There is no question that the New Jersey Devils are a talented team. They pretty much have all the pieces a team needs to be a postseason contender.
But the playoff probabilities at this point don’t give the Devils more than 50/50 chances.
The latest postseason projections by the folks at MoneyPuck show the Devils have a 57.2% chance of making the playoffs this season. While that’s not quite 50/50, it’s pretty much a coin flip at this point for New Jersey.
And yes, other strong contenders like the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals are hovering around the same mark, you have to wonder why the analytics folks won’t give the Devils a break here.
There seem to be two things messing up with the algos projecting these playoff probabilities.
The first is inconsistency. We’ve seen the Devils swing from one end of the pendulum to another. There was that 6-0 pounding at the hands of the New York Islanders, and then a 7-1 demolition of the New York Rangers. The Devils won their last game 4-3 against the Colorado Avalanche, coming off a 4-2 loss to the Capitals.
Those results don’t really point towards a clear trend. As such, the algos cannot really plot a trajectory for the Devils’ season. And that’s likely weighing down the club’s playoff projections.
Goaltending could be another factor holding the Devils back
Another factor that may not have totally sold the algos is the Devils’ goaltending situation. While Jake Allen and Nico Daws have shown much better outings over the last three or four games, the overall trend this season hasn’t been overly encouraging.
It won’t be until one or both netminders really show consistency that the algos may catch up and figure out that the Devils truly are a playoff team.
The bottom line is that the Devils won’t see their playoff projections improve until they climb the standings. With the way the Metro Division is going, it wouldn’t be completely out of the question to see the Devils challenge the Carolina Hurricanes for the top spot in the division.
If Thursday night’s 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks is any indication, the Devils look to finally be trending in the right direction. Daws was the answer, and the scoring was there. So, consistency will become the major factor in seeing the Devils secure a playoff spot this season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google