Going into the season, most hockey experts said that the New Jersey Devils fixed all of the problems they had faced from 2023-24. They got bigger, tougher, and better goaltending. Ten games into the season, the Devils are 5-4-1, with those issues still prevalent. The Devils are still getting run over and losing embarrassingly. The main fix was their goaltending. Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen have been anything but a 'fix.'
The Devils once again find themselves outplaying opponents, yet losing because their goalie cannot stop a beach ball. While that may sound harsh, it is true. Markstrom cannot stop anything easy.
The Devils should have handled the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. However, Cam Talbot ran them out of the building. As this post is being written, Jake Allen is flopping around the crease like a fish out of water. Now, the first goal the New York Islanders scored was a great deflection that beat Allen. However, the power play goal by Anders Lee should have been easily stopped had Allen been in position. His rebound control has been brutal, and it's a scary time to be a Devils fan again.
So with the overhauled goalie room, the Devils should have been a lot better to start the year. Vitek Vanecek, Akira Schmid, and Mackenzie Blackwood are gone, therefore is the problem, right? Seemingly, they problem remains. The one consistent thing between all five goalies is the goalie coach, Dave Rogalski.
Rogalski has been the goaltending coach since the 2020-21 season, and the Devils have only had one season with a team save percentage of over .900. The one season was the playoff year in 22-23. The Devils have had 13 goalies suit up for them in the span, and only one had an above-average full season, that being Vanacek.
With only one goalie having an above-average season, that is a statistical outlier because all of the others have been terrible. The five years before the Devils bringing in Rogalski, they had nine goalies, and every single season, they had a team save percentage over .900. That is including the year Louie Domingue was on the roster with a .882 in 2019-20, the year John Hynes lost his job. The Devils goaltending seemingly cost two coaches their jobs. Sorry, Lindy Ruff.
While having a prime Cory Schneider helps with the team save percentage, the Devils have not been able to have a consistent number one. With an organization that has Martin Brodeur in a prominent place of power, it is surprising the Devils have not found someone in recent years to even provide average goaltending on a consistent basis.
The Devils apparently have a goaltending personnel problem as well as a development problem. It seems it is more the latter than the former. With the addition of Manny Legace to the organization, the Devils have two former bonafide NHL starters in the organization. Is it time to have an entire goaltending development team rather than one person carrying the load?
The Vegas Golden Knights have a Director of Goaltending position that is held by Sean Burke. Coincidentally, the year the Golden Knights made the change, they won the Stanley Cup with numerous goalies. Could goalie coaching by committee be the new answer? Ian Clark, who is a goalie coach for the Vancouver Canucks has been linked to the Devils before. Adding him would be a welcome addition to add to what the Devils already have in the organization.
Regardless, the Devils have a great forward core. Their defense has been somewhat better so far this year but something still needs to change. The lack of quality goaltending makes it seem worse than it actually is. To summarize this whole topic, the Devils have an organizational goaltending problem. It may sound cliche, but the first step in solving a problem is admitting there is one. It is time for the Devils to admit there is a problem in net...again.