This looms as a repeat of last season, when the Devils floundered early and caught fire late. It won’t be as drastic, but it will reflect the difference between lacking and having Travis Zajac.
One key question is whether new coach Pete DeBoer is more like John MacLean or Jacques Lemaire, and the early answer is somewhere in between. DeBoer wants his forwards coming well back, but has ordered the green light for his defensemen to pinch, charge down the offensive boards for loose pucks to maintain possession in the opponents’ end.
Trouble is, that style means 2-on-1s against, no matter how dutifully forwards cover for defensemen. And 2-on-1s are not the sort of attacks Martin Brodeur stops best.
The Achilles surgery of Zajac stands to cripple them. They tried Jacob Josefson with Ilya Kovalchuk all preseason, but that was found wanting.
They’ll open the season Saturday looking for a better answer, and it’s almost surely going to require a trade. With Zach Parise back from his knee surgery, the dilemma of two superstar left wings presents itself again, and there may be no good answer.
Shifting Kovalchuk to right wing didn’t work last season, and it would be just as strained to move Parise there, when he’s made his NHL fame on the left. On separate lines, one will have the top role, the other subordinate, and that’s failure to fully utilize a major asset. The flip side is that Kovalchuk may not face the heavy checking he’s endured with the top line.
Rookie Adam Larsson, only 18, figures to improve the defense significantly. The fourth-overall pick in June, he received team-leading ice time in preseason, and they’ll need him to deserve such minutes when it counts.
Brodeur remains a major figure and force, although he’s been more injury prone and subject to losing spells, such as he suffered under MacLean, when the long-stretch-pass offense flopped and left foes free to press the abandoned backliners.
mark.everson@nypost.com
OFFENSE
They were the lowest-scoring team in the league last season, and they remain an odd contingent, listing left so heavily that one usual left wing, Patrik Elias, has become a center. The old formula of strength up the middle is not in evidence here, and it will cost them.
Parise is still regaining his form of two seasons ago, and if he doesn’t get all the way back, there’s more trouble in Newark than just finances.
DEFENSE
Larsson leads DeBoer’s move toward lefty-righty balance on the blue line, perhaps with Mark Fayne, while Henrik Tallinder, Bryce Salvador and Anton Volchenkov man the port side, and Andy Greene may be the lone lefty on the starboard. If Larsson falters, and it could otherwise be forgiven and expected, they’re in another sort of stew. There is no real stopper, no other power-play quarterback. And there’s no checking line.
GOALTENDING
Brodeur may be playing his final season for New Jersey, and he appears determined to make it good, whatever the future. He always prospered under Lemaire’s system, though, and may see a different sort of shots under DeBoer, and that is a concern. Johan Hedberg, an excellent backup who may also be playing his final season, was a near-hero last year, but if they have to turn to him again, there’s still more trouble at Mulberry and Lafayette.
COACHING
DeBoer has his own ideas of how to play hockey correctly, and they correspond to Devils’ style. Whether he can keep the opposition 2-on-1s to a minimum and get some offense out of the pinch-and-scramble are two big questions. The others are how to use both Kovalchuk and Parise, whether he wants the power play to be geared towards Kovalchuk’s shot, and how he manages that center position.
PREDICTION
They’ll compete for a playoff spot, but they won’t be their familiar contenders. They were dysfunctional for the first half last season, a juggernaut for much of the second half, and they’re likely to do so again. Kovalchuk will have to score plenty or dysfunction repeats. If they manage to go 43-33-6, that would be 92 points, enough to sneak in.
THE ROSTER
Goaltenders: Martin Brodeur, Johan Hedberg
Defense: Adam Larsson, Henrik Tallinder, Anton Volchenkov, Bryce Salvador, Mark Fayne, Andy Greene, Anton Stralman
Left wings: Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk, Eric Boulton, Dainius Zubrus
Centers: Patrik Elias, Jacob Josefson, Adam Henrique, Brad Mills
Right wings: Mattias Tedenby, David Clarkson, Petr Sykora, Nick Palmieri, Cam Janssen
KEYS TO THE SEASON
Most Important Offensive Player: Patrik Elias. Someone has to do the dishing for the star left wingers, Kovalchuk and Parise. It’s why he was team MVP last season.
Most Important Defensive Player: Adam Larsson. If he isn’t one of their top two in a few weeks, they’re a group vulnerable to being exploited for a general lack of speed, Greene aside.
Top Rookie: Larsson. Their highest pick since Scott Niedermayer in 1991, he has shown that the Devils may have hit the jackpot, winning the draft lottery and having him fall to fourth.
Key Coaching Decision: What to do with Parise and Kovalchuk.
Five must-see games
1. Oct. 21 vs. San Jose. One of the best squads in the league, with Colin White facing his former team for the first time.
2. Dec. 16 vs. Dallas. Devils retire Scott Niedermayer’s No. 27.
3. Dec. 20 vs. Rangers. First visit by Blueshirts, at holiday time. Slay bells get rung.
4. Jan. 4 vs. Boston. Claude Julien returns as Stanley Cup champion coach.
5. Feb. 9 vs. St. Louis. Jamie Langenbrunner and Jason Arnott return as Blues.