Devils name Nico Hischier captain, plus observations from an ’emotional’ day

It’s been a longer-than-anticipated wait for Nico Hischier’s season debut, but it came Saturday afternoon with an added surprise.

Hischier was named the 12th captain in franchise history before the Devils lost 3-2 to the Sabres. He didn’t find out until Saturday morning, when general manager Tom Fitzgerald told him before the game. The club also had a recorded video with messages for Hischier from former captains Scott Stevens, Jamie Langenbrunner, Bryce Salvador and Andy Greene to commemorate the decision.

“It was exciting. It was emotional,” said Fitzgerald, who spent four seasons of his career as the first captain in Nashville Predators history. “Because it’s such a big deal to a franchise. Naming that person and putting that letter on their sweater is an incredible — I don’t want to say accomplishment — but just a badge of honor. You kind of reminisce on your own time and what it was like and just what it would mean to this person. So a lot of emotions, but more importantly the excitement and enthusiasm that Nico will continue to bring to the organization.”

Naming a new captain is always a big deal for an NHL franchise. Sometimes it is an obvious move, but this was an intriguing decision for the Devils.

Let’s start with the obvious: Hischier is a deserving candidate and has been the favorite to earn the honor since the day Greene was traded to the Islanders (and well before that). He has many of the qualities NHL teams look for in a captain and has been everything the Devils hoped for when they selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.

Hischier was better than expected as a rookie, centering a playoff team’s top line as an 18-year-old. His traditional offensive numbers don’t portray the full impact of his overall value, and the organization has sung his praises as a responsible, two-way player with maturity beyond his age for three-plus seasons.

“It’s a great honor, and I think it’s a privilege to represent the New Jersey Devils organization as a captain and leading the team,” Hischier said. “We’ve got some really good leaders in the locker room, too, and I’m sure they’re going to help me out as well. I will just try my best every game to help the team have success.”

The timing of the decision is part of the intrigue and why there’s more to this than just a young franchise star becoming the captain. Hischier was named captain before he played a game for coach Lindy Ruff, and there were other worthy candidates, with some stipulations. Travis Zajac has played 999 NHL games, all with the Devils, and the franchise could have named his captain for two reasons — as a reward for years of being a model citizen and leader, and to give them more time before making a long-term decision. Kyle Palmieri has not been with the club as long, but he’s been a top player and a leader as well.

Neither Zajac nor Palmieri is under contract beyond this season, so choosing one of them would have been unlikely without a new contract. Out of respect for where they are in their careers, Fitzgerald spoke to Zajac and Palmieri on Friday night before letting everyone else know of the decision. At 22, Hischier is now the youngest active captain in the league.

“I’m one to not ever think too hard on what’s the right time versus drop people in the deep end and just let them tell us,” said Fitzgerald, the general manager of the Devils. “Being a captain is going to be a lot of responsibility, but the main thing is for Nico to just be himself. He’ll have a great support cast, with our older players who’ve been around captains and understand what it means to be a captain.”

The other wrinkle in this is that Hischier isn’t the only young face-of-the-franchise player on the roster. Fitzgerald has referenced Hischier and Jack Hughes as the “twin pillars” of the Devils. At this point in their NHL careers, Hischier is the clear choice as the captain. But Hughes is 19, his NHL career is 73 games old, and he has very much looked the part of the franchise center at the start of this season after an extended offseason to work on his body and his skills.

A team source told The Athletic that Fitzgerald also spoke to Hughes in person about the decision, and that Hughes was excited for Hischier. The Devils envision a future that includes Hischier and Hughes as franchise centers and a partnership that opens and extends a Stanley Cup contention window through the rest of the decade and beyond.

NHL teams don’t often encounter a situation like this, having two young No. 1 picks who have the potential to be the captain for a long time. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Chicago’s Jonathan Toews were obvious choices, but on those teams, Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Kane had to embrace the decisions as well.

And while Crosby and Toews are both three-time Stanley Cup champions and leaders of the league’s top two franchises in the salary cap era, they needed help along the way. Toews had Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith, among others. Crosby had Marc-Andre Fleury as the yang to his ying, plus supporting leaders like Malkin, Chris Kunitz and Patric Hornqvist. Every team’s mix of leaders is a little different, and ideally it coalesces in an organic fashion.

There should be little doubt that Hischier can be a great captain. Guys like Palmieri, Zajac and P.K. Subban can help guide and support Hischier now, but other young players (starting with Hughes) will need to form a strong leadership core in the years to come.

“I was so happy for him,” Palmieri said. “He’s such a genuine, hardworking kid. Getting to know him over these last three, three and a half years, you knew he was ready for it. He’s going learn along the way, but we’re all here as his teammates to support him. … He’s a guy that leads by example and has all the respect in the world from his teammates and people that surround him.”

Hischier’s return was also an important milestone for the Devils in this weird, chaotic season. Saturday was the first day there were no New Jersey players on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list. Five Devils players went on the list because of the NHL’s mandatory seven-day quarantine-after-traveling rule, but starting with Mackenzie Blackwood and ending with Hischier, the club has at least one player on the list who tested positive for COVID-19 since Jan. 21.

Seven games were postponed after the club’s outbreak, and at one point 19 players were on the list. Nine players have confirmed that they tested positive for COVID-19 in the past month, plus Miles Wood said he had it before training camp. Sami Vatanen is the lone player who has spoken to the media and confirmed he was on the list as a close contact and not for a positive test.

“When COVID hit us, it was almost like, ‘What can you do?’” Fitzgerald said. “There’s nothing really you can do. We felt we really controlled the situation. I think our team, our organization, our locker room staff did everything in their power to help us get through a COVID situation, but then it happens and it spreads to one, two, five, seven and you go through what we went through.”

This was Fitzgerald’s first media availability since the Devils signed Jesper Bratt on Jan. 10, four days before the season-opening game. While the Saturday loss to the Sabres snapped a three-game winning streak that began before the COVID-19 shutdown, the Devils are 6-4-2, with significant contributions from several young players.

Getting to 6-3-2 without any games from Hischier, five from Blackwood and slow starts from Palmieri and Nikita Gusev — the team’s top two scorers last season — was in part because Hughes and Ty Smith have been excellent. But it’s also because several forwards who spent most of last season in the AHL have succeeded with the NHL opportunities the club has provided.

Janne Kuokkanen has six points in 12 games. Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian have become staples on the club’s fourth line and have combined for eight points. Yegor Sharangovich has two winning goals and has played up and down the lineup. Mikhail Maltsev and Nick Merkley have played well in limited duty.

The Devils had tons of salary cap space this offseason. Fitzgerald did make a quartet of moves to add veteran players, signing Corey Crawford and Dmitry Kulikov and trading for Ryan Murray and Andreas Johnsson. Kulikov, Murray and Johnsson have been productive additions, and the Devils have figured it out in net after Crawford’s surprise retirement.

Several intriguing forwards were still available as training camps began around the league, but Fitzgerald expressed a desire to leave spots open for his deep group of potentially NHL-ready prospects. At this point in the season, it’d be hard to quibble with that plan. Ruff has praised his GM for the decision to believe in the kids, McLeod and Bastian in particular, and the coach has shown a willingness to empower and be patient with them.

“You don’t know what you have underneath the hood of your car unless you allow them to play,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve got good players, good young players in this organization, and they just need a chance. They were told that on Day 1, that they will get an opportunity to play. However, it’s up to you to seize that moment, understand it and continue to take advantage of it.

“For the older guys, it was, ‘These kids are coming and they’re going to play and they’re going to push you to stay in the lineup.’ I don’t really care what you make, who you are, what you’ve done. I just wanted guys to push, and every night is a night to prove we are going to put the best team on the ice.”

The Devils also played a game Saturday, and for 40 minutes it was a contender for their worst of the season. Buffalo built a three-goal lead, only the second time New Jersey has trailed by three this season and the first time it happened before the third period.

Here are some other observations from a busy day in Newark:

1. This was the team’s third game in 4 1/2 days after a 16-day shutdown. There was an energy lull in the second period Tuesday against the Rangers, but the performance Thursday against the Bruins one of the most complete of the season.

This … was the opposite of that for two periods. There were too many misplaced passes to even pick out a handful to highlight. It was a consistent problem, even in the third period, when the Devils were controlling play. Turnovers at the offensive blue line were a problem early in the game. Those are energy-sapping errors in the best of circumstances and compounded the issues against the Sabres.

Palmieri said there were too many mental mistakes, and that wasn’t an energy problem. Ruff did credit the Sabres for outskating the Devils and forcing them into some of the turnovers.

“It’s easy sometimes as a coach when you have one or two guys that have no energy,” Ruff said. “I just felt that, as a group, we were slow. We were slow to pucks. We were slow to react. We made some mental mistakes that cost us goals. I think when you’re not skating, your hands aren’t very good. When your hands aren’t very good, sometimes the puck decisions you make aren’t very good, either.”

2. Ruff warned earlier in the week that these types of games, when the club collectively might not have its legs or its lungs, are going to happen with this crazy schedule. The Devils don’t have a lot of time to regroup, because they play Sunday in Washington against the Capitals. The game has been moved up five hours to 2 p.m. and will air on NBC because the outdoor game at Lake Tahoe between the Flyers and Bruins has been pushed back to 7 p.m.

So how do the Devils limit the number of “these games”?

“That’s a great question,” Ruff said. “I don’t know that you can limit them.”

3. Despite the ragged opening 40 minutes, the Devils were still in the game in the third period. Blackwood was a big reason for that. He stopped 26 of 29 shots, which is technically his worst effort of the season so far. He made several great saves, particularly before the Sabres took a 3-0 lead, that prevented it from being worse.

The Sabres had an 11-2 advantage in high-danger scoring chances, but Blackwood gave the Devils a chance.

4. This was Taylor Hall’s first game back at Prudential Center since he was traded to Arizona in November 2019. The Devils did a tribute video for him during the first television timeout. Buffalo had just scored to make it 1-0, and Hall had an assist on the play.

Welcome back, Taylor. pic.twitter.com/N4VQjoVb8m

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) February 20, 2021

Players from both teams gave Hall stick taps at the end of the video. Jack Eichel raised Hall’s arm like a referee declaring the winner in a boxing match.

Wanted to thank the @NJDevils for the tribute today. I have some amazing memories as a Devil and NJ will always be a special place for me to come back to. Classy organization and great fans made for a great 3.5 years!

— Taylor Hall (@hallsy09) February 20, 2021

5. This game had weird vibes early on. Buffalo’s Cody Eakin was called for a delay-of-game penalty, but there was no explanation from the official (his mic didn’t work). Blackwood had gone to the bench for an extra attacker, but one of the Sabres was allowed to collect the puck and skate with it for a couple of seconds before the whistle blew to adjudicate Eakin’s infraction. One of the Sabres defensemen collided with a linesman. The ice crew opened the doors and came on the ice too soon (it was an icing, and there’s no ice cleaning break after an icing). The Devils didn’t look like themselves because of the sloppy turnovers. Just … lots of weird stuff.

6. Hischier confirmed what had been reported in the Swiss media — that his injury was a broken fibula in December. He also said he was close to returning when the club went into COVID-19 shutdown mode, and he tested positive. He said the symptoms were mild. He played 16:29 in his return, including 4:01 on the power play. He had one shot and two shot attempts and was credited with two takeaways.

“There’s not much practice for me, obviously, so the best thing for me was to just go out there and try to do my best,” Hischier said. “All three periods I could feel a difference. A little bit rusty, and a little bit surprised by the high speed out there, but it’s just fun. I missed that. I’ll just try to keep it simple the first few games, but I already felt more comfortable in the third period than the first two.”

7. This was also Zajac’s return after he spent 18 days on the COVID-19 protocol list. He played on the wing the first two periods, first with Hughes and then with Hischier, and took only one draw even after shifting back to center. If he’s in the lineup Sunday, it will be game No. 1,000 for him.

8. Hughes played 20:51, tops among the Devils forwards. He also led them in even-strength ice time (17:21). He set up Palmieri’s third goal in two games on the first shift of the third period. He also had five shots on goal, tied for the second-most of his career, and seven shot attempts.

Everyone saw some passes go awry, and he has the puck more than most players, so he had his share. It did seem like he decided to shoot in a couple of spots where he might not have previously — maybe because he recognized he and the team might benefit from shooting more.

9. Ty Smith logged a career-high 24:06, tops on the club. It was the sixth time in 12 games that he has set a career high in ice time. He’s also played at least 22 minutes in all three games since the shutdown.

Smith also played 20:30 at even strength. Some of that was likely because the Devils trailed the entire third period, and Ruff leans pretty heavily on him and Severson in those situations. But if it wasn’t clear from their play, it should be clear from the ice time: Smith and Severson are the club’s top pairing right now.

10. Ruff said Murray, who was out the past two games because of a non-COVID-19 illness, was available Friday, but then he didn’t play Saturday. Gusev also hasn’t played in the two games since he came off the COVID-19 list. The coach did mention guys will be moving in and out of the lineup to add fresh legs as opposed to just performance-related scratches.

(Photo of Hischier: Rich Graessle / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)