New Jersey Devils' 'No-Name' Defensem*n Anchoring Their Scorching Success (2024)

The New Jersey Devils are having the most stunning regular season in recent memory.

As a team that came into the 2022-23 campaign without too much fanfare, the Devils are beyond exceeding expectations. They have won 19 out of their last 22 games and sit with 39 points through 24 games; a pace for an absurd 133 points over 82 games.

They won’t quite sustain that, but the Devils are quickly rising from a playoff maybe to possible Stanley Cup favorites.

And they’ve achieved this despite Ondrej Palat, their big offseason addition, having only played six games before groin surgery.

Who is contributing to this shocking success? It's a combo of franchise players excelling and the bottom of the depth chart making a big impact. Leading the way are first-overall picks Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, who may be the best one-two punch at center the league has other than Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Winger Jesper Bratt is following up last season’s breakout showing with an even better showing.

Less celebrated is the team’s defensive group. For the most part, it lacks the name-brand star power that some of the forwards offer. Yet the six defensem*n who have regularly played are just as integral to this team as anyone else.

Let's take a look at this eclectic top four and analyze how and why it has propelled the Devils toward a potentially historic season.

Dougie Hamilton

Hamilton is the one Devils defenseman who is within orbit of mainstream acceptance as a top player. The right-handed shooter has the 6'6" frame that every scout dreams of. Having made his NHL debut at age 19, Hamilton has 387 points in 693 NHL games, which translates to a pace of 14 goals and 46 points per 82 games.

Yet he hasn't gotten much credit. The Devils represent Hamilton's fourth NHL team. He was traded both by the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames by the time he turned 26. He's just a one-time All-Star. Nonetheless, the Devils pounced when he became a free agent in 2021 and signed him to a seven-year contract worth $63 million.

He’s earning every penny. Hamilton has registered six goals and 10 assists through 24 games. His goals-per-60 minutes ranks eighth among defensem*n who have played at least 300 minutes, per Evolving Hockey, while his points-per-60 ranks 20th.

What’s more, he’s among the top possession drivers in the league. The Devils are outscoring the opposition 26-to-13 when Hamilton is on the ice at five-on-five, and they produce 60 percent of the shots on net. Both numbers rank among the league’s best for defensem*n.

Per the model created by The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn, Hamilton statistically ranks as the third-best blueliner in the NHL. The Devils paid him to be a No. 1 defenseman, and he is delivering.

Jonas Siegenthaler

Yet Hamilton hasn’t even been the team’s best defenseman. That honor goes to Jonas Siegenthaler.

He’s an unassuming player who wasn’t on most people's radars as a top defenseman, and his basic profile doesn’t help his cause. The 25-year-old has tallied just four goals and 30 assists in 199 career NHL games.

Where the Swiss blueliner makes his mark is on the defensive side. Paired with Hamilton, the former Washington Capital leads all defensem*n in on-ice expected goals percentage at 66.6 percent. Put a different way, based on the shot quality at both ends of the rink, the Devils would expect to outscore the opposition 24-to-12.

In actuality, he’s performing even better. The Devils are outscoring the opposition 31-to-8 with Siegenthaler on the ice at five-on-five. Simply put, New Jersey is putting an absurd number of pucks in the net and barely giving the opposition any looks of their own.

And while that’s true practically across the board for the roster, Siegenthaler stands out among the pack.

In fact, we can dive even deeper to show his dominance. The Devils are matching Siegenthaler against the NHL’s best players. The forwards he has faced most often this season are a Who’s Who of NHL superstars.

Not only is he holding his own against them, but Siegenthaler is also dominating.

With the exception of Dylan Larkin, Siegenthaler is thoroughly disarming the NHL's best players. The Devils acquired him from Washington in 2021 in return for a measly third-round pick. Now, they have a defenseman who doesn't put up points but nevertheless dramatically tilts the ice in his team’s favor.

Siegenthaler is an early favorite to be a Norris Trophy finalist.

John Marino

In an offseason full of explosive moves involving reputable star players, the Devils’ acquisition of John Marino from the Pittsburgh Penguins took a back seat. A quarter of the way through the season, he looks like one of the best acquisitions any team made during the summer.

Like Siegenthaler, the Massachusetts native has an unassuming profile. A sixth-round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2015, Marino didn’t make his NHL debut until he was 22 years old and is playing only his fourth NHL season. While he’s not a flashy player, Marino has quietly developed into one of the league's better shutdown defensem*n.

Marino is also tilting the ice in the Devils' favor; they are outshooting the opposition 217-164 with him on the ice and have outscored the competition 19-7. But while the previous two profiles were statistically intensive, let’s change pace and show Marino’s value through tape.

One of the Devils' downfalls last season was a defensive corps that struggled to move the puck out of the defensive end. Marino is playing a big role in correcting that.

His impact on the puck is more about quick movements that catch the opposition in vulnerable positions. What is particularly important to note is that he establishes this first through his defensive play.

Marino is there to bail the team out whenever his teammates are caught. He has great instincts and intuits how plays are developing. And while he’s not a high-end skater, he uses his wit and great footwork to stay with players on the rush, drive them wide and extinguish the fire.

What makes this a two-way effort is how he then seamlessly translates those turnovers into rushes the other way in which the Devils typically have a lot of space through the neutral zone.

That's the bread-and-butter of Marino's game. He defends well off the rush and rarely gets caught out of position, and then he forces turnovers and quickly transitions the puck the other way before the other team is prepared to regroup.

The Devils have better players, but Marino is the drummer who keeps the band on beat. He makes the plays that give top offensive players Hughes and Hischier opportunities to get out of the defensive zone and generate offense.

Ryan Graves

A fourth-round pick by the New York Rangers in 2013, Graves was the definition of a project. The Nova Scotia native stood at 6'5", played a physical game and had a booming slap shot.

But his skating was atrocious, his puck skills were lacking and he did not think through the game at a high speed. Most of the time, that type of player flames out; modern hockey isn’t built for them.

Graves worked hard to make himself the exception. He became a top defender in the QMJHL and then earned AHL All-Star honors in 2016. After the Rangers traded him to the Avalanche in 2018, he earned an NHL shot and never left. The Devils acquired him in 2021.

Graves has that defensive punch for which he was drafted, but he’s thriving offensively, which would have shocked many scouts who saw him as a teenager in the QMJHL. Through 24 games Graves has registered three goals and five assists. Per Evolving Hockey, he ranks 25th among all NHL defensem*n by offensive goals above replacement. And that's without power play shifts. The Devils would be thrilled if he continued that pace and potted 10 goals.

Once a one-trick pony in the offensive zone, Graves has moved beyond defaulting to the heavy slap shot, though he does still utilize it. He now complements that with a more diverse skill set. He moves into the circles to receive passes. He can place wrist shots in the corners. He is confident holding the puck.

Originally perceived as a no-frills defenseman who might kill penalties in the NHL, Graves has defied expectations and developed a fairly sophisticated offensive game.

His pairing with Marino is succeeding, and both videos give clues as to why it’s working. In Marino’s video above, a few instances of his defending off the rush came from Graves being caught after the puck got by him. Because Marino is such a reliable safety net, Graves knows he can take risks by joining the rush or pinching down low in the offensive zone.

It’s Unconventional, but It’s Working

The Devils had to dig a lot deeper to form their current group, but the Moneyball approach to how they've built their roster has worked.

Hughes and Hischier are undoubtedly the faces of the franchise. Not just because they are great players, but also because their greatness is easy to discern.

Defensem*n, particularly ones who lack flash, take a longer time to earn favorable reputations. The Devils’ top four deserves respect for their significant contributions to the team’s success. If this group continues on this trajectory and shows well in the playoffs, then it will eventually receive the full credit it deserves.