Devils look primed to compete for playoff spot with blossoming young talent
NEWARK » If there were an award for the National Hockey League’s most improved team, the New Jersey Devils would certainly be in the mix.
The only prize they’re actually chasing, however, is far bigger.
And, with youth on their side, for the first time in a while, it also feels attainable.
After a performance like the one they put on in their 2-0 win over the New York Islanders on Sunday night at the Prudential Center, difficult as it may seem to believe, it would be hard to rule them completely out on a run at the Stanley Cup.
New Jersey has made the playoffs just once in the last eight seasons since falling short in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012 — they suffered a quick first-round elimination at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018 — but seemed primed to compete for one of the final spots in the NHL’s ultra-competitive
East Division.
They’re off to a 3-1-1 start, good for a three-way tie for third place in the division. Only the top four teams advance to the postseason.
The core group is largely the same in Newark, but with some of last year’s moves at the trade deadline allowing more of the organization’s youth to have more opportunities to develop at the top level, the Devils are off to a fast start.
Specifically, 19-yearold second-year pro Jack Hughes and 20-year-old rookie defenseman Ty Smith have led the charge. Hughes, the first overall pick in last year’s draft, and Smith are the team’s top two leading scorers, respectively, and both again found themselves on the scoresheet on Sunday night.
Hughes scored what turned out to be the gamewinning goal, with an incredible snipe past Islanders rookie goaltender Ilya Sorokin from the left faceoff dot, while Smith recorded two assists, making him only the sixth defenseman in league history to record at least one point in each of his first five NHL games.
“What I see is two kids that are having a lot of fun,” said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff.
“I like the compete of both young kids. Jack’s compete in tight I thought was very good (on Sunday), and Ty’s vision, his quickness…his deception on the power play led to Jack’s goal, and it was just a heck of a shot by Jack.”
While plenty has been written about Hughes, who struggled in a rookie year in which he potted just seven goals but has already lit the lamp three times in his sophomore season, Smith may be more of an unknown to the casual fan. The 17th overall pick by the Devils in the 2018 NHL Draft, the skilled blueliner was one of the last cuts in training camp last year, but returned to the junior Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs, for whom he posted a dazzling 19-4059 line in just 46 games before
returning to Newark this year.
“It helps to get those points and help us create offense, but at the same time, I think I need to continue
to improve defensively and continue to get stronger to handle these men that we’re playing against every night,” Smith said. “That’s really the goal
right now, to keep contributing as much as possible offensively, but keep improving on defensive things.”