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1) With Ben Lovejoy out of the lineup on many nights, Steve Santini has taken on the role of sacrificial lamb for John Hynes, meaning he's been given the worst playing circumstances to make life easier for others.
Through seven games, he has an offensive zone start% of 19, which is the lowest among 187 defensemen who have logged at least 60 minutes of 5v5 ice time thus far.
When you factor in he also plays stiff competition -- at times he's been matched up against superstars like Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov -- it's pretty remarkable the Devils are only losing the high-danger chance battle by three in over 100 minutes with Santini on the ice.
His Corsi and regular scoring chance numbers may not look good on the surface, but you can live with them when given context. He's playing extremely difficult minutes at a young age and handling himself about as well as anyone could hope.
2) I was cooler on the Mirco Mueller trade than many and, though it's still very early, he's yet to give me any reason to reconsider my stance.
We're dealing with small sample sizes but, after a mediocre AHL season, he's gotten off to a rough start in New Jersey.
As it stands, the Devils allow more shot attempts/60 and generate less shot attempts/60 with Mueller on the ice than any other regular defenseman. Only Will Butcher has been given more favorable zone starts, too, so it's not as if he's been utilized in a way that'd be tough to succeed.
It's probably not a good thing that he hasn't earned a spot in the lineup on a nightly basis given the state of New Jersey's defense.
3) One thing I'd like to see more of in the coming games: Marcus Johansson shooting the puck.
He is 15th on the team in 5v5 shots and 14th in 5v5 shot attempts. I know he is a pass-first guy but he has a good shot -- he's a career 14% shooter -- and he should definitely be using it more.
He has three goals in eight games, which is solid, but it's because he's shooting an unsustainable 30%, not because he's generating a lot of shots. Those goals will dry up in a hurry if he doesn't start putting more pucks on net.
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