The New Jersey Devils were a very bad hockey team, but some players weren’t a train fire. That being said, these grades for the month of November are not going to be nice.
The New Jersey Devils had one of the worst months in recent memory during November 2018. The highs were so outweighed by the lows, that the highs are near impossible to remember. The team won four games during the month. Four games all month. It’s the kind of month that dooms a season.
The Devils may be out of the playoff race thanks to November. Right now, the Devils are in last place in the Eastern Conference. They find themselves six points out of the last spot in the playoffs, while playing more games than most other teams. It’s been pathetic. That’s probably the best way to describe the Devils season so far.
The team lost nine of 13 games during this terrible, terrible stretch. So, how does one grade a team that’s spiraling as bad as they are? Well, let’s just say the red marker is out of ink. Things are so bad for this Devils team, that fans are giving up on fan favorites.
One can’t really blame them. Every single player is under performing on a nightly basis. In eight games, the Devils allowed four or more goals. In five games they allowed at least five goals. The defense and goaltending has been atrocious.
The offense hasn’t been much better. The numbers will look better on paper than they do in real life, but there were multiple instances where the Devils scored goals in garbage time. When it mattered, the defense was nonexistent. The power play was even worse. Yet, somehow, the Devils continue to try the same things on the ice.
Because this team has been so bad, we will go in reverse order. We will start with the failing players, and work our way up to the players that got A’s.
One last thing, remember that these players are graded on a curve based on expectations. Taylor Hall and Brian Boyle are expected to do different things and have different roles. We grade them based on their role.