Devils' Schedule Near Top of Problem List – Hockey Writers – New Jersey Devils

Once again, the mood in the New Jersey Devils locker room was one of frustration after they dropped their fourth straight game on Friday night. The truth is that they did not play high quality hockey. They've scored mediocre goals, haven't found consistent lineup combinations, and the defense's attention to detail is lacking.

Those are all valid reasons for concern. But for the second season in a row, the Devils are getting no help from the NHL draft makers. In 2023-24, the Devils faced the most running backs in the league, with 16. Of course, it didn't help that in the back half of those, they went 13 out of 16. it is a little confusing how that is allowed to happen.

Devil's Quest Schedule

In the blink of an eye, the 2024-25 Devils have already played 11 games – 13.4% of their season. That's at least two more games than any other team, while the NHL average is 7.5 games played. Two Metropolitan Division rivals – the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals – have played just over half of the Devils' six games.

It would be nice to think that starting the season early in Prague, Czechia could be the reason for that. But the Buffalo Sabers, who also started in Prague, have played three fewer times (8). Head coach Sheldon Keefe said, “Nine games in 16 days is a lot. Fatigue is hard to fight. You won't look like you want. (We had) two practices in 16 days. There were times out there tonight where there were things we were going to fix while working (but) we didn't have that time.”

In fact, a visual inspection and the numbers confirm that the Devils are a team that just needs to make some changes, but have not been able to do so properly. In their first seven contests, they went 5-2-0 while giving up just 14 goals (a 2.00 per game average). In the next four, they went 0-2-2 and gave up 23 goals (an average of 5.75 per game).

Based on the start, it is clear that they have what it takes to play better. On paper, too, the team is too talented to struggle that strongly. But as Keefe also said, video work and talking to people about what they need to fix can do a lot. If they can't get into the snow, it's very difficult to make the right adjustments.

Related: New Jersey Devils' Home Ice Struggles Need to Be Addressed

Some may see Keefe's talk about the show as an excuse, but it's not like he was shying away from criticizing the team's performance. Yesterday morning, he admitted that the goal needs to be improved. He also mentioned that attention to detail is lacking and even agreed to fight the snow at home.

“It's not an excuse, it's the reality of the league,” said Keefe. “It was difficult to find the way we wanted to look, honestly, because of the demands of the schedule. We are trying to manage our way through this.”

Thankfully for the Devils, they were able to pull off the points they lost to in their recent struggle, which could prove beneficial in the long run. Last season, they gave up 27 clean sheets and tied the game with one more goal (via Natural Stat Trick). With Jesper Bratt's third-period goal for the New York Islanders, they have already secured their first with 71 games remaining. Taking games to extra time is very important; just look at the Islanders team last season that only won 39 of 82 games, yet made the Stanley Cup Playoffs by winning eight more games with 16 overtime losses.

Hit the Bratt signal and Jesper delivers. pic.twitter.com/WtSbImF0CH

– New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 26, 2024

In the game against the Washington Capitals, Dougie Hamilton scored a late power play goal to tie and secure that extra point. Last season, that almost never happened. Yes, the Devils are a work in progress and there is reason to be concerned early on. But their plan will be slow. They will have two full days off between games most of the time in early November, then a four-day break between Nov. 16-21. The goalkeepers will have a chance to settle down, Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes will wake up quickly, and then we can meet again and discuss that it is time to panic. But for now, it's too early. Remember, the 2023-24 Edmonton Oilers started 2-9-1, and ended up just fine. The Devils are in much better shape than that.