New Jersey Devils head coach John Hynes has been making all the right moves this season. What changed from his albatross that was last season?
The New Jersey Devils remain one of the surprises of the National Hockey League this season. Many analysts said coming into this season that they would be improved from last year, but almost everyone still had them finishing last in the Metropolitan Division. Nobody predicted what has happened so far.
The Devils find themselves at the top of the Metropolitan Division on the Monday after Thanksgiving. They sit there despite the fact that four teams in the division ride winning streaks of three games or more. This season has been great to say the least.
This season has been the way it is thanks to head coach John Hynes. A lesser coach wouldn’t have made the decisions Hynes keeps making, which ends with winning more times than not.
Look at all the decisions Hynes made that have worked out. It all started with his Opening Night roster. He kept Brian Gibbons on the roster over more talented players like John Quenneville and Nick Lappin. All he’s done so far is lead the team with 11 goals.
He’s been forced to deal with some young players and veterans playing less than expected. He sat Pavel Zacha, and he’s played with extra fire since he return to the lineup. Adam Henrique was dropped to the fourth line, but immediately reacted by having his best game of the season. Hynes even sat Ben Lovejoy to start the season, despite his contract status. That move must have worked because he is much less the tire fire he was last season.
So, what changed from last season?
Hynes was awful behind the bench in 2015-16. It was so bad, that it seemed like the only scenario most fans could see was him losing his job. To his credit, GM Ray Shero kept his faith in his coach.
Hynes was making all the wrong moves last season. He couldn’t stop losing streaks from turning into an avalanche of loses. Hynes was misusing his timeouts. There was no urgency on this team. I don’t want to say they quit, but as soon as this team went down the air would be taken out of the room.
To his credit, there is no quit in this year’s team. No matter what the situation, the Devils seems in every single game. They’ve been down three to the powerhouse Chicago Blackhawks, and responded with seven goals and a win. They went into the third period down to the best team in the league, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Devils won that game in overtime.
Hynes has done this with this team despite major losses to injuries and illness. Travis Zajac played just six games after a torn pectoral muscle in the offseason. Marcus Johansson has been out 13 games after he was the major add in the offseason. Kyle Palmieri has missed ten games with two different lower-body injuries. Brian Boyle, the Devils other offseason addition, missed the first 10 games after his cancer diagnosis.
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A lesser team would have been decimated by such injuries. In fact, almost any other team losing that amount of talent means losses on the ice. Somehow, that hasn’t been the case here.
The main thing Hynes has been able to do is turn around Cory Schneider. He’s back to keeping this Devils team in every single game. That might be thanks to Schneider reuniting with former coach Roland Melanson, but Hynes has helped as well.
So what’s different from this year to last? Hynes clearly learned from last year. He changed the identity of this team entirely. There’s a different grit and determination that wasn’t there last year. Taylor Hall looks like a better player. Rookies Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Will Butcher have been given a chance to shine. This team is unlike any Devils team we’ve seen in years. It’s thanks to John Hynes. That’s why, up until this point, he’s leading the early voting for the Jack Adams Award.