The New Jersey Devils have spent most of the season as one of the biggest surprises in the NHL. However, a recent rough stretch may change the narrative. So, what constitutes as a successful Devils season?
Success is objective. The word itself can cause people to fight like cats and dogs. Some define success as achieving certain goals, while others change their success rate as things go on. So, what is success to the New Jersey Devils?
That’s obviously a hard question to pin down. If you told a Devils fan before the season if at the All-Star Break the Devils would be in a playoff spot, every member of the Devils Army would take that (except for the few who want to tank for Dahlin). However, if you told fans on December 1st that at this point the Devils would only be one point from being out of the playoffs, then most fans would be appalled.
So now that we are here, what makes this Devils season a success?
For one, I think the Devils need to fight for the rest of the year. They need to show this current run is just a drop in the bucket for the entire season. Sure, things have gone miraculously bad over the last 40 days, but there’s still time to stop the slide.
The team has 34 games left in the season, with 56 points right now. Say the team can go 15-15-4 to end the season, they would end with 90 points. Before the season, people would have been extremely happy with that result. Only asking the team to go .500, while still hitting the 90 point plateau is pretty impressive. That’s still a 20 point improvement from last season.
Realistically, 90 points doesn’t get you to the playoffs. Last season, the Toronto Maple Leafs took the last spot with 95 points in the Eastern Conference.
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I think that missing the playoffs at this point makes this season feel unsuccessful. I want to stop short of calling 90 points a failure, but it definitely doesn’t feel like a success.
Honestly, just making the playoffs feels like the only way you call this season a success. Too many good things happened early in the season to not change the expectations. Nico Hischier immediately translated to the NHL game as a teenager. Taylor Hall finally took the next step towards superstardom. The Devils got major contributions from surprising players like Brian Boyle, Brian Gibbons and Blake Coleman.
With these new expectations, the Devils need to go at least 17-12-5. Honestly, that’s not out of the question. That asks the Devils to win as many games as they lose. This team can easily do that as long as they stop this avalanche of losses from taking out the village.