New Jersey Devils: 3 Takeaways From Schedule Release
The New Jersey Devils schedule has been released. It’s the first time there are games with dates attached in more than nine months.
Tuesday, March 10th, 2020. That is the last time the New Jersey Devils had a game scheduled that they actually played. They went up against the Pittsburgh Penguins coming off two-straight wins. The team was building some confidence going into the final stretch of the season. There was nothing to play for, but some important players were getting hot. Jesper Bratt had 16 points in the final 20 games of the season. Pavel Zacha had nine points in the final month of the season. New addition Janne Kuokkanen played his first NHL game with the Devils on March 10th. The Devils were putting together a semblance of a lineup.
Then, the world shut down. That caused the NHL to shut down with it. Everything just… stopped.
The NHL eventually restarted the season, but they went right towards a 24-team playoff. The Devils were the 26th ranked team in the league. This means they haven’t played a second of competitive hockey since March. Some of us has used other means of hockey to get by. We watch Tyce Thompson and Aarne Talvitie play in the NCAA. We’ve rooted for Shakir Mukhamadullin and Alexander Holtz as they play in men’s leagues overseas. Now, we’re getting World Juniors this week.
However, as of January 14th, the Devils are back. Not the Devils prospects, the actual New Jersey Devils will be back on the ice playing a meaningful hockey game. The league is skipping the preseason and going right into meaningful games. The Devils take on the Boston Bruins right off the bat. This is a 56-game schedule where the Devils will play the East Division opponents eight times a piece. It’s rivalry season all season. At least, that’s what the NHL wants you to think.
Still, we’re entirely grateful that hockey is back. These are our initial takeaways from the schedule release.
Hockey Is Back
First and foremost, this is one of the happiest days that Devils have had in a long time. Add in the Mackenzie Blackwood extension to the schedule release, and Wednesday was such a good day. The Devils avoid the opening night festivities, and they take on the Bruins on the second day of the NHL’s return.
This means we are less than a month away from Nico Hischier centering the first line once again. We are less than one month away from Jack Hughes putting on 86 to take the ice. The Devils will get to play their home games in the Prudential Center, even if there won’t be fans in the arena to start.
The Devils will be on our televisions for 53 of the next 115 days starting January 14th. This, after 309 days without it. There was a nightly ritual of sitting in front of the TV, putting on the MSG Network, saying hello to Steve Cangialosi, Ken Daneyko, Bryce Salvador, and Erika Wachter, and watching our favorite team hit the ice. Those rituals are coming back.
Devils hockey has an actual return date. There’s no more speculation based on Pierre LeBrun and Elliotte Freidman reports. We’re done wondering when an agreement will happen and when the Devils will return. It’s all signed sealed and delivered. This is a great day.
The Week Of April 13th Is Going To Be Amazing
The first thing that really stands out about this schedule is the stretch from Tuesday April 13th to Sunday April 18th, In six days time, the Devils will take on their biggest rival the New York Rangers four times. For four-straight games, the Rangers and Devils will renew the Hudson River Rivalry. The hope is by this time, at least some fans will be in the arenas (the games are split between The Rock and Madison Square Garden).
Both teams will have played roughly 40 games at this point. Alexis Lafrenière will be used to the NHL style of play. The Lindy Ruff system will implemented fully. Both teams will have their lines set, and the teams will be shooting at all cylinders.
We’ll also know what these teams are. The Devils are expected by most national pundits to be one of the worst teams in hockey mostly because of how tough this division is. The Rangers actually aren’t expected to fair much better. Only four teams from the East Division will make the playoffs. At this point in the season, we’ll know if these two teams are going for positioning or just for the sake of the rivalry.
Whatever. We cannot wait for the Devils-Rangers rivalry to pick back up again. Those two teams have been ranked as the best pool of under 25-year-old players in the NHL. This is going to be one of the best rivalries in hockey for a long time.
Lots of Road Trips. Lots of Homestands.
The schedule has lots of long trips and long times at the Prudential Center. This is obviously to reduce travel due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. It’s obviously smart to keep players and coaches in places for longer periods of time. This reduced movement in general will benefit the players, too. With so many back to backs, it’s better not to have as many trips from Canada to Washington D.C. It’s also great there’s no Western Canada road trip this year. As nice it is to see Connor McDavid and Elias Pettersson, it isn’t so great to watch when the start time is 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
There are three instances where the Devils go on a four-game road trip (one of them is actually five games). They have two homestands that are a minimum of four games as well. It will be a lot of sleeping in their own beds for the Devils players. At least they can get in their own routine.
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This is going to be very good for a young Devils team. Sometimes players in their early 20s have trouble getting used to the rigorous travel demands of the NHL season. This will allow them to ease into it, even if it’s going to be a sprint to the finish.