Devils’ development of Daws & Schmid crucial to future success

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By Alex Chauvancy (@AlexC_THW)

If you're subscribed to Infernal Access, you probably follow the New Jersey Devils pretty closely, which means you're aware of Mackenzie Blackwood's struggles.

Heading into last night's tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes, he was sporting an .894 save percentage (SV%) and the third-worst goals saved above expected (GSAx) in the NHL behind Philipp Grubauer and Joonas Korpisalo. 

After once looking like the Devils' goalie of the future, his play has dropped off dramatically over the last calendar year. The longer he goes without showing improvement in his game, the more questions arise about his long-term future with the franchise. 

Fortunately, the Devils have a couple of pretty good goalie prospects playing with the Utica Comets in Akira Schmid and Nico Daws. They also have a promising prospect in Jakub Málek, who's having a strong D+1 season in the Czechia2, where he has a .931 SV%. 

It'll be a while before Málek makes his way over to North America, so the Devils' immediate focus needs to be on Daws and Schmid.

If they ultimately cut ties with Blackwood, they need to hit on each's development. Any path to becoming playoff contenders starts and ends with developing goalies through their system.