The Devils have talent on their current roster, at least in the forward department. I expected a weak defense and questinable goaltending, but you would think it would hold up. At least the Devils could score a bunch of goals and lose 6-4 or something to that nature. Unfortunately the coaching staff (specifically Hynes) doesn't know what to do with the group.
You then take a look over at Binghamton and the team looks terrible there. Binghamton is supposed to have these young forwards with high upside that just need development. McLeod, Bastian, Speers, Anderson, White, and Jacobs should be NHL ready by now. Let's not forget about the wonderful job with Quenville even though he's not here.
For an organization that's rebuilding, it's not a good sign that both the main team and the farm team look terrible. What should we be really questioning?
The coaching - We can all agree that Hynes and company need to go. He's juggling lines from game to game. Juggling lines during a game is fine, but before each game is ridiculous. Healthy scratching young players is not good for development. I get benching during a game, but scratching them because they're "not competing?" Come on. Some of the vets are not competing! Healthy scratch one one of them. Even LA Kings' coach Todd McLellan benched a vet such as Toffoli to send a message.
The system - This is the big one that I'm questioning. This fast attacking supportive system is not working for both teams. They're in the bottom in scoring in the NHL and AHL. Goal differential is just horrible for both teams. I don't know if the system is Shero or Hynes' plan. Either way, it's not working.
The scouting - This is on Shero because he picks the scouts. Subtract Hischier and Hughes and what do we really have? Bratt? A nice diamond in the rough, but he's regressed (and so has Hischier). Zacha? Yeah, not really a Shero pick but his career has been up and down. Once Hynes sees Zacha make a mistake he basically exiles him. I get why Zacha has not lived up to his potential, but Hynes is not helping at all. As for the other picks (minus Smith and Boqvist because we don't know what we really have), they're still sitting in the AHL. Note, the Devils missed out on a bunch of defensemen after Zacha, and they really should've gotten McAvoy (even Bean, Fabbro, or Chychrun) instead of McLeod.
The GM - The scouting is on him and his inability to fire Hynes after going 6 games without winning is on him. The Blackhawks and Penguins fired their coaches after disastrous starts with talented rosters.
Look how they turned out. He has done good things though. The marketing team is fantastic. We would never have such a great marketing team under Lou. Shero does make great trades, I can't blame in on that.
Also, he's smart about signing UFAs. People were complaining why he didn't sign Shattenkirk, Maroon, Gardiner, Taveres, etc. 1st, he made an attempt to sign Shattenkirk and Maroon but both wanted to play for their childhood teams (and so did Taveres). Not Shero's fault. Shattenkirk bombed and Maroon was about to be traded from STL but nobody wanted him.
Also, UFAs are traditionally given terrible contracts and end up moving. Look at Gardiner, he's not doing much in Carolina.
https://www.cbssports.com...ling-to-generate-offense/
So what do the Devils really need to stop this rebuild and actually contend?
1. A stud defensmen. All the teams that compete for the Cup have one (Keith, Carlson, Doughty, Hedman, Burns, Karlsson, etc.) The Devils scouting department needs to find a 30 minute eating stud defenseman. They're impossible to trade for, especially the young ones that even show a flash of potential. Maybe it's Smith. Hopefully it'll take 2 years instead of 5 years to determine if he's a true #1. Man, I love Hischier but in hindsight Heiskanen or Makar would've been the better pick.
2. I would prefer to re-sign Vatanen and try to trade Severson. At 25, Severson is just making poor decisions out on the ice (at least poorer than Vatanen). I think Vatanen brings more offense (or at least a better 1st outlet pass than Severson).
3. The coaching change and trades need to happen before the end of the year. Call up McLeod, Bastian, White, and Anderson and let's see what we have. We need proper evaluation. With Bratt and Zacha, I can't tell if it's a coaching problem or a player problem.
4. Speaking of coaches, they don't need a permanent head coach to finish the season. Just have Fitzgerald coach. Jon Cooper (if he doesn't win a Cup) and Bruce Boudreau will be available for next season. Even Peter Laviolette might be available depending on how the Preds do in the playoffs. Go with them. Go with an experienced proven coach.
Anyway, it's sick to watch this team and the direction they're going after all the off-season hype. Go Devils and hopefully things start to move in a positive direction.