New Jersey Devils Grades For Terrible Month Of November

Marcus Johansson: B-

Marcus Johansson might have looked bad overall, but when you look at his month in a vacuum, it’s not terrible. He had seven points in the month. One of his three goals came at the very end of the third period against the New York Islanders, securing an elusive point for the Devils.

He’s been good since the return of Jesper Bratt. It seemed like he was passing well early in the season, but he had trouble finding linemates who could finish. Now that he has them, things are going much better.

MoJo isn’t exactly what the Devils thought they were getting when they traded for him in the offseason last year, but he’s getting there. The Devils hope he can get back to his peak of close to 60 points, but the Devils would take 45-50 right now.

Nico Hischier: B-

This is one of those situations where the grade is the same, but the tone is much different. Nico Hischier was alright in November, but should be better. It seems like he’s still looking to pass when he should shoot. That instinct comes with time, but if he’s going to play on the top line there’s no time to wait.

He will score two points in one game, then go scoreless in the next two. He goes through that cycle over and over again. He’s consistently inconsistent in the month of November. Hischier had more points in October in two less games. Things started off well enough, but ever so slightly fell off.

Hynes already showed the willingness to put Travis Zajac on that line. He did it when Nico got hurt for a few games, and did it to see if he could spark the team. It worked well enough, but not even close to as good as when Nico, Palms and Taylor Hall are rolling. The Devils need Nico to be poised with the puck, and his grade will continue to improve if he is.

Kyle Palmieri B-

What a difference a month makes. After scoring a ridiculous nine goals in October, Kyle Palmieri scored three in November. We all knew there would be serious regression. Palmieri isn’t Patrick Laine over here. However, we hoped it would be a smaller fall than it was.

Listen, seven points from Palmieri in a month is not the end of the world. That’s why he’s still within the B’s. However, his power play shot is almost non-existent. He’s having trouble getting an open shot. He had zero power play goals during the month, which is where he excelled in October.

The Devils desperately need Palmieri to figure out what is different with the man advantage. Things can’t change this fast, right? He doesn’t need to score nine goals a month, but five or six isn’t too much to ask when Taylor Hall is on your wing.

Taylor Hall: B

Taylor Hall has been his good self that we’ve seen before, but he isn’t MVP-level Taylor Hall. He comes out of the month with 14 points, by far the most on the team. Now, he isn’t deserving of the exodus of Devils fans that are giving up on him, but he could be doing a little bit more.

Saying that, understand that he’s still playing better than any other Devils every single night. It’s not close, either. He has five more points than any other player on the team, despite Palmieri’s scorching hot start. He’s on pace to have the second-best season of his career. He’s doing just fine.

He was a little better in October, but he was still very good in November. He’s an elite player, and we need to not lose our minds with Hall.