State of the Devils-Part two

As noted in part one,the New Jersey Devils are the oldest team in hockey and as noted,the oldest team in hockey should not be struggling for the playoffs.

The main reason for this problem is the goal scoring,of course and the lack of it.

You cannot blame the goaltending as Cory Schneider has solidified himself as the starter after some initial problems in net.
Schneider has allowed less than two goals a game in net,but yet weak offensive numbers in support has left Schneider with two fewer wins than Martin Brodeur,who allows over two and a half goals a game.
Better offensive support would have this team higher in the standings and might have Schneider in the race for a Vezina.
Martin Brodeur has been decent enough as the backup,the question is this-can he accept that role without causing problems?
Thus far,it seems that he has,but can it continue?

The forwards have been helped by the newcomers to the team,but still lack production and therefore Wins!!!
Jaromir Jagr leads the team in goals (17) and points along with being a surprising plus 21.
Michael Ryder was tagged as a streaky scorer of goals and has lived up to that reputation,but still has scored 16 goals,so I would not say he has been a disappointment.
Adam Henrique rebounded from a slow start with strong play of late,but Henrique is not a high goal scorer type.
Patrik Elias missed time with injury and Dainius Zubrus is always his enigmatic self teasing with just enough to make you hope that he is turning the corner.
Elias gives what he has as far as production goes,my concern is that he has begun to get nicked up easier as he ages.
Travis Zajac has been decent enough until you consider his salary,Ryane Clowe has started to pick up his game after missing a large chunk of time with concussion problems and Damian Brunner seems to be another player that comes and goes without getting a chance to develop consistency under favorite playing Peter DeBoer.
The lower six forwards have been as expected,Steve Bernier and Ryan Carter have been Ok with Stephen Gionta has been very strong on the penalty kill.
Andrei Loktionov has been slightly disappointing and is another DeBoer doghouse resident.
Reid Boucher showed potential in his stint in the big time,but needs more AHL time
Jacob Josefson continues to be a huge disappointment,but looks like another player that DeBoer doesn't like and ergo loses playing time....

The defense is supposed to be the strength of the team and it is-to an extent.
Andy Greene has been the breakout star of the bunch with a career year thus far.
I'm very pleased with Greene's play,but the question is this-Is this a matured Greene or a career year?
As mentioned yesterday,Greene could bring a solid return,if the Devils decide to put him on the block,
The rest of the bunch makes me wonder.
Anton Volchenkov and Bryce Salvador are slow footed,overpaid and simply are past their prime.
Marek Zidlicky is power play helpful and surprisingly a plus two,but seems to make the flub up whenever it is needed least.
Mark Fayne is average and Peter Harrold must be a heck of a guy because he seems to see ice time that I have a hard time figuring out any other reason for getting.
Jon Merrill shows potential in being at least a top four defensemen,Eric Gelinas seems to have fallen out of favor despite leading the group in power play points,while Adam Larsson has lost confidence between injury and Peter DeBoer's awful use of him that he might need a scenery change.

Peter DeBoer has just been atrocious behind the bench between poor decisions on players,destroying the confidence of others and generally waffling between goalies for far too long.
DeBoer honestly has been given a borderline older playoff level team and he has managed to botch this with personnel (scratches) decisions that make one wonder.
Some coaches are better with veterans,but considering the age of this team,some attention needs to be paid to the few younger standouts that the Devils have,especially when you consider how few of them there currently are in the system.
In my opinion,there needs to be a new man behind the bench by next seasons opening night.

The state of the Devils is uncertain.
Changes need to be made and a commitment made to freshen this franchise in more ways than changing the goal song is important.
Let's see what Lou Lamoriello thinks as he'll make that view clear very soon.....