New Jersey Devils End of Season Report Cards Are In

The season is over.  The dust has settled.  The 2017-18 New Jersey Devils far exceeded expectations.  Accomplishing what almost no one thought they could or would accomplish simply by making the playoffs. It was quite the run for the Devils. Fighting for every single game, and needing every single point to hold off the Florida Panthers for the final spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Players are graded on expectation vs reality for the 2017-18 as it certainly wouldn’t be fair to compare Taylor Hall to Blake Coleman.  Each Devil had a specific role this season and they’ll be graded on how well they filled that role. That means a player like Jesper Bratt will have more leeway than Cory Schneider. The expectations for Bratt coming into the season were minimal at best. Meanwhile, the few veterans on this team were coming in with slightly higher expectations.

The overall team gets an A+, but lets take a look at how each individual player grades out, line by line. There were times this season where one line or the other would take over games. This will be an overall look at how each player performed from game one to game 87.

With that being said, it’s time to take out the red pen, and give these players some grades. There will be more As than Fs on this team, and that’s exactly how it should be. Remember to follow us on Twitter @pitchforkedpuck to give us your feedback to the grades. Now, here’s how everyone ended up this season.

1^st Line

Taylor Hall A+

I don’t think this needs much explanation.  Hall was just nominated for the Hart and the Ted Lindsay and rightfully so.  He had 41 more points than the next closest Devil, Nico Hischier, and carried this team to the playoffs.  Ray Shero needs to hand this man a blank check on July 1, 2019.

Nico Hischier A+

Despite finishing 41 points behind Taylor Hall, Hischier earns an A+.  Don’t let his overall production fool you, not that posting 52 points as a 19 year old centering a first line is bad.  Hischier’s production came primarily at 5v5 where he was phenomenal.  He finished 27^th in the NHL in 5v5 P/60 with 2.4.  That’s ahead of players like Evgeni Malkin, Aleksander Barkov, Anze Kopitar (a Hart nominee), and Artemi Panarin.

Oh, I almost forgot, Nico was the only Devil to play all 82 games, and apparently had a chronic wrist injury bothering him all year.  Kid is all grit.  Maybe next year coach John Hynes will give Nico the privilege of playing on the first PP unit and we’ll see those 52 points jump substantially.

Kyle Palmieri A-

Palmieri’s only issue this year was staying healthy.  When he was healthy, he was productive and was a huge factor for this Devils team.  In only 62 games, he scored 24 goals, 2^nd on the Devils.  Palmieri was almost as important to the Devils power play as Taylor Hall and clearly is an important presence on this Devils team.

3^rd Line

Blake Coleman A

Coleman is a seriously under appreciated Devil.  Coming out of camp, a lot of people, myself included, were extremely surprised when Coleman made the roster over players like John Quenneville, Blake Speers, and Mikey McLeod.

He certainly didn’t disappoint.  While his point production won’t blow anyone away, the 3^rd line was an important shutdown line and he was a huge contributor on the PK.  He ended up logging the most TOI of any Devils forward on the PK with 169:25.  In that time, he had a -13 goal differential, for perspective Zajac had a -14 in about 20 less minutes and Zajac is a solid penalty killer.

Travis Zajac B-

I was very critical of Zajac as the year started.  Once I lowered my offensive expectations and he was placed into a 3^rd line shutdown role everything improved.  Zajac isn’t a top-six center anymore, which will hurt this team given his cap hit, but he’s a very solid 3C.

He spent the 3^rd most time of any Devil forward on the PK, was the center on the successful 1^st PP unit, and centered Coleman and Noesen on a very solid 3^rd line that showed they’re capable of shutting down stars.

Stefan Noesen B+

Noesen may not contribute on the PK like Coleman, but he was an instrumental part of this 3^rd line.  He scored some big goals and really established himself as a big part of this 3rd line.  Of all the things the Devils discovered this year, the emergence of this checking line was huge.

4^th Line

Miles Wood A-

Wood is a tough one for me to grade.  I really liked his fit on Zacha’s LW, and he ended up 3^rd on the Devils in 5v5 P/60 behind Hall and Hischier.  He’s really good in the transition game and is solid down low when it comes to retrieving pucks.

Overall, I was very happy with Wood’s play this year and think he should get elevated opportunities next year.  However, with a healthy Mojo and the 3^rd line pretty much set in stone, there may not be anywhere for him to go higher in the lineup if the Devils bring Maroon back.

Brian Boyle B-

Boyle started his year scorching hot.  He met my expectations as a 4C scoring wise putting up 23 points in 69 games.  His FO% was over 50 which is what you expect.  Boyle fills a nice leadership role and is a solid 4^th line center.  Fortunately for the Devils, he was never expected to play outside of his scope.  There were definitely times when he lost some major draws, but overall he was solid this year.

Brian Gibbons B

Gibbons, much like Boyle, started the year off scorching hot.  Injuries slowed him down and of course his insane shooting percentage regressed.  He was still a contributor on the PK and a solid 4th liner.

Extras

Jesper Bratt A

Bratt’s a 6^th round pick who made major contributions to this Devils team.  He spent the start of the year on the first line with Hischier and Hall and then struggled later in the year.  He should be an important part of the Devils PP moving forward and should be a middle 6 contributor for a long time.

He contributed on the PP, PK, and at even strength as a 19 year-old 6^th round pick.  That’s an easy A.

Michael Grabner F

My initial reaction when the Devils acquired Grabner was not good.  Moving a 2^nd round pick for a guy who could score convinced me otherwise.  Until he didn’t score.  And if he’s not scoring he’s not contributing much anywhere else.  I’m disappointed in his overall play and he found himself scratched in the playoffs.  Not what you want from a deadline acquisition.

Jimmy Hayes D

If it’s any consolation, I give Hayes an A off the ice, but he clearly isn’t an NHL level player anymore.  Sorry Jimmy, we enjoyed having you but it’s time to move on.

1^st Pair

Andy Greene C

Greene was not good this year.  It’s definitely time for a reduced role, but unfortunately for New Jersey there was no LD ready to step into the top pair role.  He performed much better when paired with Sami Vatanen compared to Santini, but a CF% of 45 is less than ideal from your top pair LD.

Hopefully the Devils bring in a top pair replacement and can move Butcher to the 2^nd pair allowing Greene to fulfill a more suitable 3^rd pair role.

Sami Vatanen A

Moving Adam Henrique for Sami Vatanen brough a lot of negative attention to Vatanen initially but he was well worth the price the Devils paid.  Just as a small measure of Vatanen’s impact for this Devils team.

Greene with Santini:

CF% 40.32

GF% 41.67

Greene with Vatanen:

CF% 46.94

GF% 46.81

And if those numbers aren’t enough then you can simply look at how the Devils performed without Vatanen in the playoffs.  It wasn’t great.

Vatanen was a huge part of the Devils success this year and fill a top pair or 2^nd pair role moving forward depending on the personnel decisions New Jersey makes.

2^nd Pair

John Moore C-

John Moore is a UFA this year, and my nightmare is that the Devils bring him back for an AAV of around $4 million.  There are external upgrades that can be made and internal upgrades that would be beneficial for this team.

Moore’s biggest contributions for this team were made at 3v3 and while his possession numbers weren’t awful they certainly weren’t good.  He’s a great skater, but not good defensively and doesn’t really add much beyond 3v3.

Damon Severson C+

Severson is a polarizing Devil.  He clearly has a ton of talent and is statistically speaking one of the Devils better defensemen, but seems to make a big mistakes far too often.  If the Devils can bring in a top pair LD we could potentially see Butcher-Severson next year which would be a phenomenal offensive pair for the Devils.  However, if they can bring in Carlson and the trade value is there it may be time to move on.

3^rd Pair

Will Butcher A+

When Butcher signed with the Devils, I wasn’t even sure if he’d make the opening day roster.  He showed me.  The rookie defensemen tied for 3^rd on the Devils in points with 44 despite playing in an extremely sheltered 3^rd pairing role.

He certainly deserved more playing time and an increased role but he excelled in his limited role.  Putting up 44 points in your rookie year as a defenseman is certainly no easy task.  For reference, only 4 active players other than Butcher have achieved that, Dion Phaneuf, Tyler Myers, Zach Werenski, and Shayne Gostisbehere.  That’s pretty good company Will.

Ben Lovejoy A-

This may be my most controversial grade for this fan base but Ben Lovejoy had a phenomenal year.  I wrote about how he was instrumental to Will Butcher’s success and Lovejoy’s possession numbers were great all year.

Removed from a first pair role Lovejoy anchored the Devils 3^rd pair.  He earned his time this year and all though his playing over Santini may have angered plenty of fans he certain deserved it.

I’d expect Lovejoy back in the 3^rd pair role next year but most likely with someone other than Butcher who’s earned far more playing time.

Extra Defensemen

Mirco Mueller C

Mueller had his ups and he had his downs.  He didn’t earn himself a ton of playing time and couldn’t string together consistently solid play.

If John Moore moves on in free agency next year I don’t have a ton of faith Mueller can fill his role.  He looked good in short spurts at the end of the season but given what the Devils paid to add him prior to the expansion draft one would have hoped he’d earn a larger role.

Steven Santini

I don’t have an updated grade for Santini.  He didn’t play at the NHL level after my last grade, and his last grade wasn’t good.  However, I see redemption in his future.  Similar to Ben Lovejoy, it would not surprise if Santini excelled in a lesser role next year.

Goalies A

The goalies get a combined A.  Schneider was phenomenal to start the year, while Kinkaid struggled. Then they flipped the script.  When Schneider struggled, Kinkaid was arguably a top starter in the NHL.  I’ll get into each individual performance but I don’t feel it necessary to provide them individual grades because as a duo they were solid for the Devils.

Cory Schneider

Schneider was a top 5 goalie until about January 1^st when he fell off a cliff.  He was a bottom 5 goalie until the playoffs where he showed he may still have it.

Keith Kinkaid

Kinkaid was a bottom 5 goalie to start the year but his play down the stretch for the Devils carried them to the playoffs.  He showed he can bounce back from adversity and was really a top 2 starting goalie in the NHL down the stretch topped only by Antti Raanta.