Quarter mark biggest disappointment/surprise?

[Neb00rs]

So there are so many positives to take from this season so far; the Devils have been much better than expected. That said, I thought 1/4 through the season that we could have a thread discussing who has been the biggest disappointment and who has been the biggest surprise so far. 

 

I'll begin: my biggest disappointment is Jacob Josefson. I don't care how many shots he has or how you spin it; he's playing 4 minutes more this year above his career average and he hasn't scored a single goal in 20 games. Josefson also has no points in his last 10 games.

 

My biggest surprise has to be Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri is playing like a first-line winger and he is beginning to look like a steal. He's on pace for 64 points and he has never had more than 31 in a season. He also leads our team with 9 power play points.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Neb00rs

[mfitz804]

Josefson is the biggest disappointment.

The resurgence of Zajac is my most pleasant surprise.

[Derlique]

So there are so many positives to take from this season so far; the Devils have been much better than expected. That said, I thought 1/4 through the season that we could have a thread discussing who has been the biggest disappointment and who has been the biggest surprise so far. 

 

I'll begin: my biggest disappointment is Jacob Josefson. I don't care how many shots he has or how you spin it; he's playing 4 minutes more this year above his career average and he hasn't scored a single goal in 20 games. Every forward on the team with at least 10 GP has a goal. Josefson also has no points in his last 10 games.

 

My biggest surprise has to be Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri is playing like a first-line winger and he is beginning to look like a steal. He's on pace for 64 points and he has never had more than 31 in a season. He also leads our team with 9 power play points.

Gionta and O'Neill dont have goals either but I get your point

[thecoffeecake]

I can't even say jo is that big of a disappointment. I think I'd be surprised if he had a few goals by now. I don't know what it is, but that dude just cannot score.

[2ELIAS6]

i think the whole team has been a pretty big surprise, everyone had this team pinned to be garbage.. although they could slow it down once that spark theyre running on burns out they are still pretty fun to watch this far.

[NJDevs4978]

It's a small sample size but if anything Kinkaid's been the biggest dissapointment so far coming off his solid rookie season, since I too expected nothing from Josefson other than maybe more shootout success.  Maybe Tlusty's a distant second cause I hoped he could add something.

 

The team as a whole is probably a surprise, maybe Stempniak a bigger one since he's our scrap heap find of the year so far.

Edited November 24, 2015 by NJDevs4978

[Derlique]

I dont think anyone should be surprised Stempniak is a good player. He's basically scored at .5 PPG the last few years. I didnt expect him to be at .75, though

[Neb00rs]

Gionta and O'Neill dont have goals either but I get your point

 

Yeah thanks wasn't thinking straight. Edited.

[Triumph]

Palmieri would probably go for biggest surprise for me, but I'll say Adam Henrique - no one is complaining about him at center and his shot rate is way up so far this year.  He's on pace for 36 goals which won't happen but 25 is somewhat realistic with this kind of ice time.

 

Biggest disappointment is tougher - it's impossible to say Josefson because he's played very well, he just hasn't gotten that goal - I'll say Tlusty because I thought he would be a solid add and he really hasn't done much so far.

[njdevs89]

Severson is my biggest disappointment with our record being the biggest surprise! Lol

[MadDog2020]

I've given up on Josefson ever being someone who can score goals, but he's still a useful player. He's basically Jay Pandolfo lite.

[DevsMan84]

Severson, Tlusty and Kinkaid have been the disappointments, but Severson the most followed closely by Kinkaid.  Hopefully they get their acts together soon.  Tlusty appears to be hampered by that shoulder, so I hope that heals up quick.

 

Henrique, Zajac and Stempniak have been the biggest surprises so far.

[Chuck the Duck]

This team and the way the coaching staff has gotten them to buy in and play hard every night is the biggest surprise for me.

 

I can't say I'm really disappointed in anybody to date as the team has greatly exceeded my expectations thus far.  If I had to pick one, it would be Tlusty.  He looked so good early on, but has basically become invisible when he is in the lineup nowadays. 

[EdgeControl]

Im happy that the splitting of camm and zajac has worked out well, step and palm have made that successful

 

disappointed in the too too JJ line , not holding there own 5 v 5

 

would have liked to see more from merril at this point, and boy has tlusky faded away

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

Stempniak has by far been the biggest surprise for me. I expected basically nothing from him. He has been great and fun to watch.

Severson tops the disappointment list. I was hoping he would make the step up. Still plenty of time but he looked so good it's just a bit of a drop off.

How can anyone say Josefson? He has pretty much single handedly stopped the embarrassment that is our shootout. Another season at 0-13 anyone? Didn't think so.

[TackleDummy]

Elias not playing yet is my biggest disappointment so far.

[DJ Eco]

Biggest surprise - Zajac is playing like an elite centerman out there. I thought there'd be an improvement in his game, but not at the level or with the consistency he's shown through 19 games so far. When you add up all the sums of the parts of his game, he's played as strong as anyone in the league, minus a few generational guys.

 

Biggest disappointment - Matteau has disappointed, not that I expected him to light it up this year, or ever, but I really thought he'd fill out our 3rd or 4th line by now and the long-term. That a guy like Farnham was brought in from out of no where and eclipsed Matteau's potential contribution by a mile just adds more to the disappointment. Farnham has 4 points in 10 games. I really thought Matteau could come in and put up 10-15 points a la Ryan Carter, or at least be trusted on the PK or something like that, but it doesn't seem like that will even happen by any stretch of the imagination.

[devlman]

My biggest surprise is that Gionta is still in the NHL

[Lateralous]

Biggest surprise - I can't believe how much I've enjoyed watching the Devils this season.  Obviously there were reduced expectations which helps but the team just looks faster, more aggressive and frankly better than it has in several years. 

 

Biggest Disappointment - This is all relative and while he's been decent, I had really hoped we would see the Severson from the first 10 games of last year that had a lot of us thinking Niedermayer Jr.  

[Neb00rs]

Palmieri would probably go for biggest surprise for me, but I'll say Adam Henrique - no one is complaining about him at center and his shot rate is way up so far this year.  He's on pace for 36 goals which won't happen but 25 is somewhat realistic with this kind of ice time.

 

Biggest disappointment is tougher - it's impossible to say Josefson because he's played very well, he just hasn't gotten that goal - I'll say Tlusty because I thought he would be a solid add and he really hasn't done much so far.

 

The reason I chose Palmieri over Henrique is that Henrique's stats don't look that much different from 2013-14. Yes, he is taking way more shots though, which could be a sign that he could hit 30 goals on the high end. Palmieri kind of just came in and played up to the role he was given. But, I don't think anyone here pictured anything close to this.