If there was a team screaming for a goalie upgrade the past couple of years, it was certainly the New Jersey Devils.
And a quarter of the way into this season, the upgrade has shown itself impactful with the Devils going from 26th in goals against per game at the end of last season to sixth entering play Monday night.
It’s not just about Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen — and I would argue Markstrom has another level to go in his game — but the two veteran netminders are certainly a big part of the Devils’ defensive turnaround.
It sure is nice for Tom Fitzgerald not to have to constantly answer media questions about his goaltending anymore, that’s for sure.
“Yeah, it is,” the Devils GM told The Athletic on Monday. “There’s a confidence knowing you’re in every game, from your goalie out. Which is incredibly relaxing for a manager. With that being said, I do think our tandem has another level, which is good. But they give us a chance every single night.
“When you think the other team is ready to score, they make these incredible saves that keeps the game where it is.”
The team’s defensive turnaround is also about a healthy Dougie Hamilton this season and a revamped blue line that saw the additions of Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon and Jonathan Kovacevic.
And a forward group more committed to not cheating for offense.
“I would also attribute it to our younger players maturing and understanding how teams win in this league, and that’s defense,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s not exchanging odd-man rushes after off-man rushes and pinching and not having a third guy high, so systemically it’s been very good.
“And yes, the additions we made on the back end have really emphasized defending. … Dillon, Kovacevic, Pesce, these guys are defenders first. They take pride in defending. And letting our goalies see all the pucks.”
All of which is contagious, Fitzgerald said, pointing to improved defensive play from Hamilton as well as second-year stud Luke Hughes.
“Dougie’s defending better, and Luke is a different player,” Fitzgerald said. “Man, you can see the pride that Luke is taking from defending with his legs and taking plays away.”
New coach Sheldon Keefe has helped foster a mindset where defense comes first, Fitzgerald added.
The Devils have a deep lineup, but if there’s an area they may look to tweak, Fitzgerald said it’s adding a fourth-line center or maybe a top-nine forward, where the domino impact pushes someone down the lineup. Either way, he’d be looking for bottom-six depth — someone who can win defensive-zone and penalty-kill faceoffs.
“You can’t have enough depth,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve been in touch with teams. … I’m looking for utility players, I guess — guys who can skate. I like size and versatility and guys who can play in the middle and on the wing. Just to add depth to the organization.”
Panthers after a D upgrade
The reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers began the week bottom third in the NHL in goals against per game, and that’s not where we’re used to seeing them.
Some of that, sure, might be losing Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to free agency last summer. The revamped blue line hasn’t been as tight defensively.
But I also think part of what’s happening is that when Florida plays to its true identity, it’s a relentless, hard-nosed style that requires all kinds of energy.
It’s doable over a playoff run, but I’m not sure how realistic it is to play that style 100 percent of the time over 82 regular-season games. I feel like we’re seeing that relentless style in parts of games, on some nights, but not consistently all the time.
Having said, my understanding is the Panthers do intend to tweak the blue line between now and the March 7 trade deadline. That’s already the internal discussion. They don’t have much cap space, so they will need to be creative.
Hurricanes goalie options
The signing of veteran goalie Dustin Tokarski on Monday doesn’t take the Carolina Hurricanes out of the goalie market.
My understanding is that the Canes intend to still keep on kicking tires on the goalie market, as they have for weeks now.
With Pyotr Kochetkov back, and with the Tokarski signing, there’s not as much urgency for further action, but there are still two scenarios in which I could see Carolina adding in net:
• The Canes might act at any time if if a goalie becomes available who would slot ahead of Spencer Martin and Tokarski.
• Closer to March 7, they’ll have to see where Frederik Andersen is at in terms of his game and return from a knee procedure. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent, and there could be an opportunity and a scenario where the Canes feel there’s an upgrade over Andersen behind Kochetkov.
Hockey Canada did its due diligence on Joey Daccord even if he most likely won’t be named to the 4 Nations roster when it’s revealed Wednesday night.
The Seattle Kraken netminder was born and raised in Boston but has dual citizenship because his father is from Montreal. And, actually, his mother is from Switzerland and the Swiss approached him last year about playing for them in the IIHF World Championship, but he didn’t go. Daccord hasn’t played for any country yet internationally. He has a Canadian citizen card but not a passport. And my understanding is, the passport would be a requisite to play in 4 Nations.
That’s why, even if he’s not named to the roster, Daccord is thinking of getting himself a Canadian passport just in case there’s an injury between now and the Feb. 12-20 event — because he would be among the goalies in consideration for Canada as a replacement. That part has been communicated to him.
And because the 4 Nations is an NHL-NHLPA event and not an IIHF event, even if he ended up playing for Canada at 4 Nations, that wouldn’t make him ineligible to play for the United States or Switzerland moving forward in IIHF events such as the worlds or Olympics.
(Photo of Pyotr Kochetkov: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
