Pucks and Pitchforks
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5 New Jersey Devils Who Must Put In Extra Work This Offseason

By Nick Villano

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 2: Will Butcher #8 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with the bench after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on February 2, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 2: Will Butcher #8 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with the bench after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on February 2, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
(Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images) /

Joey Anderson

Joey Anderson was a fine NHL player this season. He wasn’t great. He wasn’t even good. However, he was suitably average.

Unfortunately for Anderson, average isn’t going to quite cut it next season. Anderson scored four goals in 32 games. He suffered a major injury inbetween, missing more than two months of action. Obviously, it’s hard to get used to your rookie year when you suddenly disappear right in the middle of it.

In the AHL, he was a half-point-per-game player, which prompted his call up in the first place. He didn’t even spend a full month in Binghamton before New Jersey came calling. He just didn’t play well enough to guarantee himself a spot on next year’s team.

We thought he could at least be a decent penalty killer. However, Kevin Rooney basically took that place from him. Anderson got some penalty killing time, but he never really salvaged that role. Again, he was fine.

Anderson needs to work on a few things this offseason to come into the preseason as an NHL regular. He needs to spend most of his offseason on the ice, working on his shot and on his positioning. He was decent at keeping the puck on his stick, but when it came time to shoot it did not go where he likely wanted. While it has gotten better, one thing we expected to be good from the beginning is his ability to get into dirty areas and score dirty goals. He needs to find himself close to the crease most times than not. Until he learns his perfect shot, this is his best chance to score goals.

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