When John Hynes was hired to be the head coach of the New Jersey Devils many labeled him as a defensive minded coach.
While his teams in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton were certainly very good in that regard - the Baby Pens allowed the fewest goals against four of five years Hynes was with the team - they weren't exactly inept offensively.
During Hynes' tenure as WBS head coach they finished top-18 in goals for during four of five years and finished inside the top-7 twice. Their average offensive rank in that span was 14th. They didn't light the league on fire but scoring goals wasn't much of an issue.
That's why Hynes was hesitant to label himself a defensive-minded coach during a recent interview with SiriusXM NHL Network Radio.
“Really it’s not just defense. When we don’t have possession of the puck we want to have a real strong structured system where there’s a lot of accountability and attention to detail, which keeps the puck out of the net but also allows you to gain possession quicker. Then when we have the puck offensively that’s a main part of being a good defensive team is being able to play in the offensive areas, on the offensive side of the red line. A lot of puck pressure, a lot of puck possession. It’s really being responsible on both sides of the puck but when we don’t have it it’s detailed and structured and there’s accountability and commitment to it. When we have the puck we want to be able to keep it, be a real attacking team and try to put teams on their heels.…
The Devils aren't exactly loaded with offensive talent and they are not built to play a run-and-gun style. If they try to go toe-to-toe with teams and play fire wagon hockey it's not going to end well for them.
That's why it makes sense for Hynes to focus on puck possession and put a system in place that allows the Devils to sustain offensive pressure, control the game and wear teams down.
New Jersey doesn't currently have the players in place that will allow them dominate that aspect the way Chicago and Los Angeles have in recent years, but if they want to a win a Stanley Cup down the road that's the way they're going to need to play.
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