One area the Devils must, and will, improve in during the 2014-15 campaign is shootouts.
Last year they pitiful, putrid, and inexplicably bad in the skills competition. They lost all 13 shootouts they partook in, and put forth the worst single season display of shootouts since they were implemented years ago.
They'll be better this year - they can't be any worse - but the question is: how much?
Before last season the Devils were annually one of the best teams in the skills competition, but after losing Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk in consecutive years they certainly took a hit.
Even so, they still had some guys like Patrik Elias (0-8) who were regularly successful in the shootout that were downright dreadful.
With that in mind, after their off-season moves, who are the Devils best shooters, and who can we expect to see most in the skills competition this year?
I charted the Devils' top-5 percentage shooters and their career numbers to see just that.
Note: GDG = game deciding goals. Best shooters minimum 20 attempts are charted. Reid Boucher (1-2) and Jacob Josefson (1-3) could see some action this season.
I was surprised to see Tuomo Ruutu has had such success in shootouts. He probably won't be, but the numbers suggest he should be the team's ace. Ryane Clowe, is just behind him filling the net at a 35% clip. Patrik Elias, even after his 0-8 season, is 3rd on the team and still scoring at almost a 34% rate.
After those three, there's a bit of a drop off. Marek Zidlicky and off-season addition Mike Cammalleri post respectable numbers but shouldn't be relied upon too heavily. Then there's Travis Zajac, Adam Henrique and co. who score at a slightly lower rate and should get some looks.
The numbers suggest the Devils starting three should be as follows:
1. Ruutu 2. Clowe 3. Elias
Then a cycle through Zajac, Henrique and the rest of the crew depending how they're playing at the time.
It'll be interesting to see if Pete DeBoer plays the numbers more this season, or goes with gut feelings. Either way, I don't think this team has the makeup of a great shootout team. They should, however, be able to win more than 0% of their skills competitions.
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