It is safe to say that first-year forward Miles Wood is making an impression on New Jersey fans. His speed, aggressive forechecking, goal scoring and fighting all catch your eye. We began to see “Wood 44” jerseys in the stands at the Prudential Center after he’d played only a handful of games, and Wood has been getting plenty of support from fans commenting on Devils news articles.
Head Coach John Hynes is in his corner as well. Hynes has Wood in a top-six role nowadays, and while he didn’t have Miles in the first unit of the power play during practice before Thursday’s game versus Washington, he put him out on the ice with the first unit in the second half of the game. And he isn’t afraid to leave him out for faceoffs in the defensive zone late in the game — notice him here, assigned to get to Ovechkin once the puck drops:
Miles Wood (#44 in red) gets a defensive start against the lethal Alexander Ovechkin (Photo: David Kerans/Pucks & Recreation)
Opponents are also taking note of Wood. As he informed us in a chat Thursday morning, he’s getting more chirping from other teams’ players these days, because they know what he’s up to. They must see him as one of NJ’s real threats, and with good reason: Wood’s rate of points per 60 minutes of ice time is 1.75, good for fifth among all Devils. The fifth overall draft choice from 2015, Pavel Zacha, for comparison, is putting up just 1.0. Zacha has a very high ceiling, obviously, and is two years younger than Wood. But Wood has come along very fast, and is offering real hope to NJ fans for the near-term future.
(Photo: Andy Marlin/Getty Images)
We should point out here that some important numbers do not flatter Wood. His Corsi rate (the percentage of shots attempted by his team versus the opposition while he is on the ice) in 5-on-5 play is just 37.2 percent, far below the team’s 46.6 percent average. He has spent a lot more time in the defensive end of the ice than attacking, in other words. This is not alarming for a rookie, however, and we expect Wood to become more effective as he gets more NHL game experience and develops more positional play and puck possession skills.
We had a chance to speak with Wood on Thursday, just before New Jersey’s final game before the All-Star break, and took the opportunity to hear about his impression of New Jersey fans, fighting in hockey, getting acclimated to new teammates, scrutiny from coaches, razzing from opponents, and more. What surprised us most was his unconventional route to the NHL. He didn’t focus primarily on hockey until a few years ago, preferring (with support from his father, NHLer Randy Wood) to follow wide interests in sports and school before specializing.
His choice of high school in the Boston area speaks volumes in this regard. He chose Noble & Greenough instead of opting for a hockey factory prep school. And he stayed there even as a 19 year old, when he could have left for a Division I NCAA program at Brown or Boston College. (See here for much more on Wood’s pre-professional career.)
We expect to see Wood in a Devils uniform for a long time to come. With any luck, he and a number of other developing talents can return the franchise to contending status in the not-too-distant future.
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