Real scoop on Miles Wood since many are trading for him

Team: 2020-21 New Jersey Devils

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 3, 2021

Published: Jun. 3, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

There are more and more trades for Miles Wood everyday.

He often gets miscast into two categories:

a. A very cheap, goal-scoring threat than can be acquired easily and stuffed into the top-6.
b. A way to add "grit" or "toughness" without sacrificing goals.

So, as a Devils fan, let me tell you ten things about Miles Wood since it seems some teams are not that familiar with him and are typecasting him incorrectly.

1. It is Miles Wood (not Miles Woods)
2. He is rarely a top-6 option for the Devils. He will unlikely be a top-6 option for your team. He did play 15 min/night (8th among forwards on Devils).
3. He is not someone you want on a line that succeeds with possession.
4. He does not play PK. Played some net front PP this year due to lack of available options.
5. He has size, straight-line speed (lots of straight line speed) and good shot release (gets a lot of shots off quickly).
6. He excels in getting behind defenders with that speed, often by getting there without the puck.
7. He is best suited for dump-and-chase type game. He is the guy you want chasing.
8. He goes hard to the net. Sometimes hard INTO the net.
9. He does not control the puck well, and is much less of a threat coming from right side of ice. Keep him on left side and away from lines that switch in transition.
10. He is a physical player, but to those that want Tom Wilson-lite, he is not really that type of player anymore. He used to be a bit chippy, had some dumb penalties...has really grown out of that now.

All that said, there is no reason the Devils need to be trading him (or his 17-goals from their fourth line). I'd think they would do it if they got back a solid d-man (which is the Devils primary need). His value is probably a late 1st to some teams, less to others.

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Below are the lines the Devils ended the year with. The 3rd line wings rotated toward the end and had different group each night (between Maltsev, Merkley, Foote, Studenic, and Johnsson). The other three lines were fairly static.

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Other Devils fans can add more if they seem anything I missed.