Cory Schneider’s fall from grace in the NHL has been tough to watch

The New Jersey Devils’ surprise announcement that Cory Schneider would be reassigned to the AHL caps off a disappointing run for the promising goaltender.

When Cory Schneider was traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the New Jersey Devils at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft for the ninth overall pick, Devils fans believed they had found their next great goaltender. The 2013-14 season would be Martin Brodeur‘s last in a Devils’ uniform after a historic career, and New Jersey was poised to make their transition to life post Brodeur easy with Schneider’s acquisition.

Fast forward seven seasons later, and times have changed for the Devils. On Monday, the Devils announced that they placed Schneider on waivers to assign him to the Binghamton Devils, and the goaltender cleared without issue on Tuesday. There was a very slim chance Schneider would have been claimed by a team on Tuesday, but given the fact that his contract has two years remaining and will have a $6 million cap hit in each of them, it was inevitable that he’d be headed to Binghamton by mid-week.

Schneider’s fall from grace in New Jersey has been extremely tough to watch over the last few seasons. In Vancouver, Schneider had a .927 save percentage in 98 games over the course of five seasons with the Canucks. In 2010-11 season, Schneider won the William M. Jennings Trophy for goaltenders who played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against.

That season, Schneider had a .929 save percentage in 25 games for the Canucks in his first major debut in the NHL.

Since coming to the Devils, Schneider has slowly declined due to age and injuries, going from a .924 save percentage in his first three seasons with New Jersey to a .907 save percentage in his last three, plus his six games in the 2019-20 season. This year, Schneider had an abysmal .852 save percentage in six games, allowing 26 total goals in the handful of games he played.

The Devils, it seems, have seen enough of Schneider in net. Though Schneider hasn’t gotten the majority of starts this year for New Jersey — that right belongs to 22-year-old MacKenzie Blackwood who was selected 42nd overall in the 2015 NHL draft — New Jersey has been reticent to utilize him after getting the starter’s net in four of the Devils’ first six games of the season.

Going from a promising young goaltender who had the tough role of stepping into the Devils’ net immediately after Brodeur to being shipped to the AHL within six seasons and some change is quite the fall. Schneider put together enough quality seasons in Vancouver and New Jersey to prove that he wasn’t just a goaltender benefiting from strong defensive systems. The netminder’s heel turn only came about in his last four seasons with the Devils where he failed to post above a .910 save percentage at the end of the season.

This may be the case of the goaltending aging curve hitting Schneider hard, as his downturn coincided precisely with his age-30 season and he hasn’t rebounded since. The average goaltender, upon hitting 30-years-old, sees a noticeable decline in performance. There are exceptions to the rule — Marc-Andre Fleury and Henrik Lundqvist notably — and while it’s not an exact science, Schneider getting older has not helped his chances of making a comeback.

And that’s a shame. It feels like we got very little time with Schneider in his prime on a team that was exciting to watch. The Canucks were competitive in Schneider’s last few seasons in Vancouver, but the Devils were not in playoff contention at all during his prime in New Jersey even though he was the best part of the team.

Now, after an active offseason that brought a lot of talent and possibility to New Jersey, the team has faltered alongside Schneider in a stretch of play that has basically knocked them from contention already.

There is still hope, of course, for Schneider to rebound and make his way back onto the Devils’ roster down the line this season. Blackwood has the pedigree to be an NHL starter, but has played less than 40 total NHL games. Louis Domingue, who the Devils traded for earlier this month, has 122 total NHL games played and has started fewer than 40 games in a season in his young career.

Schneider would need to be average at best to make a return to NHL ice given the Devils’ goaltending situation. He hasn’t proven himself recently to be a passable netminder when needed, but some time in the AHL may boost his confidence in making stops and help him rejuvenate his game.

It’s clear, however, that Schneider’s elite days are behind him, and returning to that level shouldn’t be his goal during his time in the AHL. Finding his game and working towards building a path back to the NHL is the key to seeing Schneider back on the ice in a Devils’ uniform sometime this season.