The New Jersey Devils are still one of the best teams when it comes to creating chances. Only the Hurricanes, Oilers, and Penguins have more high-danger chances in the league this season according to Natural Stat Trick. Yet, of the teams in the top 10 for high-danger chances in the NHL, only the Devils and Penguins have fewer than 100 goals at 5v5. The easy answer is the Devils lack "finish," but what does that mean?
Finish can be broken down into a few different factors. The easiest would be a team's inability to shoot with accuracy. The Devils have some of those issues, with many shots hitting a goalie in the chest, and others missing the net entirely.
However, it's more than accuracy. The Devils seriously lack power on their shots. According to NHL Edge data, the Devils' shots have never broken 100 miles per hour. As a team, the Devils have only 20 shots north of 90 miles per hour, which is 12 shots below the average NHL team. Their average shooting speed is just 59 MPH, two MPH below the average NHL team. They have 50 fewer shots between 70 and 80 MPH than the average team and 35 fewer when looking at 80-90 MPH. The Devils have way too many weak shots on net.
The Devils' most valuable shot this season is the wrist shot. They scored 82 goals off of wrist shots this season. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning have more. Meanwhile, they have five goals off the slap shot. Five slap-shot goals is an insane statistic at this point in the season. They've taken 151 slap shots this season, which is 13th in the league. Those five goals are tied for 30th.
This is a team with Dougie Hamilton, but this might not be the same Hamilton that we've had in years past. Hamilton is coming off a torn pectoral muscle, which is an injury that has severely impacted defensemen in the past. Hamilton is still helping the Devils in other offensive stats, but his shot is severely lacking.
The answer to the New Jersey Devils' shooting woes could simply be to shoot harder.
It might not be obvious to the human eye, but bearing down into the analytics of Hamilton's shot show a huge issue with the team's offense as a whole. While his very top speed is about the same, Hamilton has just 10 shots that broke 90 miles per hour this season. Last year, he had 16 such shots. Remember, he got injured before December last year, so his top speed is hit so much less often. In 22-23, Hamilton had 29 shots break 90 MPH.
Jack Hughes leads the Devils in shots with 193, but he has the lowest shooting percentage he's had since 2020-21. Last season, he had more than 100 shots north of 70 MPH. This season, he has 43. The reason for his drop in shot speed might come down to location and focus. He's shooting from different places and hasn't taken many one-timers. Hughes is usually the puck handler, and that's why he is focusing more on a wrister. However, the Devils should be setting up one timers way more often.
How does Sheldon Keefe use this data to his advantage? Well, for one, he should share it with the Devils' players themselves. If they are aware that their shots are slower than the rest of the league, and that's giving opposing goalies a chance to get over on cross-ice passes or to read the puck on a snapshot, then they can find ways to add oomph on their shots.
At this point, the Devils might need to add someone with a huge shot. J.T. Miller is available, and he has one of the hardest shots among forwards. Jared McCann has one of the most consistently hard shots in the NHL. Both players are attainable for the Devils before the NHL Trade Deadline.