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Notes on the future of the New Jersey Devils' bottom-6 and Mackenzie Blackwood:
1) It's been almost a full month since the Devils' concluded their season with a victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs and GM Ray Shero has still not re-signed any of the many bottom-6 forwards looking for new contracts.
I don't know if I should read too much into that - nobody has signed a new deal yet - but personally I'm happy to see Shero didn't race over to the likes of Stephen Gionta, Jordin Tootoo and co. to get them locked up.
The Devils couldn't score last year and, while they do need another top-6 forward, their lack of secondary scoring is a big reason why.
Whether it be Gionta, Tootoo, Tuomo Ruutu or Bobby Farnham, among others, the Devils headed into almost every game knowing they're going to get next to nothing offensively from almost half their lineup.
In today's NHL depth scoring can make a whole world of difference (look what Matt Cullen, Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust just did to the Rangers) and nobody in last year's bottom-6 is capable of providing that type of production.
That's why I'd like to see significant changes there and, if none of them being extended by now is any indication, it looks like there just may be.
2) With Matt Murray being the talk of the NHL right now - and deservedly so - I decided to look back on his OHL career and see how his numbers compare to Mackenzie Blackwood's.
Blackwood's overall body of work (.910SV% in 139 games) is far superior to Murray's (.898SV% in 168 games) but their best seasons are almost identical.
In Murray's final season, as a 19-year-old, he posted a .921 save percentage in 49 games played.
This past season as a 19-year-old Blackwood posted a .921 save percentage in 43 games played.
Only five goaltenders posted a .908SV% or better in the OHL this past season and only two of those five surpassed a .916SV% so it's not as if Blackwood's .921SV% is a small feat.
I'm not saying Blackwood will break onto the scene in two years and steal playoff games for the Devils but his numbers certainly leave reason to be optimistic about his future.
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