New Jersey Devils: 20 Reasons Why 2021 Will Be Better Than 2020

Reason #6: A Blank Slate Is Coming

It feels early to look ahead to next offseason, but the Devils have a big one coming. Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri, Nikita Gusev, Ryan Murray, Dmitry Kulikov, and Connor Carrick all have expiring contracts. There are no major restricted free agents coming next offseason (depending on what happens with Bratt), and the Devils are expected to have close to $40 million in cap space (assuming the Bratt contract counteracts the contract lost by the expansion draft). The Devils can completely change everything about this roster. They have so much space and roster space, this team could be unrecognizable by next season. Hopefully, they can re-sign one or two of these players.

Reason #7: A Fast And Furious Offseason

July is usually a big month for the NHL offseason, but this year things go up a notch. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are scheduled to end around July 9th. Then, teams have until July 17th to announce their protections for the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft. The actual expansion draft then happens four days later. Two days after that is the traditional NHL Entry Draft, which will last two days. Then, four days after the draft, free agency begins. So, from July 17th to the 28th, the Devils will make moves that will set them up for a long, long time.

Reason #8: Rooting Against The Rangers

This kind of goes with the rivalries, but there’s nothing like the rivalry with the Rangers. They took a lot out of the Devils falling off the rails last season. Now, we can do the same to them. Everyone is on the bandwagon after Artemi Panarin had an MVP-like season and they got the first-overall pick, Alexis Lafreniere. Everyone loves the Rangers talent, but they still have major flaws. The defense is still a major issue, and the Rangers still need huge seasons from just about everyone. Panarin needs to have another MVP-like season (which Hall showed is a difficult thing to ask from those who aren’t Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, or Connor McDavid). Mika Zibanejad or Chris Kreider needs to be point machines. They added Jack Johnson, Kevin Rooney, and Keith Kinkaid this offseason. This will only make them worse.

Reason #9: So Many Prospects To Keep Track Of All Season

Last season, the Devils had a decent string of prospects, but not a ton of them were lighting it up. Their best prospect was Ty Smith, who had an awesome season in the WHL. Tyce Thompson had a great season with Providence College. A lot of the other prospects the Devils had weren’t top of the card types. Now, the Devils are dealing with a much different situation. The Devils have some great prospects coming to Binghamton (Nolan Foote, Reilly Walsh, Kevin Bahl, and Nikita Okhotyuk) on top of the prospects who were already there. The Devils added Alexander Holtz, Dawson Mercer, and Shakir Mukhamadullin in the 1st round of the NHL Draft. They will all be playing in different leagues around the world. Following Devils prospects will be more fun this year than possibly in any year ever.

Reason #10: The Growth Of Nico Hischier

The New Jersey Devils got bad news right before training camp opened when it came out that Nico Hischier got hurt while training in Switzerland. He’s going to miss at least a couple of days in the beginning, but it shouldn’t impact his season. He’s expected to be a lot better this season. It’s his fourth year in the NHL. He will likely have similar linemates all season, one of which should be a contract-season Kyle Palmieri. He should be closer to 50 points in 56 games, which would equate to a 73-point season.