New Jersey Devils: 5 Moves In 2019 That Could Have Changed Everything
By Nick Villano
Acquire A Defenseman To Pair With P.K. Subban
Going into the season, there was one position that was an obvious weakness. The right side of the defense was stacked on paper, but the left side left a ton to be desired. It looked like it was going to be Andy Greene, Will Butcher, and Connor Carrick.
Head coach John Hynes made the decision we all knew he would but all knew he shouldn’t and paired Greene with Subban on opening night. Greene definitely had a role to play on this team, but pairing him with a special talent who was trying to acclimate to a new role was not that. Greene is a step too slow to make up for the style of play that Subban brings to the table.
On one hand, it’s hard to ask the Devils to do more this offseason. The Devils already added five new names to the lineup. However, they just needed to make one more to find someone to fit with Subban. Over the season, Subban was paired with Damon Severson, Sami Vatanen, Will Butcher, Mirco Mueller, and more. It was never going to work this way.
The Devils had Jake Gardiner there to give him a shot. He didn’t do so hot with the Carolina Hurricanes, but maybe he would have been better in a genuine role on a top line next to Subban. Anton Stralman was a player we really liked going into free agency. He ended up signing with the Panthers at the beginning of free agency. Maybe there was a trade to make happen, but they were running out of assets especially with the upcoming Nikita Gusev trade. Either way, going into the season with Andy Greene as a top-line defenseman was not the right move.
Or, maybe they could have just…