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Changes are coming in New Jersey.
The first shoe dropped when the team moved on from head coach John Hynes. It won’t be the last.
Devils GM Ray Shero has plenty of notable rentals to sell in the coming weeks and months, with Taylor Hall headlining the group.
Pending UFAs aren’t the only players available, nor should they be given the current state of the team.
In the latest edition of 31 Thoughts, which I recommend checking out in full,
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported left winger Miles Wood is on the trade block.
10. Another Devil on the block is Miles Wood. He has two more years at a $2.75-million AAV, but isn’t as aggressive or edgy as he’s been in the past. Hopefully he gets back there, I liked his game.
Before I touch on the news itself, I want to comment on what is becoming a common misconception about Wood.
He isn’t less aggressive this season than he has been in the past. He’s taking more penalties/60 than ever before, drawing more penalties/60 than ever before and his hits/60 number is the 2nd highest of his career.
As a bonus, Wood runs into the opposing goaltender and/or is involved in several scrums every night. There are some issues with his game right now. I don’t think physicality or aggressiveness has much to do with it.
Moving on, I’m not at all surprised Wood’s name is out there. He has just 13 goals and 30 points over his last 90 games played. I know he has spent a lot of time glued to the 4th line but, simply put, he hasn’t played well enough to warrant more ice.
While he is still really good at generating Grade A chances, he’s not great at finishing them and that’s a real problem.
He has shot ~6% in 1.5 years since his breakout campaign. That seems low for someone who lives around the net. Generally, I’d bet on a pretty decent spike. I’m not sure I will double down in this case, though.
Wood doesn’t have the hands in tight to change angles, get the goaltender out of position, and finish plays off. He also doesn’t have a plus-shot to pick corners.
If he’s not scoring, he doesn’t have a *ton* of value because he plays too fast to properly read lanes and create consistent opportunities for linemates, and he can be quite undisciplined.
The Devils shouldn’t be looking to give him away – it is tough to find players with his size + speed and if his shot ever improves he should flirt with 20 goals in a year – but $2.75 million is a lot to commit for what he brings right now.
This is pure speculation on my part but I could definitely see teams like Calgary or Edmonton entering the mix for Wood’s services.
We’ll see how this plays out.
Numbers via naturalstattrick.com
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