The New Jersey Devils are currently 11-10-1 – a record that seats them seventh in the Metropolitan Division standings. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Devils are just 21st overall in the NHL, bumbling around near the likes of the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens, two teams who will likely be sellers (and some already so).
With the first quarter of the season having come and gone, now might be an appropriate time to start sounding some alarms and to start improving the team.
5. The coaching staff can’t be trusted to do the right thing
That process starts internally with Lindy Ruff and the rest of the coaching staff.
What’s worked, and what hasn’t? For starters, the Devils’ defense is something that should be looked at a little more closely. The Luke Hughes-Colin Miller pairing has been excellent, as was the Jonas Siegenthaler-Simon Nemec pairing in their short time together against the San Jose Sharks.
That leaves the Kevin Bahl-John Marino pairing. Per Moneypuck, they have an expected goals percentage of 51.1% across 247 minutes together. Out of all Devils defense combinations that have played 10 minutes together or more, that ranks 10th. For a defense pairing that plays regularly, that isn’t good enough for a team with playoff aspirations.
Brendan Smith is also suspended for now, and while he has played on some successful pairings based on the same criteria, he’s been on many unsuccessful ones. The Hughes-Smith pairing has a paltry xG% of 40.7%, and the Siegenthaler-Smith pairing is even worse with a 30.8% xG%.
You can only hope that Ruff and the rest of the Devils’ staff will continue to give Nemec a chance to be the team’s 1:1 Dougie Hamilton replacement.