After years of rebuilding, the New Jersey Devils are beginning to make believers in the main stream media. EJ Hradek of NHL Network and Sam Rosen of NHL.com sat down together talking about the New Jersey Devils trying to become a playoff contender. Sam Rosen said the Devils are a bubble team, but he does have them making it. On the contrary, EJ Hradek this is a team that’s not making the postseason.
Comments like Hradek’s show the Devils still have some work to do to get complete respect from the mainstream media. To think as if Ray Shero were to make a move for a top-two defender to help boost the defensive depth on this roster. However, adding a left-handed defender gives a guy like Ty Smith more room to grow as a rookie.
To facilitate a trade once again, Devils GM Ray Shero has extra forwards he can use along with $7 million in cap space. In the short and long term, the first rule of thumb is “never doubt Ray Shero”. He’s a wheeler dealer.
He’s very determined to get that missing piece to improve the team like he did in Pittsburgh during the golden years of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin where they picked up a defender like a Paul Martin. So it doesn’t have to be via trade and sometimes the most underrated ones are signings, and waiver wire pickups.
There has been a history of Ray Shero building around guys like a Crosby-Malkin- Jordan Staal that have been the core pieces back in Pittsburgh. Ray Shero has that in Nico Hischier-Jack Hughes and Travis Zajac to begin the season. Over time, Ray Shero might go big game hunting during the season if a team like the Blackhawks aren’t doing well with a guy like Olli Maatta. As much as people like to think getting Maata is out of the question, there are so many variables that goes into acquiring a guy.
More from Pucks and Pitchforks
- Should New Jersey Devils Try Load Management With Vitek Vanecek?
- New Jersey Devils Will Prove That Last Year Wasn’t A Fluke
- New Jersey Devils: Luke Hughes’ Playmaking Will Outshine His Mistakes
- New Jersey Devils: Chase Stillman’s Performance Causes Concern
- Can Devils Fans Separate Zach Parise Heartbreak From Achievements?
Last trade deadline, we saw Ray Shero trade Brian Boyle for a 2nd round pick that became a trade piece sent to San Jose. San Jose then used that pick to get Dillon Hamaliuk. Meanwhile Ray Shero and company traded pick 91 to Washington. New Jersey used that 82 pick from San Jose to pick Michael Vukojevic out of the Kitchener Rangers. The Capitals sent rounds 4 and 5 (118 and 129) for Case McCarthy and Arseni Gritsyuk.
So that trade of Boyle for pick 55 became the trade of trades for New Jersey at the 2019 NHL Draft. In this case Ray Shero will be doing the opposite but going after a Left Handed Defender, and possibly a veteran or young goalie. Those are the 2 areas of improvement for The New Jersey Devils to prove why this team can yield 98 points or more to very likely solidify their playoff spot in the East.
What is to be expected this team has a lot of really good variables going forward. It’s a matter of time when Ray Shero has Mackenzie Blackwood competing for the starters spot with Schneider and make Schneider prove he can be a healthy goalie again. The depth in goal with Gilles Senn will hopefully add the depth, skill, and insurance to prove both Devils fans, and non-Devils fans that this team is for real a big threat for many years to come.