New Jersey Devils: 5 Players Who Were Rolling Before Season Paused
By Mike Luci
When the 2019-2020 NHL season was suspended, it left the New Jersey Devils with a 28-29-12 record—good for 68 points, which ranks 26th in the league and 14th in the Eastern Conference. Their season was nothing short of an utter disappointment, but you can argue the Devil’s 2019-2020 campaign went into hiatus on somewhat of an encouragingly high note.
The chart below compares New Jersey’s performance from 10/2-12/31 and 1/1-3/11.
| Stat | 10/2-12/31 | 1/1-3/11 |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 39 | 30 |
| Record | 14-19-6 | 14-10-6 |
| GF/GA | 2.56/3.44 | 2.83/3.00 |
| SF/SA | 31.1/31.1 | 30.1/34.7 |
| PP/PK | 14.2/79.8 | 23.7/86.2 |
From their overall record along with goals and shots they’ve produced and allowed, to special teams, the New Jersey Devil have made a commendable turnaround in 2020. If the season started in January, New Jersey would have entered the league’s hiatus with the Eastern Conference’s seventh-best record and been fourth in the Metropolitan Division—putting them in a playoff spot.
While the organization has experienced several groundbreaking changes in the form of firings (John Hynes, Ray Shero) and trades (Taylor Hall, Andy Greene, Blake Coleman, Sami Vatanen) the team’s improved play in 2020 has been facilitated by notable turnarounds among some of their players.
These five New Jersey Devils are among those players who struggled or had sluggish starts to the 2019-2020 season and stepped up immensely since January.