New Jersey Devils: Can Anyone Fix This?

New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86): Tom Horak-USA TODAY Sports
New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86): Tom Horak-USA TODAY Sports

The New Jersey Devils are in a bad way. They have gone 3-8-3 since their first win against the New York Islanders. Everything is going wrong. The defense has been mediocre despite spending huge on Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Graves and keeping P.K. Subban on the roster. The Devils have one of the most expensive defensive units in the league, and they are getting better offense from it than defense. The offense, on the other hand, isn’t very offensive. They’ve scored just two goals non-empty-net goals in each of the last four games. In fact, they scored two goals in eight of the last 10 games.

The goaltending isn’t even doing very well, and now Jonathan Bernier might be out for the foreseeable future. There is no end in sight for the Devils bad play, and it could lead to a very pathetic end to the 2021 year.

The schedule isn’t exactly difficult for the rest of the season. They have another game against the Flyers this week. They play the Penguins twice, who are still dealing with a plethora of injuries. They also have the Canadiens, Sabres, Red Wings, Golden Knights, and Blues on the schedule before playing the Edmonton Oilers on New Year’s Eve.

While that doesn’t look like a hard schedule, is anything really easy for the Devils these days? With how bad their power play is, it’s really hurting their ability to score goals in general. Hamilton was supposed to bolster this team’s powerplay, along with Jack Hughes taking a step and the addition of Tomas Tatar. Instead, the Devils kept the same inane system that plays the opposite of the team’s 5v5 style that actually creates scoring chances.

The penalty kill is better, but it’s not like it’s great. Some games, it’s unstoppable. Other games, it’s average. This is still worlds better than it was last season, but it’s not like the Devils penalty kill under John Hynes. Nobody is asking to bring John Hynes back, but he did have a really good penalty kill.

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How do the Devils fix how they have been playing on the ice? Do they replace the coach? Will that fix everything? Remember, if the Devils fire Lindy Ruff, they are more than likely going to make Alain Nasreddine the head coach for the rest of the season. If he does well, he will be the full-time coach. They like Nasreddine, and they apparently strongly considered him when they hired Ruff.

If they keep Ruff, what can they do differently to string together some wins? The Devils are five points out of a playoff spot. That seems impossible with how they’ve played, but it’s true. They need one two-week run of great play to see themselves on the cusp or possibly even right in the playoffs. The entire Eastern Conference has struggled as of late, and nobody is taking the bull by the horns just yet.

Still, this Devils team is not a playoff team. They look like they did the past two seasons. Why is that? Is it really just coaching? Is this what happens when the team sucks for so long? Is this culture?

It’s hard for teams to shake off a culture of losing, but we see teams do it all the time. The Columbus Blue Jackets don’t feel the issues of over a decades worth of losing now. They are always right in the middle of things. The Red Wings have been losing for years, but they are playing above their heads this season.

Eventually, it has to be everything that gets blame. The coaches have to take a lot of the blame, but the players deserve blame too. The Devils lost on Saturday night to the Islanders thanks to a major mistake by Ty Smith. He’s been prone to many mistakes this season, and unfortunately, Akira Schmid is too young to save the Devils.

The Devils have to fix the power play. That’s step number one. Change the scheme. It doesn’t work with this team, and it’s the exact opposite of how they play at even strength. To go from a team that constantly moves in the offensive zone when it’s 5v5 to a team that stands still on the power play, it makes no sense. Also, they pass too much and shoot too infrequently.

After that, the Devils have to tell their superstars to play like superstars. Hamilton has struggled the past few games. He isn’t “the” problem. Not by a long shot, but he needs to play so well he makes up for the Devils problems.

There are too many problems with the Devils right now to list. We thought we were past this, but were not. There is some hope, however. Besides the fact that nobody in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race has pulled away, the Devils have all the talent to turn it around. They have a coaching staff that needs to prove itself, or they will have a new coaching staff. It’s that simple. The Utica Comets have been the best team in the AHL. If the Devils really wanted to try something, they can see what Kevin Dineen has to offer.

I truly believe it’s not there yet. However, if Ruff keeps trying the same thing, then it will be. Something has to change. The Devils can’t keep doing the same thing and hope they will get a different result. That’s insanity. Something needs to change, and it needs to change fast. It isn’t easy to try an entirely new power play philosophy, but the PP literally can’t go worse. Not only are they failing to score, but they are allowing shorthanded goals. It starts there, and it should happen before the next game.