New Jersey Devils 2020-21 season awards

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Every year I like to wrap things up by handing out each major award to a New Jersey Devils player. While this season – like many of late – wasn’t very successful in terms of wins and losses, there were plenty of strong individual performers that deserve to be highlighted.

Let’s get right to it.

Art Ross: Pavel Zacha

Heading into the season I’d have never guessed Zacha would lead the team in scoring. Part of that is because his previous career high in points per game would’ve amounted to 40 over a full 82-game schedule. I didn’t see him taking a step forward to this extent.

But, more importantly, Zacha entered the season on a team featuring two 1st overall picks at center, a multi-time 50+ point producer in Kyle Palmieri, the efficient Jesper Bratt, and newcomer Andreas Johnsson, who averaged 45 points per 82 games in two seasons prior to this.

Even if I fully believed Zacha would take a big step forward offensively, it would’ve been a stretch to suggest he’d outscore all of his competition.

Well, he did. A big part of that is due to what happened around him. Hughes created 50,000 chances that weren’t converted on. Nico played in 21 games. Palmieri struggled and was dealt at the deadline. Bratt missed the start of the year. Johnsson was a) extremely unlucky and; b) as an asthmatic, had a tough time getting up to speed following COVID. A lot played into Zacha leading the way.

Even so, I’ll tip my hat to him.

His 5v5 production, while nothing to write home about, was better than in previous years. And he looked legitimately comfortable while producing at a high clip in man advantage situations. Favorable gamestates or not, he still had to go out and do it. Hats off to him.

Rocket Richard: Pavel Zacha/Miles Wood

Again, never would’ve guessed this. Zacha’s shooting percentage doubled(!) from 8.2 to 16.5% this season. That obviously was a big factor in him finishing for the team lead. But he also pulled some weight here. Zacha generated Expected Goals, and scoring chances, at a higher rate this season than any other year. Yes, he had some luck to go with that. But you can’t score goals if you don’t generate shots and chances, and Zacha did a better job this season.

Miles Wood also benefited from a shooting percentage spike, although not to the same extent. He shot 13.3%, which was ~4% above his career norm. It’s hard to say if that was strictly luck driven or if Wood actually improved as a finisher. Perhaps we should split the difference. Wood was much more structured and confident this year. He really did seem like an improved player. But he also generated chances, and Grade A opportunities, at a more efficient clip a season ago. It’s fair to say his spike was at least partly driven by luck.

Whatever the case may be, both of these guys played hard this season and managed to stay positive and productive despite all the BS surrounding them. Again, gotta tip my hat.

Hart: Jack Hughes

This is a no-brainer to me. I could’ve watched just two or three games this season and come to the conclusion that Hughes was the driving force of the team.

He played big minutes on a nightly basis and was thrust into the 1C role out of necessity when Nico Hischier went down. He handled those responsibilities as well as possibly imaginable.

Hughes was a big-time chance generator and by far the team leader in terms of shot contributions and creating for teammates. Slowing him down was very clearly priority No. 1 for the opposition every night and yet his teammates probably had more to do with point-less nights than he did.

He was also in transition and driving play, as usual, and his defensive game improved dramatically. In fact, @JFreshHockey had Hughes’ even-strength defensive impact stronger than any forward on the Devils.

Hughes is truly special and we saw that each and every night this season. He scored less than Wood, and came up a few points shy of Zacha, but he was by far the most valuable player on the team.

Norris: Damon Severson

Quite honestly, a case could’ve been made for Dmitry Kulikov. He was so good – particularly defensively – before he was dealt to Edmonton at the trade deadline.

Nevertheless, Severson would’ve been a worthy choice regardless. With Kulikov out of the mix, he was the only real choice.

Yes, I watch the games. All of them, in fact; sometimes twice! Yes, I know Severson makes some head scratching plays that we’d all like to see cut out of his game. That’s not happening. It’s just bound to happen when you play the way he plays, and as much as he plays. The good thing, though, is that Severson’s positives outweigh the negatives.

He is – by far – the best multi-zone passer on the team. He’s also the best in-zone passer. At least for now (sorry, Ty Smith). Severson is so good at springing forwards for breakaways or rush opportunities, and he routinely picks apart defenses with cross-seam passes in the offensive zone. He’s also best on the team at jumping in on the weak-side and generating scoring chances.

Given as much, it should be no surprise that Severson’s impact on even-strength offense was best of all Devils defenders.

I’m sure some will be shocked by this but Severson’s *defensive* impacts were also best among Devils defenders (who weren’t traded at the deadline).

The Devils gave up fewer goals/60 with Severson on the ice than any regular defender on the roster. That’s good! The Devils also gave up fewer expected goals/60 with Severson on the ice than any other defender.

Obviously, the objective in hockey is to help score, and help limit, goals. Severson did that, and the numbers suggest he deserved to do that.

It wasn’t as if the Devils bled chances but got lucky. They didn’t concede many goals with Severson on the ice because, well, they didn’t give up many chances.

Again, I’m sure this will lead to some ‘you keep your stats, I’ll watch the games’ takes. I’m going to flip things around here and suggest that, if you are of that opinion, you watch the game and pay closer attention to what you’re watching.

I know the turnovers stand out the most when casually viewing but if you *really* watch all the little, positive things Severson does you’ll have a better understanding of how his impacts are so strong despite ‘looking like he doesn’t care’.

Anyway, Severson for (Devils) Norris.

Selke: Jack Hughes

When you think Selke, you don’t think of a slim 19-year-old with dynamic puck skills and flow but, well, Hughes is the Devils player most deserving of the award. And that’s not because they didn’t have anyone else to pick from. It’s because he was damn good defensively. Better than you could even imagine.

Don’t believe me? Here is how Hughes, and some other notables, compared in several key defensive metrics.

Jack Hughes: 44.02 attempts against/60, 20.75 chances against/60, 1.93 xGA/60

Player A: 45.45 attempts against/60, 20.70 chances against/60, 1.91 xGA/60

Player B: 40.45 attempts against/60, 19.67 chances against/60, 1.69 xGA/60

Player C: 49.72 attempts against/60, 25.7 chances against/60, 2.16 xGA/60

Player A is Sasha Barkov. Player B is Patrice Bergeron. Player C is Anze Kopitar. That’s right. Hughes’ defensive stats are nearly identical to Barkov, the driving force behind the powerhouse Panthers, and better than Kopitar’s.

While they fall a little behind Bergeron, he’s been arguably the best two-way forward in the NHL for a decade and plays on a team as good – and structured – as you’ll find. Even being in the same stratosphere is a big positive for Hughes.

Calder: Yegor Sharangovich

This might’ve been the most difficult award to call because the Devils had a handful of guys who deserved at least some consideration. But, at the end of the day, I have to go with Yeezy.

He finished one goal off the team-lead, one point back of Jack Hughes, and led the charge in beautiful and/or hilarious off-ice moments. In a disgusting year – for the Devils and all of us – Sharangovich brought plenty of joy to brighten the mood.

But in all seriousness, Jack Hughes is the only Devils forward to post a higher GAR when it came to even-strength offense. After a rather shaky couple of weeks to start the season, Sharangovich developed into one of the team’s best snipers and most consistent offensive threats.

Vezina: pass!

Let’s…let’s not do this one.

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numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com, Evolving-Hockey.com, and Jack Fraser’s tableau.