Devils Have Finally Let Their Offense Loose
It's too little too late to save the season, but the New Jersey Devils opening up their offense has been a much-needed change.
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It’s too little too late, but the New Jersey Devils have finally opened up their offense. After struggling to score for much of this season, they’ve started lighting the lamp more often since the Olympics.
It probably won’t be enough to save Sheldon Keefe’s job, though we’ll revisit that conversation in three weeks or so, but the changeup has been the right move. At the very least, it’ll offer a bit of sample to reassess the Devils’ roster heading into the offseason.
The New-Look Devils
I’m sure you’ve seen the tweets from JFresh or whoever showing the Devils’ finishing woes this season. For good portions of the season, they’ve ranked near or at the bottom in goals scored above expected.
The lack of finishing talent is one reason. Injury to Jack Hughes is another, but it’s not that simple. For more than half the season, the Devils weren’t exactly trying to push play offensively. This was also evident in their numbers.
From Game 1 of the regular season to the Olympic break, the Devils averaged 2.55 expected goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five, ranked 19th in the NHL. Even less impressive, they were scoring just 1.88 goals per 60 minutes, ranked last in the NHL by a comfortable margin.
As mentioned, Hughes’ injury was a factor, but it wasn’t just that. For example, during Hughes’ absence, the Devils were averaging around 5.5 to 6 rush attempts per game. Even before Hughes got hurt in Chicago in mid-November, the Devils were only averaging around seven rush attempts per game.
They weren’t playing off the rush as often as pre-Keefe teams, and that was not an accident. It’s quite clear that’s how Keefe and the Devils’ front office wanted the team to play, even though it didn’t fit their roster.
I’m not sure why it took so long for Keefe to make some adjustments, but it’s better late than never. Since the Olympic break, the Devils have become a much more rush-oriented team.
The MSG broadcast showed it during one of the Devils’ games during their recent seven-game homestand, but the Devils have been averaging 10-11 rush attempts per game since returning from the Olympic break.
