CBGB? How About SRT(J)?

Ever since the run to the Stanley Cup Finals a couple years, the New Jersey Devils and fans of the team were enamored with the line of Stephen Gionta, Steve Bernier and Ryan Carter.  The CBGB line as it was known was a true energy line during that playoff run and did great things for that team.  This past offseason, however, the group got split up.  Ryan Carter was not signed to a deal, came to camp on a tryout basis, and eventually signed with the Minnesota Wild.  Also, Steve Bernier did not start the season up with the big club, instead spending a fair chunk of games down in the AHL before finally being called up.  This left Gionta as the only survivor at the start of the year.

Heading into the all-star break, the only one to be on the active roster was Bernier.  Gionta is on the IR, and Bernier has been playing fairly well this season when healthy, with 4 goals and 11 points in 32 games played.  Because of this, he has not been given fourth line action.  More recently, he was playing a much more prominent role on a line with Scott Gomez and Adam Henrique.

This means that this season, the Devils have had a completely revamped fourth line.  While that line has changed numerous times throughout the season due to injuries, slumps and hot streaks (as has the entire roster pretty much), more recently we have seen it stabilize a little.  Over the last ten games, the line has been pivoted by Tim Sestito, and has seen Jordin Tootoo on it as well.  These two have been on the ice together for close to 10% of New Jersey's ice time over the last ten games.  The final spot has been taken by a few people.  When healthy, the spot was locked for Tuomo Ruutu.  However, he was recently put on IR with the flu, so he was not present for a little while.  When he was not there, the spot was also occupied by Joe Whitney and/or Jacob Josefson.

What I wanted to do for this article was compare what the CBGB line did for New Jersey as opposed to what the SRT (Sestito, Ruutu, Tootoo) line has done for the team recently.  I will also throw in Josefson's stats as well since he is not an AHL player called up for spot duty like Whitney has been.

The Stats

Before I chart some relevant stats here, there needs to be caution.  I will be looking at the stats for CBGB over the course of a full season and a truncated season of 48 games.  The stats over the full season last year have to be taken somewhat differently, as they are over the course of 82 games.  The stats from the lockout-shortened 2013 season are somewhat more applicable because of the closer length in number of games played, but that was also two years ago, and the Devils looked pretty different than they do now.  Plus, in both of those years the Devils were possession powerhouses and at least somewhat competitive, while this season they are a possession nightmare and not really competitive at all in the standings.  This should also be noted.

Finally, the following stats are only for 5 on 5 action: Points/60, GF%, FF%, CF%, PDO.  Plus, the stats in the following chart come from Hockey Analysis and Hockey Reference.

What Does That Mean?

Excellent question.  First, just briefly comparing the CBGB line between the two seasons, they were way more productive for the Devils during the lockout-shortened season than they were last year.  The points/60 are very different, as is the GF%.  Gionta actually scored more points in 2013, despite playing 18 less games.  When you look at that decline, it makes sense as to why the line was broken up this past offseason.  Yes their PDOs were a lot worse last season, but being unlucky is nothing to gloat about.

Now, let's compare the CBGB line to what the Devils have this season.  In terms of points/60, possibly the most relevant stat here, SRT(J) falls somewhere in between what the CBGB line did in 2013 versus 2014.  Josefson is the exception with the really low points/60 number, but he makes up for it with his incredibly positive possession stats given the team he is playing on.  So really what the team has now, in terms of scoring points, is better than what CBGB did last season, but it is still not particularly great.  Yes it is nice to see that number over 1.0, but that is nothing to be amazed with either.

Elsewhere, in terms of pure goal scoring, Ruutu and Tootoo do well to bolster this year's crew.  Sestito has yet to find twine, and Josefson has only scored twice in 27 games.  Tootoo has an incredibly high shooting percentage, so he may not score much the rest of the year if that comes back down, but Ruutu is shooting much closer to his career average, so he could score several more goals before the season finishes.  When it is all said and done, this crew will certainly score more goals than the CBGB line did last year, without a doubt.

Another positive for this year's crew is the Goals For percentages.  Apart from Sestito, the other three are in the positives with GF percentages above 50.  For the CBGB line, only Gionta could boast that accomplishment, and even then only in 2013.  This means that during 5 on 5 action this season, this fourth line is on the ice for more Devils' goals than they are for opposition goals.  The CBGB line generally had it the other way.

The main positive of the CBGB line, of course, was their possession stats.  They all had sparkling Fenwick For percentages over the past two seasons, while this year only Josefson has a positive Fenwick.  The other three are not even close to breaking even.  Again, this could have as much to do with the overall state of the team than with the actual players, but it does need to be noted.

Conclusion

As always, you should definitely come to your own conclusions about the numbers, but for me it means that this team does not miss the CBGB line.  The SRT(J) line(s) has done a pretty competent job in comparison.  They have better Goals For percentages so far, have an ok points/60, and pot some goals as well.  While they are nothing to gawk at, Sestito, Tootoo, Ruutu and Josefson do a decent enough job as the team's fourth liners, and are arguably doing better than what the CBGB line gave New Jersey last season.  Plus, Tootoo is always good for dropping the gloves now and again, especially now that Scott Stevens is back behind the bench.  Who knows what that really accomplishes, but it does something!

Your Take

So, those are the numbers and my take.  What is your take?  What do you think about the current fourth line for the Devils?  Do you feel that they also do a decent job, or do you think the CBGB line would be better for this team?  Please leave your comments in the section below, and thanks for reading.