Can John Hynes pull the Devils out of their swamp?

Neil Parker

2015-06-03

Cory.Schneider.6.3

Can John Hynes pull the Devils out of their swamp?

The New Jersey Devils hired John Hynes Tuesday, June 2, to take over bench duties. Hynes coached the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for five seasons, and at 40-years-old, is now the youngest coach in the league.

Obviously, the connections to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization continue, as recently hired general manager Ray Shero is familiar with Hynes. Additionally, the job was offered to Hynes alone, and while Shero did seek out and interview other coaching candidates, interestingly, the mission appeared to have been Hynes’ from the beginning, if he choose to accept it of course.

And what a mission Hynes has ahead of him.

Shero and Hynes are committed to being, “Fast. Attacking. Supportive.”

In Shero’s own words from the press conference Tuesday,

“When I talk about fast, I don’t mean skating around the ice fast. That’s part of it, but fast hockey is practice fast, think fast, execute fast, move the puck quickly.

“Attacking is being aggressive both offensively and defensively. Not giving the opposition a lot of room. That’s an identity. Attacking is not just thinking about scoring goals. It’s a mindset defensively that I share with the head coach here today.

“Supportive means five guys on the ice as a group trying to, as a group, do these things. Supportive is five guys in your defensive zone, five guys supporting the neutral zone. And if you can’t come out of your defensive zone in this league, you can talk all day about scoring goals and you’re not going to do it.”

“To be a very competitive team: Team identity, belief in how you play and a clear understanding of what we want to do. That will drive the system play. There were be some changes at times but that will be moving forward what our identity will be.”

This is a pretty solid recap of the press conference: 10 things we learned during the Devils’ introduction of head coach John Hynes via Rich Chere. He is a solid resource for those looking for Devils’ news.

After last season’s disastrous shootout results, Hynes also addressed the topic here.

Fantasy hockey takeaway

There still isn’t a lot to be excited about from the Devils, outside of Cory Schneider and in deeper formats Mike Cammalleri and Adam Henrique. In cavernous leagues, nearly everyone has some value, but the New Jersey targets above the low-end ranks are likely limited to Adam Larsson, Damon Severson, and maybe Travis Zajac, Eric Gelinas and Patrik Elias.

This doesn’t project to change next season, either, and it is likely the majority of the Devils will sink further away from fantasy relevance going forward than increase their value.

Obviously, Cory Schneider is the exception, and in terms of talent, he is among the elite. And, for stretches, he can return elite fantasy results across all categories. Last season, beginning December 23, he went on a 26-game stretch where he did not allow more than three goals in a game with a 13-8-3 record and a .943 save percentage.

Let’s not forget, the Devils’ coaching situation was seemingly a tripod after Pete Deboer was fired in December, with team president and then-general manager Lou Lamoriello running the bench alongside assistant coaches Adam Oates and Scott Stevens. And initially, for Schneider, this was when he was at his best last year.

Certainly, it is fair to assume Hynes isn’t going to hurt Schneider’s fantasy stock. And it isn’t likely to have a negative impact on anyone. But again, in the majority of fantasy leagues, there aren’t many Devils who warrant attention to begin with.