Tags
#BecauseItsTheCup, #InLouWeTrust, #TankForMcDavid, Adam Henrique, Adam Larsson, Andy Greene, Bryce Salvador, Buffalo Sabres, Connor McDavid, Cory Schneider, Dainius Zubrus, Damon Severson, David Clarkson, Devils, Eric Gelinas, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jacob Josefson, Jaromir Jagr, Jersey's Team, jets, Jon Merrill, Keith Kinkaid, Lou Lamoriello, Marek Zidlicky, Martin Havlat, Michael Ryder, Mike Cammalleri, New Jersey Devils, NJDevils, Patrik Elias, Philadelphia Flyers, Playoffs, Power Play, Ryane Clowe, Scott Gomez, Tim Sestito, Travis Zajac, Tuomo Ruutu, Zach Parise
#TankForMcDavid is a trending topic among fans of National Hockey League teams in the basement of the league’s standings. Connor McDavid is a 17-year-old Canadian phenom who is expected to be taken first overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft following the season. Is it worth it, though, for a team like the New Jersey Devils to “tank” [or give up] on the current season for a chance at landing a potential superstar?
No. The Devils should not “Tank for McDavid.” Despite the fact that the team currently has the 26th-best record out of all 30 clubs, and that he is ridiculously good, there is no reason for them to give up all hope on this season… yet.
I think it’s fair to say that Lou Lamoriello hasn’t done the greatest job assembling New Jersey’s roster following the departures of forwards Zach Parise, David Clarkson and Ilya Kovalchuk. The Devils are the oldest team in the league, with an average age of 30.177 years old. Age obviously isn’t a tell-tale sign of how a team will fare over the course of the season, but it’s fair to assume the injury plague that has been quite problematic could partially be a result of many of the team’s players having passed their individual primes and suffering from a severe decline in level of play (i.e. Ryane Clowe, Martin Havlat, Patrik Elias, Dainius Zubrus, Bryce Salvador, etc.).
The Devils begin the second half of their regular season schedule tomorrow night at home against the Buffalo Sabres. If they start off hot, there’s no reason why they can’t find a way to pull off a magical run to land a shot at earning a playoff spot. Their goaltending tandem of undisputed number 1 Cory Schneider and rookie Keith Kinkaid have given their team a chance to win in just about every game this season. Their young defense has shown signs of improving, and their Power Play converts on almost 20% of their opportunities. Since goal-scoring has been this team’s major concern, the fact that their Power Play is a strength is kind of surprising. But, if they can keep up that percentage while improving their 5-on-5 play, we can expect to see an interesting/intriguing second half from Jersey’s Team.
With that said, the Devils found a way to score 5 goals against division rival Philadelphia this past weekend. Offensive outbursts like that have been rare for this team, outside of the first two games of the season when they scored 5+ goals in back-to-back games for the only time this season. As was the case last year, they are just lacking one “go-to” scoring option, a.k.a a “natural” goal scorer. Mike Cammalleri has showed signs of being that guy, but he hasn’t been able to do it consistently due to injury and constantly finding himself playing alongside different linemates.
Would Connor McDavid be a welcome addition to this team for the start of the 2015-16? No question. But, with the surprise resurgence of center Scott Gomez and his unbelievable chemistry with RW Jaromir Jagr, Adam Henrique’s versatility and ability to find ways to score in the clutch, Cammalleri’s scoring touch and Patrik Elias’s superb vision in the offensive zone, the Devils could theoretically start scoring goals as easily as the Harlem Globetrotters score points on their opponents on a nightly basis. I don’t actually see that happening, but from a fan’s perspective, it’s always good to believe!
In general, I also do not believe in “tanking” to have a shot at drafting a certain player. Being a Jets fan, I’ve seen that team find ways to miss drafting the best available player, and the guy they do decide to draft ends up turning into a total bust (i.e. Stephen Hill). As a Devils fan, I’m sure you remember when Lamoriello decided to select defenseman Adam Larsson with the 4th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
At the time, this seemed like the perfect fit for a team that plays a defensive system, but until recently, Larsson seemed like he might’ve been a bust. He still might be. Looking back at that draft, it seems like it produced a pretty mediocre draft class overall (Nugent-Hopkins, Landeskog and Huberdeau went 1-2-3 in that draft). So, while Lou might have picked the “right guy” in that scenario, who knows what would happen if the Devils end up with a top-5 pick this year. At this point, it’s unrealistic to think that the Devils could have any shot at a top-2 pick because of their record, and therefore they wouldn’t end up with McDavid anyway.
With the Devils unique coaching situation, interim head coach Lou Lamoriello and co-coaches Scott Stevens and Adam Oates have appeared to start righting the ship already. Players seem to be playing with more confidence (i.e. Michael Ryder). Players seem to be having a lot more fun (i.e. Jagr + Gomez). Crazier things have happened. Making the playoffs is still a long-shot. If the organization wants to continue bringing fans out to games, the team needs to keep up a consistent performance out on the ice, while showing both heart and energy that was seen in this weekend’s home game against Philly. There were four fights in that game. When was the last time we saw that kind of literal “fight” and desire to win from this team?
Looking forward, I’m just intrigued to see what this team can do. 41 games remaining in a long season leaves tons of a time to climb up the standings. If the Devils can get a couple injured players back, I’d like to see the following line combinations (Although I understand that this could be impossible considering the fact that even if some of these guys come back from current injuries, other guys could also end up on IR):
FORWARDS
Elias-Gomez-Jagr
Cammalleri-Henrique-Ryder
Zubrus-Zajac-Havlat
Sestito-Josefson-Ruutu
DEFENSEMEN
Greene-Severson
Merrill-Zidlicky
Gelinas-Larsson
Regardless of whether these combinations actually end up happening and working, it’s definitely time for Lou Lamoriello to start adapting to current times. This team needs to get younger, faster and more skilled as a whole. #BecauseItsTheCup