Much ink has been spilt this year over the Devils’ inability to play in a cohesive two-way system. Even more words have been written on how Tom Fitzgerald is not the man for the general manager position. But the more I watch the New Jersey Devils, the more I think that they could save themselves a lot of strife by being more deliberate with the ice time they hand out. This season, the “top six” of Devils forwards by time on ice are:
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- Jack Hughes (21:04 ATOI)
- Nico Hischier (20:48 ATOI)
- Jesper Bratt (18:49 ATOI)
- Timo Meier (18:33 ATOI)
- Dawson Mercer (18:07 ATOI)
- Connor Brown (17:07 ATOI)
Meanwhile, the third to fourth liners of the team generally vary between 8 and 13 minutes a game, with only Arseny Gritsyuk (15:09) breaking somewhat far beyond that 13-minute mark. The question today is: is there anyone in the Devils’ bottom six who should be playing a lot more? The answer is simple: Cody Glass and Arseny Gritsyuk should be getting second-line minutes. Let’s dive right into it.
Cody Glass — A Top-Six Player?
When Cody Glass was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, I am going to say that the general feeling among Devils fans was middling confusion. He was a player who had not shown much on offense up to that point in his career, and he looked to many more like a fourth-liner than anything else when he first suited up for the Devils.
That could not be more wrong.
Despite nearly not being qualified and allowed to walk in unrestricted free agency, Cody Glass has put in a career-best season for the New Jersey Devils. Yes, he is still dealing with too many injuries, and the Devils have been hurting int he games he has missed this season. However, he has already set a career-high in goals at 15 through 57 games. Questions of sustainability are bound to arise from this, but Glass has done something this season that he has not been able to do prior to joining the Devils — he has lived around the net.
For a fanbase clamoring for bigger forwards and guys who are stronger around the net, Cody Glass should be held up high in praise. The 6’3” and 200-pound forward is the largest top-nine center the Devils have had since Pavel Zacha, who has turned into quite a great player since being traded away by Tom Fitzgerald. Nearly all of Glass’s shot this season have come from within the faceoff circles, and the majority of them are below the dots. If you want someone who won’t play like a perimeter player, Cody Glass is your guy.
Noting the caption above, where it says that Cody Glass is listed as having the fourth-best forward impact on the team, I wanted to note how little the Devils have in the way of middle six players who play above their paygrade. This is how the Devils forward group breaks down on HockeyViz by quality of impact. They’ve been ordered from best to worst in each category:
- “First-liners” — Jack Hughes (very off the chart), Jesper Bratt (off the chart), Nico Hischier (almost off the chart), Cody Glass (1B-level)
- “Second-liner” — Arseny Gritsyuk (yep, just him)
- “Third-liners” — Nick Bjugstad, Connor Brown, Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer, Stefan Noesen*, Zack MacEwen*
- “Fourth-liners” — Angus Crookshank**, Maxim Tsyplakov, Nathan Legare**, Brian Halonen**, Shane Lachance**, Lenni Hameenaho, Paul Cotter, Xavier Parent**, Juho Lammikko***, Ondrej Palat*** (off the chart), Evgenii Dadonov (extremely off the chart), Luke Glendening*** (extremely off the chart)
(* — injured; ** — sent to the AHL; *** — traded, waived, or terminated)
Your mileage will vary based on what analytical model you use, but I like HockeyViz’s for it’s valuing of finishing and playmaking abilities on top of shot volume impact. In short, if a player has great “expected” impacts but can’t score to save their life, they still end up valued like a second or third liner. What makes Glass reach a first-line impact is that he is so strong defensively while not really impacting the game negatively on offense. Further, he is able to play great defense against top players while not taking too many penalties. And up front, he is very efficient at getting shots close to the goal. From NHL EDGE:
These percentile ranges are not comparing Cody Glass to other guys playing 13 and a half minutes per game, they are comparing him to everyone in the league. Glass is not producing dangerous shots like a low-end defensive third-line center, he is producing shots like a high-end two-way second line center while playing low-end third-line minutes. The only Devils who are better at producing center-lane dangerous shots at a higher rate than Cody Glass are Nico Hischier and Timo Meier, who have 70 and 61 inner-slot shots, respectively, compared to Jack Hughes’s 42 and Glass’s 37. Of those players, only Cody Glass converts on those chances above league average, with Jack Hughes being the most severely below average (6.8% on high-danger shots) and Nico Hischier being the closest of the below-average group (17.1% on H-DS).
My question to the peanut gallery is: if Dawson Mercer can play 18 minutes a night with power play and penalty kill duties, why is Cody Glass held back? Glass could easily make it so the fourth line only has to play a few minutes each night if he played more at five-on-five, and he has shown time and time again that he is effective on special teams when given the opportunity. But if Sheldon Keefe (or any potential 2026-27 replacement) did not want to try a modern three-line paradigm in which each of the top three centers play 18-22 minutes per game, Glass could easily work as a winger for Jack Hughes in some shifts (and please note, reader, that Cody Glass’s best shooting flank is the left side, despite him getting more shots from the right). When the two have played together this season, the Devils have outshot opponents 24-12 and outscored them 3-1 in a bit over 30 minutes. That is a small sample size, yes, but there are stylistic reasons to think this is a pairing that works. With Glass’s above-average faceoff skill and nose for the net, he allows Jack Hughes the room to zip around the offensive zone and do his work. Glass knows his roles, and he is good at them.
Due a new contract by July 2027, the Devils need to see what they might have in Cody Glass before it’s too late.
Arseny Gritsyuk Also Deserves True Top Six Minutes
Here’s a fun one for you.
In the 32 wins Arseny Gritsyuk has factored into (he missed a few games), he has had 13 goals and 13 assists. In the 33 losses he has played in, he has had just four assists and no goals. The trend is very simple: Arseny Gritsyuk is the primary “missing piece” scorer behind Hughes, Hischier, and Bratt. It’s not hard to see why when you see how he can move and shoot.
There is just one problem with the way Arseny Gritsyuk has played for the New Jersey Devils: he shoots way too far away from the net. Did you see how close Cody Glass is when he’s firing away? Well, Arseny Gritsyuk fires from anywhere, even when he might have the time and space to get a couple strides closer to the net. See below, from EDGE, using the slider to see where he is shooting from (the left image) and where he is getting his shots to hit the back of the net (the right image)
Arseny Gritsyuk is a dangerous shooter, but he takes far too many attempts from near the blueline.With Gritsyuk, he just needs to get to the faceoff circles. His 16.7% conversion rate on high slot shots is well above average, with just his left-flank shots hitting the net at a below average rate. (Oh look, another left-handed shot who works better from the right and doesn’t play there.) Gritsyuk is, in general, an near-elite shooter who looks below average because he has wasted 39 of his shots from the blueline and beyond. I also wonder if any of our writers have recently written about how our forwards play too high in the offensive zone in Sheldon Keefe’s system. It’s a real mystery.
With under 70 minutes played on the power play this season, the Devils have also criminally underutilized Gritsyuk in that arena. Has he produced a lot there? No. But how could he when he averages two broken half-shifts there per game? The second unit still converts decently well, but Gritsyuk should probably be given more of a top-unit opportunity. Here are the top four Devils forwards by net on-ice scoring rates on five-on-four power plays, per Natural Stat Trick:
- Jack Hughes (+9.61 goals per 60) (137:28 5v4 TOI)
- Arseny Gritsyuk (+8.92 goals per 60) (67:15 5v4 TOI)
- Nico Hischier (+8.38 goals per 60) (207:42 5v4 TOI)
- Dawson Mercer (+8.38 goals per 60) (114:37 5v4 TOI)
And the next four, plus an injured player:
- Cody Glass (+7.86 goals per 60) (22:54 5v4 TOI)
- Jesper Bratt (+7.76 goals per 60) (200:55 5v4 TOI)
- Connor Brown (+7.52 goals per 60) (80:48 5v4 TOI)
- Stefan Noesen* (+7.17 goals per 60) (58:33 5v4 TOI)
- Timo Meier (+6.89 goals per 60) (130:40 5v4 TOI)
For fun, if you’re wondering about defensemen:
- Dougie Hamilton (+9.16 goals per 60) (137:39 5v4 TOI)
- Luke Hughes (+7.51 goals per 60) (111:49 5v4 TOI)
- Simon Nemec (+4.4 goals per 60) (68:10 5v4 TOI)
So, statistically, if you wanted your most efficient power play units, this would be it:
- PP1: Hischier (bumper), Mercer (net), J. Hughes (left wall), Gritsyuk (right wall), Hamilton (QB)
- PP2: Brown (bumper), Glass (net), Bratt (left wall), Meier (right wall), L. Hughes (QB)
But, have the New Jersey Devils really committed to being the most efficient they can be, based on their on-ice performances? Absolutely not. As much as I think the offensive systems they play are deeply flawed, there is still the potential for better production by rewarding players like Arseny Gritsyuk with more ice time. The moment they start treating Gritsyuk like a true top-six winger with elite potential, and the sooner they treat Cody Glass like he can play in a high-use 3C/occasional top-six wing role, the sooner the mysteries of the Devils’ roster building struggles will be overcome.
Your Thoughts
Glass currently plays under 14 minutes per game, and Gritsyuk only plays about 15. How much usage do you think these two players should get? What do you think of using Glass more in a shutdown role against top lines to free Hischier and Hughes up for shifts against second and third lines? Why do you think Gritsyuk still gets the third-line treatment? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.