. Daws was solid through 40 minutes, and then the Devils began running around. The AHL-caliber lineup began to unravel in their own end. As the chaos ensued, Daws saw three pucks get behind him in the final 20. While at least two were not his fault, the young German accepted blame for the loss, stating, "Something I need to be better at is finding ways to stop the bleeding. We're going to get outplayed at times and that's when I've got to step up and help settle everything down."
- While Mehta's mind is still not made up, the shrewd GM snatched Remi Poirier off of waivers from Dallas. Elliotte Friedman dubbed the move "pure moneyball" and noted that it could easily turn into a "steal" for the Devils. With the jury still out on Nico Daws, Jake Allen remains the constant, and David Rittich was put on waivers.
oh yea, almost forgot...it wouldn't be a HockeyBuzz 2026 Devils blog without saying this at least once: QUINN HUGHES!