I don’t know if it was preplanned or if rising anger amongst the Devils’ rabid fan base precipitated it, but Ray Shero made the media rounds this week.
The Devils' general manager had a lot to answer for, as his underachieving club fell to 7-15-7 in its last 29 games after Thursday’s 2-1 loss in Columbus. Only a stellar performance by Mackenzie Blackwood (36 saves) in his first NHL start in net kept New Jersey in it, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Devils out of the Eastern Conference cellar.
Despite talking at great length when questioned by the Devils’ print media Tuesday, Shero provided no real answers as to why his team has taken such a giant step back after surprisingly qualifying for the playoffs last season. He mentioned some obvious sore points: the team’s deficiencies in goaltending, special teams and finishing golden scoring chances.
However, Shero seemed to think folks were questioning his process. That’s nonsense. Only a fool would have taken a look at where the Devils stood in terms of organizational talent since the beginning of Shero’s tenure in May 2015 and concluded, “You know what this team needs? More high-priced veteran free agents on the downside of their careers.”
MORE: Lichtenstein: Devils Can Wait No Longer For Schneider To Rediscover His Game
The Devils needed a complete makeover. They had to get younger and faster to keep pace with the league trend.
Shero did go about the rebuild the right way, focusing on replenishing his prospect pool. He made a half-dozen or so very shrewd trades, the most impactful being the summer 2016 one-for-one heist that brought in Taylor Hall, the league’s MVP last season, in exchange for defenseman Adam Larsson.
Again, no one is arguing that the plan was faulty. It’s been the execution.
By now you’d expect that some of the young players Shero drafted would be complementing the Halls, Kyle Palmieris and Sami Vatanens.
MORE: Schwei's Devils Notes: OT Struggles, Out Of Last Place, Schneider To IR
Unfortunately, other than not whiffing after winning the 2017 lottery by drafting center Nico Hischier, Shero’s selections have not borne much fruit.
The final chapters have not been written, of course, on Shero’s other first-rounders, but there’s been no evidence that Pavel Zacha (sixth overall in 2015) or Michael McLeod (12th in 2016) will develop into anything more than just another bottom-six player at this level. As coach John Hynes says about certain players in general, they’re just guys out there on the ice, whereas the Devils need them to produce.
I would argue that Shero’s next most successful draft pick after Hischier has been Jesper Bratt, a relative unknown taken in the sixth round in 2016.
What fans wanted to hear was Shero’s assessment as to why some of his hand-picked young players were either not ready for NHL duty or might never be. Out of training camp, John Quenneville, a 2014 first-rounder (30th overall) chosen by Shero’s predecessor, Lou Lamoriello, was the only new prospect deemed worthy of a roster spot. Quenneville has yet to register a point in the nine games he’s dressed.
With the losses mounting, the Devils have tried, at various points, young forwards Kevin Rooney (undrafted, zero points in four games before returning to AHL Binghamton), Joey Anderson (2016 third-rounder, two points in 11 games before landing on the injured list), Brett Seney (2015 sixth-rounder, six points in 23 games), and McLeod (5:36 of ice time in one NHL game and returned to Binghamton).
Hot prospects from prior years, such as Blake Speers (2015 third-rounder) and Nathan Bastian (2016 second-rounder) aren’t exactly lighting it up at the lower level, so they have drifted out of the conversation for NHL ice time this season.
Blackwood (2015 second-rounder), who had a rough 2017-18 season, is only up because of falling dominoes. Veteran Eddie Lack was re-signed in the offseason as goaltender injury insurance, but he’s currently sidelined with his own injury. When Cory Schneider went down Monday with an abdominal strain, Blackwood was the most senior goalie standing.
Blackwood’s outing in Columbus at least provided a morsel of hope, considering starter Keith Kinkaid is an unrestricted free agent after this season and Schneider -- well, who knows what can be expected of him in the future, as I noted in my last post. Blackwood may have even earned another start before Schneider returns.
Devils fans will also soon be able to get a televised glimpse of 2018 first-rounder Ty Smith, a defenseman on Team Canada’s World Juniors Championship squad. Smith’s lack of size limits my enthusiasm that he’ll develop into a top-end NHL player, but many swear he can at least be another Will Butcher.
With other prospects such as Jesper Boqvist, Fabian Zetterlund and Reilly Walsh also in the Devils’ pipeline, Shero repeatedly preached patience to the fan base in his remarks. Unfortunately, that became tougher after last season. Fans bought into the improvement model. So, while they understood Shero’s disdain for last summer’s free agent market, they were expecting the team’s younger players to grow on the job this season and make up the difference.
It hasn’t happened. Whether that’s the fault of the players, the coach or Shero’s own misjudgment, the fans wanted blood.
Or at least a more honest explanation.