Penguins Offer Devils Blueprint to Improve Depth
The New Jersey Devils could look to their division rival as a way to improve their roster this offseason.
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Sunny Mehta has a few tasks at hand as the New Jersey Devils’ new general manager. Among them is improving the team’s depth on defense and up front.
One model he could look to is what Kyle Dubas has done as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ GM over the last year and change.
Dubas made the Penguins a more competitive team with some shrewd and cost-effective moves to support Sidney Crosby and co.
That’s not to say that Mehta should Moneyball (Moneypuck?) the entire Devils’ offseason. If the opportunity to acquire a Pavel Dorofeyev or Jordan Kyrou arises, Mehta has to pursue it. But Dubas and the Penguins offer an intriguing model to replicate.
Penguins Had One of the Best 4th Lines in the NHL
A big reason for the Penguins’ improved depth was their fourth line. For years, the New York Islanders had the so-called best fourth line, but that title this season belonged to Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte, and Noel Acciari.
Dewar, Lizotte, and Acciari spent about 364 minutes together and posted an expected goals share (xG%) of 53.53 percent. They also finished with a goal differential of +6.
Lizotte and co. were not just a defensive line, though, as fourth lines can sometimes be. They created some offense, averaging 2.74 expected goals per 60 minutes, but it didn’t come at the expense of defense, either; they allowed 2.38 expected goals per 60.
Dewar was the breakout star of this unit. He finished with a career-high 14 goals and 30 points, and the results weren’t flukey. He finished with an xG% of 51.25 percent and an on-ice goal differential of +11.
That led to the Penguins re-signing Dewar to a two-year extension, which is unfortunate, because he’s someone I had my eye on for the Devils in free agency.
While Dewar was a key cog for the Penguins’ fourth line, Acciari and Lizotte were excellent, too. Acciari finished with 13 goals and 25 points in 67 games, while Lizotte totaled seven goals and 19 points in 55 games.
Lizotte has long been one of the better defensive forwards in the NHL, but he also plays with some pace, just like Dewar and Acciari. The reality is the Devils don’t have any fourth-liners close to their levels.
Luke Glendening was the Devils’ 4C for most of the season, but he was nowhere near capable of handling the role. He finished with an xG% of 36.58 percent and a goal differential of -14.
Paul Cotter was even worse, finishing with an xG% of 41.81 percent and a goal differential of -26. It’s very difficult to get outscored 41-15 when you’re a fourth-liner.
Mehta said he wants players who’ll help outscore the opponent. That’s what the Penguins have with their fourth-liners, and I imagine he will try to find similar players to replace Cotter and some of the Devils’ depth.
That doesn’t necessarily mean finding a bunch of players who will score 15 goals and 35 points. But forwards who can help you win minutes, such as what the Devils had with Miles Wood, Michael McLeod, and Nathan Bastian, would go a long way.
And for context’s sake, Dewar, Lizotte, and Acciari were all cheap free-agent signings. No matter how weak the UFA class is, there’s always cheap, productive depth available.
Penguins’ Bigger Bets Paid Off, Too
Fourth-liners aren’t the only improvements Dubas has made with the Penguins.
On defense, Dubas took a flyer on Parker Wotherspoon. He posted some solid underlying metrics with the Boston Bruins and eventually grew into a top-four role with the Penguins.
In net, Arturs Silovs cost the Penguins a mid-round pick. Silovs has his flaws, but he was a slightly above-average netminder this season, saving 3.5 goals above expected. You could do worse than him.
But what set the Penguins apart was that some of their “bigger” bets paid off. Egor Chinakhov was one of the best trades of the 2025-26 season. He fit in seamlessly in the Penguins’ top six, finishing with 18 goals and 36 points in 43 games, a 34-goal, 68-point pace over 82 games.
Chinakhov is someone the Devils should have targeted last offseason when he became available. He was an ideal fit for what they needed.
All Chinakhov cost was a couple of draft picks and Danton Heinen. There are always players of this type available during the offseason, and savvy GMs do their best to capitalize on those inefficiencies.
Anthony Mantha had a career year, finishing with 33 goals and 64 points in 81 games. He’ll likely cash in during free agency this summer after signing a one-year deal worth just $2.5 million last offseason.
Justin Brazeau signed a two-year deal with the Penguins and finished with 17 goals and 34 points in 64 games, which were also career-highs.
There’s a bit of luck involved with Mantha and Brazeau. I’m sure they even exceeded Dubas’ expectations, but knowing how Dubas operates, there was surely plenty of data that went into the decisions to sign them. They were good upside bets, and they paid off.
Devils Have a Template to Follow
Every team should apply some Moneyball approaches to roster building, although it varies from team to team. For an organization like the Penguins, who were supposed to be rebuilding, it meant taking gambles on whatever they could find.
For the Devils, looking for cheap bottom-six depth in free agency (or even the trade market) should be among the approaches Mehta considers.
This isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison for Chinakhov because they play different positions, but acquiring someone like Olen Zellweger, who has the potential to pop, would help the blue line.
Given Mehta’s background, I imagine he’ll be looking for some of these market inefficiencies, especially for depth roles. If he follows some of the Penguins’ approach over the last year and change, the Devils should be a much better team in 2026-27.
Advanced stats from Natural Stat Trick