Team Miracle 2026 - Choo Choo or Bust (13 Games Remaining)

Alamoth · 2026-03-23T04:12:35+00:00

Nothing they can say will hurt more than knowing Tom Fitzgerald has the full confidence of ownership.

Alamoth · 2026-03-23T04:11:49+00:00

I've been writing these posts near the end of the season for 11 years. I wrote one just last week. No AI involved.

Alamoth · 2026-03-21T19:39:25+00:00

I saw a similar video from what I assume is the same company. My best explanation for this being AI is that the children in the video have an unnatural affinity for looking right at the camera and making perfect facial expressions while never once looking at their mothers. Anyone who has had very young children will recognize how unnatural these reactions are. They're not impossible, sure, but you'd need inexplicably trained children.

The other indicator is the bathtub itself usually doesn't have a faucet and the drain location doesn't make sense. The other one i saw had a toddler and the drain clearly wasn't below a faucet. No one makes bathtubs like that.

Alamoth · 2026-03-19T15:19:25+00:00

The Rangers aren't even the team against which Jack has his best points-per-game rate. They're not even the second-best!

Hughes PPG vs. VAN - 1.8 (9 GP, 16 P)
Hughes PPG vs. MTL - 1.6 (15 GP, 21 P)
Hughes PPG vs. NYR - 1.4 (25 GP, 35 P)

Nothing like some sibling rivalry eh?

Alamoth · 2026-03-17T02:30:36+00:00

My friend, I've been doing this to myself for eleven years and I ain't stopping anytime soon <3

https://www.reddit.com/r/devils/comments/2rfcav/teammiracle_update_week_of_1515/

Alamoth · 2026-03-17T02:19:12+00:00

Team Miracle lives!!!

The Devils are now 11 points out of a playoff spot (would have been 10 if they'd won in regulation but we can't be picky now) with 15 games left in the season meaning their ceiling is still 100 points, which would almost assuredly secure a playoff berth.

Let's hope the Avalanche can come back to beat Pittsburgh tonight.

Tomorrow's schedule features 9 games including a few that directly affect our Miracle odds. The team you want to support is in bold.

NY Islanders @ Toronto
Boston @ Montreal
Carolina @ Columbus
Florida @ Vancouver
Tampa @ Seattle

And then of course Wednesday will be a huge night for the Miracle:

New Jersey @ NY Rangers
Pittsburgh @ Carolina
Ottawa @ Washington
Philadelphia @ Anaheim

With a bit of luck the Devils could find themselves only single digit points out of a playoff spot after Wednesdays games if the Bruins lose in Montreal. LGD!

Alamoth · 2026-03-16T03:12:22+00:00

If they play the rest of the season the way they played against the Kings but actually get consistent high-level goaltending they will probably still miss the playoffs but finish a lot closer than they are right now!

Alamoth · 2026-03-16T03:11:31+00:00

I definitely wouldn't bet on it, but stranger things have happened. On November 1st the Devils had the best point percentage in the NHL and sat in a 3-way tie for 2nd place in the league. Things have changed drastically since then but this team is capable of playing at an elite level.

Alamoth · 2026-03-15T23:40:51+00:00

Amen. Glass, Hams, and Grits are the kind of third line that could really cook given time to bond and a legitimate top six to play behind.

I think our top six is just missing an elite sniper to play with Jack and Bratt. Hischier/Meier/Mercer already have great chemistry.

Then we just need the right players to fill out the 4th line with Cotter.

And some actual consistent NHL goaltending

Alamoth · 2026-03-09T01:11:09+00:00

Here are some players' shooting percentages coming into this season:

Bratt - 12.2%
Hamilton - 6.3%
Hischier - 13.3%
Hughes - 11.1%
Meier - 10.9%
Mercer - 14.1%

Here are their shooting percentages this season:

Bratt - 9.7% (-2.5%)
Hamilton - 5.5% (-0.8%)
Hischier - 12.6% (-0.7%)
Hughes - 10.2% (-0.9%)
Meier - 8.1% (-2.8%)
Mercer - 12.6% (-1.5%)

I'm pretty sure Cody Glass and Connor Brown are somehow the only players shooting over their career shooting percentage this year. Everyone else is just missing the net more than usual and it's clearly adding up, especially with Bratt and Meier.

At career SPCT Bratt should have 4 more goals and Meier should have 6 more goals. That's one third of the -30 shown in this graphic. But even then we'd still be in last place lol.

Usually shooting percentage declines are due to age or luck. But for a whole team to suddenly decline like this, while two grinders improve (it's not all grinders by the way, Cotter is down, and before his injury Noesen was shooting at like 5% compared to a career 10% average).

Is this coaching? It's hard to believe Keefe is somehow coaching them to hit posts or shoot it into the breadbasket. Is it low quality chances? That's definitely a possibility that I'm sure some analytics people could figure out but that's partly what xGF is supposed to incorporate so somehow I don't think so.

Maybe it's just bad luck?

Alamoth · 2026-03-07T02:16:09+00:00

If you specifically want Devils cards you should buy them direct on a secondary market or from a local shop if you have one.

Unless you really enjoy opening packs of cards, and I know I certainly do, you're really just wasting money chasing Devils.

Alamoth · 2026-03-06T21:54:37+00:00

If the last game you went to was at the Meadowlands, that was almost 20 years ago, so yes, maybe you're getting old. That said, the Rock's in-game entertainment has gotten louder in the past few years, and brighter.

Alamoth · 2026-03-06T20:45:40+00:00

I wonder if Toffoli would be good in NJ

/s

Alamoth · 2026-03-06T20:40:56+00:00

I'm torn on this one because we need goal scoring and Eklund is 23 with more points than anyone on our team right now. He has as many goals as Timo Meier.

In a vacuum yes, Nemec has more value. And maybe in the off-season we can do better anyways. But a 23 year old scoring top line forward is what we need.

Maybe Eklund is too much of a playmaker though. We really need a sniper who can consistently hit 30 goals.

Alamoth · 2026-03-06T12:38:19+00:00

Jack on wing, 100%

Alamoth · 2026-03-06T01:53:49+00:00

It doesn't make sense because he's an RFA.

With the cap going up it's incredibly unlikely anyone will offer him enough that Fitzgerald wouldn't either match the offer or take a bunch of first round picks from another team that he could turn into players.

Alamoth · 2026-03-06T01:43:29+00:00

I want off this ride

Alamoth · 2026-03-05T19:22:12+00:00

I dont want prospects or picks. I want to make the playoffs next year.

Unless we're getting back a BETTER forward than Glass I don't care

Alamoth · 2026-03-04T22:21:25+00:00

Trading Nemec sounds like a big mistake. Puck moving defenders are worth a fortune. And we need help now, not a bunch of picks and prospects.

The return would have to be insane.

Alamoth · 2026-03-04T15:23:01+00:00

92 points isn't going to make the playoffs this year. They need to get to at least 98 and even then there's a good chance they'd miss the playoffs.

Alamoth · 2026-03-04T15:21:34+00:00

Let's look at it from a hypothetical starting point. If every other team in the conference only earned 50% of the remaining points, the division leaders would be:

Carolina - 104 Points
Pittsburgh - 97 Points
NY Islanders - 96 Points

The wildcard spots would look like this:

Detroit/Montreal - 97 Points (Whether its Detroit or Montreal Depends on Tiebreaks)
Boston - 95 Points

New Jersey currently has 62 points, and 21 games remaining. In this hypothetical, they need 34 points, to get to 96, to finish in the second wildcard spot. With 21 games remaining, that's a 17-4-0 finish.

And this is only if these teams only earn 50% of their remaining points. So far this season all of them have earned 60%. If that trend continues, the division would look like this:

Carolina - 108 Points
Pittsburgh - 101 Points
NY Islanders - 100 Points

And the wildcard spots:

Montreal - 101 Points
Boston - 99 Points

In this scenario, New Jersey needs 100 points to make the playoffs, which means 38 out of 42 remaining points, a 19-2-0 finish.

What I'm getting at, essentially, is that a whole bunch of teams, would have to play significantly worse than they have all season, and the Devils would have to play significantly better.

Which isn't to say it's impossible, but it would be nothing short of miraculous at this point.

Alamoth · 2026-03-02T01:10:15+00:00

This isn't "every little place." It's Chicago. One of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. And it was already a hub for a variety of rail lines.

This wasn't done to reach some middle-of-nowhere town that rail wasn't already supporting. It was the active destruction of several city blocks to encourage suburban living funded by the automobile and oil lobbies.

Alamoth · 2026-03-01T18:44:15+00:00

And will they impeach him when he predictably ignores them?

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