Some of the takes here in my Devils community are a bit, um how shall we put it... cliff-jumpy?
Let's drink a stiff mug of reality for a moment.
The Devils were -- even before the Hughes and Hamilton injuries -- a very unlikely possibility of winning the Stanley Cup this year. This does not represent a "failure" of management or coaching or personnel or anything of the sort.
Prior to the injuries, New Jersey was primed to make the playoffs, with a very winnable first-round matchup against a swiftly fading Carolina team. Though these possibilities are certainly more remote without Jack Hughes (and possibly Dougie Hamilton), they are not impossible. And even making the playoffs this year would represent a huge step forwards for the organization, while simultaneously highlighting the needs for the team going forwards in order to build into an actually realistic Stanley Cup threat.
"Selling" at the trade deadline is probably a bad idea, in that the 2025 draft class is not especially strong and the Devils essentially need to tread water for the rest of the season to make the post-season. Is that possible given the recent injury news? I guess we will have to see.
Next season, I'd expect the Devils to be greatly improved. They will have the cap room to sign their only UFAs of value in Kovacevic and Allen. The Devils will likely get another very talented scoring winger coming into the fold in Gritsyuk, and GM Tom Fitzgerald has a huge trade chip in Simon Nemec to dangle to address the center depth.
For the most part, I would say the current management has done a very good job. This Devils team has been, for many years, among the weakest in the league in both goal and on the blueline. Now and going forward, NJ is very strong in both areas. The combination of Hischier and Hughes gives the Devils a powerful 1/2 punch up the middle, and they are complimented by some outstanding Ws in Bratt and Meier.
Clearly, there is need for another scoring winger or two. The bottom 6 needs to be improved, as does the center depth. These are the organization's foremost tasks for the off-season. But the organization has also built a strong framework to build with. Have they been perfect? No, of course not -- the mid-to-late-round drafting has not been strong and Fitzgerald ran out of cap room before he could add another scoring winger this year. But they have also -- very clearly -- put the NJ franchise in a much stronger position than when they took over the reins a few years back. And also -- very clearly -- the Devils future remains stronger than the present or recent past. That's a win in and of itself.
Needless to say, I am also crushed by the Jack Hughes injury, and worried about the Hamilton injury. But I also realize that a team which was pretty much unwatchable for many years is now very talented and intriguing, and the future remains bright. I'm equivalently intrigued to see what Fitzgerald does at the trade deadline.
thehockeywriters.com
