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Last season, with Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec both being rookies, the dynamics were interesting. As rookies in the NHL, you want to protect these guys with more offensive zone starts and make it easier for them to face opponents so they can succeed and continue to grow at the NHL level. However, after Doug Hamilton left due to injury, these two youngsters also became the two best defensemen on the team, so they had to shoulder a heavier burden than the organization would ideally like.
This offseason, Tom Fitzgerald did everything he could to avoid over-relying on those two again by bringing in Brett Pace and Brendan Dillon to eat up defensive time and play strong hockey in the defensive zone. There’s no doubt that both of them will get a lot of defensive zone faceoffs. Dillon already filled that need in Winnipeg last season. He is there The offensive zone faceoff percentage was just 41.67%, the lowest of any defenseman with at least 500 minutes at 5-on-5 in Winnipeg. Pace hasn’t had a great season in Carolina, but there’s no denying that Carolina is a puck-control team and has been for years, to the point where no defenseman with more than 500 minutes at 5-on-5 had an offensive zone faceoff percentage below 52% last year in Carolina, and only one defenseman had an offensive zone faceoff percentage below 54%. So while Pace may have had an offensive zone faceoff percentage as high as 55.29% last year, you can expect that number to drop this year in New Jersey unless the Devils can suddenly match the Hurricanes’ puck-control efficiency. I’d love to see that happen, but it’s unlikely.
What all this means for Hughes and Nemec is that they will likely still get some level of protection in zone defense this season. I think Hughes, in particular, is an offensive-minded guy. Last season, Hughes had a 59.12% offensive-zone faceoff percentage. The coaching staff wants him to be in the offensive zone and help the team attack because everyone knows he’s capable of doing that. As he gets used to the pro game, he’ll likely have more defensive responsibilities, but a large part of his value is based on his offensive ability, so he should still get a fair amount of protection in that regard.
Nemec, on the other hand, is a bit more interesting. Last season, he only had 51.89% of his faceoffs in the offensive zone, which is pretty good even for a rookie. He was given plenty of defensive responsibility at such a young age without being overly guarded, and he did a good job of that. He also plays a different game than Luke, as he’s more of a two-way game. He has offensive abilities, but not as well as Luke Hughes. On the other hand, he’s also more responsible defensively and is expected to perform better on his own. So having him play around 50% of his faceoffs in the offensive zone makes a lot of sense. I expect that number to drop a bit this season, closer to 50%, maybe around 49%, especially if New Jersey Devils He doesn’t have a high number of possessions, but he’ll probably get a lot of offensive and defensive zone starts because it fits his game as a two-way player. As he gets older and gets better, he’ll have more defensive responsibilities, but with Pace and Dillon on the team this year, he doesn’t need to be bogged down for defensive zone starts and responsibilities.
It will be interesting to see how both of these players perform this year. They are and will be important members of the Devils team, they are the heart of this team. Both defensemen have a chance to be perennial All-Stars. How they perform and how they play this season will be important. Will they be protected less, will that only happen to Nemec, or will both of them be protected more given the other players on this blue line? We will find out soon enough.
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