For New Jersey Devils head coach John Hynes, it took four games to realize that enough was enough. In 2013-14, Travis Zajac played with Jaromir Jagr, to great results. In 2014-15, Pete DeBoer decided to place Zajac, Jagr, and Mike Cammalleri on a line together. That fell flat. Then the Devils’ triumvirate aligned Cammalleri, Zajac, and Jordin Tootoo, to mixed results. Overall they stumbled, even if Tootoo did have an energetic shift or two.
Hynes, hired by New Jersey to instill his “fast, attacking, supportive” philosophy, experimented with the forwards early on. Starting the season 0-3-1 and being outscored 13-5 was not the start Hynes had envisioned.