New Jersey Devils: Dougie Hamilton And Ryan Graves Need To Be Together
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils are in the tank right now. There is no fixing this overnight. The team just lost 7-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs one night after blowing a 4-2 lead to the same team. The Devils allowed four third-period goals to the Leafs on Monday and then just gave up on the matchup on Tuesday night. There was no defensive structure. The effort level was piss poor as the team heads into the All-Star Break. Now, the team has six days off to re-evaluate the issues with the team.
One of the main issues has been injuries. Give credit where credit is due, the Devils have been missing star players all season. Miles Wood is a key cog to this team’s potential success, and he’s played zero games this season. Jack Hughes missed a few weeks with a shoulder injury. The team is currently without Jonathan Bernier and Mackenzie Blackwood. They might both be out for the rest of the season for all we know. A bunch of players missed time due to a COVID outbreak. And now, the team is without Dougie Hamilton.
We’ve seen the major impact Hamilton had on this team when he was in the lineup. He’s an offensive force in a system that fits him very well. What Lindy Ruff is doing with Hamilton made him close to Vezina worthy at the beginning of the season. That feels like it’s years ago, but it was only two or three months ago. His pairing with Ryan Graves is the best the Devils have had in a long time.
Since Hamilton has been out with his jaw injury, Graves has been bad. He’s on the ice for 10 goals for and 15 goals against in the 12 games since Hamilton went down. It’s something the Devils feel up and down the lineup. However, the difference between Graves with Hamilton and Graves without is hefty.
Hamilton and Graves played 330 minutes together at even strength. Only Damon Severson and Jonas Siegenthaler have played more minutes together this season. They have a similar CF% together (which means they get more chances on the ice than chances they allow to the other team). And the Devils score more goals when Hamilton and Graves are on the ice than they allow, which is rare for a Devils defensive pairing.
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When the Devils can’t put out Hamilton and Graves on the top line, that means they need to give more minutes to Severson-Siegenthaler and find a replacement for either Graves or Hamilton. Graves and Hamilton have been together for just 25 games. They have a 54% CorsiFor. The team’s on-ice shooting percentage goes up to 11% when they are on the ice. It’s between 8% and 9% when they aren’t together or off the ice completely. (All advanced stats came via Natural Stat Trick.)
The Devils have only had Graves and Hamilton together for 25 of 45 games. The Devils are 11-10-5 when the team has Graves and Hamilton at the same time. That would give the Devils 48 points at 45 games. That would have then seven points out of the final playoff spot held by the Boston Bruins. That’s still a lot, but the Devils are currently 20 points out of the final playoff spot.
It’s clear there is a lot wrong with the Devils this season, but SOME of that would be solved if Hamilton and Graves were together. They are both much worse away from each other, and things would make a lot more sense if they were on the ice together, especially now when Jon Gillies and Akira Schmid need good defensive in front of them more than ever.