12 Days Of New Jersey Devils Christmas

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.