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New Jersey Devils: On Blandisi & Potential Deadline Plans

February 12, 2016, 11:11 AM ET [59 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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Some thoughts as the New Jersey Devils prepare for Saturday night's big game against the Philadelphia Flyers:

1) I've used this space a lot to write abouthow impressive Joseph Blandisi has been this season but allow me to do it again.

The sample size is very small - a little more than 200 minutes - but right now Blandisi is averaging 2.03 points per 60 minutes of 5 v 5. That ties him with Matt Duchene and ranks him ahead of Ryan Johansen, Anze Kopitar and Corey Perry, among many others.

Again, the sample size is small but it puts into perspective how good Blandisi has been thus far. It's real encouraging that he's been able to produce at 5 v 5 as a rookie and isn't just using the power play to inflate his totals.

2) Another note on Blandisi: the Devils generate more scoring chances and shot attempts per 60 minutes of 5 v 5 with Blandisi on the ice than any other player. He's their big driver offensively.

3) It'll be real interesting to see what GM Ray Shero elects to do at the deadline if the Devils continue to hover around a wild card spot.

On one hand you want to keep the team in tact and reward the guys for working their asses off to stay in the hunt this long.

On the other hand the Devils realistically are not anything close to a Stanley Cup contender and the Devils could get a good return for the likes of Lee Stempniak and David Schlemko, among others.

The latter option definitely helps the team more in the long haul but I'm not sure I can see Shero downgrading the team, and essentially writing the season off, after coming this far.

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