Some off-day notes as the New Jersey Devils prepare for Tuesday night's clash against the Buffalo Sabres:
1) The Devils will finish near the bottom of the league in goal scoring for the fourth consecutive year. That's been a big problem since Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise left, but at least now it's a lack of depth that is causing the issue more so than top-6 guys not pulling their weight, as was pointed out on Twitter.
Kyle Palmieri has 29 goals in 79 games. Adam Henrique has 28 goals in 77 games. Mike Cammalleri has 14 goals in 42 games. That's two 30-goal scorers and a near 30 goal scorer over an 82 game span.
The problem, as mentioned above, is there isn't much scoring beyond those guys. A couple kids (namely Reid Boucher and Joseph Blandisi) are coming along nicely but I'm sure goal scoring is something Ray Shero will look to address that in the off-season.
2) I've seen a handful of people - both fans and media - suggest Damon Severson for Nail Yakupov as something Shero should/could consider.
While I think Yakupov has more to give than he's shown it's worth pointing out that Severson, despite his struggles at times, has tallied more points than Yakupov this season. I'm sure I'll go a lot more in-depth on this subject once the season comes to an end but I wouldn't be so quick to give up on Severson. Nobody on the Devils' blue line possesses the skating ability or offensive upside that he does.
3) John Quenneville had a very good season in Brandon (31 goals, 73 points in 57 games) and he has carried his strong play into the postseason. In five games to date he has scored four times and recorded seven points.
@ToddCordell Just rang one off the crossbar. He's become a scary shooter, especially in tight.
— DraftGeek (@DraftGeekHockey) April 3, 2016
I don't think he'll be a big time point producer at NHL level but if he pans out I think he could be an Adam Henrique-type player. I'm sure the Devils would happily take that.
4) I've been hard on Pavel Zacha at times but credit to him for stepping up to the plate for the Sarnia Sting when it matters most. Zacha is tied with Matthew Tkachuk for 3rd in playoff scoring with 12 points in six games. The last two games for the Sting have been elimination games and Zacha has three goals and four points in that span.
Game 7 goes Tuesday night against Blake Speers, Colton White and the Soo Greyhounds.
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