New Jersey Devils: 5 Moves In 2019 That Could Have Changed Everything

Start Mackenzie Blackwood On Night One

This one is completely revisionist history. It made perfect sense to start Cory Schneider at the time of opening night. He was scorching hot and was the $6 million man in net. Going with Mackenzie Blackwood on opening night would put the coach in question. However, looking back at it, nobody could say it wouldn’t have been a decision that changed everything.

We know what happened on opening night. Schneider looked great for the first period and a half and the Devils were up big. The Winnipeg Jets scored a goal that forced Schneider to go side to side, and Schneider didn’t get up too fast. He eventually left the game, and we couldn’t find a specific picture of it but the look on Blackwood’s face showed a player that wasn’t ready to go. He jumped in, and the Devils lost the rest of a four-goal lead.

Blackwood and Schneider were both never the same, as the season unraveled before our very eyes. He came back the next night and allowed seven goals to the Buffalo Sabres. Blackwood struggled with inconsistency for the next two months and losing his confidence on the first two nights of the season couldn’t have helped.

Schneider was awful for most of the year, but again losing confidence in his ability to make saves while staying healthy made Schneider almost worthless in net. If the Devils just let him ease into the position. If they did a proper split from the beginning starting with Blackwood, the Devils season would be wildly different.