Should We Be Worried About New Jersey Devils Defense?

The New Jersey Devils just put four goals on Juuse Saros, one of the best goalies in the National Hockey League. Despite that, they still lost to former head coach John Hynes. The hope to beat Hynes faded thanks to an absolutely dreadful performance by the defense. It has us asking; is there something wrong with the Devils defense?

Against the Nashville Predators, the Devils allowed 41 shots against. They constantly allowed the Predators to get breakaways, and they really tested Mackenzie Blackwood at every turn. On paper, the Devils never want to see Blackwood allow five goals, but it’s really hard to blame him for anything that happened.

Its quality defense once drove the Devils. Earlier in the year, the Devils allowed an NHL low in shots and high-quality chances. They were suppressing shots with equal parts quality puck control and keeping opponents in low-danger areas. Now, those numbers have flipped.

Through November 30th, only the Hurricanes allowed fewer shots per 60 at 5v5 and all strengths. New Jersey was allowing 26 shots per game. The Devils led the league with just 9.34 high-danger chances allowed per 60 minutes. That was one fewer chance per game than the second-place Minnesota Wild (all stats come from Natural Stat Trick).

Since then, the Devils dropped to ninth, allowing close to 30 shots per game. Three shots doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s the difference between being one of the best in the league and much closer to average. Worse, they allow close to 13 high-danger chances per game, ranked 16th in the league.

The Devils have been missing John Marino since he left with an upper-body injury. He hasn’t played since December 20th. The Devils have been in the bottom half of the league in shots against (31.4 per 60) and high-danger chances against (14 per 60). It’s pretty clear he’s the missing piece here. Damon Severson is being forced to play in a role he isn’t built to play. Severson should be a great complimentary defenseman. Instead, he’s stuck in a shutdown role alongside Ryan Graves.

The Devils will be in much better shape once they get a healthy John Marino back. They are staring at the All-Star Break, and it can’t come soon enough. Dougie Hamilton has been phenomenal offensively, Jonas Siegenthaler has been better in recent weeks, and Ryan Graves is all or nothing, but his all is quite good. Brendan Smith is having a dreadful run as of late, and the combination of Kevin Bahl and Nikita Okhotyuk haven’t proven themselves as NHL players. When Marino returns, one of them can go back to Utica.