NHL New Jersey Devils

Peter DeBoer Is Coaching For His Job With New Jersey Devils

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By @nick_villano

Peter DeBoer

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

The New Jersey Devils have not started out as well as most fans would have liked. They are currently 9-10-3 on the season. Thankfully, they are in the pathetic Metropolitan Division, so the Devils are only one point out of a guaranteed playoff spot.

Peter DeBoer‘s coaching has come into question often since he brought the Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals back in 2012. Some arguing that he lost Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk in consecutive offseasons, that excuse does not work this season.

For the first time, DeBoer comes into a season with more weapons than he left the last one. The Devils’ only losses this offseason were Mark Fayne, Anton Volchenkov and Martin Brodeur. They re-signed Jaromir Jagr, Steve Bernier, Stephen Gionta and Jacob Josefson. They signed free agents Martin Havlat and Michael Cammalleri to bolster scoring.

This may be the best team he has had since that Eastern Conference Champion team that lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the Finals.

This season, some of DeBoer’s decisions have caused concern for fans. He started Cory Schneider for the first 20 games of the season. The first-time starting goalie has never started more than 45 games in a season. This has caused Schneider to struggle out of the gate. He is ranked 19th in the NHL in save percentage and 23rd in goals against average. Last season, he finished third in GAA. The workload put on the Devils’ goalie is clearly affecting his stats.

There are questions about his choice of lines. It seems he relies on older veteran defensemen when he has younger options who somehow make fewer mistakes. He kept Adam Larsson in the press box for a large amount of this season despite the fact that he is one of the best young defensive talents in the league. Now that he is in the lineup due to Bryce Salvador‘s injury, he is one of the most reliable options.

Still, Deboer kept a team competitive over the last two seasons despite having below-average talent. He needs to be given the chance to coach the season out. If he can’t turn it around, there is no doubt that this will be his last with the Devils. The front office won’t allow the team to miss the playoffs for three straight seasons without making someone lose their job over it.

The hope is in the fact that Devils usually play better towards the middle of the season. They need to go on a run to become a legit contender. If he can do that, the Devils and Lou Lamoriello should be patient with him and see what he can do with this team.

Nick Villano is the New Jersey Devils writer for Rant Sports. He also adds to the site’s NBA, MLB and NFL content. You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your Google circle.

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