Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils Rivalry With New York Rangers Is All The Way Back

By Vincent Parise

NEWARK, NJ - APRIL 01: New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) during the third period of the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers on April 1, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - APRIL 01: New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) during the third period of the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers on April 1, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers have been big rivals for a while now, but it seems to be reaching a peak we haven’t seen in a long time.

The New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers likely had the two best offseasons in the National Hockey League in 2019. The Devils made the first-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and the Rangers followed them with the second-overall pick. Jack Hughes went to New Jersey and the Rangers took Kaapo Kakko. The debate has been going on since before the draft lottery and it will likely continue throughout the next decade.

Both teams acquired a top-flight defenseman this offseason. The Rangers made a trade with the Winnipeg Jets to get Jacob Trouba while the Devils made a trade with the Nashville Predators to acquire P.K. Subban. Both of these guys are going to be inserted into the number-one defenseman role on their new team.

The Rangers also added superstar Artemi Panarin to their group to match the elite level wing play of Devils forward Taylor Hall. Hall is a little better than Panarin, but the gap isn’t huge so they will make for a great individual matchup. Both of them are going to lead their teams in scoring and it will likely be above a point-per-game pace.

The Devils own the Rangers at depth at the center position with guys like Hughes,

Nico Hischier

,

Travis Zajac

, and

Pavel Zacha

. The counter to that is with guys like Trouba and Adam Fox added to the mix, the Rangers probably have a better defense. We can hope that the goaltending is a wash and it appears these two teams are on the same level going into 2019-20.

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The fanbases are at it again as if both teams are about to engage in a playoff series too. The fans feed all rivalries and this one is really making a comeback. There are posts going around comparing each team top player at each position like Hall to Panarin, Hischier to Mika Zibanejad, Hughes to Kakko, and Subban to Trouba. The point remains though that it really doesn’t matter. Hockey is a team game, and hopefully, the Devils can take care of their business on the ice and not worry about what the New York Rangers are doing.

If it seems like the Rangers rebuild went a little quicker than the Devils did, it is because it did. The Devils were left to pick up the pieces after losing Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk, David Clarkson, and the primes of both Martin Brodeur and Patrik Elias all within a span of a few years for absolutely nothing. They also didn’t truly start rebuilding until Ray Shero was appointed in 2015. The Rangers were able to trade away guys like Derek Stepan, Michael Grabner, Ryan McDonagh, and J.T. Miller to gain assets for the future.

light. Related Story. Jack Hughes Leads The Way At Development Camp

That combined with striking gold in the lottery and signing Panarin really moved the needle for them. They are by no means done because the center position just simply isn’t good enough, yet. The Devils were also a bit lucky because they did win the lottery twice in three years so it all levels out. Either way, it is so sweet to have these two fanbases hate each other and we can’t wait until they hit the ice together again.

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