When the New Jersey Devils acquired winger Michael Grabner, who, at the time of acquisition, had scored more even-strength goals than all but Auston Matthews over a ~1.75 year span, the hope was he’d provide steady secondary scoring to help take some of the load off Taylor Hall and the big guns.
So far that hasn’t been the case. Far from it. In eight games as a Devil, Grabner has not scored a goal. He hasn’t even recorded a point.
That wouldn’t be a huge concern if the Devils were sitting comfortably in a playoff spot, or if Grabner was piling up the shots and chances. Unfortunately, neither is the case.
It’s very up in the air whether the Devils will beat out either Columbus or Florida for a wild card spot – SportsClubStats gives them a 61% chance of getting in – and Grabner’s offensive numbers at 5v5, where he’s been very effective, are down across the board.
Grabner is attempting shots at a comparable, but lesser, rate than in New York but there are considerable dips in the most important numbers listed: shots on goal, scoring chances, and high-danger chances.
His individual numbers aren’t the only ones that have plummeted. His on-ice numbers have also dipped.
Grabner was not a play driver in New York and he isn’t in New Jersey. He made up for his negative impact on possession and chance numbers by converting on his and helping the team out where it counts most: on the scoreboard. With his offense drying up, that hasn’t been the case in New Jersey.
We’re not dealing with large sample sizes but we don’t have that luxury with deadline rentals, which is fitting. They don’t have a big window to produce. They’re supposed to come in and make an impact right away. So far the only impact Grabner has made on the Devils has been negative.
Again, this wouldn’t be a massive discussion point if the Devils were in a better position and he had time for things to normalize. That’s not the reality we live in. If the Devils miss the playoffs, which is possible, especially if the Devils don’t get more secondary scoring from guys like Grabner, giving up a 2nd rounder and a solid prospect (Yegor Rykov) would look like a complete disaster.
The good news is there’s nowhere to go but up for Grabner. He has converted on zero (0) percent of his 5v5 shots thus far and the Devils have scored on just 3.77% of theirs with Grabner on the ice. I’m willing to bet goaltenders won’t continue to post a .962 save percentage when he’s out there.
I very much doubt Grabner will find a way to score at the rate he did in New York – it’s just not sustainable for him – but some of his offense will return in due time. The problem is the Devils are running out of it.
Note: data via NaturalStatTrick.com. Recent Posts Injury depleted Devils pick up massive shootout win over Predators