New Jersey Devils

On Henrique, Johansson, and more
August 9, 2017, 12:50 PM ET [18 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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1) The more I think about it, the more I feel Adam Henrique will probably have to remain at center next season.

While the Devils have a lot of versatile guys who *can* play down the middle, some are better suited for the wing.

I think the long-term plan is for Pavel Zacha to become a center, but he barely won 40% of the 460+ draws he took last season. Faceoffs are generally overrated, and there's a direct correlation between age and winning draws (when you gain experience/fill out, you win more), but I don't know that you want to have a guy who loses that often taking them on a full-time basis.

John Quenneville made the AHL all-star team as a winger and didn't take a draw during his 12-game stint with the big club so it's probably safe to assume he won't be a center at the NHL level. At least that's what Rick Kowalsky believes.



Nico Hischier can and will play center but he won 49% of his draws against teenagers in the QMJHL so he's not exactly going to be an expert when he jumps into the NHL.

Even if Zacha improves in the dot this year, having him and Hischier (likely) in the low-to-mid 40s will probably cost the team a handful of goals in the long run.

Many -- myself included -- penciled Henrique in as a winger in our initial 2017-18 depth charts, but I wouldn't be surprised if they end up going with Travis Zajac, Henrique, Nico Hischier and Brian Boyle down the middle. At least if they don't want this to be another rebuilding year.

2) I know Marcus Johansson played more left wing (and center) than right wing in Washington over the last few seasons, and the Devils have been non-comital about where he'll play, but the Devils really need him to take a spot on the right side.

If Johansson doesn't play there, their options are Kyle Palmieri, Stefan Noesen, Blake Speers, Joseph Blandisi, Nick Lappin, Michael McLeod, and Quenneville (though I think he may be best suited for the left side).

That's one top-6 guy, a decent bottom-6 guy, and a handful of question marks/unproven players who simply aren't capable of producing like top-6 players this season.

If the Devils want to be remotely competitive in 2017-18, especially in such a tough division, that's not going to cut it.