A few New Jersey Devils notes on this off-day:
1) When Mirco Mueller is activated from injured reserve and eligible to be added to the 23-man roster, I think it's safe to assume the Devils will carry eight defensemen.
Andy Greene, Damon Severson, John Moore, Sami Vatanen, Will Butcher and Steve Santini are obviously locks to remain on the roster and the Devils like what Ben Lovejoy brings to the table – to his credit, he's actually been really good with Butcher this season – so he isn't going anywhere, either.
I think the easy move is to waive Jimmy Hayes. He was a nice story in the preseason but he hasn't played since mid-December, his underlying numbers are horrific, and he really doesn't fit in with the style the Devils want to play.
Even though Drew Stafford has only found the scoresheet once in 17 games, he's a better player and chance generator than Hayes, so I'd think he's more likely to be kept around.
2) One thing I'd like to see a little more of in the second half: Pavel Zacha on the penalty kill.
Though his 5v5 shot suppression numbers haven't been great this season – a revolving door of mediocre linemates for much of the year hasn't helped – he has been surprisingly good down a man. In fact, nobody has been better as the Devils allow fewer short-handed shot attempts and scoring chances with him on the ice than any other player on the roster. The sample size isn't large, but that was the case last season, too, so perhaps there's something to the numbers. I think it's worth finding out.
3) I think I'd give Keith Kinkaid the nod in goal tomorrow night vs the New York Islanders. He has played just twice since December 3rd and Cory Schneider has gone cold of late so perhaps another couple of days to work on things could help. You want your best players playing – especially while trying to end an extended losing streak – but the Islanders are missing several key players, and will be in the latter half of a back-to-back, so I think it's as good of a time as any to get Kinkaid some work.
Recent Posts …‹Losing streak reaches six as Devils fall to Flyers