The New Jersey Devils and the rest of the National Hockey League are still trying to figure out what the plan of action is going to be in resuming hockey.
The New Jersey Devils were in the middle of the 2019-20 season that wasn’t going very well. It had a bit of expectation going into the season but they failed to meet them. Even if you thought they were a borderline playoff team that would ultimately fall short, they failed to meet that expectation as well. So would it be bad for them if the National Hockey League just scrapped the 2019-20 season for good due to the coronavirus?
Well, the answer is yes. The Devils don’t need to play any more games as they would even miss the playoffs if they had a 24 team playoff. With that said, it would be worth it for them to finish the season so there could be some fair clarity to how they handle the 2020 NHL Draft. The Devils have some conditional picks in this draft that they need to have settled for them.
They also might benefit from some players like Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes getting some games in this season. They are the future of this team and getting them some more playing time at any capacity would be something that is good for them. They were both having up and down seasons but they both have shown that they can drive a line if put in the right position.
They are already in the midst of a search for a permanent head coach. This is key to them improving over the next few years. Alain Nasreddine is currently holding the interim tag and a few more games would be a way for them to see what they have in him. It seems pretty clear that he isn’t the man for the permanent job but more games for them would really have a chance to show it.
This also would be good for the league as a whole. People would have a chance to earn some otherwise lost money, trophy races could truly be settled, and some single-season milestones could be capped off. There is a lot to think about when making this decision but for us as fans, we just miss the game and hope to have it back relatively soon.