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The New Jersey Devils are doing their locker room clean-outs today and many players are speaking to the media to give their thoughts on the season, what went wrong, how they'll move forward, etc.
With that in mind, I figured I'd pull some quotes and share my opinion on some of the notable things said.
Let's start with the best player on the roster in Taylor Hall.
It's nice to see Hall step up to the plate and take ownership of what happened but I think he is the furthest thing from the problem.
Despite posting the worst shooting percentage of his career at 5v5, and overall, Hall finished tied for 1st on the team in points, 1st in points per game, 1st in shots per game, 1st in 5v5 Scoring Chance For%, 1st in 5v5 Scoring Chances/60, 2nd in 5v5 Corsi For% and was a consistent threat even on nights when he didn't find the scoresheet. Hall was great and did all he could to try and keep a sinking ship afloat.
Scoring more goals starts with upgrading the roster and getting Hall some help.
Beyond Ben Lovejoy, Andy Greene also went out of his way to praise John Hynes and take some of the blame off his shoulders. I know a lot of people are calling for his head, and those calls grow louder when big name coaches like Darryl Sutter and Lindy Ruff become available, but I think he deserves another shot next year.
Hynes joined the team in a rebuilding stage knowing it'd take time before the results were there. Dumping him after two years when he's had minimal talent to work isn't fair at all. Let the guy have at least one year with a decent roster.
The difference between the Devils and other teams isn't a lack of killer instinct, but a lack of skill.
Pittsburgh, Washington, Columbus, Montreal and Los Angeles had the highest Goals For% when defending the lead while New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, Carolina and Buffalo had the lowest.
Four of the top-5 are very talented playoff teams and almost everyone expected the exception (LA) to get into the playoffs prior to the season. Meanwhile, the bottom-5 teams in Goals For% while leading all missed the playoffs and, Carolina aside, are severely lacking talent.
Players and fans often connect bad results with lack of effort but, in many cases, it is talent related. This is one of those cases.
This is good news. Bennett's numbers don't jump off the page but I thought he quietly had a really good season. He led the Devils in Corsi For%, was 3rd in Scoring Chance For% and more good than bad happened when he was on the ice. I think he is a very useful middle-6/bottom-6 player and would like, and expect, to see him stick around moving forward.
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