If anyone needs the No. 1 pick in the draft, it’s the Devils
After making the playoffs for 20 of 22 seasons, the New Jersey Devils have fallen on hard times.
They have missed the postseason for the last five years and they are coming off their worst season in nearly three decades.
In some ways, it’s not surprising. After years of success that included three Stanley Cup championships and two other trips to the championship round, New Jersey ran into problems after going to the final in 2012.
The team was aging. Its drafts were weak. High-scoring wing Zach Parise used free agency to sign with Minnesota after losing the Cup to the Kings. Forward Ilya Kovalchuk returned to play in Russia after the following season. There was a lack of scoring, a little less defence and little depth throughout the roster.
The Devils finished seven points out of a playoff spot in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, a campaign that saw longtime goaltender Martin Brodeur miss a month with a pinched nerve in his neck, and had Kovalchuk battle a shoulder injury down the stretch. While they had 88 points in 2013-14, Pete DeBoer’s team missed the postseason by six points, in large part due to 18 overtime losses, including 0-13 in shootouts.
DeBoer was gone the following December after New Jersey started 12-17-7, and the team eventually finished 20 points out of a playoff position with Scott Stevens and Adam Oates sharing head coaching responsibilities.
Ray Shero was hired as general manager in 2015 and picked John Hynes, the coach of the Penguins’ top farm team, to run the Devils. The team exceeded expectations in 201516, posting a 38-36-8 mark and staying in contention until the final two months as goaltender Cory Schneider and forwards Kyle Palmieri and Adam Henrique had big seasons.
Despite the addition of Taylor Hall in an off-season trade, last season was a fiasco. The team opened 9-3-3, then went 19-3711 in finishing last in the Eastern Conference. New Jersey’s 70 points were its fewest since 66 in 1988-89.
The Devils need help everywhere on the ice, particularly at centre. But this year’s draft, which begins Friday in Chicago, seemingly has no franchisechanging player on the board. There are a lot of good players, but no Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews.
Shero is not saying who the Devils will take with the top pick – if they use it. However, most experts think it will be either centre Nolan Patrick of Brandon of the WHL or centre Nico Hischier of Halifax of the QMJHL. Both fit into Shero’s desire to have a fast team on the ice.