New Jersey Devils: 12 Gifts From Team This Christmas Season

Gift #1: First Place In The Metropolitan Division

Going into the Christmas Break, the Devils secured first place in the best division in hockey. Say what you will about the other divisions, I put the Metropolitan up against anyone else.

And this Devils team sits in first place after beat the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

It seems like the Devils should have fallen off weeks ago. On paper, this team was supposed to play around .500 hockey. Literally nobody chose the Devils to make the playoffs this season. In fact, most “experts” chose this team to make its way to the basement of the Eastern Conference.

So far this season, the Devils have overachieved in the best possible way. This present may be the best of all. Getting bragging rights against the fans of rival teams means more than most presents sitting under the tree. Whatever ends up coming in that Amazon box, won’t make us as happy as telling a New York Rangers fan that they continue to sit in a Wild Card spot while we control the division.

Gift #2: Taylor Hall’s Big Year

Coming into this season, Taylor Hall was still the best player on this roster. This type of talent hasn’t been on the roster for a couple years prior to the one-for-one trade that sent him to New Jersey. Despite his immense skill, something seemed off last season.

Many believe the shock of being traded from the Edmonton Oilers stayed with him all season long. He had a twelve point drop from one season to the next. He shot a career low 8.4% while lighting the lamp just 20 times.

This season, we’ve seen the best Taylor Hall possible.

He’s been all over the ice. He has been entering the zone without losing the puck much more often than he was last season. Hall’s stats tell the story.

Let’s look at a stat that doesn’t get talked about too often. His shot through percentage sits at 61.2 percent, a career high. This means that Hall’s shots are going on net more often than ever before. That shows that Hall has much more confidence in his shot. When it goes off his stick, it gets to the net much more often than last year.

Hall leads the team with 34 points in 33 games. He’s on pace for 84 points, more than he’s ever scored in one season. If he continues at this torrid pace, he could lead this team to the playoffs. It would be the first playoff appearance in his eight-year career.

Gift #3: Brian Boyle

What more can be said about the gift that is Brian Boyle? When he signed with the Devils on the first day of free agency, the response was underwhelming. Most Devils fans were hoping the team would make a splash, but the only player to come out of day one was Boyle.

Many fans were upset at the end of the day because Kevin Shattenkirk chose the rival Rangers over the Devils.

Now, six months later, many fans may choose Boyle over Shattenkirk.

Obviously, Boyle isn’t a superstar on the level of most NHL players, but nobody could make the impact he’s made over the past two months. Boyle scored his tenth goal of the season on Saturday night. This, despite the fact that he missed 10 games to start the year.

Speaking of that, another gift to fans was even bigger to Boyle and his family. He was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia prior to the season. It took a fight, but he’s kicked cancer’s butt. His fight brought new life into Devils fans. Obviously, a cancer fight is much more important than hockey, but it can’t be ignored when talking about what that fight did to this team.

Gift #4: Cory Schneider’s Bounce Back

Devils fans were bullish about the team’s goaltender situation coming into the season. Cory Schneider was coming off his worst season of his career. After being put in the discussion for one of the best netminders in the NHL in 2015-16, he fell off the map last season.

This year, the old Cory is back.

Right now, Schneider is four wins away from last season’s total. That’s not a joke. Obviously, there is more to wins than just a goalie, but that stat is telling. Schneider was not the go-to player last year. He allowed 163 goals. Two years earlier, he allowed 15 less on 200 more shots.

It was clear he wasn’t on his game. This season, he’s much different.

Just look at his save percentage. His .922 is exactly his career average. He’s back to the player than can steal games against good teams.

Just look at his game against Chicago. In the second period alone, he faced 22 shots and only allowed one goal. He was the main reason the Devils went into Christmas break with a win. That’s the best gift of all.

Gift #5: Brian Gibbons’ Great Season

We were all angry at the beginning of the season when head coach John Hynes chose to put Brian Gibbons on the Opening Night roster over prospects like John Quenneville or Nick Lappin. A career AHL who was known for his penalty kill was being added to a young roster trying to thrive.

Who could have believed what would happen next.

Gibbons’ present to Devils was to lead the team in goals, and not in the bad way we would have thought prior to this season. He’s scored 12 goals, while also giving the Devils that great penalty killing that was his MO before.

His play, along with Boyle and Blake Coleman, give the Devils a legit fourth line that can score just as easily as the other three.

Gift #6: Offensive Outburst

The New Jersey Devils look different this season because of one thing; goals. This season, the Devils are scoring 3.14 goals per game. That’s good for ninth in the league. Last season, the team ranked 28th in the league with 2.20 goals per game.

There’s a lot that’s contributed to the Devils scoring output, but the main change is this team has scoring from literally every forward on the roster.

Just two years ago, the Devils had just four players at the end of the season with double-digit goals. (Lee Stempniak did too, but he was traded midseason) Two years later, the Devils now have four players with double digit goals 35 games into the year. They are on pace to have 10 players who score more than 10 goals, and that’s not counting Marcus Johansson who’s been hurt a majority of the season.

This all happened with Kyle Palmieri, Johansson, Boyle and Travis Zajac missing weeks of the season. Now that the lineup is completely healthy, the sky is the limit.

Gift #7: Ray Shero Is Our GM

What better gift is there than having one of the best general managers in the league? The Devils were blessed to have Lou Lamoriello for as long as they did, but it was clear he wasn’t ready to tear this team down and start from scratch. That’s exactly what Ray Shero has done to get the roster he has now.

Shero has been a shrewd negotiator. While most teams would look at the Devils situation with Ilya Kovalchuk and make a panic trade, Shero knew the implications of making a desperate move. As crazy as it sounds, getting nothing for the Russian sniper will probably help in the long run.

Then there was the moves Shero did make. We all know about the one-for-one deal to get Hall for Adam Larsson and sending picks to the Ducks in exchange for Kyle Palmieri, but he keeps hitting on all his moves.

This year, he traded two more picks to get Johansson into the room. He used Adam Henrique, an admitted fan favorite but flawed forward, to sure up this defense with Sami Vatanen. Not only that, but he refused to overspend for Kevin Shattenkirk.

Some may worry about him trying to build this team like the Pittsburgh Penguins, but if it ends with a Christmas gift of a future Stanley Cup title like they have, I’ll take it every day of the year.

Gift #8: Devils Chose Nico Hischier First Overall

For the first time in a few years, there was an actual decision to be made at the number-one overall pick. Nico versus Nolan dominated the talk prior to the NHL Draft. In true Devils fashion, Shero did not let it spill who he was choosing.

When he walked to the podium and announced he was taking Nico Hischier out of Switzerland, some fans were happy while others were questioning his decision.

There’s no questioning the move now.

Hischier was clearly the better pickup. Sure, he’s a little smaller than Patrick, but he’s just better. Hischier has five goals and 12 assists while centering the top line. Patrick has two goals and five assists while struggling to stay in the lineup. Nico was always the right pick, even if I needed some convincing at first. In fact, some might say the number one pick was a gift in its own from Santa Bettman. (Now that’s an image that will give you nightmares tonight)

Gift #9: Jesper Bratt’s Breakout

Jesper Bratt was drafted sixth in last year’s draft by the New Jersey Devils. No, I’m not talking about sixth overall, he was drafted as the sixth-round pick for the Devils.

Can you name the last Devils sixth-round pick to ever make it to the NHL? I’ll wait.

It was Deryk Engelland way back in 2000, and he didn’t play one minute in red and black.

Bratt, on the other hand, made the NHL just one year after he was drafted. Not only that, but he’s been great.

He has 10 goals and 13 assists in his first year in the big leagues. This, after he fought tooth and nail to make the roster in the preseason. He scored five points in four games and was a ridiculous +6 in those games.

Bratt is tied for fifth among rookies for points. That’s a gift in itself, but his all around play has been astounding. He was so good that coach Hynes put him on the first line with no hesitation when Palmieri went down. It was as if nothing had changed. He’s only 19 years old. That’s insane.

Gift #10: Still More Prospects To Come

The New Jersey Devils have been winning this season with a nice mixture of young guns and veterans when they need them. Based on the Devils pipeline, this isn’t the last young team we will see.

The Devils still have Mike McLeod, John Quenneville, Jesper Boqvist, Joey Anderson, MacKenzie Blackwood, Reilly Walsh, Michael Kapla and Nathan Bastian who’ve yet to see Devils ice time this season. Oh, and then there’s Aarne Talvitie who’s been killing it in Finland. Oh, also Colby Sissons has 31 assists as a defenseman in the WHL. Then there’s Nikita Popugaev, who if he can find a way to get his head out of his you-know-what he can become a great player.

The Devils system is so very deep right now it’s ridiculous.

Gift #11: Will Butcher Chose The Devils

My goodness, how good has Will Butcher been?

He’s currently second among rookies with 21 assists. No, that’s not rookie defenseman, he’s second among ALL rookies.

Butcher is arguably the best addition to the Devils this season. Say what you will about how good Hischier’s played and the impact of Boyle, Butcher turned the Devils anemic power play into a respectable one. On top of that, he’s played above average defensively.

Sure, Hynes makes sure Butcher is always put in the best spots as far as offensive zone starts, but last year those turned into two-on-one opportunities often. We’ve seen Butcher get back and stop those opportunities more times than not.

The Denver University product has been stellar all season long, with no signs of stopping.

Gift #12: Miles Wood Finally Figured It Out

And for our final gift, I give you Miles Wood.

Wood has been astonishingly better this season. Last year, he was frustratingly inconsistent. This year, he’s figured out a great role.

It seems like sitting him on the first night of the season really woke up the 22-year-old winger, because he hasn’t been out of the lineup since. His nine goals are already more than he’s had all season. He’s using his speed and strength to his advantage, unlike last season.

Wood shows he belongs in the lineup day in and day out. He can outrun any defense in the league, while also bring a certain toughness this team may lack without him. He puts 100 percent effort into every shift.

Sure, he still mishandles the puck on great opportunities, but he will continue to figure that out with time.

Next: New Jersey Devils: Brian Boyle On Pace For Career Year

Merry Christmas Devils fans!