5 Players Who’ve Played Their Last Games With New Jersey Devils

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.