1) The New Jersey Devils have hit a wall offensively of late. They have scored just 14 goals in their last nine games, and four of them came against the Philadelphia Flyers the other day. If you take that game out of the mix, that's 10 goals in eight games. Not inspiring stuff.
I expect the Devils will score more coming out of the break -- it'd be hard not to -- but I wouldn't hate seeing Joseph Blandisi recalled and given a shot to make things happen.
He was recalled for the long haul around this time last year and we saw how much of a spark he gave the team. After being cut in camp, he struggled with Albany out of the gate but he has been excellent of late. Blandisi has 16 points in his last 15 games and is a big reason the A-Devs sit just two points back of top spot in the division.
He has speed, he can provide some offense and he's an in-your-face, gritty player. The Devils have stressed they want to be tougher to play against and he's a guy who could help in that regard while actually giving the team some good minutes.
2) Damon Severson has had a few rough nights but, for the most part, he has been very good this season and has quietly been a productive point producer.
At 5v5, only 15 defensemen in the league have more points than Severson. In that game state, he has more points than the likes of P.K. Subban, Drew Doughty, Tyson Barrie, Duncan Keith and Roman Josi to name but a few. He's been one of the few bright spots in the first half.
3) Miles Wood uses his speed to get a couple good looks per game, and he draws a lot of penalties, but he's still pretty raw and definitely needs to improve his defensive game. There have been a lot of contests where the Devils have been outshot and out-chanced by a pretty good margin at 5v5, like last night against Pittsburgh.
The Devils had a...rough night against the Penguins. (data via @NatStatTrick) pic.twitter.com/tzfotWSZr9
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) December 24, 2016
Everyone struggled against the Penguins, but this has been a regular theme for Wood. At this point, it's basically a rebuilding year for the Devils so his defensive game is one thing I'd like to see worked on and improved over the next few months. Wood has a lot of tools to work with. He just needs to figure out the best way to use them.
4) As tough as it is to watch the Devils at times, it's important to keep things in perspective. For years the Devils dressed one of the league's oldest rosters and were still not even close to a playoff caliber team. They were littered with bad contracts and didn't have much to look forward to in terms of young players, prospects or draft picks.
That is no longer the case. The Devils have the 2nd lowest payroll in the NHL and there are next to no bad deals on the books. They have one of the league's best goaltenders signed long-term, they have some good, young pieces to build around in Hall, Severson, Pavel Zacha, etc., a handful of prospects playing in the World Juniors (Michael McLeod, Blake Speers, Joey Anderson, Yegor Rykov) and nine picks in the top-3 rounds over the next two drafts. There is a lot to work with here and the Devils are on the right track. It just takes time.
Merry Christmas, everyone.