New Jersey Devils: 5 Possible Replacements for John Hynes

The New Jersey Devils have once again blown another lead at home, this time against an organization they had no business losing to; the Ottawa Senators. Holding onto a lead has been the main issue regarding this seasons dismal record and overall feel to it. In recent memory, there has not been a team that has fallen harder to Earth than this Devil team.

With so many high expectations, new talent, and excitement going into the season, there should be no reason why the Devils shouldn’t be in the talk of the top of the division. Instead, they are dead last in the Eastern Conference and very close to being at the very bottom of the entire league. So, who is to blame?

Well for starters you can blame the lack of scoring. There is only one player on pace this season to score more than 60 points, and that player will almost definitely not be on the team anymore if this record keeps up.

Of course the man is Taylor Hall. Hall has been snake bitten the last stretch of games not being able to buy a goal no matter how many times he gets a breakaway. Hall is to an extent doing his part., but nowhere else is anyone chipping in. Sure, Kyle Palmieri is the only other player with more than ten points, but he is inconsistent with his production. Wayne Simmonds, Jack Hughes, and Pavel Zacha have picked it up as of late, but this team needs more depth scoring.

The second place you can look is the defense and goaltending. P.K. Subban has been prone to the terrible giveaway. Matt Tennyson is not playing like he had in the preseason, which is translating to goals for the other team. Everyone else except Andy Greene and Sami Vatanen are not chipping in what they are expected to. Mackenzie Blackwood has shown some consistency in net, but cannot help giving up the terrible goal that will eventually snowball into the blown lead. Cory Schneider cannot seem to buy a save. The defensive game has to improve if this team even wants to break seventy points.

The most glaring cause for the disastrous start has been the coaching of John Hynes. For whatever reason, Hynes keeps making the wrong decisions. He constantly changes lines when they do not need to be and does not change lines when they absolutely should. His benching of Jesper Boqvist and Nikita Gusev, who are players that need more minutes to show where they are and where they can go in this league, in favor of John Hayden and Kevin Rooney are mind boggling. The strategy and structure of the team when they are defending a lead are obviously not working. How has he not changed as a coach for the betterment of the team?

Blowing another lead at home to the Senators is another low for a team that has already experienced so many this season. If another blown lead on home ice occurs within the near future, Hynes’ tenure will likely be ending soon. Here are five possible replacements for a new Devils head coach if Ray Shero decides change is needed.