One of the chief concerns with the Devils going into this season was their defensive ability. Last season wasn’t just a goaltending problem, it was a full scale defensive meltdown exacerbated by poor goaltending. While there’s still room for improvement between the pipes, the team’s defensive work of late is enough to promote optimism that the Devils are for real.
Over the last month, no team has seen a bigger rise in their Defensive Rating than the Devils, who have gone from slightly above average to a top 10 team. That’s off the strength of allowing just 2.12 expected goals against per 60, the sixth-best mark in the league which helped the Devils put up a 57 percent xG rate, third-best in the league.
Here’s where it gets interesting: the biggest driver of that was
Jack Hughes.
One thing Sheldon Keefe doesn’t get nearly enough credit for is how he helped develop both Auston Matthews and
Mitch Marner into Selke-worthy players. While that lofty height might be a stretch for Hughes, he appears to be taking very real strides in his defensive game. Over the last month he was on for just 1.92 xGA/60 and 0.64 GA/60, both among the absolute best marks on the team. Managing that at the top of the lineup (where the pace is generally much faster) is really impressive — even if
Nico Hischier is normally the one tasked with tough minutes. Funny enough,
Luke Hughes has taken similar strides in his off-puck play too.
The best thing about Keefe’s tenure in Toronto was his ability to turn a high-octane, offense-first team into one that controlled the game more and defended better. That’s starting to play out in New Jersey as well and that it’s being led by Jack Hughes (and to a lesser extent, his brother) is great to see. New Jersey had one of the biggest jumps in Stanley Cup odds because of it.
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