The New Jersey Devils' Top 5 New Year's Resolutions

The New Jersey Devils are undoubtedly pleased to see 2014 come to a close. 

Their last game of the year went just like much of 2014 went. There were multiple trips to the penalty box, poor neutral zone play and few scoring chances. 

With a 3-1 loss to the Red Wings in Detroit on Wednesday, the Devils put 2014 to bed. 

This list will look at five New Year's resolutions New Jersey ought to make in order to avoid a repeat of what happened in Detroit on Wednesday night and most of 2014.

5. Find a Top Forward Line That Works

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Adam Oates gives instructions to Stephen Gionta.

The Devils have yet to find a top line that works on a consistent basis. 

Of course, much of this has come as a result of injury and illness, but absences can no longer be used as an excuse. 

Certain individual forwards have had decent seasons. Jaromir Jagr, Adam Henrique and Michael Cammalleri have all found the scoresheet on a somewhat regular basis, but they haven't been able to get the best out of some of the Devils' underperforming forwards.

It falls to new coach Adam Oates, who is in charge of the Devils forwards, to find a trio that can consistently find the back of the net. The team does not have much depth at forward, so it needs a line it can rely on to score a goal or two per game. 

The Devils did find some success early in the season without a clear-cut first line, so this is not a top priority. Nevertheless, as long as the Devils struggle with injuries and inconsistent defensive play, a successful scoring line would cure many ills. 

4. Stay out of the Penalty Box

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Eric Gelinas trips up an opposing player.

New Jersey does not usually have problems with discipline. Last season, the team committed the sixth-fewest minor penalties in the NHL.

So far this season though, the Devils have committed the third-most minor penalties in the league. Of course, the Devils have played a few games more than most teams in the NHL, but New Jersey has still spent far too much time in the box.

For a team that is going to struggle to score goals, being down a man six or eight minutes per night is simply an untenable style of play.

The issue is that the Devils' parade to the penalty box is not related to tempers flaring, which could be easily fixed. The team has taken relatively few penalties related to temporarily losing control—its 10 roughing minors, nine slashing minors and four cross-checking minors are all in the bottom third of the league.

The problem has been that the Devils' lack of speed has forced them to take a ton of hooking, holding and tripping penalties. 

The 35 hooking and 27 holding penalties are both the highest in the league, while the 24 tripping penalties are second only to Winnipeg.

Though New Jersey's penalty kill has been excellent over the last month, the constant trips to the box can still cost the team chances to win. Wednesday's game in Detroit provides a perfect example.

The Devils spent essentially four consecutive minutes on the penalty kill in the first period against the Red Wings, and as a result they were outshot 8-4. The second period, by far the Devils' best of the game, saw them only go to the box once, and they were only outshot 9-8.

But, in the third period, the bottom fell out as the exhaustion from long periods short-handed earlier in the game caught up with them. The Devils were outshot 11-1 in the final frame and gave up two goals en route to a 3-1 loss. New Jersey gave up no power-play goals but still paid a serious price for spending too much time in the box.

For the Devils to follow through on this resolution, the team either needs to get faster (unlikely, at least to any significant degree) or vastly improve its positioning.

3. Start the Youth Movement

USA TODAY Sports

Joe Whitney celebrates his first NHL goal with Jordin Tootoo and Albany teammate Tim Sestito.

Joe Whitney, 26, scored his first NHL goal in the Devils' 3-1 loss against Detroit on Wednesday. While 26 is not exactly young in the NHL, Whitney represents youth on a team with forwards like Jaromir Jagr, Patrik Elias, Dainius Zubrus, Scott Gomez, Michael Ryder and Martin Havlat.

New Jersey's elder forwards have had varying success this year and may give the team its best chance to win this season. Still, it is hard to watch Ryder and Havlat struggle repeatedly as the team loses.

If those players, and other older forwards, cannot improve their play, the Devils' slim playoff hopes will fade away sooner rather than later.

Should such a time come, young forwards must be given a chance to play a fair amount before the season is over. 

Mike Sislo and Tim Sestito have already had their fair chance, but Whitney, Stefan Matteau and Reid Boucher need to play with top-nine Devils forwards.

The team needs to learn what these players are capable of at the NHL level, and playing seven minutes per night on the fourth line is not sufficient to make a judgment. If it means that players like Ryder and Havlat must sit so that these players can get that kind of shot, so be it.

On defense, youth has dominated for most of the season already. Bryce Salvador's injury opened up the door for more young defensemen, and Damon Severson's phenomenal play left the Devils no choice but to play him.

Going forward, the Devils need Adam Larsson, Eric Gelinas and Jon Merrill in the lineup every night. When Severson returns from injury, he must play as well. 

2. Improve Possession

USA TODAY Sports

Former coach Peter DeBoer looks on during a game.

The demise of the Peter DeBoer regime did not come from the team's inability to score goals. It did not end because DeBoer mishandled goalies or young defensemen either.

Until this season, the Devils did a tremendous job of possessing the puck under DeBoer. This season, their possession stats are horrid. It is this sudden and drastic change that led to New Jersey falling down the standings and caused DeBoer to lose his job. New Jersey must turn this around quickly to find success again.

The Devils' Corsi percentage (which measures the number of shots on goal, shots off goal and shots blocked taken against those conceded) is 22nd in the NHL this year, according to Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com.

In 2012-13, the Devils were second in the category. In 2013-14, they were third.

What has changed?

A lack of speed certainly does not help, but the Devils had little speed over the last two years as well. New Jersey made no discernible tactical changes under DeBoer this season. A few players are possession-killers on this year's team (e.g., Jordin Tootoo and Tim Sestito), but last year's team had similar players (Mattias Tedenby and Cam Janssen). 

This season, for whatever reason, the Devils simply cannot make the transition from the defensive zone to the neutral and offensive zones. As a result, New Jersey is conceding more shots than in the past, as well as creating less chances.

The result is a drop in Corsi from nearly every Devils player from last year to this year.

Jagr, the team's top possession player both last season and this season, has seen his individual Corsi drop from 59.2 to 53.7. Travis Zajac's has dropped from 58.7 to 50.8. Andy Greene's dropped from 56.3 to 48.9.

To improve these numbers and the team's performance, transition play must be vastly improved upon. If the Devils cannot get out of their own defensive zone cleanly, no amount of goal-scoring forwards or shutdown defensemen will be able to turn the team around.

1. Get Healthy

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Steve Bernier is helped off the ice by Adam Henrique and Eric Gelinas.

Every time it seems that another Devils forward could not possibly get hurt, the injured list gets longer.

Most recently, it was Steve Bernier who suffered a painful-looking injury, slamming his left leg into the boards against the Red Wings on Wednesday. Initially, things looked bad. Tom Gulitti at the Fire and Ice Blog reported that Lamoriello said of the injury, "Unfortunately, I think it's fairly serious."

But, Bernier skated Friday morning and is questionable for Saturday's game.

Still, that means that Bernier, Stephen Gionta (broken hand), Michael Ryder (mumps), Patrik Elias (mumps), Ryane Clowe (suspected concussion), Bryce Salvador (lower-body injury), Damon Severson (fractured left ankle), Jacob Josefson (illness) and Martin Havlat (illness) have all missed time in recent weeks.

Fortunately, Elias, Havlat and Ryder are slotted for a return to the starting lineup Friday.

Even with the return of those players though, injuries and illness have been merciless to the Devils. 

The other resolutions on this list, and the season itself, will be worth little if the team cannot develop some chemistry and momentum by having the same players in the lineup for an extended period.