New Jersey Devils: 5 Players Who Could Fall out of Favor Before Season’s End

Miles Wood is arguably the most frustrating player in the Devils lineup. He is consistently putting up multiple-game stretches where he looks like the bull-in-a-china-shop player we saw from 2017-2018 and then following it up with a stretch of games where he barely looks like an NHLer.

2018-2019 was a season to forget for most players who suited up in a Devils sweater, especially Wood. Dealing with injuries and inconsistency, Wood tallied 10 goals and 14 assists in 63 games. This came after a training camp in which he held-out for a new multi-year contract. Shero eventually inked him to a four-year extension worth $2.75 million average-annual value (AAV). It was mostly deserved at the time, as Wood put up 19 goals in 2017-18. Since, however, the speedy winger has not lived up to expectations.

Wood has only missed one game this season, racking up some of the most playing time on the team. As a regular in the lineup, he is rocking a career-low CF% of 43.5 this year. During his 19-goal 2017-2018 campaign, he was at 50.77.

The former Boston College Eagle has been mentioned briefly in trade rumors this season. At the deadline, I personally thought he would have been a good alternative to Simmonds for the Vancouver Canucks if they could not absorb at least part of his contract. Wood is a difficult player to move right now, as he is still on the books for $6 million in salary for the next two seasons after 2019-2020. His name will resurface once again in the summer as the Devils look to retool their lineup.