12 Days Of New Jersey Devils Christmas
It’s 12 days until Christmas, but the New Jersey Devils haven’t given us much cheer this season. Since we’re so close to the holiday, we decided to take an Christmas classic and put a Devils spin on it.
It’s been quite the season for the New Jersey Devils. When I say it that way, I say it with the kind of sarcastic tone you get when you hand a 13 year old a Toys R Us catalog and asking them what they want for Christmas. That’s partially because the kids is too old for toys, and partially because you didn’t realize Toys R Us is no more.
Sine the Devils season hasn’t gone the way we’d like, we decided to bring a little cheer to the fanbase. Well, at least hope we can make you laugh.
Christmas classic songs may be under fire for some, but the 12 Days of Christmas is like teflon. There’s nobody that’s going to find something wrong with this song. That’s why, with twelve days until Christmas at the time of publishing, we decided to take this Christmas classic, and make it all about the Devils. More importantly, about what we want from the Devils.
This team gave us so many gifts last season, it seems selfish to ask for anything this season. Actually, no it doesn’t. This has been ROUGH. The team has not looked good, and we’ve been begging for them to do something.
We’ve put the next twelve gifts in song form. Obviously this is a visual medium, so I expect all of you to sing the lyrics out loud. We’re really hoping this will take off like other Christmas remakes.
On the first day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… a win for our beloved Cory
What else could we ask for on the first day of Christmas? We need a win for Cory Schneider before Christmas. He played pretty well in his last game against the Anaheim Ducks, but the Devils decided that scoring on their own goalie was a good idea.
Schneider is 0-14-2 in regular season games since the clock struck midnight on January 1st. That’s mostly his fault, because at the end of last season he just wasn’t good enough to play. He’s also looked bad in many of his games this season, but there were a couple he deserved a better fate. The game against the Ducks is one, and the game against the Carolina Hurricanes is another.
Getting a win for Schneider before Christmas is vital. It will be something that lives with his career forever if he becomes a goalie that didn’t record a win for an entire year. History will ignore his win in the playoffs, because it’s more convenient for them. He will go down in history forever as a year-long loser.
That’s why the Devils, on this glorious Christmas season, need to gift the fans, and more importantly Cory, a win.
On the second day of Christmans the Devils gave to me… two Jespers scoring
This one is looking ahead a little bit, but when you’re in the basement of the Eastern Conference, you cannot help yourself. Jesper Bratt has been good to start the season, despite missing a few weeks with a broken jaw. He’s proven his fall from grace last season was more rookie wall than it was the true value of a sixth-round pick.
Jesper Boqvist was a player who some thought only needed one year of overseas play before he was ready to make the jump to the NHL. Then, he broke his wrist. That sort of derailed his season, forcing him to spend another year in Sweden.
Right now, Boqvist has 17 points for Brynas IF in the team’s first 24 games. He’s been very good for most of the year as a second-line guy in an adult league.
Bratt has 11 points in 15 games at the NHL level. You’d really like the two of them to turn their immense skill into goal scoring sooner rather than later. Bratt is just 20 years old, the same age as Boqvist. These two players have so much talent, that their ceiling is sky high. However, all we can ask for Christmas is the two of them to score now, and then let us look starry eyed into the future while we watch the Jesper line dominate the middle six.
On the third day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… three less own goals
There’s a tradition in sports where teams take a game where they played terribly, they will rewatch the tape so they can see what they did wrong, then they destroy the tape. Some teams use a sledge hammer, others find their own means to get rid of the tape. Also, it’s 2018 so I’m not even sure tapes exist anymore. Maybe they destroy an SD card? Either way, that’s what the Devils need to do with the replay of the Ducks game.
The Devils fan base doesn’t deserve to ever see an own goal ever again. Not only did they see three in one game, but they also have the own goal, also on Cory Schneider, that Sami Vatanen shot in against the Lightning. That was months after Sami kicked in an own goal in the playoffs.
Basically, the Devils fans don’t deserve to ever see an own goal, because they’ve had their due for a dozen season. If they could extend this wish past Christmas, that would be great.
On the fourth day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… four years of Egor.
This one might be a little biased, but I’ve really liked how Egor Yakovlev progressed with extended ice time. He has a major language barrier, which has caused some communication issues, but the team is learning how to work around that. Besides that, you can tell he’s getting used to the difference in ice size, coming over from the KHL.
Right now, I’d say four years of Yakovlev would be perfect. Players take much less of a beating in Russia, so his 27 years of age is not like other players. He likely has three years of prime left, so the Devils would be smart to take them on.
Yakovlev is not a first-line guy, but he can easily be a second-line guy. He’s working well right now with Vatanen, and he’s minimizing his mistakes more as the games go on. He’s starting in the defensive zone a little more often than he’s started in the offensive zone, which might not be best for him. His advanced stats aren’t the best, but again he’s getting better with time.
He’s currently on a one-year deal, but if he can take another step forward, which seems like an inevitability, then the Devils should look at making him a part of their future. I think a three-year deal at a fair monetary value is easily doable. Adding him to the future that consists of Vatanen, Will Butcher, Damon Severson and Ty Smith, then the Devils realistically need one star on the defense to have a very, very good unit.
On the fifth day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… FIVE DEADLINE DEALS!
This would be an after Christmas gift. We really want Ray Shero to do something. Whether it’s cut dead weight, or add young, great pieces, we want the Devils general manager to make moves to change this roster.
When it comes to deadline deals, Shero hasn’t been the best, but this season could be different. Prior to this season, Shero was selling off scraps from the Lou Lamoriello era or players who were always part of the short-term plan. Yet, he still didn’t get good returns on those assets. In 2017, the last year the Devils were sellers, they turned PA Parenteau, Sergey Kalinin, Kyle Quincey and Vernon Fiddler for Dalton Prout, Viktor Loov, and a 4th and 6th round pick.
This season, Shero has really good assets to move. He has Marcus Johansson, Brian Boyle, Ben Lovejoy, and Drew Stafford on the final year of their deal. Mirco Mueller could also be moved since the Devils have to sign him as a restricted free agent.
It’s more likely the Devils will be selling assets, as they were burned a little bit last year when they were buyers. Even if the Devils work their way back into the hunt, there could be assets to sell. Let’s get five deals to get future assets.
On the sixth day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… six Miles fights.
The season of Miles Wood has not been good. He’s doing some thing alright, like getting into the face of other players, and is still getting up the ice with extreme quickness. Yet, he’s been taking bad penalties and has not been scoring goals like he did last season.
Many point to the fact that Wood missed most of training camp during a contract negotiation. He wasn’t there to get chemistry with his teammates, and didn’t find a place that made sense in the lineup. He looked like he had some chemistry with John Quenneville and Travis Zajac, but things went down quickly when Quenneville went back down to Binghamton.
Miles hasn’t been the same, but maybe it’s because he’s not doing something he’s always been good at; fighting. Wood fought six times in his rookie season, and maybe that was too much. However, the Devils need something this year. Wood has been great at getting under other players’ skins, but if he backs it up then that changes things.
Honestly, this could get Wood’s confidence going. If he wins a fight or two, that will put a chip on his shoulder. Something needs to change, because the Devils need him to jump into a new role. Maybe a few fights here and there will catapult him there.
On the seventh day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… seven minors call ups.
The New Jersey Devils are getting closer to the point of playing for next year. It’s way too early to quit, but even if they want to play for this year, there are multiple players currently playing for the Binghamton Devils that seem about ready to play for the New Jersey team. At the very least, they deserve a shot to prove themselves.
Quenneville, Nick Lappin, Michael McLeod, Marian Studenic and even Nathan Bastian could do well with some games in the NHL. They will probably call up Kevin Rooney because he’s got a one-way deal next season, and the first call up didn’t go well. Josh Jacobs or MacKenzie Blackwood might get a call up to see if they can fill a position of need.
Seven of those eight players could see time in the NHL if the Devils decide to be sellers at the deadline, or if the Devils deal with some injuries.
The Devils need to see if the system is as bad as some say it is. They need to see if McLeod is as big a problem as he’s seemed. They really need to see who’s going to have an impact next season.
On the eighth day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… eight games of Stafford.
Listen, signing Drew Stafford was fine I suppose. He’s there to be a veteran presence on an extremely young team, and he doesn’t mind sitting for a majority of the season. However, to be honest, if we see him more than eight games this season it will be too much. He’s fine as a player who is an extra in practice. He says all the right things. He’s fine to have on the roster.
It’s just not worth having him on the ice during game days. It seems like he is good to have around. He’s a good teammate, so the team wasn’t completely wrong to bring him back, but it just isn’t worth it to put him on ice.
Stafford has one goal this year, and it was quite the fluke. It came against the San Jose Sharks, and it was from the worst angle possible. He just can’t make his own shots anymore, and the Devils have enough of that on the roster already.
On the ninth day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… nine wins in March.
This doesn’t have to be March. It can be January. Or February. Heck, let’s find a way to win nine in December. The Devils fans just deserve a nine win month. Full disclosure, March just works better with the song.
It’s a tall task, and might ruin the Lose for Hughes proposition, but if we learned anything it’s that the lottery is unpredictable. Winning might be more important long term.
If the Devils win nine games in a month, it provides hope. The Devils were never going to win the Stanley Cup this season. They didn’t do enough in the offseason to get better from what they were last season. However, there’s a lot riding on this upcoming offseason that having a good month could make easier. Obviously, the Taylor Hall contract negotiations start the second the season ends. If he sees this team as an eventual winner, then that makes that process smoother.
Shero says he wants to make this an eventual Stanley Cup contender. Some may question his methods after doing nothing this offseason, but it might be part of the plan. However, the plan also had improvement from the young players on this team with increased ice time. Winning will help that confidence level, and could propel them for their entire careers.
A nine win month seems like a long shot right now, but it’s not out of the question. The Devils had three eight win months last season, and a lot of that had to do with the man between the pipes getting scorching hot. Right now, Keith Kinkaid and Cory Schneider are not very good, but we’ve seen them turn it around before. If they do it again, a nine win month can happen.
On the tenth day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… ten hugs for Boyle.
Brian Boyle scored four goals on Hockey Fights Cancer nights, and four goals in the other 22 games. If he can score another 10 goals throughout the season, that gives him 18 goals on the year. I think every Devils fan would sign up for 18 goals from the fourth liner every day of the week, and twice on Christmas.
Boyle shows no signs of stopping, and now that the cancer that dragged him down last season is completely out of his body, his ceiling is much higher. Beyond that, he’s also just playing really well for the most part.
Boyle is spending time on all units. This season, he’s using his big body as an extra for the penalty kill when John Hynes needs him. He is playing alongside Brett Seney, who’s doing well with the leadership that comes with Boyle. He’s getting to the hard areas, and he’s sticking himself in front of the net and putting in goals.
He’s tied with Taylor Hall for fourth on the team with those eight goals. I’d have to imagine Hall eventually flies past him, but 18 goals will be very important to this team. Who knows, if he does that he might be worth bringing back for another season. That’s a conversation for a different article.
On the eleventh day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… eleven goals for Zacha.
We really need this present this season. Pavel Zacha shows flashes for a few weeks, then disappears again. We are back in one of his disappearing acts. After scoring four goals in three games, he’s gone nine games without a point. Even with Jesper Bratt and Marcus Johansson scoring on his line, he just isn’t getting the points.
One would think that this is the season Zacha needs to prove something. Not only is he in year three of his NHL career, but he’s at the end of his entry-level contract. If he’s going to get a considerable raise, he needs to score more than eight goals. It’s just the facts.
With how his season started, and where we are now, I think everyone signs up for a 15 goal Zacha season. To get there, he needs 11 goals in 53 games. That doesn’t seem too hard.
Zacha needs to show something, because the Devils are looking towards the next step of the team building process. Him showing some kind of scoring touch to go along with elite penalty killing and a good two-way game would go a long way in building the organization’s confidence in him.
On the twelfth day of Christmas the Devils gave to me… twelve days of waiting.
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Twelve days of waiting. That’s how long I want it to take fr Bob McKenzie to come out with rumors that the Devils and Taylor Hall have agreed to a long-term contract that will get signed on July 1st. Shero said he wants to negotiate a deal for Hall to sign, so we don’t want to wait.
We will give them 12 days after some team lifts the Stanley Cup. The Capitals won the Stanley Cup on June 7th last season. That gives the Devils until June 19th to figure out what to do with Hall’s contract. Any longer a wait will be excruciating.
It’s possible the Devils will wait until July 1st to make the announcement, but that’s not necessary. This fanbase waited until July 1st in the past, and it almost never works out in the end. Let the fanbase have some happiness in June. It doesn’t have to take away from the Stanley Cup’s thunder, but some time when we are really missing hockey and need something to talk about.
If it doesn’t happen in that time frame, and goes beyond July 1st, then panic will begin to set in. It will be one year since John Tavares left his super star position with the New York Islanders to go to Toronto. Devils fans won’t want to deal with that. Get Hall signed, and make him a Devils player for the rest of his career.
Next. How Will Devils Know When To Be Sellers?. dark