Devils Biggest Needs Following Luke Hughes Signing

[Mike Fink]

Luke Hughes was signed to a seven-year deal with a $9 million average annual value (AAV). The story that dragged on all offseason has finally come to a conclusion. So, all is good in the world for the New Jersey Devils now. Right?

If only it were so easy. The Devils still have their issues. At best, they are a top-two team in the Metropolitan Division and face the Carolina Hurricanes or an elite team in the playoffs. They aren’t good enough to beat those teams and still have a few positions to address.

Power Forward Wingers
The Devils were hopeful that Timo Meier would become the power forward who could take the top six over the top. When they entered the contention conversation, the move was made, and he’d be the scorer on the wing for Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier. He hasn’t been.

Meier has put together respectable regular seasons. He’s scored 63 goals and added 56 assists in two and a half seasons with the Devils despite a constant shuffling of the lines. In the playoffs, he’s a non-factor with only four goals and four assists in 16 games.

The playoffs are when goals are hard to come by, and the teams that find the back of the net have the power forward who can score in the dirty areas. If Meier isn’t that, then the Devils must find that player. Moreover, they need a player who takes a target off of Hughes’ back. The team’s best player gets taken out of games, especially playoff games, and needs that winger to protect him. It’s why this can be an issue as the season unravels and something the team must fix.

Depth Scoring
The hope is that Connor Brown adds depth scoring. Likewise, Dawson Mercer averages 20 goals per season, and the 24-year-old forward can provide a significant spark this season. Otherwise, the Devils are searching for depth scoring with a forward group that falls off after Hughes, Hischier, and Jesper Bratt.

The Devils need that third-line scorer who provides that spark. Erik Haula was on the decline and had to be traded this summer. However, he was the center who provided that offense and the trade creates a void.

There are internal options to address this need. The Devils signed Brown and added Evgeni Dadovov while hoping Mercer, Cody Glass, and Arseny Gritsyuk, the Russian wild card who was brought in this offseason, add that. The Devils need a forward group that can come at teams in waves, and as of now, they don’t have that.

Another Two-Way Center
The Devils are built up the middle with Hughes and Hischier centering the top two lines. That’s good enough to be competitive. The reality is that they need their Anton Lundell to be great. They need that third-line center who can move up to the second line and give the Devils options.

The common theme for the glaring needs is a third-line center, and that can be fixed with Glass stepping up. That said, adding another second-line center can go a long way. It gives the Devils the option to move Hughes to the wing or mix up the top six, depending on the matchups, and the playoffs will be all about the matchups.

What Fitzgerald Can Do
In the NHL, a team needs cap space, prospects, or draft picks to make big moves. To get something, you have to give something. The Devils are over the cap, have one of the worst farm systems in the NHL, and have minimal draft picks to move.

For a team that needs to make a splash to make a difference, its general manager (GM), Tom Fitzgerald, has little to work with. So, he has to play out the season. The Devils will be one of the buyers and must wait to see what becomes available. Eventually, he can make a big move, and the question is whether he takes the swing or not. It might require an NHL player being traded or even a core part of the roster. That said, this team isn’t good enough, and his GM tenure will be defined by what he does to move the needle.

The Hughes signing prevents the defense from falling off. Now, they have Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, who give the Devils a two-way presence even if one is out with an injury. Johnathan Kovacevic is out with an injury but the Devils still have stay-at-home options with Jonas Siegenthaler and Brenden Dillon on it.

The Devils also don’t have any issues in the net. Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom give them a reliable tandem (although it’s worth noting that Markstrom heads to free agency after the season). The big issues, ironically, are in the forward unit, and it’s what Fitzgerald must address.

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