Travis Zajac

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NHL Mid-Season Report: Atlantic Division
THN pre-season prediction: 5th in East
Scoring leaders: Patrik Elias, 30; [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 23; Travis Zajac, 21.

Key stat: Devils have league’s worst 5-on-5 goals-for/against ratio (0.51); by contrast, the Boston Bruins – a team that plays like New Jersey’s teams used to play – is the NHL’s best in that department and nearly three times as good as the Devils (1.47).

Biggest surprise: Martin Brodeur. Normally, this is a place where we’d talk about positive surprises, but the Devils have been so bad, we’ve got to look at the precipitous fall in play of New Jersey’s cornerstone netminder. Brodeur has been pulled as many times this year as he has wins (six) and is on course to easily post the worst goals-against average and save percentage of his career. He’s not getting any help from his defensemen, but it looks as if the Devils’ longtime dependence on Brodeur has taken its toll.
Biggest disappointment: [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]. It’s easy to pin this label on the guy who just signed a 15-year, $100-million contract, but in this case, it’s warranted. From showing poor leadership (e.g. arriving late for team meetings), to his team-worst minus-29 mark to scoring as many goals as 36-year-old Jason Arnott, [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] has been a complete washout. If his play doesn’t improve soon, look for Devils GM Lou Lamoriello to take the radical step of forming a new professional league all by himself, so he has somewhere to “loan” [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] and his mammoth deal.

What to expect: The sound heard when something – in this case, the Devils’ season – is circling a drain, because there’s no chance whatsoever they’ll qualify for post-season play. With Jamie Langenbrunner traded and other veterans likely to follow, Lamoriello will have little choice but to take stock of what his team needs and attempt to address it in the off-season. Signing Zach Parise to a contract extension is crucial, but in the past Lamoriello has shown he’s usually good at retaining talent developed in New Jersey’s system.
The bigger concern should be (a) how to improve a blueline corps that is nowhere close to the league’s best; and (b) what to do with a franchise goalie who may be out of gas – and who definitely has one more year and $5.2 million left on his contract. There’s no easy answer to either. The irony for [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] is he may be further from playoff contention in New Jersey than his former team in Atlanta has become in his absence.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
THN pre-season prediction: 14th in East
Scoring leaders: John Tavares, 29; Blake Comeau, 26; P.A. Parenteau, 24.
Key stat: Isles are the league’s only team that’s yet to win a game when they’ve outshot their opponent (0-14).
Biggest surprise: Andrew MacDonald. He missed 15 games due to a fractured hand, but the Isles’ sixth round pick (160th overall) in 2006 has come on strong to emerge as the team’s best defenseman (other than the injured Mark Streit and the traded James Wisniewski). MacDonald leads the team in average time on ice per game (22:4 Cool

and, after recording just two assists in his first 15 games, he has 10 in his past 11.
Biggest disappointment: Rick DiPietro. Now, a lot of things went wrong for the Islanders this year, but DiPietro’s inability to stay healthy – he missed three [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] games with a swollen left knee and is currently sidelined by a groin injury – combined with his inconsistent play (including a 3.46 GAA and an .889 save percentage) makes the decade still remaining on his contract seem like a long, long time.
What to expect: With the playoffs all but a fantasy for the Isles, GM Garth Snow will continue stripping his roster of veterans – as he did when dealing Wisniewski and, more recently, Dwayne Roloson – and accumulating draft picks and prospects such as Ty Wishart.
After that,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], though, there’s no indication as to what [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] Snow will do. The Isles have improved under interim coach Jack Capuano (they’re 8-3-2 since mid-December), but there’s still half-a-season left to play – and with Roloson gone and DiPietro injured, it could be a painful process.
Some of that pain will be alleviated once the organization takes advantage of what should be a very high first round draft pick again this summer. However, at some point, the roster must be augmented with capable vets who can take pressure off John Tavares and other youngsters. Having a change in fortune in terms of injuries would help as well