New Jersey Devils: John Hynes May Be Most Influential To Team Success

It may be obvious to say that the head coach has a lot to do with a team’s success or failure, but New Jersey Devils coach John Hynes has a lot of weight on how this team plays.

The New Jersey Devils are about to add a ton of talent that was not there at the end of last season. You know who we’re talking about, Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban, Wayne Simmons and Nikita Gusev put the Devils sweater on for the first time. Taylor Hall puts the NJ crest across his torso for the first time in 2019. With that much talent, it’s no wonder the Devils have been the darling of the offseason. They went from one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference to a real playoff contender.

With the Metropolitan being one of the toughest from top to bottom, playoffs are hardly a guarantee. There’s a lot standing in the way between the Devils and playoff success. One is the competition. The New York Rangers got better, the Philadelphia Flyers think they finally fixed their goaltender position, and the other five teams made the playoffs last year and have one reason or another to look forward to this season.

There’s also the Devils goaltending position, which is still a question mark. Taylor Hall’s knee and his contract situation could provide some issues. Relying too much on players with very little NHL experience could backfire. The list goes on and on, but when really looking at the Devils situation, it’s clear what should be on top of the Devils success list.

Devils head coach John Hynes is coming into a very important season. After the wheels completely fell off last season, Hynes needs to show he can be a coach who can lead a playoff contender. He’s been the leader behind the Devils bench for four seasons, and he’s four games under hockey .500. It’s not great, but it’s hardly all his fault.

He’s not without fault, though. Hynes has made some questionable decisions, whether it’s his trust is certain goalies to the point he starts them for weeks straight. Sometimes he “throws the lines in a blender” to shake things up, but it ruins consistency. Sometimes he overreacts to a bad period, and will play three lines for the rest of the game, which can grind players down.

This season, all those things he’s done in the past can literally go up in smoke because of the players on this team. There are a great mixture of vets, rookies, personalities, hockey guys and playmakers. The Devils have four very good centers, and a lineup with literally no glaring holes.

When a lineup like this comes together, it’s up to the coach to get everyone where they need to be. How will Nikita Gusev react to a hard Hynes practice? What happens if Subban tries to play through another injury? Will he let Hall dictate how he’s played in a contract year? This is a lot of newness to handle all at once, and even the best coaches could have trouble stopping it from combusting at some point.

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Then, we go back to the goalie situation. Mackenzie Blackwood and Cory Schneider both showed promise at the end of last season. Is he going to continue to ride the hot hand like he’s done in years past? This may not be that situation. This feels more like a true 1A and 1B situation. If he tries to ride the hot hand, and say that hot hand is Cory Schneider, do you really want him playing five games in a row? Logic says no, but we don’t know what Hynes himself will say.

The minutes distribution might be Hynes’ hardest job. Think about this for just a second; the fourth line could very easily be Miles Wood–Pavel Zacha–Wayne Simmonds. If Jesper Boqvist makes this team, he could force himself into the top nine. Then, it might move Simmonds down to bottom line duty. Outside of his time in Nashville, the last time Simmonds has played less than 15 minutes per game was 2010-11 with the Los Angeles Kings. Zacha was getting 16 minutes of ice time last season. Can those two players accept fourth-line minutes? What are fourth line minutes on this team?

Then, there’s the temptation to try new things with lines the second things aren’t working out. That’s what happens when there’s an abundance of talent at the forward position. Don’t like Kyle Palmieri for one night? He’s now on the third line. Jack Hughes scores for three-straight games? He’s now playing with Taylor Hall. Nikita Gusev goes on a cold streak? Hynes switches him with Wood. There is a possibility at some point this season we’ll see first-line Simmonds.

Hynes has been known for making some interesting decisions with the lines. In his interview with the media on Thursday, he seemed to steer clear of locking any player into any position. He said Nico Hischier was on “one of” his top lines. When talking about Zacha, he specifically said he could play center and wing. He wants Hughes to earn his spot in the lineup. A lot can still happen.

He also made no changes to his coaching staff. This team was 28th in the league last season, but nobody was held accountable. Yes, injuries played a factor, but even when they were close to healthy at the beginning of the season they were terrible. That faith in his coaches could put him up for some criticism.

Hynes is an very important figure this season. He could be coaching for an extension if he succeeds. We don’t want to say he’s coaching for his job, but at the same time we can’t see him surviving if things go off the rails again. Maybe he will because he’s Ray Shero’s guy, but the seat will be considerably hotter. He’s the man who’s going to push this team to where it’s going to go.