The off season can’t come soon enough - after tonight’s display it really is touch and go whether the Devils will make the Playoff Weekend, which for an arena team coming 4th is by any stretch of the imagination a poor return on investment.
There are many posts about which players fans would choose to have back next season, which makes for interesting reading. For me, the big question is, given the recent public backing the owners recently gave Brodie DuPont as Head Coach, how many current players would themselves choose to stay.
A massively under achieving season, one really couldn’t blame players for seeking to play elsewhere under a more experienced and, imho, a more capable Head Coach. Constantly shortening the bench during play often leaves your special teams struggling to have the desired impact when called upon, and that quite simply is one of the reasons why the Devils Powerplay is as cold as the ice they play on.
Other reasons include, lack of goalie screening, and constantly passing the puck around the offensive zone from statue to statue (minimal player movement makes defending easy, which in turns leads to PK teams having sufficient energy to score as many short handed goals as we have seen the Devils concede this season
The Devils owners have a tricky few weeks ahead of them, and dare I say it some key conversations to be had with top end players, otherwise, it could be a few years before the coach and the side he is able to put together is sufficiently competitive for a growing number of fair weather Devils fans.