Good morning Devils fans. As we await any more possible offseason moves, this is a good time for the coaching staff to identify areas of growth and improvement. After a massive step forward as an organization this year, the Devils need to keep improving in all facets to keep up with and excel above competitions. Making the playoffs frankly isn’t good enough and if the team is going to make deep runs in April, May, and hopefully June, we can’t have any glaring weaknesses for our opponents to capitalize on.
The first area of growth is of course the powerplay. Last season, the Devils were 13th in the league with a powerplay percentage of 21.9%, according to Stats Pros. While that is nowhere near terrible, in my mind, we need to be in at least in the top 10 and hopefully in the top 5. Half of the teams who made it out of the first round of playoffs were in the top 10, with Edmonton having the best percentage at 32.4%. One way to improve the powerplay is to bring in a new coach which the Devils did this season with Travis Green. I went over his hiring in a previous article but long story short, Green led the Vancouver power play with mixed results. Some seasons, he was in the top 10, while others saw his system struggle. I blame that less on him and more of the inconsistency of the team built year to year for the Canucks. Another way to improve the powerplay is to be quicker yet less sloppy with passing. This season, while the Devils could hold on to the puck and possess decently while on the man advantage, they had trouble converting due to the players taking too much time for passing decisions. When they did pass, they unfortunately made the wrong pass some times and were picked off. The most dangerous area for us to pass was along the blueline, which would lead the puck to be stolen for a possible short-handed breakaway. These situations were particularly an Achilles heel during many playoff games.
The next area of growth for the Devils is the faceoff. The Devils as a team won 51.3% of faceoffs, putting us as 13th in the league, according to Stats Muse. Again, not terrible but we can do better. While Michael Mcleod ranked 3rd in the league, players like Jack Hughes still struggle to win puck battles at the circle, averaging 35.3% last season, per Hockey Reference. The acquisition of Tomas Nosek may help this. He did well for himself in Boston, earning 59.3% last year. This should be a massive focus on skill development during practices and the summer camps leading to the beginning of the preseason.
A final area of growth to focus on is goaltending consistency. If the Devils don’t make a move for another goalie like Connor Hellebuyck, our tandem will be Vitek Vanacek and Akira Schmid. First, the Devils need to play more aggressively defensively to shut down chances, particularly during zone entries by opponents. In years past, New Jersey was heralded for their defensive system. This past season, the defense has been more conservative in how they stop teams. We need the d-men to push up and out more when players bring the puck in, isolating them to the periphery and giving time for the rest of the squad to get back on defense. The Devils should push to be more of a reactive two way team so that we can avoid 2-on-1’s and breakaways.
Looking at the goalies themselves, each has an area where they can improve their game. With Schmid, he needs to improve while on the power play. Last season, he let in 8 goals with a save percentage of .855 while on the man advantage, according to Hockey Reference. While I will levy most of the blame on team possession and sloppy puck management, this is still a weakness for him. Vanacek on the other hand will need to improve on the penalty kill, averaging a save percentage of .853. I believe that if Vanacek can improve considerably in this facet, it means he can handle faster and more dangerous chances, something that could pay dividends for him in the offseason as he has struggled with playoff hockey. Both goalies could also stand to be better in the shootout, as well as the team in general. The Devils were 21st in shootout wins and 16th in shootout goals allowed, per StatsMuse. While this won’t help as much in the playoffs, securing our division would be massive as we aim to get out of the first round.
What are your thoughts? How would you improve the Devils? Any areas I didn’t identify?
Leave your thoughts and comments below. Raise Hell,
-Josh Biringer