5 New Jersey Devils Who've Exceeded Expectations During the 2014-15 Season

With the New Jersey Devils' season heading toward yet another early ending, there can be no doubt that 2014-15 has been a disappointment.

On Friday, I took a look at which players were the biggest culprits in this season's letdown, and there were plenty to choose from. But to deny that some players have come through in a positive and unexpected way would be untrue. 

This season has seen the emergence of young defenders like Adam Larsson, the continued excellence of seasoned veterans like Andy Greene and the surprising appearance of players like Scott Gomez.

This list will rank the New Jersey Devils who have pleasantly surprised this season, which means that it must look at both the performances of the players as well as what was expected of them when the season kicked off on Oct. 9.

Honorable Mention

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Andy Greene celebrates his goal in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Note: SAT per 60 minutes is a statistic that tallies the number of shots a team takes when a player is on the ice, subtracts that by the number of shots against when that player is on the ice and divides the number by 60 minutes to provide a number that can compare players who have played in a different number of games.

It is one way to measure how individual players impact the team's ability to possess the puck. I have also included how each player ranks on the team to give a relative picture in addition to the absolute numerical one. All SAT statistics courtesy of NHL.com.

Steve Bernier

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes	SAT per 60 Minutes (Team Rank)
51	10	12	22	0	13	-6.60 (15th)

Bernier had a dreadful 2013-14 season. Though he played 78 games last year, he picked up only three goals and nine assists while sporting an awful minus-15 rating.

This season, though, he has turned it around. None of his numbers are particularly grabbing, but they all reflect what Bernier is—a very serviceable third- or fourth-line winger. After a terrible 2013-14, some dependable play earns Bernier an honorable mention. 

Cory Schneider

Games Played	Wins	Losses	Overtime Losses	Shutouts	Goals Against Average	Save Percentage
57	24	24	6	4	2.18	.928

If this list was titled "Best New Jersey Devils of 2014-15," there is little doubt that Schneider would be atop the list. But, with a focus on exceeding expectations, we can give Schneider an honorable mention, but no more.

That, of course, is not to take away from how stellar Schneider has been. His save percentage is second in the NHL among goalies with 20 or more starts. His goals-against average is seventh in the league by the same parameters, a tremendous feat given that Schneider has faced more shots than any goalie in the NHL.

The only other goalie with similar stats who has faced a similar number of shots per game is Carey Price, who has a chance to win both the Vezina Trophy and Hart Trophy.

Of course, Schneider entered this season with high expectations. After several solid years in Vancouver, he played well for much of last year while not receiving much support from the team in front of him. He entered the season as the team's obvious top goalie, but his play has been so spectacular that he has passed even the lofty expectations set for him at the start of the season.

Andy Greene

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes	SAT per 60 Minutes (Team Rank)
66	2	16	18	10	14	-2.35 (4th)

Like Schneider, Andy Greene would make the top five if the expectations on him were not already so high. But on a team that has been mediocre for most of the season, Greene's play has been so excellent that he must be mentioned here.

Greene has a plus-10 rating on a below-average team.

This is no fluke. Greene plays 23:35 a night, generally against the top players the other team has to offer. He has earned every bit of that rating. 

His SAT is equally strong, reflecting that even against top opposition, Greene and his partner are doing a good job of keeping games level. His work with his partner (first Damon Severson, then Adam Larsson) also ought to be praised. Both players have put together remarkable runs playing alongside the 32-year-old American.

It comes as no surprise that Greene is playing well. But, because he is so obviously excelling on a team that is short on strengths, it has to be said that Greene is exceeding expectations. 

5. Michael Cammalleri

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Michael Cammalleri fires into an empty net.

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes	SAT per 60 Minutes (Team Rank)
54	24	10	34	3	24	-6.35 (14th)

Michael Cammalleri was brought to New Jersey to be a goal scorer, and he has more than filled that role. 

He is on pace for his first 30-goal season since 2008-09. Because of that, he has exceeded expectations this year.

Cammalleri has been more than just a goal scorer, of course. He spent time killing penalties while multiple forwards were injured earlier in the season. He has also been a significant factor on the team's ninth-ranked power play. 

Perhaps his biggest impact has been his penchant for scoring clutch goals for the Devils. His eight game-winning goals lead New Jersey and are tied for second in the NHL.

At the end of the day though, the most important facet of Cammalleri's play has been the number of goals he has contributed to the cause. The Devils have very few pure goal scorers, and Cammalleri has been just that for New Jersey this season.

But because he does have a notable pedigree of goal scoring in the NHL, Cammalleri can be no higher than fifth on the list of players who have exceeded expectations.

4. Jordin Tootoo

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Jordin Tootoo checks a Nashville Predator along the boards.

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes	SAT per 60 Minutes (Team Rank)
52	7	4	11	3	61	-8.43 (20th)

Jordin Tootoo was expected to bring physical play and grit to New Jersey. He absolutely followed through with that.

The factors that have surprised Devils fans, and perhaps coaches too, are his speed and offensive contributions. 

Tootoo has provided some pace to a team that is, to put it simply, old and slow. That speed has infused some energy into an often ineffective forecheck. The effort that his speed shows has won him the affection of Devils fans, who on more than one occasion have chanted, "Too-too!"

This is not to say that he hasn't been physical as well. He has seven fighting majors this season, two of which notably came against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a game in which he fought Robert Bortuzzo, who had injured Jaromir Jagr in a recent matchup of the teams. 

Because Tootoo was brought in as a fringe player and has earned more minutes, he ranks above Cammalleri on this list. But the players still to come have been even bigger surprises than Tootoo.

3. Scott Gomez

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Scott Gomez waits for a faceoff.

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes	SAT per 60 Minutes (Team Rank)
42	5	21	26	-10	6	-5.90 (12th)

There was never a guarantee that Scott Gomez would even end up on New Jersey's roster before the end of the season. Gomez spent the first two months of the season skating with the Devils in practice but unsure if general manager Lou Lamoriello would extend a contract offer.

At the start of December, Gomez's patience was rewarded. He has returned the favor by providing the Devils with 26 points in 42 games. His rate of 0.62 points per game is second-best on the team, behind only Cammalleri.

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise about Gomez's play has been his offensive consistency, which the team has struggled with as a whole. It took Gomez four games to pick up his first point of the season, but since then, he's gone five games without a point only once and three games without a point only once. 

Of course, Gomez's points have been mostly assists, but this should come as no surprise. Only once has the Alaskan scored more than 20 goals in a season.

His plus/minus is disappointingly low, and that aspect of his play keeps him from moving any further up the list. But Gomez's incredibly low expectations from the start of the season as well as his consistently rising point total put him high on this list.

2. Damon Severson

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Damon Severson evades Wayne Simmonds as he moves out of the defensive zone.

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes	SAT per 60 Minutes (Team Rank)
35	4	8	12	-6	16	2.35 (2nd)

How do you measure the relative success of a player who had virtually no expectations coming into the season?

That is the question one faces when considering the season of Damon Severson.

Severson earned a starting spot after a strong training camp and preseason, beating out fellow youngster Adam Larsson and seasoned veteran Peter Harrold. Severson did not just go from having no NHL experience and virtually no AHL experience to playing in the NHL at 20 years old. He also earned a spot on the team's top defensive pairing with Andy Greene.

He was picking up points left and right during the first two weeks of the season, but his scoring pace, like that of his teammates, slowed by the time November rolled around. But this is not to say that Severson was not still playing well.

He continued to play with Greene, in addition to getting time on both the power play and penalty kill. His 22:40 a night leads all rookies and is second only to Greene on the Devils. 

Unfortunately for Severson, a stress fracture in his left ankle has significantly shortened his season. He played his last game of 2014 on Dec. 15 and has played three games since his return on March 3. 

That injury hampered his play before he finally came out of the lineup, and he has understandably not been quite the same player since his return. There is no reason to think that he will not return to the level of play he enjoyed before injury, but for now, it does lessen his stock to an extent.

Because of his rapid rise to the top of the defense corps from nearly nonexistent expectations, Severson comes in ahead of every other player mentioned thus far. But because injury has slowed his rapid progression, another young defenseman has jumped ahead of Severson.

1. Adam Larsson

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Adam Larsson (center) celebrates a victory with his teammates.

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes	SAT per 60 Minutes (Team Rank)
48	3	16	19	6	26	-3.82 (11th)

Adam Larsson entered this season as a player who had not yet found himself in New Jersey.

He was drafted fourth overall in the 2011 NHL draft, followed by a decent rookie season in which he played 65 games and picked up 18 points.

But Larsson's play in his own zone never solidified to a point that coach Peter DeBoer was comfortable with. Over the next two seasons, Larsson played more games in the AHL than the NHL, picking up only nine points in 63 games in New Jersey. 

Larsson started this season as the team's seventh defenseman, not getting his first appearance until Oct. 21 against the New York Rangers. Slowly, he appeared to finally earn DeBoer's trust. Larsson was playing undoubtedly the best hockey of his young career until he got the mumps in December. 

But since DeBoer was fired at the end of December, Larsson has been an absolute revelation. In 18 games under DeBoer this season, he had four points and a minus-three rating. While he exhibited a clear improvement in play during that time, it has been the 30 games since then that have been truly impressive.

Since Scott Stevens took control of coaching the defense, a move that has clearly helped Larsson, the young Swede has 15 points and a plus-nine rating in 30 games played mostly alongside Andy Greene on the team's top defensive pairing. Larsson is now also one of the team's top penalty-killing defensemen.

Simply put, Larsson has developed into a top defenseman on both ends of the ice. Both shutdown defensemen and puck-moving defensemen are valuable in the NHL, and Larsson is well on his way to being both. 

In a season beset by struggles and frustration, Larsson has been the New Jersey Devil who has most exceeded his expectations.