In the past decade, the area’s NHL teams have defined themselves with three dramatically different approaches to roster building. The Devils turn the players they have into winners, while the Rangers fill their lineup with players who have won elsewhere. And the Islanders’ roster is often pockmarked with players who wore out their welcome at their previous stop. This season has been no different.

The Devils have taken a commanding lead in the NHL’s Atlantic Division, with goaltender Martin Brodeur a strong favorite to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP. The more things change in the “new” NHL, the more they remain the same in New Jersey.

The Rangers entered this season with heightened expectations after last season’s postseason appearance (their first since 1997). But the Blueshirts haven’t delivered, and so they currently find themselves in the middle of a pack of nine teams battling for three playoff spots. The quality that has most typified this year’s squad has been its maddening inconsistency.

And then there are the Islanders. The laughingstock of the league during off-season, they actually got off to a good start. In fact, as recently as December 28, Ted Nolan’s squad was ranked 10th in The New York Sun’s Power Rankings. But it limped into the All-Star break on a 3–8–1 slide, and a seemingly certain playoff spot has become far less likely.

Here, then, are the midseason report cards for all three teams:

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

FORWARDS The Devils don’t score a lot of goals, but their production is extremely timely. After a rough start in his first season as team captain, Patrik Elias has settled down nicely in the past month, and is again the team’s leading point-scorer. Diminutive proletariat Brian Gionta (21 goals), playmaker Scott Gomez (27 assists), and youngsters Zach Parise and Travis Zajac provide valuable scoring support, while John Madden and Jay Pandolfo once again form the nucleus of the league’s finest checking line. GRADE: B

DEFENSE Brian Rafalski is putting together another fine statistical season running the point on the Devils’ power play; what he’s missing in size, he makes up for with quick thinking and above-average skating. Colin White has evolved into the team’s top shutdown defenseman, and Brad Lukowich has been a very pleasant surprise in his first full season in the Swamp. GRADE: B

GOALTENDING The incomparable Brodeur provides the Devils’ competent but unspectacular blue line corps with the ultimate safety net. Between the pipes virtually every night for the Devils, he is the main reason this team has taken a commanding lead in the Atlantic Division. GRADE: A+

SPECIAL TEAMS The Devils’ power play has been fairly effective this season, clicking at an 18.4% rate. But they’ve been susceptible to counterattacks, and have given up a surprisingly high eight shorthanded goals. Toput that number into proper context, they only gave up six shorthanded goals all season last year. The penalty killing, led by Madden and Pandolfo and fortified by Brodeur is, as expected, among the league’s most effective. GRADE: B+

COACHING In his first season behind the Devils’ bench, Claude Julien has done an excellent job. He’smade the most of a lineup missing some of its most noteworthy performers from the past decade, and the transition to his coaching style has been seamless. Besides for overworking Brodeur, he’s done an excellent job. GRADE: B+

OVERALL GRADE: A

NEW YORK RANGERS

FORWARDS Jaromir Jagr has again carried the Rangers’ offense through the first half, tallying 60 points and a plus-12 rating through 48 games. But his surgically repaired shoulder hasn’t fully healed, and the team is hoping that the All-Star break has given him some time for rehabilitation. Martin Straka and Michael Nylander have been excellent complements to Jagr on the top line, and Brendan Shanahan has been very solid in his first season on Broadway. But the supporting cast, from Matt Cullen on down, has been a huge disappointment. The top-heavy Rangers need more balanced offensive production if they’re to reach the postseason. As the lineup is currently configured, they won’t likely deliver it. GRADE: B

DEFENSE Yesterday’s announcement that Darius Kasparaitis has been placed on waivers came as no surprise, not after all the feuding he’s done with head coach Tom Renney. But it’s unclear whether the defense is better without him. Only Michal Rozsival (plus-1) has a positive rating among Rangers blueliners; he has been by far the team’s best defenseman. Fedor Tyutin has taken a giant step backward in his progress this season, while newcomer Aaron Ward hasn’t been the stabilizing presence GM Glen Sather was hoping for. GRADE: C

GOALTENDING While he hasn’t been the marvel he was last season, Henrik Lundqvist has been the Rangers’ best player on many nights this season and is a key reason the team remains in the playoff picture. His statistics (2.83 GAA, .903 SV%) aren’t stellar, but that’s due as much to the play of the defense in front of him as it is to his inconsistency. GRADE: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS The addition of Shanahan was supposed to be the final piece in what looked (on paper) to be a dazzling power play. But without a bona fide quarterback manning the point, the Blueshirts’ play with the man advantage has been pedestrian at best. And their penalty killers have been entirely too generous, only 17th best in the league at the All-Star break. In today’s NHL, special teams play is critical, and the Rangers have fallen far short of expectations. GRADE: C+

COACHING Tom Renney showed great promise behind the bench last season, but like the rest of his team, he’s faltered badly this year. His inability (or unwillingness?) to break up the top line has made the top-heavy Rangers offense incredibly easy to check, and he hasn’t yet found the right combination of blueliners to form a consistent defense. As the coach of an up-and-coming young team, Renney would be an excellent teacher. But there’s good reason to doubt he’s got the moxie to get the most out of this group. GRADE: C+

OVERALL GRADE: B

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

FORWARDS After getting off to a great start, Alexei Yashin was derailed by a knee injury. Since he returned, he hasn’t been able to get back on track, and so what once looked like a wonderful redemption story is instead appearing to be more of the same from the mercurial underachiever. Viktor Kozlov has exhibited tantalizing skills, as has Miroslav Satan, but All-Star Jason Blake has been without question the Isles’ most consistently productive forward. GRADE: C

DEFENSE The addition of stopper Brendan Witt has made a huge difference for the Isles, who for the first time in a long time have a plan to neutralize the likes of Jagr and Sidney Crosby. Tom Poti has been mostly solid in his first season on Long Island, as has hard-hitting Sean Hill. And Radek Martinek leads the team with a plus-16 rating. All in all, the Isles’ blue-collar defense corps has delivered a strong effort. GRADE: B

GOALTENDING Signing DiPietro to that incredibly long-term deal has looked like a good move thus far. But for a handful of shaky outings, he has been tremendous between the pipes and gives the Isles a chance to win every night. And that he has performed this well (.914 SV%) in the immediate aftermath of the contract signing bodes very well for the Isles’ future. GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS When searching for an explanation for the Isles’ struggles, look no further than their atrocious special teams. Their power play is the league’s 20th best, largely because they haven’t been able to get consistent production from Yashin and Satan. Making matters worse, their penalty-killing efforts are only 23rd best, a recipe for disaster for the league’s most penalized club. GRADE: D

COACHING Ted Nolan was an excellent choice to go behind the Isles’ bench, and there’s good reason to believe that he can turn this team around. But the Isles’ undisciplined play and special teams ineptitude are largely the coach’s responsibility, and so it’s clear that Nolan has his work cut out for him in the second half. GRADE: BOVERALL GRADE: C+

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.