3 New Jersey Devils who need to step up amid Nico Hischier's injury
By Marci Rubin
2. John Marino
It isn’t just forwards who need to step up in Hischier’s absence, but defensemen, too. John Marino provided reliable shutdown defense for the Devils in 2022-23. He missed some time due to injury and perhaps struggled to get going again for a bit after that, but Marino’s defense in the Stanley Cup playoffs was critical. This season, he hasn’t looked as sharp.
Since he was so good last season, it’s been rather noticeable that Marino hasn’t quite found his rhythm yet in 2023-24.
Marino and Ryan Graves were such a strong pair last year, and the Devils are sorely missing Graves this year with some of their early defensive struggles. Marino and Kevin Bahl looked good together in the preseason, but they’ve been a mixed bag since the regular season started. Lindy Ruff seems committed to keeping them together for now, so the pair has worked on figuring things out.
Despite grinding out a win in a tight match-up against the Sabres, the Devils have shown a lot of sloppiness in their first seven games. The key for them is to clean up that sloppiness and limit the mistakes. Marino can be a huge part of that. He did look much better in Friday night’s game. Without Hischier, it’s more important than ever that the defense shows up, and Marino is capable of being that shutdown player Devils fans saw last year.