New Jersey Devils: Miles Wood’s Ceiling Lower This Season
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils fun season had a lot of successful parts. One part that may go unnoticed in the long run was the breakout season of Miles Wood. This season, he may have trouble reaching those heights.
The New Jersey Devils got surprising contributions last season from just about everyone. Nobody expected Taylor Hall to have an MVP season. The world wouldn’t have predicted Keith Kinkaid to carry the team on his back towards the playoffs. A rookie defenseman that joined the team in August ended the season third on the team in points. Nico Hischier found his scoring rhythm and was a legit first-line center. Add in the contributions from Stefan Noesen, Blake Coleman, Jesper Bratt and even Ben Lovejoy, and the Devils season was a massive success.
Not far off from those contributions, was those of one Miles Wood. Head coach John Hynes decided to scratch Wood for the home opener in October, and since then it seemed like he had something to prove.
It was no secret the Wood was the fastest guy on the team. He may be a top three fastest player in the league. However, in his rookie season he could not find a way to turn that into contributions. That changed last year. He rose his points by 15 and scored 11 more goals. 19 goals from a 22 year old means the ceiling may be 30 goals per season.
There’s one big issue. His ceiling may not go much higher this season.
I think Wood has the ability to get better and better each season. As his experience continues, he will learn how to work his hands as well as his feet. Well, maybe not as well, but close.
So, then why are we worried about Wood’s ceiling next season? Opportunity, that’s why.
In November and December, Wood scored seven goals with six assists. In those two months he only had two games here he played less than 10 minutes. By the playoffs, it seemed like Wood has fallen out of favor with Hynes. He only played 48 minutes in the five games combined. That isn’t the way Wood will contribute.
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Wood needs as many opportunities as possible, and he can move the play from defense to a goal in five seconds. He gets behind the defense as fast as anyone. One would think the Devils would want that skill against the talented Tampa Bay Lightning team, but Hynes chose differently.
That may not change this season. With Marcus Johansson returning and Blake Coleman’s role on the third line solidified, there is a logjam at left wing. Does that leave Wood sitting on the fourth line with Brian Boyle?
We all know Hynes isn’t happy with Wood’s inability to stay out of the box. However, he was a little better this year over last year. Let’s hope he can keep doing that, because he can’t score goals from the penalty box.
It’s hard to imagine Wood making the impact next season if he’s playing fourth line minutes. He needs the opportunities to score goals. It might not be in the cards for him to repeat the production, let alone exceed it. I hope I’m wrong, because I think cutting Wood’s minutes is a mistake. However, when looking at how Hynes has dealt with Wood in the past it’s hard to believe he’ll treat him differently.