After blowing another lead and losing another shootout Monday night against the Islanders, the Devils dropped to 11-15-6 on the season. This comes after the team sprinted out of the gates with a 3-0 start to the season on the road. The Devils’ home record comes in at 3-4-4, which is the worst home record in the entire league.
From the crease out, there has not been much to cheer about if you are a Devils fan.
Cory Schneider has been inconsistent at times in net since taking the reigns from Martin Brodeur. His goals against average, 2.52, and save percentage, .918, are his worst numbers since becoming a regular NHL goaltender in 2010. Granted, he does not have the best supporting cast in front of him, but he has let in a good number of soft goals at inopportune times for a team that annually has trouble scoring.
The team defense as a whole ranks 24th in goals allowed. For a team that has prided itself on a commitment to defense for the last 20 years, that ranking is an eyesore.
Up front, the team has dealt with a lot of injuries as of late, but even when the injuries were not a factor, key players like Patrik Elias, Travis Zajac, Michael Ryder, and Dainius Zubrus have all underperformed.
Elias, New Jersey’s franchise leader in points, is on pace for his worst season in his career. Travis Zajac is outright not performing to the standars the Devils expect of him since signing a behemoth eight-year $46 million contract before last season. Ryder has been an enigma for most of the season so far despite putting forth 10 assists.
If it weren’t for Mike Cammalleri, Adam Henrique and Jaromir Jagr taking charge, this team would be way ahead in the sweepstakes for Connor McDavid.
The current state of the team begs the question of how does Lou Lamoriello get this team back on track.
The first route Lamoriello could take is to fire DeBoer. Yes, he did get the team to within two wins of the Stanley Cup in 2012, but look at the personnel he had with him both on the ice and behind the bench.
Zach Parise’s loss has not only crippled this team severely, but he took the heart of the team with him. Nobody could’ve predicted Kovalchuk to jettison to the KHL in the early years of a mammoth contract either. Both of those players were essential, add in an unforeseen career year from David Clarkson, to the team’s surprise run.
Behind the bench, two hall of fame assistant coaches in Adam Oates and Larry Robinson flanked DeBoer in his first season with the team. Both have since left, leaving the Devils with Dave Barr and Mike Foligno as the current assistant coaches.
Moral of the story, it’s starting to show that the Devils success in 2012 did not have a whole lot to do with DeBoer. If the team continues it’s losing ways, DeBoer will be the first Devils coach to miss the playoffs three years in a row.
Even the fans have voiced their opinions by booing him upon being announced before Devils home games.
In his NHL coaching career, DeBoer has peaked in his first seasons with both the Florida Panthers and the Devils before seeing the teams records plummet the following years.
Let’s not forget how often the Devils have a short leash with their coaches. Lamoriello fired Robbie Ftorek late in the 2000 season when the Devils had one of the best records in the NHL.
In 2007, Lamoriello fired Claude Julien in his first season after guiding New Jersey to a 47-24-8 record, which was the second-best record in the conference at the time. Since being fired, Julien has gone on to guide the Bruins to a Stanley Cup, Presidents’ Trophy and Julien himself has won a Jack Adams Award.
Why has DeBoer not received the similar short leash? Regardless of why or why not, the Devils need a quick shake-up
Door No. 2 leads to a complete revamp of the team.
The Devils are the oldest team in the league. In today’s NHL, being old and slow doesn’t work. If the Devils decide to go full rebuild, they have some pieces that might garner interest on other squads.
Nine current players on the roster are slated to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. That list includes Jagr, Ryder, Martin Havlat, Jordin Tootoo, Scott Gomez, Steve Bernier, Bryce Salvador, Marek Zidlicky and Peter Harrold. Those nine players’ average age is a shade over 34 years old.
That list doesn’t include Ryane Clowe, who is still on the team and can't find a way to stay healthy, Tuomo Ruutu, and Dainius Zubrus.
The Devils won’t get a super return for most of these players but they will get some draft picks that Lamoriello can use to swing some other trades.
Even though Lamoriello never uses the term rebuilding, it’s something the Devils need to do. The recent recipe of signing old veterans, or younger players with laundry lists of injury problems has not worked for the Devils.
They need to get younger and faster or they won’t find themselves in the playoffs for a while.
The only reason why having a bunch of trades might not come this year is because the Devils only find themselves four points out of a playoff spot in a very weak Metropolitan division.
There are 50 games left in the season. The Devils need to start showing a turn around or else the coach and a lot of the players should be on the hot seat.