NHL New Jersey Devils

Cory Schneider Cannot Deal With Martin Brodeur’s Workload

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By @nick_villano

Cory Schneider New Jersey Devils

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The New Jersey Devils brought in Scott Clemmensen to be the backup to now full-time starter Cory Schneider. They did this to show that they are totally committed to having one main cog in net. Schneider has fought for time with legendary goalies Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo. Now, he has nobody to fight with for time.

The team has said they expect Schneider to be in net for around 70 games. Simple math tells us that means he will be on the bench for only 12 games during the season. There was even talk about him playing up to 75 games. That doesn’t seem that unlikely. That is, until you take a closer look at it.

Schneider has not been the main starter in his career up until now. That means he doesn’t have the experience with being in net on a nightly basis. His career high in games was last season. He only started 43 games last season. That means the Devils expect him to play 25-30 games more than he has in any season in his entire career.

This is the kind of workload Devils GM Lou Lamoriello is used to. Brodeur played an average of around 73 games every single season. The team knew that he was going to be in net almost every night, and the backup was only there in case a tragedy happened. Schneider cannot fill that role yet.

Schneider has struggled this season compared to last season. He has a 2.79 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. There are nights where he is untouchable. Then, there are other nights where he cannot play the puck and makes a mistake to cost them the game.

More than physically, Schneider might need to have a mental rest. He is playing in front of a defense that is allowing more shots than they were last season. The stress of the game could eventually get to him if he is overworked. It is up to head coach Peter DeBoer to recognize what he has to do with his goalie. Clemmensen isn’t the worst backup in the league, even though he played like it against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Get Schneider used to playing as often as the team wants to. Don’t just throw him into it. You want him to be supremely confident all season long. Put him in a position to succeed. Playing him every single game, including back to backs, is not the right equation. DeBoer needs to use him wisely, and he will revert back to a top-ten goalie.

Nick Villano is the New Jersey Devils writer for Rant Sports.  He also adds to the site’s NBA, MLB and NFL content.  You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your Google circle.

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