New Jersey Devils: How Will Keith Kinkaid Be Remembered?

The New Jersey Devils welcomed Keith Kinkaid back to the Prudential Center on Tuesday night. He will leave a strange legacy now that he’s gone.

The New Jersey Devils and Keith Kinkaid has a very interesting history, one of many ups and downs throughout the start of his career. At one point this season, fans were calling him an elite goaltender who would be the starter for years. At other points this season, the fans turned on him in a way that they wanted to trade him for basically nothing.

That’s exactly what Ray Shero ended up doing. He sent Kinkaid to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 5th-round pick. No, it wasn’t a 5th-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft. It’s not even a pick in the next year’s draft. Nope, this is a pick in 2022 draft.

It was just a strange end to possibly even a stranger career with the Devils. Kinkaid was thought to be sure to leave when his contract was up back in 2017. He is coming off a year with a .916 save percentage in 23 starts. It looked like he was destined to go to a team that would give him the chance to start, but he instead decided to re-sign with the Devils for a moderate raise over two years.

He started off last season terribly, and he looked like a bust signing, but we all know what happened next.

He went on one of the best runs in New Jersey Devils history. That’s not overstating what Kinkaid did. The Devils played eight must-win games towards the end of last season. The Florida Panthers were surging, and they were basically on the tails of the Devils. Kinkaid won seven of his last eight games, and the only won he lost went to overtime giving the Devils a loser point.

In that stretch, he had a .931 save percentage, and was one of two reasons why the Devils made the playoffs last season. (Taylor Hall was obviously the other.) Things didn’t go so well once the playoffs started, but Kinkaid was still the reason the Devils ended a five-year playoff drought. Think about this, if it wasn’t for Kinkaid, the Devils would be working on a seven-year playoff drought this season.

His relationship with the fans was two-sided. There was the fun-loving goalie who made all the emojis and did a good job of making appearances with the kids and seemed like a genuinely good guy. Then, there’s the Kinkaid who went out of his way to block people in the fanbase. Usually, one shouldn’t blame an athlete for blocking those harassing them, but this felt like a player looking for simple criticism and block fans for their opinion.

Still, Kinkaid will always have a special part in this fanbase. That’s why the Devils felt the need to give him his own tribute video during his Tuesday night return.

Now, his legacy as a Devils player becomes an interesting one to define. He was mostly a backup during his time, and he only played 151 games over five seasons. Many players who spend five seasons with a team don’t get the love of a tribute video. Not only that, but he got a nice ovation from the home crowd afterwards.

In all honestly, Kinkaid may have a hard time finding a job in the NHL next season. Some team will likely give him a chance, but it might not be a guaranteed NHL job. This could be the last time we see Kinkaid playing legitimate minutes in the league. As we look back, he will always have a place in Devils lore, but he will ultimately become the answer to a Cadillac Trivia Question, similar to the legacies of Chris Terreri or Scott Clemmensen.