5 Players Who’ve Played Their Last Games With New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils season ended on Saturday with a 4-3 overtime win against the Florida Panthers. Saturday also marks the end of many players career with this franchise.
The New Jersey Devils underperformed in a major way this season. Some of it has to do with a massive amount of injuries, but most of it has to do with an underwhelming first half. Just about everyone was playing below their talent level in one way or another, and the team just never clicked.
If the team was getting good scoring for a stretch, the goaltending was atrocious. When Cory Schneider finally got his groove back, they had no Taylor Hall to drive scoring. Nothing worked out this entire season. When that happens, changes come with that.
Head coach John Hynes basically said everyone will be evaluated this offseason once the game was over. With those evaluations comes the truth that many players will be finding new teams, or finding a new career. It happens every season to every team, but the Devils may be looking at some turnover after a bad season. It’s what’s necessary to make room for hopefully some free agents and some prospects that are ready to play in the NHL.
There could be some very surprising players that played their last game for the New Jersey Devils this offseason. Whether it’s by trade, or a shrewd Ray Shero move, the end could be near for just about anyone. Shero has made some surprise moves in past offseasons, like when he decided to buy out Michael Cammalerri and Devante Smith-Pelley two seasons ago. Also, he decided against giving Beau Bennett a qualifying offer despite giving up a 3rd-round pick a year earlier.
This season, we could see similar moves that are devout of emotion and strictly looking at the future of the Devils. These five players have very little chance of making another run at it with the Devils.
Mirco Mueller
Mirco Mueller may go down as the worst move of the Ray Shero tenure. He sent a 2nd and 4th-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft for Mueller and a 5th. It looked like Shero was banking on the upside of a defenseman that was once good enough to go in the 1st round, but he had never shown NHL potential with the San Jose Sharks.
He spent the last two seasons with the Devils, and struggled to stay healthy for the most part. That likely had a lot to do with his inconsistency on the ice. It’s really hard to form chemistry with linemates when it’s hard to stay on the ice.
Mueller was limited to just 28 games last season, then missed close to 30 games this year with multiple injuries. He was given every chance to succeed with the Devils, it just never seemed to work out.
Mueller is set to become a restricted free agent in the offseason. To guarantee his rights, Shero needs to give Mueller a qualifying offer. Even if Shero gives Mueller an offer, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s coming back. Mueller has little value, but he does have value. If Shero can get a team to take a chance on him for a 6th-round pick, then that’s better than nothing.
Either way, with Ty Smith and Jeremy Davies likely on the roster ready to contribute, it’s hard to believe there will be room for Mueller next season. It was an interesting ride, and Mueller will get another chance elsewhere, but his time with New Jersey is likely over.
Nick Lappin
This one is bittersweet. Nick Lappin was a player I really wanted to get a shot this season after he had a career year in 2017-18. He broke the 30-goal mark last season with the Binghamton Devils, so it seemed like the only logical move was for him to play with New Jersey. He didn’t really get a shot until later in the year, and he didn’t do much with that shot.
Lappin played 11 games with the New Jersey Devils this season and scored zero points. He also regressed slightly, scoring 19 goals over 52 games in the AHL. Lappin’s never gone an entire season without an NHL goal since he started making NHL appearances. That streak is now over.
Lappin is 26 years old, and is starting to get a little old to keep waiting for chances. He’s becoming an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and while the Devils might want him back as an AHL guy, he will likely look for more of a chance on an NHL roster.
Lappin was a good Devils player since signing from Brown University in 2016, but he never truly hit his upside here. These things happen, but it doesn’t usually end with players sticking with their respective teams. Lappin was really nice to have, and always someone we thought would be more, but it’s likely time for him to see what he can do in another uniform.
Kurtis Gabriel
Kurtis Gabriel is a player you have to root for. That is, until he takes a bad penalty that puts your team down a man. He’s always fighting for teammates, and backing up his man. However, more often than not he’s actually fighting putting the Devils behind on the bench, forcing his teammates to make up that ice time. He’s a fun player for a bit, but he’s not a long-term guy.
He’s the type of player you really want to root for. He fights for LGBTQ rights with a simple rainbow tape on his stick. That seems small, but it makes a big difference when athletes acknowledge these things. It’s great to have those types of players, but at the end of the day the on-ice product is what matters more.
In 22 games with the Devils this season, he had 59 penalty minutes and scored two goals. Those aren’t the best splits. What’s even crazier is he took seven shots in 22 games. Players run into more shots than that. He was way, way, way too focused on parts of the game that don’t exist anymore. If he wanted to fight a guy, that would be his singular focus for his entire shift, and it took him out of plays.
Gabriel was fun to root for when the Devils were decimated by injuries, but he gave out a scary hit or two that was borderline for today’s NHL. He took a one-game suspension in early March for a hit on Nolan Patrick. These types of players are hard to rely on. Tom Wilson is in a similar situation where he’s one hit away from spending his hockey life in purgatory. Even if John Hynes can help Gabriel focus on his other talents, it wouldn’t be worth it.
Egor Yakovlev
This one really, really hurts, but no matter how you spin it it’s almost completely unlikely he has any chance to return to the New Jersey Devils. That’s likely mostly his own doing. The Devils misused him all season, sending him up and down between the NHL and AHL, then putting him in and out of the lineup as a healthy scratch.
Egor Yakovlev showed some promise at times, especially offensively. He even suited up one game as a forward and looked pretty good. He showed he was willing to do anything that Coach Hynes asked him to do. He would probably drive the zamboni if the team needed it.
Honestly, in a different situation Yakovlev would make perfect sense to bring back. He’s finally gotten used to the size of the North American ice and how they play their game this season. It’s completely different than it is in the KHL. He’s also spending a full year working on his English. That’s an underrated issue with Yakovlev. Not only is he having trouble with the game, but he can’t communicate with his teammates.
Think about how hard your job was if everyone spoke Japanese. Now, consider you’re an athlete trying to keep goals out of your net. Despite this, Yakovlev was good at times. He had very good offensive senses, he just needed help in his own end. He made one too many turnovers, and put himself in bad positions when trying to break out. It would be worth it to give him one more year, but with Smith coming and Steve Santini signed for two more years, there’s not really room for him next year.
Drew Stafford
Drew Stafford is a love-hate relationship with the New Jersey Devils. On paper, he’s having a worse season this year than he did last year, but last year was mostly one great run to start, then coming back to the mean. This year, he filled his role perfectly after signing a PTO in the preseason.
Stafford is a fine player, and could possibly return in certain situations, but the Devils just need these NHL spots with players like Kevin Rooney hitting their one-way deals. Stafford might actually stick with the Devils on the coaching staff if anything, as he’s always been a really good locker room presence.
Stafford scored just five goals this season in 57 games. He’s great to have around, but his production on the ice just isn’t up to snuff. He’s a veteran presence, someone the younger players look up to, but at the end of the day if he’s not contributing on the ice, Shero needs to find someone who is.
Stafford was frustrating for two years with the team, mostly because it started so well. There were people looking to give him a two year extension last October, but here we are 18 months later, and he could be ending his hockey career in general.
Stafford’s the only player on this list that could be done with hockey altogether next season. He’s only 33 years old, but if he doesn’t want to play in the minors or overseas, he might have played his last professional hockey game. He had an interesting career that mysteriously fell off the map, but one day we will look back fondly on his time with New Jersey.