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A few New Jersey Devils notes on this off-day:
1) I've been a Travis Zajac backer for a long time but, as I recently mentioned, it's getting awfully tough to defend him. He's looked completely out of sync with the puck on his stick and he's not driving play or playing defense like he used to, either. We're dealing with a small sample size, but his numbers have completely fallen off a cliff even compared to a season ago.
Note: it should say 2016-17 on the left, 2017-18 on the right.
The Devils went from controlling play with Zajac on the ice to being absolutely crushed with Zajac on the ice in the span of a few months. For perspective, the injury-riddled Ducks rank 31st with a 45.6 Corsi For%, which would be a huge step in the right direction for Zajac this season.
Now, he missed preseason and training camp due to injury so there was always going to be an adjustment period but he's been back for a month and hasn't shown much – any? – progress.
No longer playing with Taylor Hall doesn't help his cause, either, but his four most common linemates thus far have been Marcus Johansson, Jesper Bratt, Adam Henrique and Drew Stafford. He's also spent more time with Damon Severson, the best possession defenseman on the team, behind him than any other blue liner so it's not like he's being thrown to the wolves. His primary supporting cast has been average, at worst, and the results, well, haven't been.
Again, we're still not dealing with a large sample size but Zajac is 32 and playing in a system not exactly suited for his strengths so it's hard to say how much better things will get. Hopefully a fair bit, because the Devils are going nowhere if their 2nd line center continues to get caved in on a nightly basis.
2) The pitchforks come out pretty much anytime Cory Schneider has an off night, and many fans are quick to get on him for some reason, but he has been absolutely fantastic this season and is one of the biggest reasons the Devils are just three points out of 1st place in the league's toughest division.
The Devils haven't exactly been stingy defensively – they rank 29th in Corsi For% and 25th in Expected Goals Against/60 – but Schneider is usually there to clean up the messes made in front of him.
As of Saturday night, Schneider ranks 2nd only to Sergei Bobrovsky – a two-time Vezina winner who has his team 1st in the Metro – in Goals Saved Above Average.
Does Schneider allow the occasional weak goal? Sure, but he masks a *ton* of mistakes. Just look at how bad the Devils looked against the Rangers when they didn't have Schneider to bail them out.
3) If Marcus Johansson is forced to miss any time (please no), I think Miles Wood would be an ideal candidate to move into the top-6. The Devils aren't giving him a look there in practice – they're going with Brian Gibbons(!!), Jimmy Hayes(!!!) and Zajac on the 2nd line, which will surely work out great – but, despite limited ice, he ranks 4th on the team in 5v5 scoring and 2nd in 5v5 shots. I think he is one of the few in-house options capable of moving up and replacing some of the offense lost from Johansson, Kyle Palmieri, and co. so I'd like to see him get a legitimate shot.
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