3 New Jersey Devils Who Could Still Score 20 Goals This Year
The New Jersey Devils have plenty of good goal scorers. There are a few guys who could still reach that 20 goal plateau this season.
The New Jersey Devils are amidst a disaster of a season after having the biggest summer of any team in the offseason. They were expected to be much better, but actually they are in last place in the Metropolitan Division. They have absolutely failed to even come close to their expectations this year, leaving most fans disgusted with them.
With that said, there are a few players who are still having good years despite the team around them being a complete mess. There are guys who can make plays, defend well, win faceoffs, score goals, and make saves and there are others who have failed to do those things. It is important that the ones who have been good continue to do so and the ones that haven’t need to improve and fast. This stretch to the end of the regular season is huge for a lot of the guys on the team who are trying to save their jobs for 2020-21.
Blake Coleman and Kyle Palmieri are two examples of players having a good year on this disaster of a team. Each of them just scored their 20th and 21st goals in the past week or so. It has been a good year for the two of them as they each reached the 20 goal plateau. That begs the question, can any other Devils player reach that plateau this season? It is going to be extremely difficult, but these three guys are the most capable of doing it down the stretch:
85. . C. New Jersey Devils. Nico Hischier. 1. player
You could make a claim that the best player on the New Jersey Devils right now is their 2017 first-overall pick, Nico Hischier. Nico took a while to get going offensively this season and some injury trouble had a bit to do with that, but he is having a fine third season with all things considered. He was actually the Devils’ representative at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game. He was one of the best players in the Metropolitan Division’s loss to the Atlantic Division, scoring two goals.
Hischier currently has 13 goals. He hasn’t played in the last few games due to another injury he sustained but there is still a chance that he reaches the 20 goal mark. 20 is his career-high but he did that using all 82 games. There is no doubt that his offense is slowly coming along to be as good as his two-way game. He is so smart with and without the puck and as he develops that will lead to even more offense.
Hischier can easily score seven goals over the last 27 games if he comes back from injury soon (he returned to practice Thursday morning). He would need a big week based on his current pace because his 13 goals in 46 games is an 82 game pace of 23 goals. He also has been better as he got off to a rough start in the goal-scoring department.
85. . LW. New Jersey Devils. Nikita Gusev. 2. player
It took Nikita Gusev a while to adjust to the National Hockey League. He was the best player in the KHL last season so the Devils took a chance and acquired him from the Vegas Golden Knights late in the summer. He as started to live up to the hype over the last few months in the season. He is a pass-first guy but has also shown the ability to score goals as well. He currently has ten on the season right now.
Gusev has double the number of assists as he does goals, but that is not for a lack of talent in the shooting department. His ten goals are tied for fourth on the team. He obviously would need a big stretch of goal scoring late in the year to reach the 20-goal plateau but it is certainly possible over the last 27 games. The key to Gusev scoring goals is being a little bit more selfish with his play. He is a pass-first guy but sometimes he just needs to shoot it.
He plays on a line with Travis Zajac who isn’t doing much offensively this season, but he has elevated the goal-scoring ability of Blake Coleman. If they can reverse rolls a little bit down the stretch, Gusev might find himself at or near the 20 goal mark for the Devils.
New Jersey Devils. Miles Wood. 3. player. 85. . LW
New Jersey Devils fans love to rip on Miles Wood. He had a very tough first half of the season but has come along a little bit in the second half. Despite having the reputation of a guy who can’t finish plays, he does have ten goals on the season. His career-high in 19 so one short of that 20 goal mark. Wood has an outside chance of reaching 20 this season if he does a few things right and consistent.
Miles is probably the fastest player on the team. His hands don’t always match his speed but sometimes they do. He seems to create a break for himself every single game so if he could just slightly improve his shooting percentage, 20 or close to it could be in the cards. It may be unlikely at this point but there is a chance with 27 games left. There is also a chance that he starts to see more ice after the trade deadline passes.
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The offense has been an issue for this Devils team as a whole this season and Miles Wood is one of the players who need to pick it up a little bit more. He has to be put in a position to succeed and he will. Wood would be a great bottom-six forward if he got back to the level he was at in 2017-18 for the Devils.