5 New Jersey Devils Who Must Put In Extra Work This Offseason

The New Jersey Devils had one of the worst seasons in recent memories thanks to injuries and general bad play. With this, many players need to step up their workouts and tape work in the offseason.

It was about as bad as possible, with as little hope as possible. This season was just straight terrible for the New Jersey Devils and its fans. Just about everyone on the team regressed, except maybe Damon Severson and Travis Zajac.

Honestly, this season was about everyone falling apart one season after most things going right. Players who had breakouts in 2017-18, fell off the map in 18-19. This cannot happen again. It just doesn’t even seem possible. However, it is up to the players themselves to make sure it doesn’t happen.

Just about every player on the roster should take a little time off, but then get right back on the ice. They beat teams last season with speed and outworking them. This season, many nights they seem slow and lethargic. It honestly makes no sense with the amount of talent this team has.

There is a laundry list of players who need to put in extra work this offseason, but naming every player on the roster is no fun. We chose five players who have to come into next year’s training camp like a bat out of hell. The only way that’s going to happen is if they spend more time on the ice practicing and time in the film room studying than everyone else.

We learned last season this team can’t win on their talent alone. Sure, injuries did a number on this squad, but even when they were closest to healthy they were still being annihilated by the likes of Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. Last season, they swept the regular season series against the Lightning. This season, they lost three games by a combined 18-6.

These five players need to work extra hard to turn around their ugly seasons, and make us all forget what happened.

Miles Wood

Let’s start with the obvious. Miles Wood is having a dreadful season. After breaking out last season with 19 goals, using a combination of his lightning quick speed and in your face tenacity, Wood was mistake prone and a penalty machine this season.

This season, he just scored his 10th goal of the season. This comes after a lengthy contract negotiation that saw him miss all of training camp. He held out until he received a four-year deal from Ray Shero and company. He was looking to cash in on his 19-goal season, and he did.

The problem is Wood is not the type of player who can miss an entire offseason program and play like it’s nothing. It’s no offense to him, only the very best can do that. Even Taylor Hall would have trouble with that.

He did a lot better with scoring goals down the stretch. He’s scored five goals in his last 11 games played (an injury took him out for a few weeks in the middle of that).

This offseason, we need Wood to do nothing but watch tape and work on his footwork. His hands are getting better every season. He just needs to learn to stay on his feet. It seems like he fell at the exact same moment every time. If he combines watching what he did on film and working on it during the offseason, he could break 20 goals next season.