The Stanley Cup Final is here, and yet again, the New Jersey Devils are not in it. What makes this year tougher is that their roadblock, the Carolina Hurricanes, is in it. They face off against the Vegas Golden Knights for Lord Stanley's Cup. Devils fans won't be exactly thrilled with who wins, especially Carolina, given the history between the two franchises.
Devils' General Manager Sunny Mehta has a lot of work to do to get his team to where Carolina and Vegas are. It's never a good thing when your team isn't in the finals. However, watching the two teams this season compete for hockey's ultimate prize gives New Jersey plenty of lessons on becoming a true Cup contender. Here are three that stand out.
1. Depth Scoring Is A Must
One area that was criticized by Devils fans towards former GM Tom Fitzgerald was not improving the depth scoring. While guys like Connor Brown and Cody Glass stepped up, the rest of the bottom six weren't carrying their own. Relying on guys like Paul Cotter, Ondrej Palat (who they traded), Maxim Tsyplakov, and Evgenii Dadonov just wasn't cutting it. Looking at both Carolina and Vegas, they have four forward lines that can beat you in several ways.
When it comes to the Hurricanes, the line of former Devils' MVP Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven, and Jackson Blake has become the best line in the playoffs. Having a third line with a great faceoff man in Jordan Staal and a talented goal scorer in Nikolaj Ehlers makes it a nightmare for opposing defenses. Then you have Vegas.
Brett Howden, who is the most surprising top goal scorer in the playoffs, is on Vegas' second line. Having guys like Tomas Hertl, Nic Dowd, Mark Stone, and Colton Sissons come at you in different ways and can absolutely step up when needed to. Bottom line, the Devils have to have four forward lines that can beat you in different ways consistently to become a cup contender.
2. Defensive Structure
When you look at both Carolina and Vegas, their defensive structure stands out. Hurricanes head coach Rob Brind'Amour has formed his team into a defensive machine over the past 5-6 years. Per MoneyPuck, the Canes have the two best pairings in the playoffs. The first is K'Andre Miller with Sean Walker, and the second is Shayne Gostisbehere and Alexander Nikishin.
Along with Jacob Slavin, Carolina makes it very difficult for offenses to generate a multitude of shots and chances. The Eastern Conference Finals are a good example of this. In the four games they won, the average number of shots they gave up to the Montreal Canadiens were 17. Vegas has had its fair share of defensive shutdown performances.
Shea Theodore has done an impressive job of replacing Alex Pietrangelo when it comes to blocking shots and penalty kill play. Brayden McNabb, Noah Hanifin, and Rasmus Andersson have also become majorly important with blocking shots. They also play a physical brand that can shake offensive players off their game. Sheldon Keefe and Brad Shaw have to create a better structure that can be a balance of all of those things, including some offense.
3. Clutch Playoff Goaltending
It goes without saying that clutch playoff goaltending wins championships. Both Carolina and Vegas have had that all playoff long.
Frederik Andersen has silenced all the doubters this entire postseason. Some will say his success comes from the team in front of him. Make no mistake about it, the Hurricanes aren't in the finals without Andersen's play. A 12-1 record with playoff career highs in GAA (1.41) and SV% (.931) speaks volumes.
Mehta has a goalie issue between both Jacob Markstrom and, to a lesser extent, Jake Allen. Upgrades will be hard to come by this offseason, but the goaltending has to be much better and more consistent for the Devils to make a cup push.
