After turning lots of heads with their first round upset against the Rangers, the New Jersey Devils went on to face elimination against the Carolina Hurricanes where they would lose the series 4-1. As a Rangers fan, I’m glad I didn’t have to wait too long for this one but I do have to give the Devil's credit, they had a great year. The Devils finished towards the bottom of the pack in the East last season and followed it up with a neck and neck race for first in the Metro this year. While none of it matters until the postseason, I do have to admit I was hoping the Rangers would see Carolina in the first round instead of the Devils and they proved that desire to be valid. There was a bit of a similar vibe with this Devils team that the Rangers had last year when they made their run to the Eastern Conference Final and sure enough, it led to the Rangers demise. The Devils had a good balance of seasoned vets, guys who have been there before and young players that are on the brink of becoming superstars in this league. On top of all that, they got some goaltending from a guy most people have never heard of and played a style of hockey that shut down the Rangers completely. While they hit a Hurricane shaped wall from there, you have to look at this season as a successful next step for the Devils as we caught a glimpse of what could be ahead for this franchise.
Obviously as a Rangers fan, I didn’t have the Devils getting out of the first round in my predictions but I can assure you my bias won’t have any effect on the remainder of my elimination evaluation. While the Rangers didn’t play consistently enough to deserve moving on to the second round, the Devils still matched up to them tremendously. What really worked in that first round was their speed, their ability to keep the Rangers out of high scoring, danger areas and their will to stick around, despite going down 2-0 early in the series. It worked so well for the Devils that they not only won the series, but managed to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard completely in Games 5 and 7. At their best, they made the Rangers look utterly lost out there, unable to even break the puck out of the zone let alone maintain any kind of possession. While it wouldn’t work like that in their second round showing against Carolina, that’s certainly a positive for them to take away from their first postseason appearance since 2018.
There’s no question the game changing moment in the playoffs for this Devils team was when Lindy Ruff and the coaching staff decided to make the switch from Vitek Vanecek to Akira Schmidt. You can argue whether or not the Rangers really even tested him all that much in Games 5 and 7 but regardless, he played a very poised game and always seemed to be in position, keeping the puck out of the net in the process. While the Devils still went back and forth with him and Vanecek as their playoff run went on, you have to give the young netminder, who prior to these playoffs, most hockey fans had never even heard of,some credit. Moving forward, you have to feel pretty good about the Devils goaltending duo which will likely be the least of their problems and questions heading into the offseason.
That being said, what’s next for the New Jersey Devils? Well as of right now, they only have five forwards under contract for next season so General Manager Tom Fitzgerald is going to have a busy summer one way or the other. This group really set the tone for this new era of Devils hockey by getting back in the playoff picture and winning a series in the process. This new core led by Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt among others, certainly isn’t one to be slept on. However, there are some more pieces that need to fall into place before we can really grasp a long term picture on this Devils team. They have eight restricted free agents and five pending unrestricted free agents, some of which are some pretty significant names.
For starters, one of the biggest trade deadline deals came in the trade that sent Timo Meier over to Jersey in exchange for a bundle of assets. One of the main priorities for Tom Fitzgerald will be getting him signed to a long term deal. While Meier didn’t have an outstanding postseason, it’s hard to imagine that whatever team ended up acquiring him at the trade deadline wasn’t going to be signing him to a long term extension of his liking. With fellow countryman Nico Hischier as the leader of the team, you have to think he’s pretty content with the idea of being a Devil for as long as this core is going to be around. Speaking of that core, Jesper Bratt is another RFA that will more likely than not expect a pay raise and some term that keeps him around for the long haul as well. As it usually is the case with RFA’s, you can expect that Michael McLeod, Yegor Sharangovich, Nathan Bastian and Kevin Bahl will all be back in the mix as well.
The lone RFA that is likely a question mark is goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. Blackwood only started 20 games for the Devils this season and did not put up impressive numbers in the process. At one point in time, he was expected to be the next guy in between the pipes for New Jersey but since bringing Vitek Vanecek to town and now with the rise of Akira Schmidt, you have to wonder if the Devils are really even interested in working something out with him. On top of that, Blackwood has dealt with an MCL injury that has affected his last two seasons which absolutely played a part in his limited starts. The Devils could look to trade him for a team looking for a project goalie but given the circumstances, I wouldn’t really expect a new contract for him in Jersey.
Management’s work isn’t done there however, as Damon Severson is among a relatively notable UFA group that includes Erik Haula, Miles Wood, Tomas Tatar and Ryan Graves. The Devils do have some cap space to work with but once they work out extensions with Bratt, Meier and others, it could start to be an issue. Aside from those two aforementioned names, you have to think Damon Severson, who is the Devils longest tenured player, takes priority in extension chats. While the Devils do have Douggie Hamilton and John Marino already under contract on the right side, I can’t imagine they aren’t interested in keeping Severson around, especially if they can work out a team friendly deal. In the event he decides to hit the open market as Ryan Graves is also expected to, the Devils will all of a sudden have a massive hole in the middle of their group of defenseman which could pose an issue for them heading into what’s expected to be a big follow up season.
The bulk of the Devils offseason priorities will come internally but it’s safe to assume they’ll explore the free agent market as much as any other team. They’ll need to add to their defense and would benefit from some additional depth with a solid third line wing option to fill the voids Tomas Tatar and Erik Haula will likely leave behind. Regardless, the Devils are in a great spot to run it back next season. While it wasn’t much of a close series against Carolina, they still fought hard right until the end and proved they could hang with the best of them. With some playoff experience now under their belts, look to them to come back swinging next season and to be a continued pain in the Rangers, and other Metropolitan fan bases asses for years to come.
Chris Feldman
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