The New Jersey Devils are trying to recover after two disappointing losses to start a West Coast road trip. In their first two games, the Devils lost to the Colorado Avalanche 8-4 and the San Jose Sharks 5-2. Many Devils fans are already jumping off the bandwagon.
We don’t want to sugarcoat what happened. The last two games have been rough. Many are pointing to one major loss as to why this team went from winning eight games in a row against the stiffest competition possible to losing badly to one good team and one bad team.
The Devils lost Brett Pesce on Sunday after he was hit in the face with a puck. Pesce is going to be out for at least a month, a huge loss to a defense already without Johnathan Kovacevic. Now, the Devils are without two right-handed defensemen, a position that most teams have no depth at.
Fortunately for the Devils, two of the best young players are right-handed defensemen. With Kovacevic and Pesce out, the Devils are leaning on Seamus Casey and Simon Nemec. Nemec has been in the lineup all season, earning a spot after a great playoff performance last season.
At times, Nemec has been really good. His play in the offensive zone is turning into goals. He has seven assists this season, leading all Devils defensemen.
So far, according to Natural Stat Trick, Nemec has been on the ice for 36 high-danger chances against at 5v5. It’s not the most ideal number, but multiple Devils defensemen have been on the ice for more.
He has been doing two things wrong that needs to be fixed. His aggressiveness in the defensive zone is a welcomed addition, but he needs to get back when Brenden Dillon is caught on a 2on1. Too often, we see him watching what’s happening on the ice instead of racing to get back.
He’s also puck watching in the defensive zone. This is his biggest issue. He has to always be doing something in the D zone. If he’s sitting all alone, he has to move somewhere else. He should be on top of an offensive player in front of the net or moving into passing lanes.
However, those are two very easy things to coach out of a player. He has the skills to do it. It’s up to Sheldon Keefe and Brad Shaw to work with him on this. If he gets even 30% better in this area, his defense would improve by leaps and bounds.
The real issue is the results. Nemec has been on the ice for 14 goals against, which doesn’t nearly match the analytics, which says he should be on the ice for around 8-9 goals against. He’s making one or two big mistakes every game, but he’s also making one or two big plays every game on the offensive side.
What’s really unfortunate is that Nemec was hitting his stride. After being on the ice for eight goals in the first six games, he was on for just three goals in the next four. It looked like the defense was turning around, but then he was on the ice for a season-high three goals against on Thursday just at 5v5.
Nemec needs to be better. Nobody is saying he doesn’t have to be better, but he hasn’t been as bad as the numbers suggest. If he can remove 30% of his mistakes, he’ll be a high-quality defenseman.