Monday, December 16th 2019 is a day that will live on in New Jersey Devils lore as a dark day. It was day that casts a shadow on a once proud organization. The day they moved on from arguably the best player to ever wear a red and black jersey. The Taylor Hall saga is over.
While most fans were relieved that they don’t have to worry about the rumors of where Hall will go and what the return will be, there are more dark days yet to come. This season being a let down is a massive understatement. Nothing Devils GM Ray Shero has done this offseason has paid off at all. What was hailed as the best NHL offseason has quickly turned into the worst regular season this fanbase has not seen since the likes of the mid 1980s.
P.K. Subban was supposed to be a Norris caliber defenseman rebounding off an injury-plagued year in Nashville. He has not scored a point in twenty contests and costs $9 million for the next two seasons. Nikita Gusev was hailed as the KHL MVP and would pay dividends early. He was in John Hynes’ doghouse and it took awhile for him to find his footing on NHL ice. Even though admittedly, he has found his game more recently.
Wayne Simmonds came in and was supposed to prescribe the grit that was much needed and be the player he was in Philadelphia after a long rest in the offseason. Simmonds has shown some flashes of grit but very few and far between, and his days of getting 40+ points a year are long gone. Jack Hughes, the number one overall pick has been decent for an 18-year-old kid playing amongst men. Once the consistency comes, he will be a constant point getter. But that time is not now.
The Devils did not get any roster players in return for Hall. Kevin Bahl is currently playing at the World Juniors and it may be awhile until we see him in the NHL conversation. Nick Merkley is a former 1st-round pick in 2015, that has not been able to find his way into the NHL. He may not be able to be able to translate his success AHL to the NHL. He is a question mark at best. Nate Schnarr played well as an overage player in the OHL last season. Having nine points in 23 AHL contests, its easy to see him being a fringe NHLer at best.
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The Devils did get two draft picks for Hall. A first round pick that would bode well for the Devils. But if the Coyotes miss the playoffs and get a top three pick, they keep it. The conditions on the 2021 third round pick are possible. There is a possibility the Devils can get two 1st-round picks, but if they miss with the picks, it won’t end well.
The Devils are a worse team with Taylor Hall gone. A MVP winner was given away, at 50% less salary, for mediocre prospects and draft picks that may or may not hit. This may all be pessimism, but with the way the season has gone it is hard to see any sort of positivity. The season does not look like it is going to get any better. With the losing record, it is entirely possible we see Sami Vatanen, Simmonds, Subban, fan favorite Kyle Palmieri, and others go in trades. If the return for Hall is this underwhelming, it is hard to see the Devils getting better deals for their better chips to trade. We have all said Shero is a magician when it comes to his deals. It seems he has run out of magic dust.
When the season ends, the current roster will be drastically different. They will be in need of a new head coach since Alain Nasreddine was John Hynes’ right hand man, and his system didn’t end up working. They will need a new goalie, unless Mackenzie Blackwood can start to consistently produce.
They will need a new number-one scoring threat as it does not seem Nico Hischier or Hughes are ready to handle that responsibility yet. They will need a new captain. It does not appear that anyone has taken any sort of leadership besides Palmieri, and he may be gone by the trade deadline. It is possible current captain Andy Greene stays, but at 35 years old, you want to realistically compete for a Stanley Cup at some point while you can still keep up.
It is hard to see a future where the Devils are successful within the next couple of years. They have two number-one overall picks that can lead the charge. However, what is the supporting cast?
The prospects that Shero has accumulated in his tenure don’t look ready to step into the NHL on an everyday basis with the exception of Hischier, Hughes, the Brothers Jesper. Ty Smith was not ready this season, but potentially could be next season. The Devils do not have more than the two first round picks in the first three rounds of this upcoming draft that is incredibly deep. To gain more draft picks that will cost players. NHL players off the roster means AHL players playing in the show. This has the 2018-19 season written on it, but with two saviors(Hischier/Hughes) instead of one.
The icing on the cake will be the Devils losing out on the lottery this year. Not getting a top three pick, trading away your productive players, while going through coaching changes and inconsistent play seems to be something that is an entire possibility for the Devils. Shero swung and missed during every facet of Hall’s stay in New Jersey. It came back to bite Shero and in the process, it bit the fans too. All we can do at this point is thank Hall for everything he did and just hope for a better future. As it stands right now, there don’t seem to be any positives not named Hughes or Hischier.