As discouraging as this year has been for many Devils players, including sophomore defenseman Jon Merrill, the same can't be said for Eric Gelinas.
The 23-year-old defenseman's underlying numbers have improved quite a bit from last season, but despite that Lou Lamoriello and co. seem extremely hesitant to use him.
While Pete DeBoer benched Gelinas at times, the Devils are taking that to the extreme under new leadership. He missed some time with an illness, but in four games Gelinas has played since DeBoer was fired he's played less than 12 minutes three times, and recently played just nine minutes against the Sharks.
Say what you want about his defensive play, which I think is improving, but he has the hardest shot on the team by a country mile, and is a legitimate scoring threat on the backend. Not only that, but he's one of the few young NHL talents the Devils have and, for a team that should be embracing a youth movement, he should be playing regularly.
I say that even more so when, despite his shortcomings, the Devils generate a higher percentage of shot attempts and scoring chances at 5 vs 5 when he's on the ice.
His even-strength points/60 is also up .20 this season, so there's no reason he shouldn't be playing regular minutes while Mark Fraser and Pete Harrold - neither of whom are part of the future in New Jersey - continue to dress.
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