Is the offense still mainly based on impact?

A new coaching staff may bring a new system and a new style of hockey. See how they New Jersey Devils This season they are playing much better than they have been. One of the main ways the Devils run their offense is through the rush. If you look at the rush attempts by forwards in 5-on-5 games over the past few seasons, the Devils have a lot of players that are near the top and well above average.

Last season was down slightly from the year before, but even with fewer rushes last year, five Devils forwards still ranked in the top 60 in 5v5 rushes per 60 minutes. That’s a very high number, well above the NHL average. Check out the stats, thanks Natural Statistics Techniquesranked among all NHL forwards who have played at least 500 minutes at 5-on-5:

Those five players rank in the top 60 among NHL forwards in rushing attempts per 60 minutes, which says a lot. And that’s out of 375 qualifying forwards, so it just goes to show how much the Devils offense relies on rushing attempts and using them to score points and start offenses, both last year and under Lindy Love.

Interestingly, some data suggests that things may not change much under Sheldon Keefe. Toronto also had a number of forwards who ranked among the top in rushing attempts last season under Keefe. Take a look at Toronto’s numbers:

Toronto only had four players in the top 60, while New Jersey had five, but that’s still a high number, and they’re first in the NHL in rushing attempts per 60 minutes. No one has more rushing attempts per 60 minutes than Bobby McCann. This shows that Keefe excels in an up-tempo offense and uses rushing attempts as a good, effective means of scoring.

The good news is that when you look at the names in both tables, the Devils forwards who are able to create rushing chances are the higher value players overall. Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier are the three highest paid forwards on the team and along with Nico Hirschl, are the most valuable and important forwards on the team. The fact that these guys value rushing and do it well bodes well for Sheldon Keefe to exploit it again in 2024-25. It would seem counterproductive for a coach who utilized rushing chances in Toronto to suddenly not incorporate them into his system in New Jersey to work with players who have successfully utilized rushing chances.

Still, given the players on this team, it will be interesting to see how the new coaching staff implements their system and if Keefe wants to keep this offense fast-paced and generating a ton of rushing attempts. If nothing else, it will certainly be interesting.