Ready or Not, Here They Come | 10 TAKEAWAYS

We're back! Just a few days away now from the start of the Devils 2023-24 Regular season and I'm so excited to bring you all another year of 10 Takeaways!

As in years past, this will be a weekly space where I share behind-the-scene stories, my favorite facts and stats, and anything else that may pop up along the way. I'm looking forward to sharing the season with you all here once again, and have been gathering plenty to chat about over the last few weeks of training camp and the preseason.

So without further ado, on the eve of the season beginning, here is this week's edition of 10 Takeaways, presented by Ticketmaster!

1.

It has been a long training camp and preseason. They always start feeling that way when the team is coming closer together and the lineup is becoming clearer. What has also become clear, as the team steamrolled its way through the preseason schedule, is how everyone is buying into what is going to make this team successful and how the team wants to play.

It's a continuation and growth from last season, where the buzzwords remain the same, but have to be taken to another level.

“We want to be a connected, committed group," captain Nico Hischier said, "A really fast team, transition fast. Not a lot of set breakouts. Just go, go, go. That’s our game.”

It's the game with which they achieved a playoff berth last season and a trip to the Second Round of the playoffs, and whenever you achieve a new level of success, it suddenly becomes the lowest bar in achievement going forward.

Big things are expected and there's no other way they'd prefer it.

It has to be a good feeling to enter an NHL season with high expectations set, not because the pundits are alluding to them, but because you've raised your own bar.

2.

Now that the 23-man roster is set for the start of the 2023-24 season, I think it's important to note that although Simon Nemec was assigned to the Utica Comets in the American Hockey League, it appears as though the timing was intentional to allow Nemec to spend some quality bonding time with the rest of the Devils roster over the weekend.

Nemec is the final player to be re-assigned by the Devils but not before he had a chance to spend the weekend away with the rest of the roster for their annual bonding trip before the regular season begins.

To me, it's significant. It shows you just how valued Nemec is in the here and now, as well as in the long term. The majority of the current roster players will be around when Nemec cracks the NHL lineup for good.

3.

I understand that there is probably some disappointment among fans to see that Nemec will start the season in Utica, there's so much excitement around the player. But it's all part of the development process, which is why I asked Lindy Ruff today how Nemec reacted to being assigned to Utica and the conversation they had as they made the decision:

"It was a really good conversation,” Ruff shared. “I thought (his camp) started a little show but I thought as camp went on, he got better and better. Talked a lot about playing a lot of hockey, talked a lot about being on the power play, and being a top penalty killing guy and getting the ice time he would need. And how his game built as camp went on and really just to push himself, to just keep getting better and I think in camp he did that and now he’s going to continue to do that.”

4.

There's been a shift amongst the Devils' locker room stalls with the departures of Damon Severson, Ryan Graves and Miles Wood.

When I first walked into the locker room for the first time this season I had to take a look around, particularly where Severson and Wood had been staples for many years.

Now it's Luke Hughes who sits in the stall left unoccupied by Severson, slotted in between Jonas Siegenthaler and Kevin Bahl. While Curtis Lazar has moved into the stall where Wood used to sit. It's a corner spot, with Dawson Mercer to his left, and Tomas Nosek perpendicular.

Nosek, Lazar tells me, was also his stall mate when the two were in Boston together.

5. 

You won't see me referring to the Devils' power play units by PP1 or PP2 anymore (at least I'll try not to!).

The two units are so deep, that they can both function as number ones with so much talent on both units. It's lethal.

So why no more PP1 and PP2?

It's simple:

I'll never reveal the names, but it just goes to show the antics that sometimes go on in the locker room. One afternoon when I walked in for media availability I got chastized, jokingly, for labeling the power plays PP1 and PP2. There can't be that type of disrespect to the talent on the second unit, they're well-suited for a PP1, and truly, can you really differentiate?

Well, I certainly won't be anymore. No disrespect here!

From now on I will identify the units by the centerman.

Don't want to get into any more 'trouble'!

6. 

In the long run, preseason stats don’t mean much other than hopefully setting the tone for the beginning of the regular season… hopefully, the preseason is an indication of the success the Devils hope to have this coming season.

Not only were the Devils the only undefeated team in the preseason (7-0-0), but some of the top league performers hailed from New Jersey’s roster.

Jesper Bratt was the league point leader with nine. And hop on down to a player with the second most points... you'll find Jack Hughes, tied with Vegas' Jack Eichel and Columbus's Patrik Laine, all with eight points.

Bratt, by the way, also finished tied for first in goals during the preseason with five, with LA's Adrian Kempe and St. Louis's Robert Thomas.

7.

When training camp opened Jack Hughes, Bratt, and newcomer Tyler Toffoli have been a constant. Rarely, if ever did you see the line break up and that's likely because of the instant chemistry the three players have so quickly developed.

Bratt and Hughes had the luxury of playing together last season, and you never quite know how a newcomer might gel. For these three, it didn't take much time at all. They have been unbelievably effective from the get-go and as a line amassed 21 points in the seven preseason games, some of which came on the power play. Their trio makes up part of the power play unit (see! I didn't say PP1 or PP2, it's working already!), and we'll see soon, as the roster has now hit their 23-man mark, what pieces make up the rest of the unit.

It's off to a good start for the trio.

“You have lots of speed (in Hughes and Bratt)," head coach Lindy Ruff said earlier in camp of the trio. "I think we can get the puck on (Toffoli’s) stick. He had a great year of finishing (last season). It’s a combination of those two things that could make the line effective. He can find the holes, he knows where to go, he’s a veteran guy that a lot of times needs fewer chances than other players.”

8.

With the way the Hughes line has been clicking, who knows where the ceiling is, as a line and as individuals.

Did ending last season with 99 points maybe irk Jack Hughes a little? One shy of a three-digit season?

You better believe it.

"I'm a competitive person, so definitely a little like, 'Damn,' you know?" Hughes said on a recent appearance of the 32 Thoughts podcast. "I wanted that because I'm competitive.

"You're so close, and you dream of being a star and you want to be a 100-point guy. ... I believe I will be. I just gotta stay on the path I'm on and keep my nose to the grind. I should get there."

He expects big things of himself, and always has. And that's seemingly what drives him. His competition not only with opponents but with himself.

So what's next?

I'd never bet against Jack Hughes.

9.

Success isn't just about the goals, it's about preventing them too, of course.

The Devils finished the preseason having scored 30 goals while conceding just 13.

10.

One of the things I enjoy so much about training camp is watching the interactions between the newer players, getting their feet wet at a training camp, and interacting with the more senior players. It gives you a little insight into just how much these players want to get better. I remember hearing in passing one of the younger members of training camp stop and talk with an NHL regular to ask him about expectations, how to gain weight properly for the NHL level, and the intricacies of getting quicker on his skates, particularly with the speed the club plays at.

The NHL player took that opportunity to be as thoughtful as he could be, it appeared. Really offered his advice, talking about his own experiences and asked the young player more about himself and his game. It felt really encouraging.

It really gives you some insight into the culture that has developed here in New Jersey, beyond just the players on the 23-man roster. It has extended to the up-and-coming players. The environment that's been fostered here under general manager Tom Fitzgerald's leadership has created an open and honest backdrop for players to feel welcome and like they can rely on one another, despite where they are in their careers.