This season, the New Jersey Devils are ready to fight tooth and nail to earn the coveted top spot in the Metropolitan Division. The team is set to make a comeback following a disappointing 2023-24 season. Poor goaltending, injuries, and an unsteady defense all contributed to an unfortunate performance that kept them out of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite the low notes, general manager Tom Fitzgerald has made it clear the Devils are building a team worthy of playoff contention. Numerous offseason trades make them look dangerous on paper, but the Devils still need to address their most pressing issue before the 2024-25 season begins: consistency.
In 2023-24, more often than not, the team lacked a 60-minute effort. With a cursed undefeated preseason, a lack of physicality, and an excessive amount of back-to-back games, the Devils were quick to fall into a rut. Losing key players at the end of the 2022-23 season, including Tomas Tatar, Damon Severson, Yegor Sharangovich, and Ryan Graves, created a very difficult situation.
Suddenly, the roster was vastly different from the one that went on a 13-game winning streak in 2022. Losing Severson and Graves to free agency was devastating, but countless other injuries made their absence even more pronounced. This set the stage for an inconsistent and underwhelming, 2023-24 season. Nonetheless, now that the Devils have a stronger blue-line presence, defensive pairings should be a lot more dependable in the upcoming months.
This season, it is important that the Devils earn critical points early on. In 2023-24, they couldn’t manage a three-game win streak and were bested by the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks. The Devils had moments of brilliant play but could be defeated by a bottom-tier team one game later. They were guilty of making sloppy passes and seeming out of sync with one another, leaving their defensive zone vulnerable to turnovers and breakaways.
What Created Inconsistency Last Season?
While Jacob Markstrom is arguably the team’s best offseason acquisition, the Devils must provide a consistent effort that extends beyond goaltending. Offensively, Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Jesper Bratt led the way, but defensively, the Devils took a major step back last season. This season, they will benefit from having veteran defenseman Dougie Hamilton back in the lineup, but the team has already…
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