Though this offseason is far different from the last for the NHL and the New Jersey Devils, the offseason of 2019 is still very relevant to the future of this Devils organization. The moves Ray Shero made as General Manager were regarded as some of the most exciting by a Devils executive in a long time. The unadulterated hype that was felt by Devils fans far and wide seemed unprecedented. Fans had their positivity stifled for years leading up to the 2019 off-season. Through the Kovalchuk departure, the rise of Taylor Hall, the fall of Cory Schneider, and the brief playoff appearance of 2018, Devils fans rode a rollercoaster.
There were glimmers of legitimate hope along the way – Schneider’s prime performances (even when the Devils’ skaters struggled), Taylor Hall’s Hart Trophy-winning season, A lottery victory that brought Nico Hischier to the New Jersey Devils.
As time would tell, the 2019 offseason moves proved to be just as detrimental as they were beneficial for the Devils. The results the Devils showed were actually so bad that both Head Coach John Hynes and GM Ray Shero were fired. This, of course, was after Hynes terribly mismanaged the Devils lineup and Shero scrambled to deal Taylor Hall.
Now, a year later, we can reflect on how the offseason transactions that involved Wayne Simmonds, John Hayden, Nikita Gusev, P.K. Subban, and Jack Hughes.
The 2019 NHL Entry Draft narrative was controlled by the New Jersey Devils, as the big question was, “Who is New Jersey going to draft? Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko?” The New Jersey Devils, as we all know, drafted American-born center Jack Hughes.
This is an easy A. Everybody knows Hughes is going to develop into a great top-six forward at the minimum. His development ceiling is as high as anyone in the NHL right now after his rookie year, and with a historically long offseason ahead, Hughes has plenty of time to get bigger, stronger, and better.
We expect Hughes to continue to take big steps that will land him on the top 2 lines and be a large part of the New Jersey Devils’ offensive production for years. Long-term, this acquisition will likely serve as the most important move the New Jersey Devils made in the 2019 offseason.