The season is over. The dust has settled. The 2017-18 New Jersey Devils far exceeded expectations. Accomplishing what almost no one thought they could or would accomplish simply by making the playoffs. It was quite the run for the Devils. Fighting for every single game, and needing every single point to hold off the Florida Panthers for the final spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Players are graded on expectation vs reality for the 2017-18 as it certainly wouldn’t be fair to compare Taylor Hall to Blake Coleman. Each Devil had a specific role this season and they’ll be graded on how well they filled that role. That means a player like Jesper Bratt will have more leeway than Cory Schneider. The expectations for Bratt coming into the season were minimal at best. Meanwhile, the few veterans on this team were coming in with slightly higher expectations.
The overall team gets an A+, but lets take a look at how each individual player grades out, line by line. There were times this season where one line or the other would take over games. This will be an overall look at how each player performed from game one to game 87.
With that being said, it’s time to take out the red pen, and give these players some grades. There will be more As than Fs on this team, and that’s exactly how it should be. Remember to follow us on Twitter @pitchforkedpuck to give us your feedback to the grades. Now, here’s how everyone ended up this season.