New Jersey Devils: The Power Play Can Help P.K. Subban
The New Jersey Devils can get more from P.K. Subban in an improved power play.
The New Jersey Devils probably didn’t get the season that they were expecting from P. K. Subban when they acquired him in a trade with the Nashville Predators. He was expected to come in and be the clear number one and he wasn’t that. He didn’t have the points that we thought he would have on the power play or at even strength and his defensive play wasn’t good either. He definitely needs to have a bounce-back season in 2020-21 for New Jersey to have a good year.
They are expected to have an improved power play this season for a few different reasons. Perhaps, the most important is the development of their young forwards. If Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nikita Gusev can continue growing their games, the power play should be able to heavily improve its production.
The other reason that the man advantage can be better is the fact that Mark Recchi is there as an assistant coach. One of his duties as assistant coach will be the power play. He has had big success on the power play as both a coach and player. The Pittsburgh Penguins were very good with a man advantage coached by Recchi. Hopefully, the Devils are able to benefit from this hire the way they did.
If these variables are able to help New Jersey on the power play, Subban should be a beneficiary of it. He is known for having a big-time shot and the ability to make big passes. He wasn’t successful last year in that spot, but with the new coaching staff, there is a much better chance that he is able to play to his strengths. The power play would improve big time if Subban was able to be somewhat as good on the quarterback as he was back in the day. The coaching staff should make trying this one of their top priorities.
light. Hot. The New Jersey Devils could get a big boost from Mark Recchi
If he is able to feel good about himself on the power play, he might start to feel good about himself in all situations. That would be a big boost to the depth of the Devils defense. He was nominated for the Norris Trophy as recently as 2017-18 so it is possible there is some good play still in there. He doesn’t need to be that Norris Trophy guy he once was, he just needs to be better than he was in 2019-20. There is a chance for him to still have a good tenure with this team.