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The New Jersey Devils are not sold on their defense.

It was clear in the preseason - John Hynes made several comments about nobody really stepping up to claim the bottom spots - and allowing 11 goals over the first two games will only further any concerns they had.

That’s why it wasn’t surprising to see the Devils linked to Joel Edmundson prior to the trade with Carolina. The same can be said of them being mentioned as a possible landing spot for Mark Pysyk.

Elliotte Friedman on SN960: NJ and VAN kicked tires on Mark Pysyk. His name is out there. Thinks WPG may have looked but they are stuck until Byfuglien makes a decision. @Totally_Offside

— James (@Account4hockey) October 7, 2019

Pysyk is a 27-year-old right-defender. Though he carries a somewhat hefty $2.73 million cap hit, this is the last year remaining on his deal.

Pysyk won’t produce a ton of offense. He has averaged just ~15 points per 82 games over the last three seasons with the Panthers. He is, however, a solid defender and it’s hard to argue the Devils couldn’t use some more stability in their own zone.

Last season the Panthers allowed 2.55 GA/60 and 2.21 xGA/60 with Pysyk on the ice at 5v5. They gave up 2.99 GA/60 and 2.43 xGA/60 without him. In other words, he made significantly positive impacts on the team’s ability to prevent goals. The xG numbers suggest that was no fluke.

He’s not going to give the Devils the best blueline in the history of mankind but I think he’d be a pretty clear upgrade over Mirco Mueller and Connor Carrick.

If the Devils were to land Pysyk’s services, which likely wouldn’t be too costly, I think this would be the optimal top-6:

Will Butcher - P.K. Subban
Sami Vatanen - Damon Severson
Andy Greene - Mark Pysyk

We’ll see what, if anything, comes of these rumors.

numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and CapFriendly.com

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