New Jersey Devils: Why is Andy Greene Still On The Top Line?

Today is a do-or-die game for the New Jersey Devils. It’s either the start of a great comeback, or the day the Lightning win another game and put the series almost out of reach.

And yet, per the indispensable Amanda Stein’s beautifully written notes, Andy Greene still looks like he’s playing on the top line.

Why is Andy Greene still on the top line?

What?

How?

Why?

There is no reason – not the eye test, not fancy stats, not gut feelings – that Andy Greene should be on the top line after that disastrous showing against the lightning.

For the stats-inclined, Green had the worst 5 on 5 CF% Relative of any defenseman on the team with -16.05. John Moore, the second worst, had -7.62, which is still bad, but still miles better than Greene. To keep it further in perspective, Sami Vatanen scored on himself and his CF% Rel was 4.78, which isn’t earth shattering, but still one of the best on the team defensively.

For the eye test, Greene was on the ice for all five goals against last game. The first goal by Brayden Point in particular was the direct result of a missed defensive assignment on his part. Ken Jones wrote about how Severson has bad defensive instincts, and he does have some blame for the goal, but that doesn’t excuse his partner for being MIA when a 30 goal scorer had the puck on his stick.

Greene was once the best defender on the team, and perhaps the most underrated defender in the league. A few months back, Nick wrote an article about Greene’s decline, and it’s only gotten more noticeable since then.

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This is reminiscent of when Bryce Salvador’s play dropped off the map and he became a Corsi black hole, but was kept in the lineup because of his captaincy.

By all accounts, Greene is a solid leader, and still has his uses. But in a critical game, there’s no reason to keep him on the top line when he’s arguably responsible for more goals against than Keith Kinkaid.

The New Jersey Devils are punching above their weight class right now. They’re doing a decent job most of the time. The rest of that time is seemingly when Andy Greene is on the ice. The Lightning have four solid lines, but Andy Greene should be kept away from lines one and two for the rest of the series. If he’s not, there’s a real chance there won’t be a game five or six.

(If you read this after a game three victory, please be nice to me in the comments. I’m trying my best. Sports are chaos and the Golden Knights might sweep the Kings.)

All stats via Natural Stat Trick.