yave1964 Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 A look back at the 2014-15 New Jersey Devils season.PRESEAON EXPECTATIONS: The hope was that Schneider and an underrated defense combined with an over the hill veteran bunch of forwards could push for a lower end playoff spot. FINAL RECORD: 32-36-14 78 points, 13th in the Eastern Conference. HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON:The Devils opened with three wins in a row over the Flyers, Panthers and Lightning. Cautious optimism began to sprout. LOW POINT OF THE SEASON: Pretty much everything else. From there, the Devils began a frustrating season of winning a couple and losing three, rinse and repeat. Between November 15th and December 27th the Devils lost 16 of 20 putting to bed any chance of having a shot. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Scott Gomez was brought back into the fold after failing several stops and had a very good year, resurrecting his career. Mike Cammelleri had 27 goals. Andy Greene was quietly very good. Cory Schneider was brilliant at times. Adam Larsson established himself as a shut down d-man with upside. Steve Bernier established career highs in most offensive areas. WHAT WENT WRONG: The team simply could not score. Adam Henrique led the team in scoring, with a pathetic 43 points. Elias and Zajac showed they are closer to the end than the beginning. Eric Gelinas took a massive step back. The vets brought in to lead the way, Havlat, Ryder, Brunner, ruutu were nothing short of awful. Ryan Clowe's career came to an end on inured reserve. Zubrus looks done. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: against the rugged Atlantic division, the Devils inexplicably went 13-8-3, a pace that would have made the playoffs if they had played like that against everyone else. But against everyone else they were a pathetic 19-28-11. UFAs: Steve BernierScott GomezMarty HavlatMichael RyderBryce SalvadorJoe Whitney TOP PROSPECTS FOR 2015-16:Damon Severson played big minutes and didnt embarrass himself this year, more will be expected. Reid Boucher simply has to figure a way to translate AHL success at scoring goals to the NHL, he will be given every chance. Quite frankly, the Devils are nearly devoid of NHL ready prospects, thus the signing of every castoff and refugee from other teams over the past few years at forward. They do have a few decent defensive prospects, Reece Scarlett and Seth Helgeson who should plug in this coming year or at the least push for time but the forwards are bad or years away. OFFSEASON QUESTION MARKS: Where will they find offense? The Devils were third from the bottom in scoring, even with a world class tender like Schneider you cannot win like that. Lots of awful signings coming off the books freeing up money but a mediocre free agent class means that the mediocre departees will likely be replaced by incoming mediocrity. Do you part with a young blue liner for a young scoring forward, with, say, Edmonton for instance? What do you do if Schneider sues for non support? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagerMeister Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 A look back at the 2014-15 New Jersey Devils season.PRESEAON EXPECTATIONS: The hope was that Schneider and an underrated defense combined with an over the hill veteran bunch of forwards could push for a lower end playoff spot. FINAL RECORD: 32-36-14 78 points, 13th in the Eastern Conference. HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON:The Devils opened with three wins in a row over the Flyers, Panthers and Lightning. Cautious optimism began to sprout. LOW POINT OF THE SEASON: Pretty much everything else. From there, the Devils began a frustrating season of winning a couple and losing three, rinse and repeat. Between November 15th and December 27th the Devils lost 16 of 20 putting to bed any chance of having a shot. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Scott Gomez was brought back into the fold after failing several stops and had a very good year, resurrecting his career. Mike Cammelleri had 27 goals. Andy Greene was quietly very good. Cory Schneider was brilliant at times. Adam Larsson established himself as a shut down d-man with upside. Steve Bernier established career highs in most offensive areas. WHAT WENT WRONG: The team simply could not score. Adam Henrique led the team in scoring, with a pathetic 43 points. Elias and Zajac showed they are closer to the end than the beginning. Eric Gelinas took a massive step back. The vets brought in to lead the way, Havlat, Ryder, Brunner, ruutu were nothing short of awful. Ryan Clowe's career came to an end on inured reserve. Zubrus looks done. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: against the rugged Atlantic division, the Devils inexplicably went 13-8-3, a pace that would have made the playoffs if they had played like that against everyone else. But against everyone else they were a pathetic 19-28-11. UFAs: Steve BernierScott GomezMarty HavlatMichael RyderBryce SalvadorJoe Whitney TOP PROSPECTS FOR 2015-16:Damon Severson played big minutes and didnt embarrass himself this year, more will be expected. Reid Boucher simply has to figure a way to translate AHL success at scoring goals to the NHL, he will be given every chance. Quite frankly, the Devils are nearly devoid of NHL ready prospects, thus the signing of every castoff and refugee from other teams over the past few years at forward. They do have a few decent defensive prospects, Reece Scarlett and Seth Helgeson who should plug in this coming year or at the least push for time but the forwards are bad or years away. OFFSEASON QUESTION MARKS: Where will they find offense? The Devils were third from the bottom in scoring, even with a world class tender like Schneider you cannot win like that. Lots of awful signings coming off the books freeing up money but a mediocre free agent class means that the mediocre departees will likely be replaced by incoming mediocrity. Do you part with a young blue liner for a young scoring forward, with, say, Edmonton for instance? What do you do if Schneider sues for non support?Yes, and he carried this goddamn worthless team of old men. Should definitely be Top 5 in Hart votes IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poulin20 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 No Sympathy here for the Devils - ever- That is all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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