Devils News
Devils Coach Makes Surprising Lineup Change Before Crucial Game vs. Blue Jackets
Despite Daniel Sprong’s positive impact in his Devils debut, he will be a healthy scratch against the Blue Jackets.
All season long, the New Jersey Devils couldn’t beat the lack of depth scoring allegations. They finally acquired some depth help at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, and the early returns have been encouraging. That’s why Tuesday morning’s lineup change ahead of a crucial bout with the Columbus Blue Jackets is puzzling.
Daniel Sprong will be a healthy scratch.
After he was acquired, but before the new Devils forward could get in the lineup, head coach Sheldon Keefe had an idea of who Sprong was.
“There are some things in his game, obviously, that are the reasons why he [was in the AHL]. So that’s on him to manage that and for us to help him. But there’s no question this guy can shoot the puck and score goals,” Keefe explained on the eve of deadline day.
Yet, Sprong jumped right into the lineup when he arrived in New Jersey, lining up next to fellow deadline acquisition, Cody Glass, and veteran forward Erik Haula, forming a new-look third line.
What came next, no one was expecting.
The Devils’ third line propelled New Jersey to victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, accounting for two of their three goals (from Glass & Haula) in the victory. In fact, that line generated so much buzz, Haula scored his first goal in 29 games.
It was also the first time the Devils received two goals in the same game from the bottom-six since Nov. 25th.
The analytics agreed with the eye test that the new combination of Haula, Glass, and Sprong were one of, if not the best Devils line on Sunday.
By the end of regulation, the new Devils trio accrued an excellent 62.50 CF%, 93.03 xGF%, and 3-1 chance differential. Individually, Sprong generated three shots on two scoring chances, and personally helped generate the offense with an iCF of 6, and third-best ixG of 0.15, via Natural Stat Trick.
Sprong didn’t tally a point on the scoresheet in his Devils debut, but he was certainly a factor in his lines’ success.
Following the victory, Keefe praised Sprong’s efforts as 1/3 of their line, positively citing his defensive impact he criticized prior.
“Yeah. He’s a guy that can score from anywhere. He can score from distance. We don’t have a lot of guys that have that ability,” Keefe explained. “So he keeps the other team honest that way. And again, I thought that that line benefited at times. There are times I had them come after the Lazar line and was putting them in some good spots, and that’s when they can utilize their skills a little bit more. I liked how he got some pucks to the net stronger today and probably even more important than that, quite frankly, is how he defended. It was a low event game, and he was responsible, you know? He did his job, the neutral zone, the system, stuff that we talked to him about and wanted him to focus on today. He did a nice job of it. So that showed me that he’s committed to making a good impression and wanting to be trusted.”
Frankly, Sprong’s initial impact has left most scratching their heads Tuesday morning.
Keefe explained that after healthy scratching Paul Cotter in an attempt to “reset” him, the Devils head coach wanted to get him back in the lineup.
As a result, Jesper Bratt moves down to line three with Glass and Haula, Tomas Tatar moves up with Dawson Mercer and Ondrej Palat, and Cotter slides into the fourth line. As transparent as Keefe can be, the explanation is a bit puzzling.
“The Glass line was so influential in our previous game, so you don’t want that line to take a step back, despite me disrupting and taking Sprong out,” Keefe recognized to the media. “With that said, I just thought [Bratt] would be a good fit there to keep that line’s momentum going. I really liked Tatar with Mercer and Palat when we were using that. The pieces just kind of fall into place the more you move them around and stare at them long enough. You find one that makes sense as much as you can with the situation, given that I wanted to get Cotter back in today.”
It feels like in a pivotal game such as Tuesday’s against the Blue Jackets, you’d want to ice your best lineup, especially while missing Jack Hughes. Scratching Sprong when there are certainly other choices to take a seat seems counterproductive. Perhaps, that’s a take that will age poorly. But, typically, you don’t change a winning lineup unless it’s absolutely necessary.
With four points separating the Devils and Blue Jackets, we’ll see how this shakes out in short order.
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