The Devils Can't Score Since Nov. 16th.

[Neb00rs]

So, up until Zajac came back this season the Devils scored 3.47 G/GP, good for 4th in the league. Since he came back (starting on Nov. 16th @ Toronto) the Devils have scored 2.11 G/GP, which is 28th in the league. Now, I hate to have to use that date as the start of the scoring slump here, but I didn't choose it arbitrarily, the game before Zajac came back, we scored 7 goals @ Chicago. I'm not trying to pin our problems solely on him.

It's a short time frame but I think it's enough to recognize that Devils have had a huge drop off in terms of scoring and that needs to be addressed, especially now with less depth at forward. To me there are a number of reasons the Devils are having issues:

1. Kyle Palmieri is injured

2. MoJo has been injured

3. Travis Zajac has been horrendous and has 0 points in the 9 games since returning

4. Pavel Zacha isn't producing offensively (he has only scored in one game this season: two goals @ Toronto on Oct. 11th).

5. Tough away schedule (6 of the 9 games have been on the road) and Hynes has pretty much used the same forwards every night. They look exhausted.

6. 3.47 G/GP was above what the Devils are capable of maintaining and so part of the decrease is due to them coming back down to Earth a bit.

Am I missing anything?

For the record, the Devils are 4-3-2 in this span but if scoring doesn't pick up some players will have to be benched. But who can be called up aside from Q?

Edited December 3, 2017 by Neb00rs

[mfitz804]

They took #NoNutNovember a bit too seriously. 

[Jersey Sure]

2 hours ago, Neb00rs said:

They look exhausted.

This.  Looks like a team that is tired.  Just sloppy the last 3 games.  

[Mike Brown]

We've also been much better defensively since then.  26 goals allowed in those 9 games.  Offenses will go through peaks and valleys.  This isn't abnormal at all.

Edited December 3, 2017 by Mike Brown

[bobilly45]

Zajac slows down whatever line he's on, Greene has been horrible for a bit now, every night a goal seems to be directly linked to his misplay.  

Idk if Zacha will make it with the team long term, hasn't done much since the 1st week (granted he's been scratched the last week)

[slasher72]

Zajac definitely slows down the line he's on. I'd even go so far as to say he's a detriment to whatever line he's on. But thanks to Uncle Lou we're stuck with his stupid NTC for 4 more years at 5.7 mil per year. Waste of money IMO. 

As for Greene, I think he's done. 

Edited December 4, 2017 by slasher72

[mfitz804]

4 minutes ago, slasher72 said:

Zajac definitely slows down the line he's on. I'd even go so far as to say he's a detriment to whatever line he's on. But thanks to Uncle Lou we're stuck with his stupid NTC for 4 more years at 5.7 mil per year. Waste of money IMO. 

As for Greene, I think he's done. 

And Zajac is nearly done as well. More of a function of how the game has changed than a decline; he’s what he always was. 

[slasher72]

6 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

And Zajac is nearly done as well. More of a function of how the game has changed than a decline; he’s what he always was. 

I wonder how much worse he's going to get over the next 3-4 years if the lack of production continues. The NTC clause in his contract gives Shero zero options. 

[Devilsfan118]

Zajac confirmed to be an offensive black hole.

[Neb00rs]

2 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

And Zajac is nearly done as well. More of a function of how the game has changed than a decline; he’s what he always was. 

I'm not ready to call it quits on Zajac just yet, but geez it doesn't get much worse than this for him. His defensive play has always made up for any scoring slump he was in, but if he continues not producing at all, i'm not sure how long we'll be able to use that excuse for him.

[mfitz804]

3 minutes ago, Neb00rs said:

I'm not ready to call it quits on Zajac just yet, but geez it doesn't get much worse than this for him. His defensive play has always made up for any scoring slump he was in, but if he continues not producing at all, i'm not sure how long we'll be able to use that excuse for him.

Oh, I’m not ready to give up on him yet, but it’s extremely unlikely he’ll ever be better than he is now. He’s good for third line minutes and face offs in key situations, but that’s about it.  

[slasher72]

Hopefully Zajac picks it up offensively, but if he doesn't and things get worse going forward he might force Shero into buying out his contract next year which sure as hell ain't cheap.

Edited December 4, 2017 by slasher72

[mfitz804]

6 minutes ago, slasher72 said:

Hopefully Zajac picks it up offensively, but if he doesn't and things get worse going forward he might force Shero into buying out his contract next year which sure as hell ain't cheap.

It’s a lot of contract to buy out. I wonder if he might be willing to accept a trade to Winnipeg as part of a package for Evander Kane. That whole hometown thing. 

I don’t know what the rest of that packag3 would have to look like nor if it would be feasible, given that he’s making a reasonably large amount of money with zero production. 

[titans04]

His cap hit is going to make it hard to move him and then there's the NTC.  His 5.750M per year was easy for us to take because we had the room and he's a good soldier. The length was something I was never a fan of.  I don't see Shero having too many options to move the guy then having to talk him into waiving his NTC.  I think we're gonna be stuck with him and Greene's 5M for the next two years as well.  Would love to be proven wrong here.

[jagknife]

29 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

It’s a lot of contract to buy out. I wonder if he might be willing to accept a trade to Winnipeg as part of a package for Evander Kane. That whole hometown thing. 

I don’t know what the rest of that packag3 would have to look like nor if it would be feasible, given that he’s making a reasonably large amount of money with zero production. 

You...you know Kane hasn’t been on the Jets for about 3 or 4 years now, right?

[SterioDesign]

well its worth mentioning that a lot of our guys had a high shooting % that we all knew wouldn't last. Well it's all coming back to normal now. I do not think we'll always gonna be this dry but still

[SterioDesign]

9 minutes ago, jagknife said:

You...you know Kane hasn’t been on the Jets for about 3 or 4 years now, right?

He must have meant Selanne, not Kane. 

[Nicomo]

I wonder if Zajac is not really back to 100% yet? Just last year he put up 45 points, and looked pretty solid offensively. Hard to believe he’d drop off so much in one offseason. Especially considering he’s playing with better talent this year. 

[NJDevils1214]

It's only been a few games. Yes, I would have expected him to put up some points by now but the whole team has struggled offensively. Everyone is just looking for a scapegoat....all..the...time...

[Neb00rs]

6 hours ago, Nicomo said:

I wonder if Zajac is not really back to 100% yet? Just last year he put up 45 points, and looked pretty solid offensively. Hard to believe he’d drop off so much in one offseason. Especially considering he’s playing with better talent this year. 

Then why rush him back? The team was doing just fine.

[mfitz804]

8 hours ago, jagknife said:

You...you know Kane hasn’t been on the Jets for about 3 or 4 years now, right?

Oops lol. I obviously wasn’t paying attention.

What else they got?? 

Edited December 4, 2017 by mfitz804

[Nicomo]

4 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Oops lol. I obviously wasn’t paying attention.

What else they got?? 

Laine for Zajac straight up!

[slasher72]

9 hours ago, titans04 said:

His cap hit is going to make it hard to move him and then there's the NTC.  His 5.750M per year was easy for us to take because we had the room and he's a good soldier. The length was something I was never a fan of.  I don't see Shero having too many options to move the guy then having to talk him into waiving his NTC.  I think we're gonna be stuck with him and Greene's 5M for the next two years as well.  Would love to be proven wrong here.

From a business sense, I don't see Zajac waiving his NTC. His agent knows he has the team by the balls despite whatever production, or lack of it, he produces. He could literally have zero points the rest of the season and Shero will be forced to keep him on the roster to the tune of $5.7 mil, hardly chump change. I'm not saying Travis would do that, but he has the peace of mind knowing he will get his guaranteed money regardless of his production.  I hated the contract when Lou did it because Zajac was clearly not worth $44 mil for 8 years plus the NTC. But he was a good soldier and Lou was loyal to "his guys" (especially utility players which he put a high premium on). 

Someone a few months ago said on this board that Lou was eyeing a return to NJ as GM or as a senior advisor above Shero if the Leafs don't extend him. I hope they were talking out of their ass...

Edited December 4, 2017 by slasher72

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, Neb00rs said:

Then why rush him back? The team was doing just fine.

The record at the time was good (11-4-2), but there were growing concerns about defense and faceoffs...it was thought by many that Zajac could not only help in those areas, but be a stabilizing veteran presence on a young team.  The biggest surprise has been the donuts in both goals and assists through nine games...I didn't kid myself that Zajac would step in and be some kind of offense dynamo, but he's been completely invisible in that regard.  What's scary is that I don't think he was rushed back...I think this might be what he is...he'll get some points eventually and maybe he can still be useful in some ways, but he simply may not be a great fit on the New Devils.

Some are criticizing Lou about Zajac's deal, but they've forgotten the circumstances at the time.  Kovy had "retired", Parise had gone to the Wild, and the Devils' center depth was not good.  There's was a lot of "Oh great Zajac's going to leave next, he'll probably go to Winnipeg!"  No, he hasn't lived up to the deal, but Zajac in three out of the last four seasons has been pretty good offensively (about 47 points per 82 GP in those three seasons)...if he can keep doing that, we can live with the cap hit...but he can't be 2014-15 Zajac or worse.     

SD is right in that this team was also due for some regression in shooting%...but I think the Devils are REALLY starting to miss Palms.  And MoJo is still trying to find himself after missing a nice chunk of time...though we really shouldn't expect a ton from him.  He's basically good for Henrique-type numbers when healthy (that's what he's done over the last three seasons...last year was better, but he also shot well above his career shooting%). 

Just now, slasher72 said:

From a business sense, I don't see Zajac waiving his NTC. His agent knows he has the team by the balls despite whatever production, or lack of it, he produces. He could literally have zero points the rest of the season and Shero will be forced to keep him on the roster to the time of $5.7 mil, hardly chump change. I'm not saying Travis would do that, but he has the peace of mind knowing he will get his guaranteed money regardless of his production.  I hated the contract when Lou did it because Zajac was clearly not worth $44 mil for 8 years plus the NTC. But he was a good soldier and Lou was loyal to "his guys" (especially utility players which he put a high premium on). 

Someone a few months ago said Lou was eyeing a return to NJ as GM or as an senior advisor above Shero if the Leafs don't extend him. I hope they were talking out of their ass...

One thing about these NTCs...no one has the right to get annoyed with these players for exercising them (not saying that you are in particular, just saying)...it's their right.  Eight-year deals are lousy just by their nature, especially for a player in his late 20s (they're just so damned risky), but it's not like the Devils are the only team to sign guys to deals like that.  And like I've pointed out, the first four years weren't flat-out horrible overall.  The next four might be. 

[NLinfante]

Here's the thing about Zajac: he's always been praised for his defensive play and FO%, but his offensive production has largely been tied to having great wingers ( our old friends 9 and 17 come to mind). With Palms and MoJo out, or just recently returned, Hall-Nico-Bratt occupying the top line and Rico traded, who exactly has Zajac played with who can help produce points?

I guess my point is, play him as a shut-down guy? Fine by me, but no one should really complain about a lack of production then. Play him as a top 2-center? Also fine, but at least give the guy some offensively gifted players to work with. I think we need to let this play out just a bit more before we start dreaming about waiving the NTC.