Where are the NJ Devils right now? Here are their biggest questions at this point

Abbey Mastracco | NHL Writer

Show Caption Hide Caption Morris County's Grace Eline drops puck on Hockey Fights Cancer Night Grace Eline drops the ceremonial puck between the New Jersey Devils and the Detroit Red Wings on Hockey Fights Cancer Night.

NEWARK — A quarter of the way through the 2019-20 New Jersey Devils season and the overarching theme is disappointment.

Expectations were sky-high coming into the season with a healthy Taylor Hall, new forwards Jack Hughes, Nikita Gusev, Wayne Simmonds and Jesper Boqvist and defenseman P.K. Subban.

The Devils certainly delivered in the first 30 minutes of their season-opening game against the Winnipeg Jets, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. But the tide quickly turned in that game and the Devils collapsed.

It hasn’t turned back since.

“We’ve beat ourselves numerous times this year,” Hall said. “It started off, really, with the first game. That’s something we have to change.”

Here are the burning questions facing the Devils 22 games into the season.

Is it the players or the system?

Despite the 8-10-4 record, John Hynes is still the head coach. The fanbase seems to perceive system as being low-activity and the key problem in this season and seasons past. The stated goal of being a “fast, attacking and supportive” team hasn’t really been met and the Devils continually rank among the worst teams in Corsi (shot attempt differential at 5-on-5) and the power play is inconsistent.

Currently, their 47.10 percent Corsi is the fifth-worst in the NHL. Those scoring chances they value so highly? They’ve had 387 scoring chances and 153 of the high-danger variety, the third-fewest amount. They rank just above the Rangers in Corsi and scoring chances, so maybe New Jersey fans will have some dubious and meaningless bragging rights if both teams fail to make the postseason.

But the reality is, the “system” is fluid. It’s not set in stone and the coaches aren’t forcing round pegs into square holes. The staff is trying to put players in the positions to succeed, especially the young ones, and to do that, you need to make adjustments.

The players have not always made the necessary adjustments on the ice.

“A lot of the mistakes are on the players and it’s stuff that,” Blake Coleman said. “You look at the game (against the Boston Bruins), everything they did we knew was coming. We prepared for it, the coaches prepared for it, they pointed us in the right direction. Ultimately, it falls on us to execute the game plan and it’s certainly not the game plan at fault.”

Maybe the problem is the talent level on the roster.

“Personally, I don’t put any blame on the coaching staff,” Hall said. “It’s been consistent messaging throughout the year. Really, when we’ve struggled as a team it’s been the players. I don’t think it’s the concepts that we’re taught or anything like that. When our power play has struggled, it’s been the execution level. It hasn’t been the Xs and Os.

“I really do believe that. So for the fans that are complaining about the coaching staff, I think the blame should be on the players more than anything.”

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Who isn't performing?

We’ll start with the goaltending. The Cory Schneider/Mackenzie Blackwood tandem hasn’t panned out the way the team had hoped.

Schneider started off the season well but his play declined sharply, and the team made the drastic move to place him on waivers, sending the 33-year-old veteran to the American Hockey League.

In his first start, he stopped 29 of 32 shots faced in a 4-2 loss to Rochester. Meanwhile, in Newark, Louis Domingue allowed one goal in a win over the Red Wings. Maybe the Devils can find some consistency with Domingue and Blackwood, but it’s clear Blackwood has been adjusting to the heaviest workload of his young NHL career.

“I’ve played good games and I’ve played bad games,” he said. “I’ve played more good games than bad games, but for some reason, you think about the bad ones more because you wish you could have changed something. It’s been alright. I definitely have more in me and I can be better. It’s been OK, but I know I can be better.”

Moving to the blue line, P.K. Subban was supposed to bolster one of the weakest areas of play. He was supposed to bring shutdown ability with offensive flair. So far, the results have been mixed.

He's been taken off the top power play unit and hasn't registered a power play point yet this season.

“I think he’s been inconsistent,” Hynes said. “I think he’s been good at times and he’s played the way he needs to play and then there are times where it’s too much and we need him to settle things down and play smarter and play more reliable. Sometimes it’s been game-to-game, sometimes he’s been excellent and played very well and done exactly what we needed him to do. But there needs to be more consistency and reliability in his game.”

When asked to assess his season so far, Subban used 199 words and not one of them was about his own play.

“I assess the growth, and have we grown as a team,” he said. “I don’t think anybody hasn’t seen us can’t see the growth. Obviously, people want to see wins every night and so do well, and it’s been a process. But for our team, if you look around the league, there are a lot of good teams out of playoff spots right now.”

Sami Vatanen has been the best defenseman for New Jersey once again, but there isn’t enough of him to go around, and that has been a problem for two years now.

It would have been tough for any team to bring in as many new players as the Devils did this season. They knew what they would be getting in Simmonds, and though it took him a few games to get comfortable, they’ve gotten that toughness and net presence they needed. Hughes has also clearly grown comfortable in the NHL, and the 18-year-old is making an impact nightly.

But with Gusev (KHL) and Boqvist (Swedish league) both coming from Europe, they had question marks. Boqvist is still developing, but Gusev is 27 and though they badly need his offense, they weren’t anticipating him being a defensive liability in the beginning. He may not be now, but putting him into a one-goal game in the third period still brings risk.

Is the risk greater than the reward? It’s tough to tell when wins are this hard to come by.

“He’s been able to find pockets for himself to be able to get offensive scoring chances, but I also think his play away from the puck has been better,” Hynes said. “I think you see the way he’s playing now and the way that line is playing, he’s not spending as much time as he was early in the year in the defensive zone. So it’s nice to see him progress. You can tell he’s getting used to what this league is about and how a player like him can have success in the league. We need him to continue to move forward like he has been.”

What is the team's identity?

The whole “fast, attacking and supportive” thing hasn’t been thrown out, though it’s been mocked online as much as the “We are the Ones” slogan.

Right now, the Devils’ best weapon is their net-front presence. This is a team that knows how to set up scoring chances in front of the net. But they have to do it on a nightly basis and right now, nothing is being done consistently.

New Jersey vs. Everyone doesn’t work unless the Devils are playing the way they need to play to beat everyone. The identity of being hard to play against has been lost. If they were hard to play against, they would be bringing the same effort every night.

“I’d say in the last 10 games, there have been some very good efforts sprinkled in with some very flat games,” Hall said. “Tactically, offensively, defensively — I think we’re there. I think it’s between the ears and how we can replicate efforts night-by-night.”

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So, how do they get that back? Look, the 2017-18 season was what it was. The Devils may have overachieved that season and given the impression they were a little further ahead of their rebuilding schedule than anticipated.

Replicating that year and that same mentality may not be possible.

“It’s within the player. It’s something you can’t be told to do, it’s something you can’t be told to do,” Coleman said. “It’s something you’ve got to bring on your own. And we’ve still got some young guys in this league that are learning how hard it is to play night-in and night-out. There are going to be nights when you’re not feeling good but you need to make an impact. Even if it’s not contributing offensively, it’s finding a way to do something.

"Finishing your checks, getting pucks deep, just playing simple that night to make sure you give your team a chance. I think in the games where we haven’t had it, guys have tried to do a little bit too much when maybe we knew it wasn’t our night.”

So, where are they now?

After 22 games, no one seems to know. Is that Hynes’ fault, the team’s fault, or general manager Ray Shero’s fault?

The answer is probably all of the above and none of the above. Hall didn’t plan on only having four goals through 22 games and the people above him likely didn’t think that would be the case either. No one saw the drop-off with Schneider coming. No one thought the penalty kill wouldn’t work as well as it has historically since Alain Nasreddine has run it, and no one thought it would take this much time to acclimate all of the new players or find a consistent lineup.

“You don’t move lines around just to move lines around,” Hynes said. “But the problem is we’ve had a lot of inconsistent performances.”

Pointing fingers won’t do anyone any good right now. The only thing left to do is play the same game night after night and string together a few wins.

"I think our record is what it says we are," Hynes said.

Abbey Mastracco is the Devils beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Devils analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: mastraccoa@northjersey.com Twitter: @abbeymastracco

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