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Scoring issues have been the norm in New Jersey over the past few years and this season is no exception. While there have been some offensive standouts on the Devils roster like Mike Cammalleri, Travis Zajac, and of course Taylor Hall, they’ve been countered with a select number of players whose seasons aren’t going quite as well. Among the forefront of offensively struggling Devils players is right wing Kyle Palmieri, who’s coming off a career year and just signed a hefty contract extension over the summer. Last season, Palmieri led the Devils in scoring with 30 goals and 57 points. He was a staple on New Jersey’s power play, which was top-ten in the league last year, and is still considered to be an integral part of the Devils offense.

20 games into the 2016-2017 season, Palmieri’s numbers have been miniscule. He only has three goals and nine points, which is a considerably lesser pace than he had last year at this time. 20 games in the 2015-2016 season, Palmieri posted totals of seven goals and 16 points. Like I mentioned earlier, Palmieri finished last year with career-highs of 30 goals and 57 points, but is currently on pace to finish 2016-2017 with 12 goals and 36 points. While hopes are still high that Palmieri has plenty of time to turn his game around, it’s worth looking into what the contributing factors behind his struggles are.

One of the biggest differences in Palmieri’s play this year compared to last are his shot totals. He finished the 2015-2016 season with an average of 2.70 shots per game, which led the entire team. Even at last season’s 20-game mark, Palmieri was averaging 2.85 shots per game compared to this year where he’s only averaging 2.05 shots per game. The disparity in his shot totals, which is strongly represented in his current shooting percentage of 7.3%. He finished last season with a 13.5% shooting percentage, which was 12.3% at the quarter-mark.

One of the aspects of Palmieri’s game where his lackluster shot totals have been the most impactful is the power play. Last year, 11 of Palmieri’s 30 goals came on the man-advantage, which he scored off 79 shots over 256 power play opportunities (Averages to .30 shots per power play opportunity). He’s scored only once on the power play this season, and has just 12 shots over the 73 power play opportunities New Jersey has had this year. That comes out to an average of .16 shots per man-advantage opportunity, which is almost half of the power play shot rate Palmieri had last year.

It’s ironic that shots are Palmieri’s main demeanor this season, considering how New Jersey is currently 16^th in the league in shots on goal (29.8 per game). That’s a vast improvement from 2015-2016 where they finished 30^th (24.4 shots per game) in that category. While I’m sure it’s easier said than done, one of the obvious priorities for Palmieri should be to increase his shot totals. Getting more shots on net will give him more chances to capitalize, and help rectify his dismal shooting percentage. There’s still ¾ of the season left and plenty of time for Palmieri to turn things around. For a team like the Devils who will take goals any way they can get them, increasing his contributions will undoubtedly take the Devils a very long way to the point where it could make the difference between reaching the postseason.