2014-15 New Jersey Devils Preview

The three-time Stanley Cup champion and four-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender will no longer man the pipes for the Devils, and as of the start of October is still waiting for a call from someone. He’ll always have a prominent place in the franchise’s history and will one day have his No. 30 hung from the rafters of the Prudential Center.

However, it’s now Cory Schneider’s job.

The Devils acquired Schneider in the summer of 2013 and the former Vancouver Canuck shared time in net with Brodeur last year. For the most part, though, he outplayed the future Hall of Famer and has finally earned his chance to be the undisputed No. 1 netminder. Brodeur had a better record than Schneider last year, but the Devils also seemed to score more, although not at an alarming rate (more on that later), with Brodeur in net.

Schneider previously sat behind Roberto Luongo in Vancouver and last year posted a 1.97 goals-against average with a 16-15-12 mark in 45 games for the Devils while splitting duties with Brodeur. At age 28, the Massachusetts native will now get the opportunity to be the top guy, playing possibly as many as 60-plus games, but replacing a legend is never easy.

Goaltending was not the problem last season, as the Devils missed the playoffs for the second straight season. Goal scoring was a major issue.

The sudden departure of Ilya Kovalchuk in the summer of 2013 left the Devils with no scoring punch. Only Buffalo, Florida and Vancouver scored fewer than New Jersey’s 197 goals last season.

The Devils had just a pair of 20-goal scorers last season and both are back this year. Adam Henrique could become the new face of the Devils, a 2008 third-round draft pick who posted a career-high and team-best 25 goals in 2013-14. The ageless Jaromir Jagr also returns after a 24-goal, 67-point season.

FORWARDS – Joining the 24-year-old Henrique and the 42-year-old Jagr on the forward lines will be a group that includes long-time Devils star Patrik Elias and a pair newcomers that coach Pete DeBoer hopes will infuse some much-needed offense.

Martin Havlat and Mike Cammalleri were New Jersey’s big free-agent acquisitions this summer. Havlat spent the past three seasons with San Jose and has scored as many as 20 goals six times in his 13-season NHL career, while Cammalleri also has reached the 20-goal plateau six times in 11 years.

DeBoer could actually opt for an all-Czech line with Havlat joining Elias and Jagr. Elias played some center last season and finished second on the team in scoring with 53 points, but he’ll likely start the season on the left wing while the top line could consist of Jagr and Cammalleri with veteran Travis Zajac.

The Devils will also need more production from Michael Ryder, Damien Brunner and Ryane Clowe — all in their second seasons with the club.

Ryder managed 18 goals and played all 82 games last season, but the Devils were hoping the now-34-year-old veteran could provide closer to the 30 goals he scored in consecutive seasons with Montreal, although that was seven or eight years ago. Brunner notched 11 goals in 60 games and Clowe was hurt for most of the season and appeared in just 43 games with seven goals and 19 assists.

Stephen Gionta and Steve Bernier will likely again play the roles of grinders, along with Tuomo Ruutu, who played 19 games for New Jersey last season after his trade from Carolina. Veteran Dainius Zubrus adds to the club’s depth, while former Stanley Cup hero Scott Gomez was in camp on a tryout basis.

One area where the Devils must improve is shootouts, although it really can’t get any worse. There is talent on the forward line, but it doesn’t seem to translate into the shootout, where gaining that extra point can become so valuable.

The Devils were the top shootout team with a 12-4 mark during the 2011-12 season, one that ended in the Stanley Cup Final. They were just 2-7 in the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign and failed to win any of the 13 last season. In fact, New Jersey managed just four goals in 45 chances in the extra sessions for a dreadful 8.9 success rate in 2013-14.

DEFENSE – Production from the defense last season was fairly steady. Marek Zidlicky finished seventh overall on the team with 12 goals and fifth in scoring with 42 points, while Andy Greene added eight goals and Eric Gelinas used his booming point shot to chip in with seven — five of which came on the power play.

Zidlicky, Greene and the steady Bryce Salvador are all over 30 years old — with Salvador and Zidlicky closer to 40. That gives DeBoer plenty of experience on the back line, and he’s hoping Gelinas, at age 23, along with 22-year-old Jon Merrill and 21-year-old Adam Larsson can develop quickly. Each of the three youngsters will probably be paired with a veteran, at least in the early going.

Larsson was the fourth overall pick of the 2011 draft and had a solid rookie season in 2011-12 with 18 points in 65 games, but has struggled since and has just nine points in 63 games over the past two seasons.

Merrill, a second-round pick in 2010, had two goals and 11 points in 52 games for New Jersey last season. Gelinas, though, could be the best of the young group. The 2009 second-round pick can simply rip it from the point, but needs some work playing without the puck.

Salvador battled through an injury-filled 2013-14 season, as a fractured left foot sidelined him for much of the first half and a hip injury limited the captain’s effectiveness late in the campaign.

GOALTENDING – With Schneider now the backbone of the team, it’s very likely that 37-year-old veteran Scott Clemmensen will earn the backup role ahead of the 25-year-old Keith Kinkaid.

Clemmensen spent the past five seasons in Florida and will make his third tour of duty with New Jersey. The Devils selected the Boston College product in the eighth round of the 1997 draft and he bounced back and forth with the Devils and in the minors for parts of five seasons, then left for Toronto for one year before returning to New Jersey for the 2008-09 season. He actually played a career-high 40 games for the Devils that season when Brodeur missed a majority of the season with a biceps injury.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE – The Devils haven’t made the playoffs for the past two years and CEO/President/GM Lou Lamoriello won’t stand for another empty spring. If that’s the case, there will be changes on the bench. Schneider should be more than solid in net, but the offense will have to pick it up from last year and it should. The free-agent signings from two summers ago will benefit from already having played one year under DeBoer and the new acquisitions will likely provide a spark. If Elias and Jagr can stay injury-free and the young defense corp blossoms, the Devils won’t be just trying to earn playoff spot come April. A few shootout goals would help, too.

Categorized in: NHL