Deal With The Devils

Almost halfway into the season, the New Jersey Devils are tied for dead last in the NHL (20 points), have lost three straight games, and 8 of the last 9. Looks like there's going to be restructuring...

Adios, John MacLean, (re-) enter Jacques Lemaire, for his third trip with the Devils as coach. Too little and too late?  The team has won three Stanley Cups since 1995, made the playoffs every year since 1997 and usually ranks near the top of the Eastern Conference, but can Lemaire make a miracle happen? “When you struggle like we’ve struggled, you don’t turn this around in a couple of shifts....It’s going to take a little time but I know the guys will come back. I could see it.”

It has been a rotating wheel of coaches in post-lockout New Jersey, which foreshadows their current troubles:  Larry Robinson stepped down in the middle of the 2005-06 season citing "health issues".  Claude Julien was fired before the 2007 playoffs. Brent Sutter resigned from the Devils after the 2009 playoffs.  Let's hope Lemaire has true confidence, since he retired after last season with the organization, getting taken out of the first round of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers, who weaseled their way into the post-season with a win in the final game of the season.  He will finish the season with the team, but can he motivate a team that was outscored 20-4 in the last four games? And what does he have to work with?

All-star goalie Martin Brodeur has gone 1-6-0 since returning from an elbow injury. Ilya Kovalchuk has been a major disappointment (karma for the Lebronesque summer signing saga?). Injuries to Bryce Salvador and Zach Parise have dogged the team. Salary cap limitations from questionable contracts for Brian Rolston, Dainius Zubrus, and Kovalchuk forced the team to skate short and limit their options. The team has the lowest goals scored in the league (57), 5th worst power play conversion (15.7%), and top player has 24 points - not even in the league's top 50 (rating 72nd)

The team would have to win between 30-35 of their remaining 47 games to have a shot at the lower ranks in the post-season.  Good luck with that...


UPDATE: They got spanked by the arguably worse (or at least perennially bad) New York Islanders 5-1, who now jump ahead of the Devils by two points, leaving New Jersey alone in the basement.