We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the New Jersey Devils…
Team Play: ISSUE – Too much defense? It’s ba-ack. Or is it? Is the stifling 2-1 defensive game of Coach-Lemaire-in-New-Jersey-and-Minnesota fame coming to a Prudential Center near you? According to players interviewed after the first day of camp, changes made were ‘small tweaks’ and they have no instructions to sit back and trap. Might it come out if the team is ahead in a crucial game or if key players are injured during the season? That remains to be seen. But for now, this is not looking like your Daddy’s Coach Lemaire.
The early CBS Sports page for the Devils indicates a No. 1 line of Parise–Zajac–Langenbrunner from left to right, and Elias–Zubrus–Rolston at No. 2. One issue here is the health of Patrick Elias. It has been widely reported that ‘minor’ groin surgery (is that possible?) conducted Tuesday, 15 September will keep him off the ice until sometime between 6 and 27 October. That’s two-to-nine games to come back and three-to-10 for the sea legs to settle in. When you are the team’s most prolific scorer, that might dampen prospects. However, indications are the other forwards will tote the note and get scoring done by committee, especially when early training camp indications are positive for some of the youngsters (like Patrice Cormier and Rod Pelley).
Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.
