New Jersey Devils Need To Step Up Their Game To Survive This Stretch

The New Jersey Devils are coming off a loss against a bad Anaheim Ducks team and dropped to 4-3-1 which on paper is ok but in reality, it is not good enough. The Kraken, Blue Jackets, and Sabres were projected bottom five teams while Calgary, Chicago, and Anaheim were likely to be in the bottom ten. This was an easy schedule and the team needed to dominate, getting an early lead this season and building some confidence along with a solid winning attitude that has been missing for years. They have however barely had a dominant period since Hughes went down and couldn’t even roll over the Penguins AHL roster. So what do they need to do and what are their options?

The first thing is the special teams which need to be 100% changed and it is time to fire Recchi. This season they are currently sitting at 13% on the powerplay and 71.9% on the penalty kill. Last season they finished 28th and dead last on what was nearly an NHL record bad penalty kill. If you have the stats and can compare your performance versus all teams, over decades and were in a tight fight for the worst what reason is there to remain in your position? 5v5 this team has been alright but if the special teams are at this number the playoffs will never happen and it should not be remotely difficult to at least stop the powerplay from draining the team’s momentum.

P.K. Subban has been terrible this season and has received his second fine in a week for a dangerous trip. He’s already racked up $20,000 in fines. He has had way too many chances in his time with the Devils and even moving the guy, who was supposed to be a top pairing guy, all the way down to the bottom pairing this season he can’t even live up to those expectations. With Hamilton out it is likely that he will be seeing more ice time and the Devils will have a tough time surviving this but what should be done is send a message to him that he needs to step up by sitting him for the poor and dangerous play.

Hischier and Zacha have taken a lot of flack from me and despite the 6 points from Zacha he has been awful on the ice and the pair can barely get any sustained pressure. Jesper Bratt was struggling mightily in till he was moved off that line and all of a sudden he looks like himself again which is quite telling. The part that is most shocking however is Hischier was always a solid two way player to the point some fans in Jersey even thought he could one day be a Selke Trophy contender but this season he has made more ridiculously bad plays in the defensive zone or given away the puck leading to a dangerous opportunity than he would in almost a full season. These two are played like a top line and the time has come to play the part or split them up and move one down the lineup for the good of the team.

Alexander Holtz has been on a tear in Utica with 5 goals in 4 games so far and he probably could have made this team out of training camp. The Devils should consider bringing him up when Jack Hughes is back and immediately put them together. Right now let him build that confidence while the big squad figures it out but he earned his spot so let him play when there is a solid role for him and he has the best chance to succeed with a star playmaker.

As of right now, the team needs to make it work with what they have and put forward a proper effort and full 60 minutes every game not just every fifth or sixth game. The schedule has been easy so far and they still have two games against bottom teams in California but after that, the rest of the month will be difficult and the team could find themselves a freefall if things don’t change. This team has a good roster and did all the right things in the offseason it is just time to put it together.