Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Outlook: New Jersey Devils
The Vegas Golden Knights don’t have much to choose from in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Devils are having another rough go at it, more so than usual. The Devils sit in last place of the Eastern Conference and third worst in the entire NHL with 62 points. Lets just say Vegas Golden Knights fans aren’t excited picking from this awful hockey team.
Back in the offseason, The Edmonton Oilers traded Taylor Hall to New Jersey for Adam Larsson. Cory Schneider put up some impressive numbers in 2015-2016 and this years campaign looked to be exciting for Devils fans. It just hasn’t worked out for the team in New Jersey.
The Devils will be happy to find out that players like Pavel Zacha, Miles Wood and Mackenzie Blackwood are all exempt from this years expansion draft. Therefore, looking at New Jersey’s roster, options look limited for the team in Sin City.
Due to the fact of the team having quality defensemen and not having so many quality forwards, I’d expect the eight skater and one goaltender scheme. With this protection list, it allows the Devils to protect the perfect amount of forwards and defensemen which is great news for NJ General Manager Ray Shero.
Even though he’s having a rough year, Cory Schneider is the goaltender to protect for New Jersey. Schneider is 19-22-10 with a sub-par 2.72 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Backup netmninder Keith Kinkaid isn’t having a better season either with 6-9-2 record, a 2.67 GAA and a .917 save percentage. Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee should not take the mediocre backup.
On the blue line, Shero will be able to keep his top four defensemen which many teams can’t. John Moore, Andy Greene, Damon Severson and Jon Merrill should be back for the 17-18 season in New Jersey. In all honesty, there’s no other defenseman even close to these four players as in terms of competition.
It seems to be the same way at forward for Ray Shero. Hall, Travis Zajac, Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri should be the choices at forward. The only player that could make a case is Mike Cammalleri but I don’t believe the Devils want to carry the 5 million dollar cap-hit anymore.
So what’s left for George McPhee? Not much to be quite honest with you. The Golden Knights could choose Devante Smith Pelly but I don’t imagine the team going that route with only 9 points in 53 games.
The player that George McPhee should take is goaltender Scott Wedgewood. Wedgewood is currently at the minor league level for the Albany Devils but his season is over because he torn his labrum in his right shoulder in November. In his only bit of NHL experience, Wedgewood is 2-1-1 with a 1.25 GAA and a save percentage of .957 in last years campaign.
This year in the AHL, Wedgewood’s stats were cut short due to injury. In only 10 games, he compiled a 5-3-0 record with a GAA of 2.18 and a .912 save percentage. Wedgewood has a strong butterfly stance and he’s a battler in net and has impressive flexibility for his size. With lightning quick reflexes, he has all the makings to be a starting NHL goaltender.
What Wedgewood needs to work on is using all of his 6’2 195 lbs frame. He often gets too low in his butterfly and makes an adventure out of routine saves. One spot that he needs to start improving is his blocker side and challenging shooters is also a work in progress.
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As a result, Wedgewood sounds like he could challenge for a gig to start the NHL season next year whether that’s with New Jersey or Vegas. Wedgewood does come with some caution after tearing his labrum this year, but he’s expected to make a full recovery. If George McPhee doesn’t know who to choose from New Jersey, Wedgewood sounds like a solid option to shore up goaltending depth.
Golden Knights Prediction: Scott Wedgewood