NJ Devils Mid-Season Report

by elesias on Jan 9, 2012 12:36 PM EST

With 41 games played the Devils are officially halfway through their regular season.

Below is a link-dump of sorts to look at where they stand in the League in various categories.

The Devils currently have 48 points, which has them seeded 6th in the East and 12th in the League. This puts them on pace for 96 points which, historically, should be enough to get them into the playoffs.

They have 15 ROWs, which puts them into a 3-way tie with Tampa Bay and Montreal ahead of only Carolina and the Islanders in the East.

Their -3 Goal Differential is currently the best of those in the East with negatives, but far behind the League's best team in differential: Boston at +68. Interestingly, there are only 6 teams in the East with positive GDs right now and, oddly, one of them (Washington) is currently sitting outside of the playoff bubble. This means that three of the top 8 teams that would make the playoffs if they started today would have negative GDs. Since the lockout only three teams in the League have made the playoffs with a negative GD (MTL 05-06, TB 06-07, MTL 09-10--curiously, all in the East) and one has made it with an even GD (STL 08-09). All of those four teams were the 8th seed.

The Devils are 21st in the League with a 11-7-1 Home Record, and 5th in the League with a 12-9-1 Road Record.

They also still hold the dubious distinction of having won more shootouts than any other team has even been involved in with their 8-1 record, but not by as large a margin as it once was as Colorado is right behind them, currently 7-0 in SOs.

NJ is 20th in the League in Goals Per Game with 2.58, and 17th in the League in Goals Against Per Game with 2.83. On the low side of middle of the pack and definitely still an area of contention.

Their 70 5-on-5 goals is 21st in the League. Their 15 5-on-4 goals is dead last. Their 4 5-on-3 goals has them tied for tops in the League. Their 4 4-on-4 goals is good for 12th best. Zero 4-on-3 goals puts them into a tie for last with 11 other teams. 7 4-on-5 goals is best in the League. They also have 4 ENGs (5 way tie for 4th place, but technically 14th ranked), and 2 Penalty Shot Goals (tied for 1st with four other teams).

Their dreadful PP is 24th in the League at 14.1%, but their PK is tops in the League at 91.2%. Unsurprisingly and perhaps fittingly, they lead the League in both SHG allowed (12) and scored (9). Their total of 21 SHG events means that there has been, on average, a SHG scored by or against the Devils in half their games this year so far.

Earlier in the year there was concern about the Devils' inability to draw calls, but that seems to have been remedied a bit as they currently sit at 20th in the League in total PP opportunities with 142--66 at home (27th ranked) and 76 on the road (11th ranked). On the flip side, they're 13th in the League in Times Shorthanded with 147--70 at home (16th ranked) and 77 on the road (16th ranked).

The team is 26th ranked in Shots Per Game with 27.6 and 4th ranked in Shots Against Per Game with 28.1.

Their winning percentage when scoring first in a game is .636 (18th) 14-6-2 record, .474 (5th) 9-10-0 record when trailing first; a dismal .600 (26th) when leading after one period; and a not so sterling .867 (13th) when leading after two periods.

Their winning percentage when out shooting their opponents is a laudable .632 (5th), and their W% when being out shot is a middle of the pack .444 (18th).

Aside from the PP, the one area they could really stand to improve in is their Face Off win percentage, as they currently rank 29th in the League with a paltry 46.8.

All FanPosts and FanShots are the respective work of the author and not representative of the writers or other users of In Lou We Trust.

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Comments

Nice review

I hope Zajac and Josefson are the key to improving team faceoff percentage. And the team better fix the SHGA issue.

Sounds like a middle of the pack playoff team. Much more fun than last year.

by NJHockey8 on Jan 9, 2012 6:35 PM EST reply actions

Plenty of room for improvement. I think they have the potential to do damage in the playoffs

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by BlueChill on Jan 9, 2012 7:15 PM EST reply actions

Something I don't get

Your link for 4-on-5 goals indicates they have 7. It shows no other shorthanded goals. But on the Penalty Killing page, they have 9 shorties. Why and where is the discrepancy?

Go Devils
Go Jets

by FrankG929 on Jan 9, 2012 8:02 PM EST reply actions

One of Parise’s shorthanded tallies came on a penalty shot against San Jose, when he was fouled on a breakaway.

Kovalchuk’s shorthanded tally came into an empty net, so that might not techincally be considered 4-on-5 (but rather 4-on-6).

….

Those are the two I can think of just off the top of my head. It might be others, but it all depends on how you wish to define “4-on-5”.

by acasser on Jan 9, 2012 9:06 PM EST up reply actions

Two Empty Net Short Handed Goals, one by Zach and one by Kovalchuk

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by Alamoth on Jan 10, 2012 11:06 AM EST up reply actions

The best midseason statistic

Last year, the Devils were 10-29-2 at the midpoint, for a total of 22 points.

This year, the Devils have 23 wins at the halfway mark.

by acasser on Jan 9, 2012 9:07 PM EST reply actions

amen to that

by dr(d)evil on Jan 10, 2012 12:00 AM EST up reply actions

I think the Devils have been a solid, but far from elite, team.

There are three weak spots I’d like to see addressed.
(1) Faceoffs. This is the easy one. Just getting Zajac back helps, and Josefson did well on faceoffs before his injury as well. The question is, who do you move to the wing – Elias or Henrique? As good as Elias has been at playing all 200 feet from end board to end board as a center, his poor percentage while taking the most faceoffs on the team is hurting the team.
(2) Power play. There’s nothing to say about this that hasn’t already been said.
(3) Increasing shots for on goal. The Devils’ shot rate is worse than it appears – the Devils are getting at least a extra shot or two per game on the PK which other teams aren’t getting. Which means their ES and PP shooting rate is pretty much worst in the league.

I’d like to see the Devils get to at least 30 SF/game, and at a shooting % of 9-10%, that would be enough to get the goals for/game to 2.80. Both would be in the top half of the league. Brodeur looks to be turning things around and as long as he can get back to being a .910 save% ’tender, that 4th place SA/game will start to translate into real results. Just improving the PP and getting an extra shot or two out of the third line (hopefully having Zajac back will achieve that) should get us to 30 SF/game.

Some people are concerned about the blueline. This blueline is far better than it’s been over the past 3-4 years and has enough depth. The real issue is scoring depth and generating shots – though the Devils appear to have a lot of scoring depth with 7 forwards in double digit goals, four of those players (Henrique, Elias, Clarkson, and Zubrus) are all shooting around 15% while only Kovalchuk is shooting below his career rate. Getting enough scoring will continue to trouble the Devils unless they start rolling three lines that can score and generate more shots at evens and on the PP.

by dr(d)evil on Jan 10, 2012 12:28 AM EST reply actions

The Devils haven’t been an elite team for a while, and its a shame because they have the tools to do so. Unfortunately, as the young guys are stepping into their potential, the old gaurd is, well, getting older and stepping out of it. Coaching changes every year haven’t really helped so much, and I think it has only been the organizational philosophy that has prevented a complete implosion and full-on rebuild.

fortunately, a team doesn’t have to be an elite team to make the playoffs, and they don;t have to play at that level for an entire season to win the whole damn thing. Make the playoffs, play ~20-24 games at an elite level (accounting for losses), and you win. That step to playing an extended elite stretch should be the concern. I’m most concerned that when the Devils do make the playoffs, their depth and durability issues will become a serious issue. Too many guys are already banged up, missing handfuls of games at a time, depth consists of Timmy Sestito, Stevie Z and NPalm. Maybe once the rest of the gang is healthy and logging minutes, the team will finally come together on the ice as sexy as it looks on paper, maybe the 4th line gets traded for a chalupa and something is put together than can take 10 or 11 minutes off the shoulders of the top couple lines.

I’m with you on the weak spots you’ve identified, and I’m heartened by the fact that I’m not convinced that any of them are a result of the personnel on the ice on any given night. I think it’s largely a systemic issue, a style issue, maybe with a few bad bounces in there. I love the scoring depth the guys have shown, the agressiveness on special teams. I have to believe that second half of the season will be a bit of a correction in the stats. All in all, I’m glad to be able to enjoy watching them play this year, and for the moment, that’s enough for me. I reserve the right to ammend that in April :P

I’m not going to lie to you. It felt good and I’m going to do whatever is in my power possible to stay there as long as I can. - Petr Sykora on playing on a line with Elias and Parise.

by Murdoc on Jan 10, 2012 6:31 AM EST up reply actions

As far as Elias’s faceoff percentage goes I don’t understand why Deboer doesn’t have Zubrus step in and take the draws. Historically he’s been pretty good at draws or at least a big improvement over Elias. I like Elias as a center and I think he should stay there. I’d just have him line up as a winger on faceoffs and let Zubrus take the draws.

by demon24 on Jan 10, 2012 7:32 AM EST up reply actions

Great summary, thank you.

If the second half is like this, I’ll be happy.

But to be “elite” they need:

a) a consistent goaltending tandem. Maybe even Kinkaid cycled in a to practice against the team as a back-up to the back-up? I know it hurts the ego but I don’t care.
b) Zajac, Josefson, Greene, Teddy, and Palmieri making contributions. And therefore a meaningful third line.
c) Proof: wins against the Rangers, Flyers, and Bruins.
P.S. Or good news on the Parise or ownership front. Or both.

by Alan Wright on Jan 15, 2012 8:49 PM EST via mobile reply actions