New Jersey Devils: First Half Report Card (Part I Of II)

With the New Jersey Devils at about the halfway point of the season, I think it’s time to give out the mid-season report cards to everyone. 

The Devils currently stand at 24-15-3, good enough for 51 points and third place in the Atlantic Division, and sixth overall in the Eastern Conference.  If the season ended today, the Devils would find themselves in a first round playoff matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers. However, with the imbalance of games played, it is way too early to look closely at potential playoff matchups just yet.

Six forwards have skated in all 42 games, we will start with them, and work our way down in reverse order of games played (in alphabetical order):

David Clarkson(42 GP, 8 G, 8 A, 16 P, -1, 81 PIM, 3 PPG, 1 GWG): At the beginning of the year, I would’ve hoped for about 10-15 goals for Clarkson, and that seems to be where he is headed.  I never expected him to be that serviceable on the power play, but he has contributed better then expected on the second unit.  Overall, Clarkson has been about as valuable as one could have hoped for going into the season.  He even has added a few moves to his two-move repertoire from last season.  Grade:  A-

Patrik Elias(42 GP, 19 G, 29 A, 48 P, +12, 22 PIM, 6 PPG, 1 SHG, 5 GWG):  After starting off a little slow, Elias has been a constant force for this team.  It has long been thought that the Devils seem to go as Elias goes.  When Patrik is playing to the level he is capable of (which is as high as anyone on this team), the Devils do well, and vice versa.  Elias is likely the MVP of this team so far this season, and always has shown the ability to score in the clutch (note his 5 game-winning tallies).  The biggest gripe against Elias this season is something beyond his control, that the NHL denied him a much deserved berth to the upcoming All-Star Game.  Grade:  A

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