What happened to the New Jersey Devils this season was supposed to be the big chance for the Devils to show last year wasn’t just luck they had a great season before with their best record in over a decade and they looked like they were getting better with a young talented
Team Jack Hughes became a star and they even brought in Teemo Meyer to make them stronger everyone in New Jersey had High Hopes with many experts saying they could win the Stanley Cup and at the start of the season the Devils were unsto able with their power play in the
First 20 games they scored the most goals in the league when they had a man Advantage with 25 goals but they only scored 37 goals when it was even numbers on the ice so most of their goals were coming from Power plays and well at the moment things didn’t look too bad for
The Devils because even though their power play would eventually cool down their numbers at five on five weren’t that depressing the idea was that everything would eventually even out over time but instead of establishing themselves as a Powerhouse the Devils have been one of the most disappointing teams of the season it’s almost
Embarrassing with just a few weeks left in the regular season they’re pretty much out of the running for the Eastern Conference playoffs what went wrong how did a team with so much potential end up sinking so dramatically the devil’s season to forget has been like a perfect storm of
Problems stacking up one after another so what did General Manager Tom Fitzgerald get wrong let’s talk about the big issues the goalies and defense last year having vidc vanich and Akira Schmid was a big strength but this year it’s been a real mess between niik Daws Akira Schmid and vidc vanich the Devils
Have lit in almost 18 goals more than the league average in even strength vanich never got into his Groove and even lost his starting spot after a really bad stretch mid-season Schmid couldn’t keep up his great rookie year either with numbers way below what was expected and the third goalie Nico dos
Wasn’t any better when you put it all together the devil’s goalie situation has been a disaster that’s cost them a lot of games but the problems don’t end there the defense which was one of the best in the League last year has been far from impressive this season taking a
Step backward from previous Seasons douge Hamilton’s been out since November 28th Jonas Sean thaler and John Marino have had forgettable Seasons making many mistakes Marino’s been on the ice for 62 goals against the third highest in the NHL at five on five nobody on the entire
Devil’s roster was on the ice for 62 goals against Marino’s averaging more than a goal against per game on the ice clearly his drop in production is a big reason why the devils are where they are and let’s not forget about the offense upfront it’s been a bit of a roller
Coaster Jack Hughes started off great becoming one of the top scorers in the league but then he got sidelined with a couple of injuries for a few weeks when he came back he just wasn’t the same he’s missed 16 games which may sound like nothing but it keeps him from
Reaching his full potential even though he’s on Pace for a 103p point season a player like Jack Hughes being injured affects a team his teammate nier has also had his ups and downs and he clearly expresses this in interviews calling the devil’s performances embarrassing and he’s disappointed to add on to this big
Enough open wound already the addition of teimo Meer who the devil’s paid a lot for hasn’t been able to perform at his best this season and it seemed really lost and uncomfortable on his new team The Chemistry Between the forward lines hasn’t quite clicked something that played a crucial role in last year’s
Success the constant injury inuries and lineup changes by coach Lindy Ruff didn’t help in this aspect speaking of Ruff the first positive of the devil season was firing him while no one can question his experience his coaching style was questionable to say the least when things got tough Ruff couldn’t
Figure out how to get the team back on track leading the Devils into a deeper hole he didn’t use key players like team o my Alexander Holtz and even Jack Hughes effectively sometimes his lineup decisions were confusing and don’t even get me started on their power play from
Being among the League’s best it plummeted to the bottom without rough lifting a finger to try and fix the issue especially after douge Hamilton’s injury he never knew how to make the necessary adjustments to stop that area from being a mess the truth is the team never quite got their act together and
You could see the lack of motivation from a mile away but what hurt the most are the losses against teams that could easily be considered pushovers the defeats against weaker teams are the main reason why the devils are in such a sorry state in the standings right now
Because even last year with Ruff still as their coach the guys struggled to beat the weaker teams out of their 30 losses 12 were against teams that didn’t even make the playoffs this season has been even worse just look at the losses against the Sharks Ducks twice coyotes
Also twice Blue Jackets Blues Canadians Flames capitals twice as well and to top it off the Senators the thing is the Devils should be winning those games against easier opponents and be ready for those matchups but no in 50 out of 71 games this season they shot themselves in the
Foot by litting in the first goal it’s crazy it’s like they were starting at a disadvantage right from the beginning they lost too many games against teams they should have beaten their hand Ling of the goalies and lineup changes left a lot to be desired the adjustments they
Made to the defense and offense didn’t work out for example even though Marino and seen thaler struggled a lot on defense All Season the system they use is just a mess have you notice that almost every time the puck goes behind the net two Defenders immediately Rush
After it it happens with all the defensive pairs it’s part of the strategy they’re taught and don’t even get me started on the countless times those guys run off to who knows where on the other side of the play leaving the opponents wide open it’s a mess the
Truth is that defensive system they’re using right now isn’t working at all with the lineup they have it’s a total mess and we’ve already talked about the players performance but who do we blame for the strategy you guessed it another great reason for rough getting the boot
But that’s not all off the ice some issues that I can’t get into have seen players arrest did this of course didn’t help when the team needed full Focus obviously dealing with these kinds of problems during important games only made things worse what else can I say
It’s been a mix of many things that completely ruined what was supposed to be a great season for the Devils from a goalie performing well below average a defense not as solid as last year a very inconsistent offense a coach who was unable to turn things around off ice
Problems and a lack of leadership on the ice everything came together to cause This Disaster and lit down thousands of loyal fans in New Jersey and NHL fans in general because honestly we expected more from the Devils now the big question is what will the Devils do for
The next season will they look for new goalies and defensive players will they change up their offense one thing’s for sure after a mess like this they can’t just sit around a team with so much young Talent can’t afford another season like this the Devils need to step it up
For next year what do you think let me know in the comments below and if you enjoyed this video give it a like And subscribe to the channel for more thanks for watching see you next time
source
