3 reasons why the New Jersey Devils can still sneak into the NHL playoffs
It’s been beyond a tough year for the New Jersey Devils, but they are not out of the running for a playoff spot thanks to turbulence in the Eastern Conference.
The New Jersey Devils were a team on the cusp of taking the next step this season to make a deep playoff run following a year when they went to the Second Round of the NHL Playoffs. But poor play in the net, injuries, and inconsistency led to head coach Lindy Ruff getting relieved of his coaching duties, making this a season to forget, or at least on paper.
But the reality is, the Devils are just six points out of the second wild card spot as of March 17th, so their playoff chances are still there. No, it’s not likely that they will overcome the odds in a single month with quite a few teams still ahead of them. However, when you look at the Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Islanders, every last one of them have also struggled this season.
Therefore, it’s still anyone’s race to snag that second wild card slot, and the Devils at least have a chance to jump ahead of the four teams mentioned above.
New Jersey Devils can still earn a trip to the NHL playoffs
Despite the inconsistencies and injury bug, the Devils are still good enough, at least offensively, to make things interesting for the final month of the regular season. While they lost their top scorer, Tyler Toffoli, in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets, this team still has Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and defenseman, Luke Hughes who can still contribute to the goal-scoring effort.
That, combined with the fact the Devils haven’t been awful defensively unless you count the goaltending, is another reason to believe their season isn’t over just yet, despite the bleak circumstances.
Speaking of goaltending, New Jersey didn’t get any future franchise goaltenders at the trade deadline, but Kaapo Kahkonen and Jake Allen should be serviceable with a better hockey team in front of them. So let’s explore why this team still, somehow, has some fight left in them as we head into the 2023-24 season’s final lap.
The Devils have too much talent when they have the puck
While it’s true that the Devils have struggled to score since March 1st and that you can name a multitude of reasons why, we still need to remember that this is a hockey team that has put up 219 goals so far in 67 games, good for 3.26 per contest and 268 across 82 contests. Since the NHL regular season is so long, there will be times even when the highest-scoring teams won’t click offensively, so there should be little concern here, even following a one-goal effort against the Arizona Coyotes.
If you tuned into the Devils big win over the Dallas Stars, it should have renewed your hope somewhat. New Jersey put up six goals on one of the league’s best teams, and this came following a stretch when the Devils scored just 14 goals in their previous six games.
It was just one game, and again, the loss to Arizona was another story, so there is reason to hold cautious optimism here, but still, 219 goals overall this season ranks 12th in the NHL. And it shows us that, for the most part, the Devils have been consistent in scoring.
Looking at New Jersey’s remaining schedule, they will need to get consistent once again with putting pucks in the net. For their last 15 games, eight will come against teams who are at least sitting in the wild card.
The teams ahead of New Jersey in the Metro are not that good
To be more accurate, none of the teams ahead of the Devils in the Metropolitan Division, sans the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes, look as though they’re interested in making the playoffs. You can also add the Atlantic’s Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings to the mix.
And yes, you can argue the Devils haven’t been that good either, but that’s beside the point. The team that will end up in the second wild card spot will be the one that gets hot during the final month of the season, and right now, that can be anyone.
The Sabres recently won three games in a row for the second time this season, while the Red Wings look like anything but a playoff team at the moment - despite them getting the best of Buffalo yesterday.
The New York Islanders have been shut out in two straight games and lost three straight. We have no idea which Washington Capitals team will show up in any given game, and the Philadelphia Flyers are a below-average team that just happens to have a better record than their current talent level indicates.
Yes, the Devils have their own issues, and we have seen them all season. But they only need to play better than the league’s other inconsistent playoff contenders during the final month of the season, and that really isn’t too much to ask.
Revamped goaltending could help the Devils
One of the biggest reasons for the Devils decline in 2023-24 came thanks to horrendous goaltending. Vitek Vanecek regressed following a solid season, and neither Nico Daws nor Akira Schmid looked like the answer this year. With 29.6 shots against per game, it wasn’t like New Jersey’s goaltenders were facing a plethora of challenges.
The aforementioned number ranks 12th-lowest in the NHL, and their 505 high-danger chances against is right in the middle of the league at 16th overall. No, neither statistic is elite, and they can both stand to decrease a little, but at least for Vanecek, these should have been manageable numbers.
Enter Kaapo Kahkonen (traded for Vanecek) and Jake Allen, a pair of goaltenders who aren’t the most ideal names you want for a playoff contender, but they could at least fare as admirable in the interim. Each goaltender had gotten off to a hot start. And since the Devils can score and play solid defense, Kahkonen and Allen will be good enough for the remainder of the regular season.
That wasn’t the case for the former in his second outing, but it also shouldn’t define what he will do in New Jersey for the rest of the season.
Sure, the Devils still need to see the Sabres, Islanders, Capitals, and Red Wings slip up, and they need to finally get consistent. But they’re still close enough to confidently say, “This season isn’t over just yet.”
feed
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)