Chicago Blackhawks: New Jersey Devils have a new threat on defense

The Chicago Blackhawks played a very tough game on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche are one of the best teams in the league so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they won but you can be annoyed that the Hawks were disorganized and flat-out bad.

Seth Jones and Patrick Kane, two of the team’s best players, had terrible games all around which tells you what you need to know about the 4-2 loss. A positive is that Kirby Dach had a really nice game but didn’t have much to show for it. It was just a terrible game all around otherwise.

As bad as it was, there are 81 more games to change things. It starts tonight in Newark against the New Jersey Devils. They aren’t nearly as good as the Colorado Avalanche but they have players that can cause fits if the Hawks play the way they played on Wednesday.

If Jones and the rest of the defense play as horribly as he did in game one, kids like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Yegor Sharangovich, and Janne Kuokkanen are going to have a lot of fun. They are all fast, skilled, and ready to win.

The New Jersey Devils have a brand new threat in the form of Dougie Hamilton.

However, there is one new addition to New Jersey’s lineup that everyone should be scared of and that is Dougie Hamilton. It has been a while since the Devils, once a team built on goaltending and defense, have had a guy like that on their blue line. He came in 4th place for the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman for his efforts in 2020-21.

Hamilton had 10 goals and 32 assists for 42 points in 55 games for the Carolina Hurricanes last year. The Hawks and Canes were in the same division last season as a result of the COVID-19 division realignment so they saw plenty of him. Now, he is with this young vibrant New Jersey Devils team.

This is a player that the Hawks need to pay heavy attention to. If they don’t, they will pay the price. He can get the puck up to some of those young forwards which can lead to offensive chances. His partner will likely be Ryan Graves who is a big steady stay at home defenseman.

New Jersey will be a big test for Chicago after a big-time loss. The Devils will be playing in their first game of the season and their hope opener as well. You can still expect to see their backup Jonathan Bernier starting in goal because Mackenzie Blackwood is out with an injury.

We don’t know who will be in net for the Hawks because of the fact they have a game tomorrow against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They used Marc-Andre Fleury in Wednesday’s game. They will certainly give one game to him again and one game to Kevin Lankinen. Both of them need to be at their best in their games for Chicago to win.

Regardless of who starts, the Hawks will have their hands full against the Devils. They want to make sure Dougie Hamilton is contained otherwise he is going to make it a tough night on them again.