For the last 19 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 20th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer/fall. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

Gone – Pavel Zacha, Janne Kuokkanen, Frederik Gauthier, Chase De Leo, A.J. Greer, Ty Smith, Colton White, Jon Gillies

Incoming – Ondrej Palat, Erik Haula, Brian Pinho, John Marino, Brendan Smith, Vitek Vanecek

Impact of Changes – New Jersey brought in a pair of solid forwards to help fill out the roster in Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula as dual replacements for the loss of Pavel Zacha. While neither are likely to see time on the top power play unit, Palat could find himself lining up alongside Hughes and Bratt at even strength, which should allow him to put up similar numbers to last season (50+ point pace).

The Devils also traded for Vitek Vanecek from Washington and signed him to a three-year extension. Vanecek has posted back to back seasons with a .908 SV%. He had performed better than Ilya Samsonov last season but was unable to take over the starting job completely. Now he is granted a new contract and with it, the expectation that he will stabilize the goaltending position. Something that was sorely lacking last season due to a number of injuries to multiple goaltenders.

Ready for Full Time – Alexander Holtz is the top forward and is expected to start full time with the team this year. He has nothing left to prove in the AHL and played nine games last year with the Devils. All indications point towards him being a Calder Trophy hopeful with an outstanding goal-scoring ability. Fabian Zetterlund is also expected to start alongside Holtz this season. He produced eight points in 14 games last year on his first shot in the big leagues. He has a great shot to go along with a growing arsenal of playmaking tools, and defensive acumen to boot. Nolan Foote is the only other forward who may get longer looks this season. Second son of Colorado defensemen Adam Foote and brother to Cal in Tampa Bay, Nolan has upside comparable to Max Pacioretty but is still lacking defensively which is holding him back from making the leap immediately.

Luke Hughes is the big stud prospect within the organization as the youngest of the Hughes brothers. He played heavy minutes alongside Seth Jones at the IIHF World Championship and has John Carlson upside. He may see a few games this season but is expected to arrive in 2023.

Reilly Walsh and Shakir Mukhamadullin are two defensemen who will get looks this season but are both more likely for full time duties come 2023-2024. Walsh finished as the fifth-highest scoring blueliner in the AHL last season and subsequently received a late season call-up. Mukhamadullin made his AHL debut last season and will likely need to marinate longer.

Akira Schmid is the goalie in the organization who is closest to seeing some time if any with the big team. He had six total appearances last year during New Jersey's struggles with injuries at that position and posted a lackluster 4.82 GAA and 0.833 SV%. However he is still young and depending on how Mackenzie Blackwood and Johnathan Bernier fare with injuries or performances there is a potential avenue for him to see time.

Fantasy Outlook – The real story of New Jersey last season was the arrival of stud Jack Hughes in tandem with Jesper Bratt. Both players should be attached at the hip and produce at or above point-per-game paces this season. Palat and Haula are nice depth additions pieces to go along with the second line of Sharangovich, Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer and Holtz is a young sniper hoping to transition smoothly to the big leagues. However, for the last three seasons New Jersey has been in the bottom 10 teams in scoring and these new faces are unlikely to greatly move the needle this season.

On defense, mark last year as a write-off for Hamilton as he should still be considered a 60-point threat with top tier shot totals. Severson on the other hand will be difficult to keep at bay and should get plenty of opportunity, hopefully alongside Hamilton as opposed to in spite of, and continue to build off of the 42 points he posted in his last 60 games.

In net the goalie carousel last year was a disaster, Vanecek is the goalie they hope will take over and stabilize the position but he was not able to establish himself on a better Washington squad last season, so questions still linger as to how effective he can be. Until that happens he will be splitting duties with Mackenzie Blackwood.

Overall, once Holtz and Hughes establish themselves as real threats in the NHL this team will see marked improvements. Until that time it will be similar fantasy options to last season, just with a little more stability in net.

Fantasy Grade – B- (last year was C+)