It's been rough. That's really the only way to describe the New Jersey Devils return to hockey with a new roster and a new head coach. With that comes a brand-new philosophy that the Devils are trying to instill to this team. It hasn't gone according to plan, at least not in the preseason.
The Devils are the only NHL team to play at least four preseason games and win zero. Heck, they are the only team to lose at least three of their games without winning one. Wins and losses don’t matter in how they impact the standings, but the way the game is played matters. If the Devils didn’t get results by got opportunities, then fine. That’s not the case.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Devils have allowed 12 goals at 5v5. Only two teams have allowed more, The difference in games played makes that a flawed stat, but the scoring difference is not flawed. The Devils have scored just three goals at even strength. That difference is going to keep Sheldon Keefe up at night.
It’s one thing to judge the Devils on their second game’s roster. That team was largely AHL regulars and rookies. The roster for the last two games were the NHL lineups. The Devils played their last preseason game before sending the opening night roster to Prague, Czechia. We mentioned how this is going to impact Tom Fitzgerald’s ability to really evaluate the roster.
While some might not be down with advanced analytics, the eye test was just as jarring, as both the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders were able to control play against the Devils starters. Jack Hughes missed the most recent title, but the rest of the roster was mostly intact.
What was worse was Jake Allen looked to be in midseason form (for Vitek Vanecek) in Friday night’s game. He allowed five goals on just 17 shots. There’s always a stinker in there, and Allen is the backup for a reason, but this was not a good sign.
The Devils are lacking chemistry right now, and whatever Keefe is trying hasn’t worked yet. It’s so, so early. There is no reason to panic, but it is worth pointing out. The Devils needed to get off to a fast start in the preseason due to the short nature of the Devils schedule, but they didn’t. It might be a long October, but let’s try to just look past the results whenever possible.