5 Things We Learned From New Jersey Devils Final Press Conferences
By Nick Villano
#NJDevils Lindy Ruff on the needs for next season?
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) May 12, 2021
"We're going to assess every area [...] if you look at the growth, you love the growth but those young players need support. That might mean bringing in a veteran."
The Devils are going to be “active” this offseason. That doesn’t mean they will be making moves. It means they will be listening to everything. The Devils have the youngest roster in the league, and they have a ton of really good prospects that haven’t even made the NHL yet. Teams are going to call the Devils to see if they are interested in their veterans and the Devils will call teams with star players who might be available.
Does this mean the Devils are absolutely going to make moves? It seems the team is at least going to add one veteran, but expect them to look to add more than that. They traded away Kyle Palmieri, Dmitry Kulikov, Travis Zajac, and they lost Sami Vatanen and Nikita Gusev this season alone. They have Subban, Will Butcher, and Johnsson as the only players over the age of 25 that are on the roster next season.
This doesn’t mean they will go big in free agency, but there will be smart moves to bring someone who can still provide something while also coming on a decent contract. This also means the Devils will look at every trade option available.
The Devils need veterans to rely on while some of the young players go through growing pains. A lot of the young players on the team proved they are worthy of NHL spots, so the team only needs to make so many moves. It seems like they know that at least one more veteran is needed this offseason.