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New Jersey Devils: Don’t Give Up On Miles Wood Just Yet

By Nick Villano

NEWARK, NJ - APRIL 01: New Jersey Devils left wing Miles Wood (44) has a bloody nose after fighting during the second period of the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers on April 1, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - APRIL 01: New Jersey Devils left wing Miles Wood (44) has a bloody nose after fighting during the second period of the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers on April 1, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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New Jersey Devils forward Miles Wood had a breakout season in 2017-18, but as soon as he got paid he fell off. There’s reason to believe he could have a major bounce back next season.

Miles Wood was a major disappointment for the New Jersey Devils last season. That’s one of the clearest facts coming out of what was a terrible regular season. He went from 19 goals in 2018-19 to just 10 goals last season. Despite missing close to 20 games throughout the season, he still found himself in the penalty box for 91 minutes.

We know what Wood is as a player at this point. He can be extremely frustrating, but he does a ton to frustrate the other team as well. He never quits on a play, and will skate from one side of the ice to the other just to try and get a poke check. Most teams would love a player like that, but Devils fans seemed to turn on Wood throughout the season.

Sure, Wood does some things that makes a fan want to tear his hair out. His penalties seem to come at the worst times. He overskates a little too often for our liking. His speed is amazing, and it gives him opportunities for breakaways often, but just as often he mishandles the puck because he’s trying to outskate everyone.

Yet, despite these flaws, there’s good reason to believe he could bounce back from a down season last year.

Twice he was starting to build momentum before he was knocked out by injury. He had six points in January despite missing two weeks. Then, he score goals in three games in a row in February, but couldn’t make it to the end of the month before going on the shelf again. It was the injury curse that destroyed the Devils last season.

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Also, we have to talk about Wood’s injury “holdout” or whatever you want to call it. He didn’t appear in training camp until September 22nd, when the Devils were fully entrenched in the preseason. Wood has all the talent in the world, but losing that rhythm with teammates had to hurt. We saw that on the ice.

Wood had a brutal November, where he scored just one goal and had zero assists. If you take that month out entirely, the season doesn’t look that bad. Without that month, he would have had a half-point per game. That’s exactly what we want from Wood. If he can average a point every other game, then most of us would be happy with that.

After January 1st, when Wood was really starting to get going, he had slightly more than a half-point per game. This is the Miles Wood that gives the Devils an advantage every single night.

We know Wood will never be a top-six forward. That’s not the role the Devils signed him to be, however if he can stay healthy, would we be mad if he had 40 points next season? I think about everyone would be satisfied with 20 goals and 20 assists. He could very well do that with a full offseason to train with the team and a much better team built around him.

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