What happened to the New Jersey Devils?

Steal Your Faceoff

Registered User
Jan 14, 2016
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NJ
0-0-5 in overtime. Something like 0-4-5 when tied with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd.

PDO is garbage.

Kinkaid hasn't been as bad as people are making it out to be. He's bailed the team out plenty of times and has cost the Devils maybe a couple of times over the season. Team play has been far more putrid than goaltending on most nights. Schneider on the other hand, looks finished for all but 30 minutes in each start.

Devils have also had by far the toughest schedule in the league so far.
The teams problems go far beyond goaltending but I don't share your view of Kinkaid's play. There has been plenty of times where the team has blown defensive coverage so badly that it wouldn't matter which goalie was in net but KK has had his share of bad goals due to bad positioning or missed reads on shots where he has a clean look. Yes, he sometimes comes up with big saves on shots that were a result of shoddy defense but overall I wouldn't say he's been pulling out wins on his own.
 

Devilsfan118

Sing us a song, you're the Schiano man
Jun 11, 2010
3,050
2,396
NJ
Nonsense. 4 seasons is more than enough time to implement some type of system & vision, draft and make trades etc, which Shero has done.

100% disagree and you're going to have a very hard time convincing me otherwise. You cannot fix a barren cupboard and roster largely devoid of talent over 4 seasons. I mean for crying out loud, if it was just that easy why have some teams been largely terrible for the majority of their existence?

Shero and Hynes have done an admirable job of implementing a system, and drafting/acquiring players that fit said system. They made the playoffs last year because of it.

Vegas did it in over the course of one summer, without superstars, but with acquiring the right talent from the expansion draft with the right GM and head coach.

You're not seriously going to compare rebuilding an existing franchise with developing an expansion team through an expansion draft to try and prove your point, right?

Apples to oranges.

The very GM you are bashing had a Cup winning team and system in place by his 4th season with just 3 high draft picks, 2 of them that he didn't even earn himself: inheriting a #2 overall when he was first hired, a #5 in 1989 and the infamous #3 pick from the Leafs (Kurvers for what turned out to be Niedermayer)

Not to get technical - Lou was hired in '87. By my math he didn't win his first cup until 8 years later. But who's counting, right?

But more importantly, what's your point by bringing this up? Lou did a fantastic job building the Devils through the 90's and earlyish 2000's - I don't think anyone's denying this. From the late 2000's on though he was terrible for the franchise.

Shero has had a #6 and a #1 so far by the way.

You're going to hold Shero accountable for drafting Zacha even though it's public knowledge that he deferred to Lou and his staff in that draft?

Do you just not know these things or are you intentionally omitting information that might hurt your points?

Oh and by the way - regarding comparing Lou building a team in the 1990s to Shero building a team in 2018.. see my point above about apples and oranges.

At some point it's time to let go of Lou and the past. Even Pens fans are telling you they are happy to be rid of Shero. That should tell you something. Also, you should compare Shero's draft record with his 8 seasons with the Pens side by side with that of Lou during the same time period. It's not any better to be fair.

I agree - let's talk in five more years when some of Shero's picks have had a chance to crack the big club and fill the gaping holes that Lou's poor drafting left behind.

I don't care what Pens fans think of Shero, nor should they care what I think. Opinions, assholes, you know the cliche.

The Devils have put together an awesome top line. Above average actually. That was all Shero and to his credit. And you already had Henrique, who would have been perfect for the 2nd line, not to mention Zacha is not working out as your 2nd line Center.

Shero traded Henrique away and ruined any chances of having two decent lines.

In case you haven't noticed, Vatanen has probably been the Devils best defenseman since he was acquired. I don't think any logical Devils fan has an issue with that trade value-wise. Henrique also proved himself better at LW than C, but, again, why present facts when they only hurt your argument.

Shero took a calculated risk on Zacha taking a step or two forward and, apparently, lost. It happens.

This was an exhausting exercise. You are all over the place man.
 

AfroThunder396

[citation needed]
Jan 8, 2006
39,056
22,927
Miami, FL
I was watching them against tampa bay the other day. They flat out gave up. No pride, no heart, it was a pathetic peformance. If that is emblematic of their season then they desperately need to get new blood
Tampa is in their heads after the playoffs. They have thoroughly abused us this season. Those games are not really reflective of our overall play, but I agree they were really embarrassing. Tampa skate circles around us and make us look like a peewee team.
 
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Ducks in a row

Go Ducks Quack Quack
Dec 17, 2013
18,004
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U.S.A.
Last season Devils made the playoffs after having a 5 season streak of not making the playoffs. Last season they just had everything going for them to make the playoffs this season they don't have everything going for them its that simple.
 

Lays

Registered User
Jan 22, 2017
13,559
12,630
Just look at their roster. They aren't very good.
Exactly this, the defense+goaltending needs work and they don’t have much scoring depth, whoever expected them to do better this year doesn’t know hockey, they didn’t add much and Hall has slowed down
 

zharkenby

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
3,178
1,047
Main difference between this year and the last is that teams treat the Devils with respect and came ready to compete from the start.

Devils went 17-6-4 in their first 25 games last season. Since then they went 27-23-5 and that includes not losing to a single bad spoiler team in the last month of the season while making their playoff push.

Basically they were a .500 team last year that got off to a really hot start on the backs of big surprise element with their speed and Taylor Hall playing like a champ. Remember how Brian Gibbons had 11 goals in the first 23 games ? Newsflash: he doesn't have a goal this year in 22 games for the Ducks.

Devils regression was the most predictable thing in the summer. I never had them penciled in as a playoff team.

That all said, they're obviously not last in the Eastern Conference - bad. Things have snowballed in the wrong direction and the team has potential to play better. But they're basically already out of the playoffs. It feels like Ottawa last year where the team wasn't as good as the year before, they got off to a good start riding that confidence from the prior season but then they fell flat as teams kept bringing their a-games and so the Sens just couldn't get much going and fell down in the standings. Also EK wasn't nearly as good as the season before, which is sort of like Hall right now. And the goaltending sucked. Which is what it is now. Guys started to look deflated like they are now for the Devils. Lots of similarities.

There's nothing more deflating than thinking you have something to build on from last year and set higher goals, only to realize your team isn't that great and it's hard to win a game. From the fans point of view it looks like lack of effort, when it's really more like frustration, and then people start calling out the coaches head etc.

When a team breaks out you 1 season isn't enough to tell you anything. The 2nd one is always the most telling. Devils need more good players to be a good team.
Clueless post.

They went 16-3-1 to close the season out and that’s why they made the playoffs. Do some of you just post on here to get checked?? Seriously man, this is awful
 

Spirit of McMullen

3 since 82
Apr 19, 2018
161
43
100% disagree and you're going to have a very hard time convincing me otherwise

This all we need to know right there. So what's the point now?

We've come full circle: give any or all of the success to Shero, like last season, making the playoffs, this season's 4-0 start, etc, but now all of a sudden when there is any adversity or failure. etc. conveniently revert BACK to "Lou & Conte" as an excuse.

The convenient excuse to easily fall back on when all else fails.

You can't have it both ways.
 

Hischier and Hughes

“I love to hockey”
Jan 28, 2018
9,408
4,357
Exactly this, the defense+goaltending needs work and they don’t have much scoring depth, whoever expected them to do better this year doesn’t know hockey, they didn’t add much and Hall has slowed down
you mean Bob McKenzie doesnt know hockey but you do?
 

Devilsfan118

Sing us a song, you're the Schiano man
Jun 11, 2010
3,050
2,396
NJ
This all we need to know right there. So what's the point now?

We've come full circle: give any or all of the success to Shero, like last season, making the playoffs, this season's 4-0 start, etc, but now all of a sudden when there is any adversity or failure. etc. conveniently revert BACK to "Lou & Conte" as an excuse.

The convenient excuse to easily fall back on when all else fails.

You can't have it both ways.

You literally ignored every counterpoint that I made to your failed argument, and then just repeated yourself.

I'm done with you.
 

Lays

Registered User
Jan 22, 2017
13,559
12,630
you mean Bob McKenzie doesnt know hockey but you do?
Didn’t mean it like that and you know I didn’t either. All I’m saying is that it was obvious they wouldn’t improve from last year
 

Spirit of McMullen

3 since 82
Apr 19, 2018
161
43
Clueless post.

They went 16-3-1 to close the season out and that’s why they made the playoffs. Do some of you just post on here to get checked?? Seriously man, this is awful

So then if they can go 16-3-1 to make the playoffs, is that because of Shero's rebuilding? Or because of Lou and Conte's holdovers and leftovers that were also a contribution?

And if they have the ability to post that type of spectacular record, then why are people (1 in particular) bringing up Lou and Conte as an excuse for their bad play in December 2018, when Lou and Conte are long gone now and this is Shero's 4th season as Devils GM?
 

haak84

Registered User
Oct 18, 2017
4,137
2,305
The teams problems go far beyond goaltending but I don't share your view of Kinkaid's play. There has been plenty of times where the team has blown defensive coverage so badly that it wouldn't matter which goalie was in net but KK has had his share of bad goals due to bad positioning or missed reads on shots where he has a clean look. Yes, he sometimes comes up with big saves on shots that were a result of shoddy defense but overall I wouldn't say he's been pulling out wins on his own.

I mean the team and Kinkaid aren't winning and he's played bad for the past 5 games but before that he was providing above average goaltending. Now he's back to average goaltending. There's been 9 wins and a third of those are shutouts. So no one is winning on their own. No goaltending is going to turn those 9 wins to 15. 11 maybe. Schneider has been one of the worst goalies in the league over 5 starts. If he was anywhere near average the Devils are 11-10-5. A couple overtime wins and they could be 13-10-3 and tied for a playoff spot. Literally nothing has broken right for this team and they are miserable when tied in the third period. Securing like 24% of the available points in that scenario.
 

Spirit of McMullen

3 since 82
Apr 19, 2018
161
43
.

In case you haven't noticed, Vatanen has probably been the Devils best defenseman since he was acquired. I don't think any logical Devils fan has an issue with that trade value-wise. Henrique also proved himself better at LW than C, but, again, why present facts when they only hurt your argument.

Shero took a calculated risk on Zacha taking a step or two forward and, apparently, lost. It happens.

If Vatanen is the Devils best defenseman, it's not saying much and it really doesn't show. And yes, I know Henrique plays at LW in addiction to Center. Devils would be better off right now with having and experienced Henrique on that 2nd line at LW helping out Zacha or even moving up Zajac to that 2nd line. Would give them two decent top lines to take the burden off of Hall-Hischier-Palmieri. You said it yourself that Shero gambled that Zacha would work out. That 2nd line would be a lot more potent with Henrique. Devils defense is really soft and Vatanen sure didn't help.
 

aufheben

#Norris4Fox
Jan 31, 2013
53,444
27,140
New Jersey
They’re in kind of an Oilers-lite situation. Poor drafting over the years, but instead of McDavid/Draisaitl/Klefbom/occasionally-good goaltending they have Hall/Palmieri/Vatanen/never-good goaltending.

They've lost 6 straight games, and their goal differential is shocking (creeping up towards Vancouver's goal differential).

What kind of problems are going on over there?

PS- You can't blame Lou anymore
Lou didn’t leave the Devils that long ago, he deserves a huge part of the blame. Instead of Bo Horvat they have Cory Schneider’s 4.19 GAA. There’s been like 4-5 drafts since 2005 where they came away with essentially nothing.
 
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NinjaKick

life as a leafs fan
Dec 5, 2018
2,687
3,053
Toronto
They have some nice young players, are in great shape cap wise, maybe the smart thing to do is tank this season.

Either way you know Shero wont stay idle for much longer.
 

Steal Your Faceoff

Registered User
Jan 14, 2016
111
26
NJ
I mean the team and Kinkaid aren't winning and he's played bad for the past 5 games but before that he was providing above average goaltending. Now he's back to average goaltending. There's been 9 wins and a third of those are shutouts. So no one is winning on their own. No goaltending is going to turn those 9 wins to 15. 11 maybe. Schneider has been one of the worst goalies in the league over 5 starts. If he was anywhere near average the Devils are 11-10-5. A couple overtime wins and they could be 13-10-3 and tied for a playoff spot. Literally nothing has broken right for this team and they are miserable when tied in the third period. Securing like 24% of the available points in that scenario.
It should be noted that during that stretch of above average goaltending he had his two worst losses where Toronto scored 6 and Tampa scored 7. It really is like a different team when Cory starts too as they've never scored more than 3 goals for him. In 5 of Kinkaid's wins they have scored more than 3 goals and when they have scored 3 or less he's lost 10. And while Cory hasn't played well he has also been subjected to the same awful defense at times that KK has so it's not like all his losses where solely on him but a lot of people make it out that way.
 

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