New Jersey Devils: 5 Players Who Were Rolling Before Season Paused

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New Jersey Devils – Jack Hughes (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

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.

Damon Severson

GP: 69 G: 8 A: 23

Stat	10/2-12/31	1/1-3/11
Games	39	30
Goals	4	4
Assists	8	15

When the NHL season was suspended by the COVID-19 crisis, Damon Severson not only led all New Jersey Devils defensemen in scoring, but the 19 points he compiled since January was second-most on the team, including forwards.

Although his five-on-five advanced stats worsened in 2020, one of the most notable categories where Severson has improved is power play production. To date, Severson has three goals and 10 points on the power play. All three of Severson’s power play goals and nine of his ten points that came on the man-advantage were attained since January.

A better way to reflect on Severson’s vast improvement between the season’s 2019 and 2020 halves are his points-per-game. From October to December 31, Severson averaged .31 points per game, and more than doubled that rate to .63 since January. Although Severson’s numbers spiked considerably in 2020, he’s been streaky. From January 27-February 13, Severson notched two goals and nine points in eight games, along with netting one goal and six points in his last nine contests leading up to the season’s hiatus.

Jesper Bratt

GP: 60 G: 16 A: 16

Stat	10/2-12/31	1/1-3/11
Games	34	26
Goals	8	8
Assists	7	9

One of the biggest reasons why it’s such a shame the season had to be suspended for the New Jersey Devils was the outstanding (and consistent) play of Jesper Bratt. The 21-year old forward set a new career-high in goals (16) and was three points shy of passing his high in points (35). Since he was scratched by the coaching staff (who ambiguously cited consistency as the reason) in February, Bratt has stepped up mightily (and already was prior to being scratched).

Over 18 games since February 1, Bratt has seven goals and 13 points. In the traditional first half of this season, Bratt averaged .44 points per game in 34 contests, increasing his gamely output by nearly 50 percent (.65) over his last 26 matches since January. One of the biggest attributes to Bratt’s improved performance have been his shot totals. He registered 49 shots on net over the 34 games from October to December (1.44 shots per game). Since January, Bratt has tallied 52 shots on net in his last 26 contests (an even 2 shots per game).

Bratt’s shot percentage this season is 15.8 percent—the second-highest among New Jersey Devils with at least 60 games played—and has remained between 15.4 and 16.3 percent over the season’s 2019 and 2020 sections. Simply put, Bratt’s improved play has coincided with him shooting more. That is paying major dividends.

Miles Wood

GP: 68 G: 11 A: 12

Stat	10/2-12/31	1/1-3/11
Games	39	29
Goals	5	6
Assists	6	6

Going on his fourth season with the New Jersey Devils, Miles Wood has been one of the team’s most polarizing players. As has been the case with Wood in recent years, he started the season slow, but improved his play since January. In the first half of this season, Wood averaged .28 points per game. Since January, Wood’s points per game have improved to .41.

Like Bratt, increased shots have been a factor behind Wood’s 2020 play. Through the season’s 2019 section, Wood had 73 shots in 39 games (1.87 shots per game), averaging a 6.8 shooting percentage. In 2020, Wood has 68 shots in his last 29 contests (2.34 shots per game), over which he maintained a shooting percentage of 8.8—a 22.73 percent increase.

All 23 of Wood’s points came at five-on-five this season. While his advanced five-on-five stats have dropped in 2020, one particular category where he’s improved significantly over that span is the percentage of on-ice high danger goals. In the season’s 2019 part, the Devils scored 45.83 percent of all high danger goals at five-on-five when Wood was on the ice. In 2020, the Devils scored 56.25 of all high danger goals that occurred when Wood was on the ice.

Pavel Zacha

GP: 65 G: 8 A: 24

Stat	10/2-12/31	1/1-3/11
Games	35	30
Goals	3	5
Assists	13	11

Developmentally, Pavel Zacha has been an excruciatingly frustrating slow boil. Uncertainty surrounding Zacha’s true potential and future with the organization spiked earlier this season, however his play in 2020 has since eased many of those reservations. Through the season’s 2019 section, he averaged .46 points per game, while maintaining .53 points per game since January. Zacha set new career-highs this season in points (32) and assists (24). Prior to the season’s suspension, he would have been on pace for 9-10 goals and 28-29 assists, which would have been good for nearly 40 points.

Although Zacha’s average shots per game increased subtly between the season’s 2019 and 2020 sects and his five-on-five advanced stats haven’t undergone any groundbreaking changes, Zacha’s improved numbers in 2020 largely derive from his special teams production. This season, 12 of Zacha’s 32 points came on the power play or penalty kill. Since January, Zacha has tallied 11 of those special teams points—three goals and eight points on the power play, two goals and three points came shorthanded.

Mackenzie Blackwood

GP: 47 Record: 22-14-8 GAA: 2.77 SV%: .915

Stat	10/2-12/31	1/1-3/11
Games Played	30	17
Starts	27	16
Record	13-10-5	9-4-3
GAA	2.85	2.63
SV%	.907	.926

Most (if not all) of New Jersey’s successes this season—especially since January—can be attributed to the unparalleled play of rookie goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. A recent piece projected Blackwood could get 25 wins, of which he was only three shy prior to the season’s hiatus.

Blackwood’s .926 save percentage is ninth-highest among goalies with at least 10 games played since January. At 5v5 over that span, Blackwood’s .933 save percentage is eighth-highest among goalies with at least 500 minutes played. He’s had a save percentage of .920 or better in 10 of the 17 games he’s played in 2020, and went 7-2-1 in his last 10 contests, over which he had back-to-back shutouts and won six consecutive starts.

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Blackwood has truly embraced the starting role in New Jersey, and was even brought up in discussions for a Calder Memorial Trophy nomination prior to the season halting. While his overall stats aren’t much to write home about, the fact Blackwood was able to put up these numbers and what he’s done since January on a grossly underachieving New Jersey Devils team is certainly a testament to the overall quality of the 23-year old’s play, and how high his ceiling could truly be as he continues to mature.

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