Introduction
The 2021 New Jersey Devils season has come to an end. The Devils finished with a 19-30-7 record, which slots them at third-worst in the NHL. In the end, it was another abysmal season for a team mired in a rebuild. Do not fret, the Devils are in a splendid spot moving forward – strapped with copious amounts of cap space, draft capitals, and young promising talent.
So how did some of the Devil’s in-house talent do? This multi-part series – the first of which is below – will examine each Devils player in depth, and grade them on their respective performances this season. The first up will be a two-part Devils defensemen series. The first four of nine defensemen being evaluated are below.
Will Butcher
The saying for a large part of the beginning of the season was “free Will Butcher.” And rightfully so, as Butcher found himself to be a healthy scratch a majority of the season. In years past, he’s been a very effective defenseman for the Devils. Evidence of this can be found in the chart below. However, when he finally did play, it didn’t reflect his past performances.
Surprisingly, Butcher’s point total was solid. Over an 82-game season, he would have been on pace for 40 points, which is a respectable number. Butcher also looked and played strong on an otherwise porous Devils power play (see the right chart in the figure below). His five-on-five play was another story. Butcher’s expected goals-for % (xGF%) of 44.06 ranked 10th of 12 qualified Devils defensemen. His regularized adjusted plus-minus (RAPM) chart also was not pretty.
Now, I do think given a full year of consistent playing time, Butcher would regain his 2017-2020 form, which was illustrated in the first player card above. However, this article focuses on this year specifically. And Butcher did struggle at five-on-five, during his inconstantly given playing time. His prowess on the power play did help salvage his grade a bit.
Grade: C
Kevin Bahl
A lot of people are dubbing Kevin Bahl’s seven-game trial run with New Jersey a success. This is largely due to Bahl’s size and perceived physicality. People forget defense is a lot more than making hits and playing physical. Unfortunately, Bahl’s tenure in the NHL reflected how his AHL tenure went. That being not all that encouraging.
Bahl’s 27-game AHL stint was unimpressive. Watching him on a nightly basis, you could tell his age. He made a lot of little mistakes by simply just not thinking the game through. This was also the same story in his NHL stint and confirmed through his NHL analytics.
Albeit, a very small sample size, but Bahl’s Corsi-for % (CF%) was worse than Matt Tennyson and second-to-last among Devils defensemen. His xGF% of 34.03 ranked last among Devils defensemen and last among 255 qualified defensemen who played at least 105 minutes of five-on-five ice time.
Now, it is way too early to write off the 20-year old rookie. He has the tools: size, reach, and skating to become a decent NHL player. But his short stint proved this year he does have quite a ways to go. I would expect him to spend another year fine tuning in the AHL.
Grade: D-plus
Matt Tennyson
Matt Tennyson was, for whatever reason, was a highly-debated topic for a large part of the beginning of the season. Especially on social media, where a large group of people defended his play, which was just mind-boggling. Defenders of his cited his physical and stay-at-home style of play which, to be honest, did not exist. It got to a point where I wrote an article addressing just how bad he was for the Devils to begin the season. You can find that here.
It started when he surprisingly made the team out of training camp and played in New Jersey’s first nine games. Boy, was that a mistake. At year’s end, he ranked 9th among Devils defensemen in xGF% and 10th in CF%. The chart below also paints a very ugly picture.
The main thing for me was the negative effect he had on rookie defenseman Ty Smith at the beginning of the season. There is statical evidence that shows how better off Tennyson’s defensive partners were this season without him. And that was extremely evident with Ty Smith.
Now, it was not all bad for Tennyson who had a game-saving save at one point this season, but besides that, it was extremely rough. Tennyson is an unrestricted free agent, so I would not expect to see him back.
Grade: D-minus
Connor Carrick
Connor Carrick only played 11 games for the Devils this season. Overall, it was not a great showing for the career seventh defenseman-type. His five-on-five numbers were not pretty. He ranked last among Devils defensemen in CF% and 11th out of 12 in xGF%. His CF% actually ranked last among 255 qualified defenseman who played at least 105 minutes of five-on-five ice time. But, keep in mind, the sample size was extremely small.
Carrick did have an awesome go-ahead goal in a game against the Philadelphia Flyer that Devils fans will remember fondly, but outside of that moment, it was pretty underwhelming overall.
Grade: D-minus
Conclusion
The above is just a review of four of the Devils’ nine defenseman this season (that was on the roster at the end of the season). Part two, breaking down these remaining players, will be released on Monday. Additionally, a similar set of articles will be released analyzing the Devils’ forward group in the coming weeks.
The offseason is just getting started, so make sure to stay tuned to our social media pages for all the offseason content!