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It was suggested to New Jersey Devils coach Pete DeBoer that perhaps his team was built in a less-than-ideal fashion. He has a veteran group of forwards led by Jaromir Jagr, Mike Cammalleri and Patrik Elias. The youth is on defense, where 22-year-old Jon Merrill, 23-year-old Eric Gelinas and 20-year-old Damon Severson are all getting significant minutes. Typically, coaches like the youth at forward -- where the inevitable mistakes that come with inexperience are a little easier to hide -- and veterans on defense. “I’ve never been of that school,” DeBoer said when we chatted over the weekend. “I think coaches want guys who can play. There’s no doubt there’s more subtleties to playing defense at the NHL level you have to learn. Stick positioning, when to be patient -- things that forwards can get away with. If you have young defensemen with hockey sense, those things get picked up pretty quickly.” The Devils seem to have that. The reshaping of the Devils' defense has helped improve New Jersey’s transition game, something that should be of great benefit to a team that was already a good possession club. Still, the early returns are mixed.
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