Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
The 2016-17 season was not a good one for the New Jersey Devils. They won just 19 times in their final 65 games of the season, finished last in the Eastern Conference, and at many times looked lifeless.
Realistically the season couldn't have gone much worse for the Devils. Like with everything in life, there were still some positives, though. None of them more evident than the play of the Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri line.
They were not only the Devils' best line this season but one of the best in the entire NHL.
The goal in hockey is to out-score the opposition and few lines were better at helping their team do so than Hall - Zajac - Palmieri. In fact, only two of the 35 trios to spend at least 300 minutes together at 5v5 fetched better results than New Jersey's top unit.
I'm sure it will be pointed out the Hall - Zajac - Palmieri trio had the worst GF/60 of the top-10. I would think playing in a low-event, defensive system would have something to do with that. I would also suggest the Devils don't have guys like Kevin Shattenkirk, John Carlson, Ryan McDonagh, Brady Skjei, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Dougie Hamilton, Mark Giordano etc, etc. moving the puck up to their forwards and helping create offense.
Still, the Hall - Zajac - Palmieri line managed to score at the same rate as the Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski line, for example, while being on the ice for fewer goals against per 60 minutes than all 35 lines to play 300+ minutes.
I imagine the Devils will be adding more offensively gifted forwards during the off-season, which means they'll probably experiment with different combos come October, but John Hynes and the coaching staff have found a line that really works should they need it.
Recent Posts
New Jersey Devils 2016-17 season awards
Notes on quotes from Shero and Hynes on break-up day
Eastern Conference playoff predictions
Western Conference playoff predictions
Stanley Cup predictions
Notes on Hall, Hynes, a lack of 'killer instinct' and more
Setting the table for the Devils' off-season
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»