With 20 games through what has been the worst season in recent Devils history, GM Lou Lamoriello must now figure out how to stop the bleeding. While John MacLean will coach the team against Washington, his job status is not week to week it seems. 48 hours is not enough time to make a trade, but that does not mean that Lou is not working on a few things and still evaluating John MacLean as the coach of the team.
Lamoriello believes certain players, not the coach have to step up, but if these players are not willing to get out of their funk, it usually falls back on the coach. Right now, this week will tell a lot about this Devils team. They play 4 games against Washington, Calgary, NY Islanders and Philadelphia. Calgary and the Islanders are winnable games, though the Devils could have a let down against them. The Devils sure would want to avenge their 7-2 loss in Washington back on October 9th, which had a nasty end to it. They would also like to get revenge against the Flyers, who eliminated the Devils in 5 games in the first round of the 2010 playoffs.
So, it seems that is the Devils do not win at least 3 out of their next 4, major changes will come and it could involve the coach. The Devils will have 4 days off after next Saturday's game against Philly before playing Montreal at home on December 2nd. So, that should give Lamoriello some leverage to finish his 20 game evaluation even though the Devils will have already played 24. The Devils will also have to eventually trade someone once more players start getting healthier to solve their salary cap woes which have definitely been a distraction this season and most definitely have factored into their struggles. If they win 3 out 4 this week, I think they could be on their way to turning things around.
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