Four Moves the New Jersey Devils Need to Make Before New Year’s Day
By Tyler Kelley
Step 1:
Fire John Hynes
Anyone who follows me on Twitter (@DocKelley41 for those who don’t) knows I’ve been conducting this train for a while now. I thought John Hynes did a decent enough job the last few years with a team that was seriously lacking talent, but after being the offseason champions the Devils are all but eliminated right at American Thanksgiving.
This visualization shows just how bad the Devils offense has been this season.
A team with Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Kyle Palmieri, and Nikita Gusev shouldn’t be anywhere near this bad offensively. That comes down to coaching first and foremost.
Combine an atrocious 5v5 offense with the 4th worst GF/60 on the powerplay in the NHL and you’re in for trouble. They likely won’t find his long term replacement this year but at some point the kids on this team need to learn how to win, and it’s clear a systemic change is needed both at 5v5 and on special teams.