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

By Nick Villano

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 2: Will Butcher #8 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with the bench after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on February 2, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 2: Will Butcher #8 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with the bench after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on February 2, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
(Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

John Quenneville

I know, I know. Most of Devils fans have already given up on the prospect of John Quenneville. He made the Devils out of training camp this season, looked decent in a few games, then fell apart the second John Hynes decided to send him back down to the AHL.

Quenneville may not even be back with the Devils next season, as he’s going to become a restricted free agent, but I can’t see Ray Shero giving up a 1st-round pick for free. He will either try to trade him, or give him one last shot with the franchise.

To prove himself to the Devils, he’s going to need to work harder than he ever has in his hockey life. Quenneville works extremely hard every single offseason. He goes to the prospect camps and plays in the prospect games. He’s been here for five seasons now, and he’s still considered a tweener between the NHL and AHL.

This offseason, he needs to gain confidence in his shot, which helped him score 17 goals in 35 Binghamton games. He can do this, something just changes when his crest morphs into an “NJ.”

Next. Matt Duchene Should Pick New Jersey. dark

If he can use the offseason workouts to build confidence, and spends almost all of his time watching tape of himself, he can turn this around overnight. He’s still just 22 years old. That’s plenty of time to build a very good NHL career. If he can’t figure it out this season, he will be passed by. Expect him to sign a one-year deal and forced to prove himself.

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