5 Teams New Jersey Devils Could Build New Rivalries With
For a team that’s only been around for 35 years, the New Jersey Devils might have what’s considered a lot of rivalries.. The rivalries that New Jersey is generally associated with includes the Rangers, Islanders, Flyers, Penguins, and Capitals. That’s mostly because of the Metropolitan Division geographical landscape. One could get to these games by train, thus why we will call the the Amtrak Five.
However, there are plenty of other teams the Devils could build rivalries with beyond the Amtrak Five. Which teams could be the ones we hate in just a few years?
Columbus Blue Jackets
Over the course of New Jersey Devils realignment the past few seasons, the Columbus Bluejackets, and their coach John Tortorella always get under our skin. Torts has been known to throw curse words like an HBO series character.
Another one of the things that gets the blood boiling is Nick Foligno and Brandon Dubinsky. Dubinsky over the years has been one of the thorns John Tortorella has been able to unleash since facing Peter DeBoer back in the day, and yet it’s still the same against John Hynes. Foligno always has very timely goals versus the Devils whether it’s a playoff season or a down season. Also, anytime the Bluejackets score in Columbus that Goal Song with the cannon is just so irritating.
Another thing to take into account is that Columbus hasn’t been able to draft well since Director of Amateur Scouting Paul Castron joined the Devils for the 2016 NHL Draft. The players that Castron was responsible for over the years in Columbus will end up becoming scouted perfectly and notes possibly shared with Devils Pro-Scouts over the years.
With The Devils getting only faster, younger, and just plain better this offseason, this rivalry can be something to watch with more sandpaper on this team. A lot of long-time Blue Jackets fans are probably beginning to feel the team backslide in the quality of talent in their pipeline once they begin missing on key players. Columbus will very likely be missing Paul Castron’s DOA services in the long run.
Boston Bruins
Over the years, the Boston Bruins always seemed to beat the New Jersey Devils in most matchups. The tables began to change as soon as Mackenzie Blackwood became a competent netminder. Guys like Brad Marchand seemed to get under the skin of Devils players, and coach Hynes always seemed to get very passionate at refs for allowing Marchand getting away with everything, including giving Marcus Johansson an unnecessary concussion.
With guys like Miles Wood, Pavel Zacha, John Hayden, Wayne Simmonds, Kyle Palmieri, and Blake Coleman together, the players tend to get very feisty when they have to play against a rough and tumble Bruins roster. Also, the Devils and Bruins fans seem to never get along when visiting each others arenas.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs last season always had the Devils number from the start to the end of the game. It is also very upsetting when Leafs fans use social media to get on the nerves of Devils fans. Now that the Devils have a cast of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Wayne Simmonds, P.K. Subban, and Taylor Hall, this could be the chance to shutdown John Tavares, William Nylander, Mitch Marner (if he re-signs in time), and Auston Matthews. Having a Devils team that can earn respect by shocking the Leafs in what could be pre-playoff style play can only build a rivalry on the ice and in the media.
Over the years, when Ray Shero made big moves, Hockey Central has been good to him as a Toronto media outlet. However, they never seem to let him off the hook for the lack of moves last offseason. Through the rebuild, it always seems guys on Hockey Central just won’t mention the Devils at all because they don’t want an American team that is bucking a trend against a few Original 6 Franchises. Don’t be surprised if one day the Devils and Leafs go at each other in the playoffs with fire intense hatred towards each other.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning is another team that is a growing conference rivalry. One moment during the 2018 playoffs when Nico Hischier got hit below the belt caused an outrage many Devils fans will never forget. Guys like Hedman, Kucherov, and Brayden Point always seem to have The Devils number over the years. However with a young and upcoming team that is getting younger while the Lightning are getting an average age of 28 years old on defense and 26.1 years old on forwards, the Devils have an average age of forwards with 25.4 years old and the defensemen average 27.4 years of age.
So the age is on the Devils side, but experience is still on Tampa’s side. However, a guy like former Ranger Ryan McDonagh will be around 37 years old by the time his contract ends, and will likely slowdown over time that might hurt Tampa’s window. They have 5 core guys signed through 2023-24 including Kucherov and Stamkos. The Devils expect to be a championship contender by that time. Nikita Gusev would love to have revenge on a team that sent him to Las Vegas during the last expansion draft. Now Gusev can stick it to Tampa as a Devil.
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings over the years have had see-saw matchups with the Devils. New Jersey has won a fair share of games home and away. Guys like Tyler Bertuzzi are very skilled, and very abrasive like his old man Todd. Anytime you talk to a Devils fan who remembers the 1995 Stanley Cup run, you can see the DNA of Bertuzzi click right away from his dad. This is the same effect when Claude Lemieux‘s son Brendan Lemieux plays for The Rangers.
New GM Steve Yzerman could be making moves to acquire prospects of his own from Tampa Bay during the season to build a chemistry and help try and make a very competitive Eastern Conference playoff bracket hard for the Devils to advance. However, Ray Shero has been able to counter attack a fair amount of the Red Wings before Yzerman’s arrival in Detroit. The Devils-Red Wings rivalry will be amped up a lot because you have Dylan Larkin, and Tag Bertuzzi as the two forwards that can bring scoring, skill, grit, and endurance to the team.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils have players like Jack Hughes that can blow you away with speed, skill, agility, and scoring while you have Nico Hischier who can be a Selke Trophy finalist that can play really good offense and make players around him a lot better.
This Devils vs. Red Wings rekindling rivalry can be a very good investment for NBCSN to do someday.