New Jersey Devils: Questionable Lineup Decisions Are Leading To Losses

The New Jersey Devils are a team that desperately needs someone to come in and make the right lineup decisions, otherwise things will never get better.

The New Jersey Devils lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a final score of 5-2. It was the type of game that the Devils would have lost anyway because Pittsburgh has lost eight of ten and has seen their playoff lead drop to five points. They are desperate while the Devils are just simply trying to play spoiler. Oh yeah, they also have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on their team still wrecking the league.

The problem is, the Devils don’t help their chances in games like this with the lineup decisions that they make. They put Miles Wood on the top line with Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri. Wood has had some changes since the move but is unable to take advantage as well as other players would. The Devils allowed Janne Kuokkanen to make his Devils debut. He would have been a better fit in that role.

Instead, Kuokkanen was on the fourth line with Kevin Rooney and John Hayden who have a combined 21 career NHL goals. Kuokkanen makes his living by being a great passer of the puck. He needs to be playing with guys who know how to score goals. That is why that spot on the top line is better suited for him than Miles Wood and Wood’s game is better suited for the bottom six.

The fact that Jack Hughes continues to play on the wing is less than ideal too. He is a center. He needs to continue to develop his game as a center. Nico Hischier wasn’t as good as he is now when he was a rookie but they kept him at the position. These young guys need to continue developing their strengths and strengthening their weaknesses. Hopefully, the coaching staff gets him back at the center soon.

The only forward line that remains awesome is the line with Pavel Zacha centering Nikita Gusev and Jesper Bratt. The three of them have created a chemistry that might be worth continuing to try. Bratt and Gusev have been magicians offensively while Zacha continues to try to grow his two-way game.

This team has some talented players, but they need someone to come in and put them all in a position to succeed. Hopefully, they don’t let the fact that MacKenzie Blackwood has been an elite goalie in 2020 blind them from the team not playing very well despite the wins. They need to make changes this summer in order to maximize all of the talents that are there.