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Arizona Coyotes 2015 Opponents: New Jersey Devils

By William Grigsby

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The Arizona Coyotes are looking for a “heavenly” season. Teams like the New Jersey Devils stand in their way.

We are looking at how they did last season and how it will shake out this year.

Today we look at: New Jersey Devils

2014-15 record: 32-36-14, 7th in the Metropolitan. Didn’t make the playoffs

How the Arizona Coyotes did against the Devils last season: 2 games, 0-2-0

Schedule this year against the Arizona Coyotes: Tue. 10/20 at New Jersey, Sat. 1/16 Home

More From Howlin’ Hockey -> Arizona Coyotes Offense Still Falling Short

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Notable additions: D John Moore, C Kyle Palmieri

Notable subtractions: RW Steve Bernier, C Scott Gomez, D Peter Harrold, RW Michael Ryder, D Bryce Salvador, LW Dainius Zubrus

Coached by: John Hynes (1st year)

Who’s in Net: 

They acquired starter Cory Schneider two years ago by trading their 9th overall draft pick to Vancouver. They couldn’t be happier with the results, and it will give them strong goaltending even with a weak offense to back him (doesn’t that sound familiar). There a couple of players contending for the backup net-minder, but Schneider is the go-to guy.

Quick thoughts about the Devils:

  • They made news by signing Head Coach John Hynes, who will be debuting as a NHL coach. He may run out of excedrin before the season ends. Many contend the Devils will finish near the bottom three in the standings this year.
  • Their young defense, while holding promise is just that —  promising…mostly young — as in under 24 young.
  • Their anemic offense may only be surpassed by ours. They were 28th last year, and things aren’t going to improve this season with the losses of Bernier and Gomez, two of their top scorers. They only had two of their players exceed 40 points last season. Yeah, we know what that’s like. It ain’t pretty.

Why the Devils will win the Stanley Cup:

If Hynes can coach like he did in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the Devils have a small chance with a top goalie and a solid defense. Once you sneak into the playoffs, who knows what could happen? Nah…second thought they have about as much of a shot as we do. Zero, Zilch, Nada.

Why the Devils won’t win the Stanley Cup:

Their offense will definitely be a good reason why they won’t make it far. They could use a couple good scoring forwards who can give them a shot at winning more games. If they can do well in the draft lottery, things could change.

Three Things We Like About You:

  1. We know how you feel with a roster which lost quite a few players. We also can relate to your poor offense.
  2. Patrik Elias. With 1,000 pts and 400 goals, all for the same team, you’ve got to love him. A guy that just goes out and gets the job done for years and years. He’s a player anyone can look up to and respect.
  3. That we will be in competition to see who gets the first pick next year, and a shot at Auston Matthews. Hands off, he’s Arizona’s home grown talent — we should get first dibs on him.

Three Things We Don’t Like About You:

  1. Your team lacks anything to make fans want to come out and watch you.
  2. Your team name is offensive to some folks. I mean comeon, being demonic is not attractive.
  3. Drawing a blank here, maybe that your team is almost invisible. Nothing to get excited about. Well, you did beat us twice last season, but so did other teams…quite a few teams in fact.

Prediction:

They aren’t going anywhere fast. They have no offense, and could land in the basement of the NHL standings. Nothing will help them in the near future, so hopefully they will get that first pick to try to improve. Bringing in a new coach is a step in the right direction, but without players his hands are tied. Ask Dave Tippett, he experienced it last season.

Next: Arizona Coyotes Starting Lineup Taking Shape

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