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New Jersey Devils Q&A: On Hall's future, playoffs, Hischier, and more

August 3, 2019, 11:52 AM ET [69 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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We've reached the dog days of the summer and I haven't written a Q&A post in a while.

As such, I figured now was as good of a time as any to do just that. Let's dive right in.



Not anytime soon. Taylor Hall is entering his 10th NHL season. He has made the playoffs once. Once! It was on a shallow team that barely qualified for the dance and realistically never had any chance of beating the powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning. Hall wants to win sooner than later and, again, he's never been close. I can't fault him for waiting for things to play out before signing for eight years. I think the Devils have made a lot of big improvements, and I think Hall realizes that. He just wants to *see* the progress on the ice. If that happens, and it should, I ultimately expect Hall to stick around. We're just going to have to wait.



I don't think there is any deadline, nor should there be. Taylor Hall is one of the best players in franchise history. He won a Hart just two seasons ago while single-handedly pulling the team into the playoffs. He is a true gamebreaker, and those are tough to come by. He asked for some time, and he should get it. Hall has made it no secret he's thoroughly enjoyed his time with the Devils. Obviously, the money is going to be there for him. All he wants is time to see if all the off-season moves will actually pay off and the team can be good. If they are, I think he'll stay. Pulling the plug on him before the season makes zero sense to me. If things don't play out the way anyone wants or expects, the team can always move him at the deadline.



I think so. The Devils made a few big additions in P.K. Subban, Nikita Gusev, Jack Hughes, and Wayne Simmonds. There's also the fact several key forwards – Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt – are making significantly less this season than they will next. While there's a core in place to keep the team competitive for a lengthy period, the time to start making noise is now. The Devils added to this extent in order to take a big step forward and (hopefully) impress Hall in the process. Another year without playoffs would be disappointing.



I wouldn't say the Devils are locks but there is a very real chance they get back into the playoffs. With the high-end talent they've suddenly built up, I wouldn't be surprised if they made some noise.



This is a question I get a lot but it's a good one. The Gusev addition makes life a little bit tougher for Boqvist.

I think the top-6 shakes up as follows:

Hall - Hischier - Bratt
Gusev - Hughes - Palmieri

You can bet Zajac and Simmonds are playing no lower than L3. Zacha and Wood seem a likely combo on L4. If that's right, there are two options for Boqvist: L3 driver with Zajac/Simmonds, or 4th line (with either Boqvist or Wood playing out of position). I don't think the latter is ideal, so if he doesn't force his way into the top-9 he could be heading back to Sweden for one more year. I'm not going to doubt Boqvist, though. I think he's going to play his way onto the team and make John Hynes figure out how to fit him in.



Could the Devils survive without Wood? Absolutely. Should they trade him? I don't think so. He may be penciled in on the 4th line right now but having competent hockey players low in the lineup is a positive, not a negative. He also brings an element of speed and tenacity that is not really matched on the roster. Oh, and he scored at a 13 goal pace last season despite shooting just 6%. If he finished at the average rate of his first two NHL seasons, he would have potted 15.6 goals in 63 games last year. I think he has more value to the Devils than whatever they'd get for him.



I think we're heading for a Swiss Army Knife season from Pavel Zacha. I see him starting at 4C. If anyone gets injured, he'll move up. If the Devils are defending a lead late and want more defensively capable players on the ice, he'll move up. If, say, Jack Hughes has a difficult matchup and is getting caved in defensively, perhaps adding Zacha to his wing (and letting him take care of some center responsibilities, such as faceoffs) will become an option. The Devils have a lot of options with the talent and versatility on the roster right now. I expect them to take advantage of that.



I'd happily take Jake Gardiner on a one-year deal. I certainly wouldn't be moving Butcher to make room, though. Only 32 defensemen have recorded as many or more points as Butcher over the last two years and 29 of them played more minutes. He puts up points, he drives play, and he can effectively move the puck up to the forwards. That's valuable, especially now with real talent up front.

I'd be willing to move Vatanen because a) Gardiner is better and; b) Vatanen is going to get more than he is worth in a year, thus he's unlikely to be re-signed. He should be, anyway.



Yes, yes, yes. Nico Hischier is already an absolute stud and doesn't get close to the recognition he deserves. He is a high-end 5v5 point producer, he works his ass off without the puck, he draws a billion penalties. He's just an awesome player. Essentially, he is not regarded as a superstar because he hasn't put up many PP points playing primarily on the 2nd unit with a revolving door of highly mediocre linemates. Now that there is high-end talent and depth around him, I think his PP totals could rise fairly significantly. Then, suddenly, everyone will be talking about what a fantastic player he is. Wait for it.



I think something along those lines makes sense. RFAs are getting paid more than ever and a No. 1 pick off to an extremely promising start is going to command a lot of money. I'd be trying to lock him up now before he really pops and the asking price goes up.



It's Cory Schneider's net to start but things could change if a) he struggles or; b) Mackenzie Blackwood really impresses. I think we're looking at something like 46 starts for Schneider and 36 for Blackwood. Even if Schneider looks really solid, I don't think the team is going to overwork a 33-year-old with an injury history.



Absolutely. Given Butcher's results, and the team's personnel, you could make a good case he was underused a year ago and is the best left defender on the roster. It certainly doesn't hurt to give him a couple preseason games with Subban to see a) if they mesh and; b) if Butcher can handle himself against top-6 competition.

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