Dobber's offseason fantasy hockey grades – New Jersey Devils

For the last 14 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

This year, due to Dobber’s battle with cancer, he recruited Cam Robinson (of Frozen Pool Forensics fame) to pinch hit. The 15th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey.

Enjoy!

Gone – Michael Cammalleri, Beau Bennett, Jon Merrill, Yohann Auvitu, Jacob Josefson, Carter Camper, Andrew MacWilliam, Devante Smith-Pelly, Luke Gazdic, Seth Helgeson, Karl Stollery

Incoming – Marcus Johansson, Nico Hischier, Mirco Mueller, Brian Boyle, Brian Strait, Bracken Kearns, Brian Gibbons, Yaroslv Dyblenko

Impact of changes – The Devils have improved nicely this offseason with the help of some good fortune. Despite having the fifth bets odds to do so, New Jersey ended up moving up four spots to select first overall in this past NHL draft. Nico Hischier was very likely to begin his NHL career this fall and with the news of fellow centreman, Travis Zajac needing surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle leading to four to six months of recovery, Hischier’s chances are all but assured now. The dynamic centre won’t perform to the standards that we’ve seen from recent first overall picks, but the highly-skilled Swiss native can be reasonably expected to produce in the 40-50-point range in 2017-18. Zajac’s absence will bolster another young pivot in Pavel Zacha, who concluded his season on a bit of tear and showed a glimpse of what the power forward that he could become one day. Thanks to some cap constraints, the Devils were able to pry Marcus Johansson from the Capitals for a pair of draft picks. MoJo will slot into a top-six wing and bring his terrific two-way play to an organization in desperate need of it. He likely won’t be able to replicate his career-high production from last season, but landing in the 45-50-point range should be reasonable. Long-time San Jose Sharks’ top prospect Mirco Mueller was acquired after struggling to make the final leap into a full-time roster player. He should have a much easier time cracking the weak Devils’ blue line.

Ready for full-time – As mentioned earlier, Nico Hischier is ready for full-time and quite likely as one of the team’s top two centres. He owns tremendous puck skills, great speed and mind for creating offense. Those skills will get him on the map and make him a solid fantasy asset moving forward, but his strong two-way play will earn him the respect of his peers and coaches. He is a legitimate pre-season Calder candidate. Read more on Hischier here.

The 12th overall selection from 2016, Michael McLeod had an outstanding draft-plus one campaign for Mississauga of the OHL. The incredibly speedy pivot recorded27 goals and 73 points in 57 regular season contests and then tacked on another 27 points in 20 playoff games. It’s the NHL or CHL for the Steelheads captain, so he’ll need a very strong camp to break with the team. He’s another player who benefits from the Zajac injury. Read more on McLeod here.

John Quenneville made the leap to professional hockey last fall and didn’t miss a beat. The 2014 first rounder scored an impressive 14 goals and 46 points in 58 AHL contests while demonstrating his versatility and two-way play. Capable of playing both centre and wing, the 21-year-old should have a good shot of sticking with the big club after looking capable in 12 games with the Devils last season. Read more on Quenneville here.

Mirco Mueller will be in a camp battle with several bubble defenders. But his smart stick and good outlets, coupled with the price paid to acquire him, should land him a gig to start the season. It seems like the Swiss rearguard has been around forever, but at just 22 years old, he still has time to live up the potential that saw him selected 18^th overall in 2013. Read more on Mueller here.

Fantasy Outlook – The Devils are starting to accumulate some strong fantasy pieces up front. Taylor Hall still possesses the skills to produce at an elite pace and the additions of Hischier and Johansson should go a long way in helping him return to that level. Cory Schneider took a drastic step back from his consistent .920-plus save percentage career, but should be a worthwhile bounce-back candidate. The team still lacks serious puck-movers from the back end to feed this crop of forwards, and until that happens it’s difficult to see them producing major totals.

Fantasy Grade:  C (Last year: D+)

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