The New Jersey Devils have an outside shot to be fun this season.
Every year, we do bold predictions before the season starts. We look at the New Jersey Devils roster and try to make a hot take based on the information available. Right before the New Year in 2018, we made a few bold predictions that included Taylor Hall hitting career highs (he won MVP), the Devils having a quiet offseason (that was the year we put all of our faith in John Quenneville), the prediction of a big trade (they traded for Pat Maroon and Michael Grabner, so call that what you want), and we predicted the Devils would make the playoffs. There was even a bonus prediction putting John Tavares on the Maple Leafs. Not everything comes true, however.
This season, the Devils are missing some of the hype that they had in years past. There are some players missing to start the season (Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and newly-signed Sami Vatanen will all miss at least the first few weeks), the Devils lost their top free-agent signing just days before the season started (Corey Crawford retired), and the team is full of untapped potential. In some aspects, that’s a good thing, but the Devils need to tap into that potential in order to have a decent season.
This could still be a lot of fun. Devils fans have been without hockey for over 300 days. It’s been 10 long months since we’ve seen a player put on the NJ crest. Today is the day that the team’s season begins, and we can’t wait to see every single one of these things absolutely happen.