3 Physical Players the New Jersey Devils Should Trade For
#2: C Adam Lowry (Winnipeg Jets)
Adam Lowry is a personal favorite solely because have you ever seen him stand in skates? In hockey, especially today, it’s not uncommon for a defenseman to be 6’4″ or taller. However, how many centers do you know that are 6’5″ – 210 lbs?
On top of his colossal size, it should come as no surprise that he’s a stout challenger in the faceoff dot. Lowry is entering Year 10 in the NHL this October, looking to make it eight consecutive seasons with a faceoff win percentage of 50 or better.
We learned from the postseason run of the New Jersey Devils that winning faceoffs is critical and there’s no such thing as having too many guys who are good at faceoffs. This was one of the many reasons why the Devils beat the New York Rangers in the 1st Round of the playoffs.
Apart from his prowess between the hash marks, Lowry is an unmistakable specimen on the ice who just so happens to love playing the body. This may come as a surprise, but most big skaters tend to be more passive, relying on the intimidation of their size alone to deter players from wanting to take the puck away. Anthony Mantha is a classic example of a big forward who doesn’t use his size as he should.
Adam Lowry uses his size exactly the way he should. In the 2022-23 season, Lowry played a full 82 games for the second time in his career while putting together 46 blocked shots, 161 hits, 24 giveaways (28 takeaways), and won 50.4% of his faceoffs averaging 15:39 of ice time a night. Scoring-wise, it’s what you’d expect from a third-line center, 13 goals, 23 assists for 36 total points.
As was the case for Nick Seeler, the New Jersey Devils don’t need Adam Lowry to put up 50 points. They need size and physicality. Even with Miles Wood in the conversation, who has since signed with the Colorado Avalanche, Adam Lowry (161) would rank 1st in hits on the 2022-23 Devils by a mile, with McLeod ranking 2nd behind him (127).
The Devils’ offense had blocked a good amount of shots last season, as Adam Lowry would rank 5th on the team in that category. In terms of faceoffs, only three players for New Jersey had a positive net faceoff differential. By default, Lowry would rank in the top four in faceoffs for the Devils.
Now, with a contract that has an annual average value of $3.25 million, Lowry comes in as someone who would have to be plugged in as the third-line center, forcing McLeod to either take the wing next to him or duke it out with Nosek to be the 4th line center. This contract is considerably greater than Nick Seeler’s, but the size and performance that Adam Lowry would bring to the New Jersey Devils are enough to make it beyond worth it.