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2015-16 NJ Devils Season


JagerMeister

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TFG Mod Note:

Seems to be enough interest in the Devils here to warrant one of these....plus there are some posts about this year's Devils (who are playing better than expected BTW) on the OLD thread, so thought I would spruce up and update.

 

@MadDevil

@JagerMeister

 

You guys can take the lead on this thread...the rest of us can follow.

 

 

 

 

 

:lol: :lol:  :angry::mad:

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@MadDevil@JagerMeister

Like the way Henrique seems to have found another gear this year, he looks like he has not peaked yet and still has more tricks in his bag. He looks more confident in the two games I have watched the Devils play this year.

It feels like Hynes wants him to step up and take more of a leadership role, and I think it'll be good for him.

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@MadDevil@JagerMeister

Like the way Henrique seems to have found another gear this year, he looks like he has not peaked yet and still has more tricks in his bag. He looks more confident in the two games I have watched the Devils play this year.

 

 I can 100% guarantee you we have not seen the best Henrique yet. When we were winning our back to back Memorial Cups (good God, STILL feels awesome to type that!) I saw most of Henrique's career with the Spits. I can tell he's starting to gain confidence as you said....and he is daring to try some of the stuff he was scoring on in Windsor.

 

  Hall got a lot of the glory in our chapmpionship year, but Adam was every bit as good, worked harder and scored more timely goals when it really mattered. Funny, cause in the NHL, he already has the game winning goal in two 7 game series, one of them coming in OT, so safe to say that trait carried over from the OHL. He has an incredible ability to roof the puck from in close, and he is only now starting to go to that move every once and a while. He needs to do more of that, cause his hockey smarts and skating allow him to control the puck down low in the crease area. Henrique and Wellwood were the real heart and soul of those great teams. If Adam had two respectable linemates, his point totals would sky rocket.

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He had 51 points as a rookie playing with Parise and Kovalchuk, but hasn't really had anybody even close to that good on his line since. In 2013-14 he had Elias, and scored 25 goals on a bad offensive team, but last year Elias finally hit the old man wall. This year, who knows who he ends up playing with. The forward situation is still a hot mess.

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Speaking of Henrique, add 2 more goals against Buffalo to put him in the top 5 in the league. And Cammalleri is top 5 in points. Granted, it's not even 10 games in, but still nice to see those two getting off to hot starts. And with Lee Stempniak of all people. Also, Cory Schneider is amazing.

If you'd have told me 8 games in the Devils would have a 4 game winning streak, I'd have laughed in your face. I don't know how long it'll last, but I'll take it. I know there will still probably be some pretty ugly stretches ahead for them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I honestly don't understand it, nor do I think it'll continue, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. Zajac seems to have turned the time machine back to 2009 with the way he's played so far. Cory has been outstanding as usual. Greene and Larsson have been absolute beasts defensively. I still don't think they make the playoffs, but they're way ahead of where I thought they'd be at this point.

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@MadDevil   I think I'm most shocked by Zajac putting up pts consistently, I really thought he was washed up. The 2nd and 3rd round picks given up for Kyle Palmeri seem to be a nice investment at this point in time....he has double digit pts already and hey....he is only 24, lot's of upside there.

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The Devils sweep the season series with Chicago? Can't say I saw that one coming. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but somehow this team keeps winning. 9-3 now since an 0-3-1 start.

Cory has given up 2 or less goals in 6 straight starts. The biggest surprise to me has been Sergei Kalinin. I wasn't overly impressed with him in the preseason, but he just keeps getting better. He's really fit in well with Zajac. Palmieri has been fantastic. He's really taken advantage of more playing time with the Devils. So far, pretty much everything Shero did in the offseason has turned to gold. Palmieri, Stempniak, Kalinin, Moore, Schlemko are all contributors. Henrique and Zajac look rejuvenated. It's the most fun I've had watching this team since the run to the Final back in 2012.

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@MadDevil

 

Well, as the old saying goes, if you have goaltending, you always have a chance.

 

Last season, the problem was the abysmal offense and crudlike defensive coverage in front of Cory.

Guy felt like he had to get a shut out every night just to sniff a win.

 

Fast forward to this year, some dead weight removed, offense performing a bit better, defense, while not stifling, is sound enough, meanwhile Cory Schneider continues to be Cory Schneider....and he is probably more relaxed too knowing he has much better overall 5 man units in front of him.

 

Makes all the difference.

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  • 3 weeks later...

You know, there was a thread on this site somewhere about possible teams 'sneaking' into the playoffs and the more I see these Devils play, the more I am starting to believe it could be this group that does some sneaking into the Eastern playoff bracket.

 

With expectations (at least by the alleged experts and the fanbase) seemingly low, that hasn't stopped this group of players from believing in themselves that THEY should be post season bound.

 

The NJ Devils are FAR from a polished product, but at 12-9-2 and in the thick of at least the third divisional playoff spot and the wildcards, they are sitting pretty well while they continue to get good goaltending, their vets playing reasonably well (some VERY well), and their young guys continuing to improve..

 

They are top ten in in goals against, PP efficiency, and PK %.

Scoring large quantities of goals is still a bit of a struggle, but at the very least they aren't the worst there either and they tend to do their scoring as a team rather than have any single guy represent a large % of their offense.

 

They have lost 4 out of their last 7, but outside of getting blown out in Edmonton, all those games have been close and the team just looks unfazed by any losses they incur and just seem to come out ready to play the next one....and hey, last two games, they garnered 3 points out of a possible 4 with the home at home split with the "mighty" Canadiens...both games ended in a SO and OT goal respectively.

 

So yeah...based on what I have seen from these Devils, they could very well be that sneaky team that slips quietly into the post season.

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I would love for them to sneak in, but they really need to get some production from the bottom 6 and defense if they want to stay in this. Cammalleri, Henrique, Palmieri, Zajac, and Stempniak have scored 70% of the Devils goals this season. The rest of the forwards have combined for just 9 goals (and in that group only Bobby Farnham has more than 2 goals). Josefson is a black hole offensively (still 0 even strength points on the season), but for some reason is money in the shootout. And I thought the defense would be more productive than it has been so far. Only Severson and Moore have more than 5 points and they're 24 games into the season.

They also need to play better against bad teams. They're 0-5 this year against the bottom 5 teams in the league, but 12-5-2 against everybody else.

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  • 2 months later...

Tonight was the 15th loss this season where Schneider has given up 2 goals or less. :ermm:

 

If the Devils had even a league average offense he would probably be challenging Holtby in wins.

 

Of course having no Cammalleri doesn't help. And for whatever reason Henrique has pretty much been MIA except for a handful of games since about mid-December. He's always been streaky, but it seems like he's been cold more than hot this season.

 

Hopefully Shero has another Palmieri type trade up his sleeve this summer. Maybe if the cap doesn't move or actually goes down they can poach some scoring help off a team with cap issues.

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22 minutes ago, MadDevil said:

Tonight was the 15th loss this season where Schneider has given up 2 goals or less. :ermm:

 

If the Devils had even a league average offense he would probably be challenging Holtby in wins.

 

Of course having no Cammalleri doesn't help. And for whatever reason Henrique has pretty much been MIA except for a handful of games since about mid-December. He's always been streaky, but it seems like he's been cold more than hot this season.

 

Hopefully Shero has another Palmieri type trade up his sleeve this summer. Maybe if the cap doesn't move or actually goes down they can poach some scoring help off a team with cap issues.

Man, its unfortunate Camalleri is seemingly incapable of playing a full season. He is their best offensive force and was among the top ten point producers prior to injury, terrible.

As for Schneider, he`s one of those elite goalies that elevate themselves from your standard starter. Which is incredibly difficult in today`s game, likely all of his prime will be wasted in NJD...

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