The New Jersey Devils have been inconsistent to start the season, but just looking down in Utica, where the Devils AHL affiliate the Utica Comets play, you'll understand it could be so much worse. The Comets are 0-8-0 to start the season.
Before we talk about what's happened to the Comets, let's first talk about how things got so bad, so fast. We have to remember that the Comets broke then record for best start to an AHL season ever when they went 13-0-0 to start the 2021-22 season. That team broke the record previously held by the 1984-85 Rochester Americans by two games.
That team was able to win with a balanced attack. Four different players had 50 points on the season, but nobody had more than 56. Chase De Leo had the record there, bringing a veteran presence to a young team. He was joined by Alex Holtz, Fabian Zetterlund, and A.J. Green with that milestone. All four of those players are no longer with the Devils organization.
The defense was loaded with talent, boasting Reilly Walsh, Nikita Okhotyuk, and Kevin Bahl as highly-touted prospects. Then, there was Nico Daws and Akira Schmid holding down the net. It was a very good team up and down.
Unfortunately, the team fell apart come playoff time. Their hot start afforded them a first-round bye, but they lost in their first round against the Rochester Americans in just five games.
That started a steady stream down the standings and has ended with where we are now. The Comets went 35-27-6-4 in 2022-23 and lost to the top seeded Toronto Marlies in the playoffs. They missed the playoffs entirely last season. More and more, the Devils have been removing talent from the Comets at all position, and because of their success and trades for star players, they haven't had the prospect pool to replace them.
This season, most could assume the Comets would struggle, but some hoped their defense and especially the goaltending could keep them afloat. Nico Daws is still there, and Isaac Poultier was very good last season, earning an NHL contract. However, both are struggling to even play decent hockey. While Seamus Casey has played well after his NHL stint, he hasn't been enough to put wins on the board.
The real issue is the offense. The Comets have scored 14 goals in eight games this season. Only the Chicago Wolves has scored fewer. The team doesn’t have that superstar forward to carry the team. Casey is second on the team in points despite only playing four games and scoring no goals. Nolan Foote leads the team in points with seven, and Brian Halonen has four goals, but everyone else has been wildly disappointing.
Last year, Max Willman looked like a tweener NHLer, but this season, he’s been terrible. He has two points to start the season in eight games. Shane Bowers has falled off a cliff. Offseason acquisition Adam Beckman, who the Devils moved Graeme Clarke to obtain, looks like even a change of scenery isn’t helping him. Former first-round pick Chase Stillman has one assist on the season.
The Devils haven’t done the best job investing in their AHL affiliate, but nobody thought it would be this bad. Kevin Dineen is a good coach who is struggling to get the best out of this team. Luckily, outside of Stillman, Casey, and Daws, there aren’t big-time prospects the NHL team is relying on here.
That doesn’t mean the Comets should be left out to dry. The Devils should look around the league and see if there’s a cheap trade they could make to upgrade the AHL quality of play. They deserve someone to come in and help.