5 changes that would ensure a successful November for New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils had a fine first month of the season, playing around .500 hockey but still holding a playoff spot thanks to two overtime losses. However, with a few small changes, the Devils can become a true contender in the Metropolitan Division against a tough November schedule.
The New Jersey Devils have been fine to start the season. This is being written during the Devils-Oilers game, which the Devils came into with a 7-5-2 record. The start of the season has had its ups and downs, but it’s mostly been fine. There have been a few injuries, headlined by the current fourth line injuries to Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian, but the Devils stars are currently intact.
While the Devils start has been “fine,” there are changes that can be made that would turn this into a much bigger positive in terms of start. Two seasons ago, the Devils rode an insane November to a historic season. There’s no chance we’re seeing another 13-game winning streak, but we can see a very positive record coming out of November. As long as Sheldon Keefe makes a few changes, the Devils can thrive.
1. Break up Brenden Dillon and Dougie Hamilton
Listen, we advocated for the Devils to start the season with Brenden Dillon and Dougie Hamilton as a pair. It made sense on paper. Dillon is a big bruiser who could focus on the defensive portion of the game. Hamilton can slowly come back from his pectoral injury from last year and focus on what he does best: his offense.
It hasn’t worked, even in the slightest. After some positive signs in Prague, Dillon and Hamilton have been mostly bad. Just look at Monday night, where Dillon was on the ice for five high-danger chances against in the first period. At the same time, his team had zero such chances with him on the ice in the first.
Dillon has been much better without Hamilton on the ice, putting up about two-thirds of the high-danger chances with his linemates on the ice. With Hamilton, it’s just 57 percent, according to Natural Stat Trick. With Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce back in the lineup, the Devils can make some simple moves to pair Dillon with Johnathan Kovacevic and get Hamilton back with Siegenthaler.
2. Call up Nolan Foote
We mentioned the injuries to Nathan Bastian and Curtis Lazar earlier. When Lazar went down, they called up Justin Dowling. The veteran AHLer has been just fine in his limited time. The Devils might eventually make a move for a center depending on how long Lazar is out, but they should be able to make certain moves to replace Bastian in house.
On Monday, the Devils just slotted Kurtis MacDermid into the lineup, but the converted defenseman isn’t a long-term solution. He’s on the Devils for a very specific reason, and he’s needed in the games where the other team has a player who can be considered dirty.
Looking at the Utica Comets, who still haven’t recorded a win this season, two players stand out there. Brian Halonen leads the team in goals with four. However, the first shot of the season should go to Nolan Foote. He has eight points on the season in eight games, leading the team.
Foote was a surprising cut following training camp, going to Utica after the team returned home from Prague. It was clear with how Foote was being used in practice that he wasn’t making the roster right away, but he’s been one of the few bright spots on the Devils AHL affiliate. They should give him a chance to earn a role on this team.
3. Even split between Allen and Markstrom
We understand why the Devils have leaned on Jacob Markstrom this season. For one, he’ll need to play a ton if the Devils make the playoffs and make a run. You’d want him to be used to playing a lot of games. However, an underrated reason is the clause that sits on the Jake Allen trade. If the Devils play Allen 40 or more games this season, the third-round pick they sent to the Montreal Canadiens last season upgrades to a third-round pick. They don’t want to end up paying two second-round picks for their backup.
However, the Devils should really split the starts this month specifically. The Devils only have two back to backs this month, both coming on weekends that are two weeks apart, but they have two four-game weeks. There’s enough downtime to argue the Devils have nothing to complain about, but after a grind of October, it makes sense to be smart with Markstrom.
Allen also needs to stay sharp, as the Devils don’t want a drop off in play when he’s in net. Allen showed on Monday he could handle a long layoff, playing insanely well against the Oilers despite having 10 days off, but that’s not how goalies want to work. Give Allen half of the starts for the rest of the month, and he’d still be way far away from the 40-games number.
4. Outshoot all opponents
It’s obvious that the Devils need to score first. They were famously terrible at it last season, and it became a trope of the season. They allowed opponents to score first 57 times, which at some points in the season was on pace for the NHL record. The Devils only won 22 of those games, while they won 16 out of 25 games when they scored first.
This season, the numbers seem similar as far as the record goes, although the Devils are much better at scoring first. The Devils are 5-3-1 when they score first. The opponent is 3-2-1 when they score first.
However, the shot advantage seems to be more of an indicator of who wins for the Devils. When the Devils outshoot their opponents, they are 6-2-1. When they are outshot, they are 2-3-1, and it was worse before Jake Allen’s 31-save shutout on Monday against the Oilers.
The Devils have been figuring out Sheldon Keefe’s system, and there’s still a propensity to look for the perfect shot before pulling the trigger, but this Devils team just needs to get shots on net. Jesper Bratt is the one guy we can’t call out, as he’s created nine rebounds already this season. Bratt is not afraid to shoot, but the rest of the team needs to get on board. The fact that Hamilton is tied for 110th with just four rebounds created is bad. Shoot the puck, guys.
5. Get more power play time
Easier said then done some might say, but the Devils haven't always been great at drawing penalties. Their style of play involves skillfully skating through players. That often leads to power plays. However, the Devils haven't had that kind of luck. Even two seasons ago, when everything was going right, the Devils were fifth from the bottom in drawing penalties.
This isn’t the case this season. The Devils have 45 power plays through 15 games so far. They are averaging three power-play opportunities per game. That would give them a total of 246 total opportunities at the end of the season. That would put them in the middle of the pack based on last year’s totals.
With the Devils boasting a power play that’s hitting at a 28% clip, the Devils need to be on the man advantage more and more often. They need to take the tripping calls. They need to put themselves in some higher-danger areas so they can either get a big chance or get a call.
The Devils special teams are absolutely insane this season, and they are directly leading to wins. They need more opportunities to use special teams to win games and score goals.
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