I’m sure everyone predicted that Luke would be a legit shutdown dman..

13 comments
  1. Pesce has been so good for Luke. God, remember when he used to play with Brendan Smith last year?

  2. Luke has always been one of the best skaters on the ice each night (if not the very best). He’s starting to use that for the defensive side of the game!

  3. It’s funny because it’s not just Luke getting way better defensively either, the Athletic put out a Playoff Report article today and a chunk of their discussion on the Devils was about how much better Jack has gotten defensively under Keefe

  4. You really love to see it. We always knew Luke would be able to put up points but damn I don’t think many expected his gap management and stick work (pokes, breaking up passes) to be elite.

  5. I think he began really making strides around game 60 last year. His reads have gotten so much better this year though and they’ll only get better. It’s funny how sometimes he makes moves in his head that his skates can’t handle and he momentarily loses an edge. That will stop happening also. Sky’s the limit for this guy.

  6. He’s not. He still forces a lot of bad plays from his own end. But he is good, no question about that. He’s also pushing back on checks just enough to avoid getting hurt, too, which is good to see. I think t
    he’ll be actually defnesively responsible in just a couple years.

  7. With these advanced stats you always need to take them with a grain of salt.

    Would have to dig into exactly how this one works but at first blush the role difficulty being 35 probably means he is not being exposed to a lot of minutes in his own zone.

    The creators of these advanced stats are often the first to point out that they don’t extrapolate across roles.

  8. Luke always had the tools to be a great defensive defenseman with super-elite skating ability and a long reach for gap control.

    He’ll only get better. This offseason, his shoulder injury kept him out of the gym. He’ll likely only grown into his frame in the coming years and start tossing bodies around.

  9. I will happily eat shit. He’s been good. Still has a bad giveaway here and there though.

  10. I’m not lying but I always thought that Luke had the potential to be a top tier two way defenseman. His skating is incredible and his hockey IQ is high. There’s no way he wasn’t gonna be impactful on both sides of the ice

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