3 Questions New Jersey Devils Should Answer Before Training Camp

What is the goal of this season?

This is one of those “you know when you know” kinds of answers. The Devils will never actually say what the goal of their season is. There is no point putting that in the public sphere. However, if they go into the season with $12 million of cap space, if they never add to their current crop of veterans with at least PTOs, and if they rely on prospects to fill the rest of the roster, it shows that things can go either way and everyone would be fine.

Sure, the Devils want to compete for the playoffs with the current roster, but with how good the Metropolitan Division is, they can’t make that claim without making at least one more move.

Don’t get us wrong, the Devils are going to be better. Hamilton alone was a huge move and adding Tatar, Graves, and Bernier completely changes the Devils timeline. If Jack Hughes takes a massive step forward like most people think he will, and if Nico Hischier can get back to the two-way play he showed two years ago, the Devils could absolutely compete. That is especially true if they get good goaltending from Bernier and Blackwood.

If the goal is to put a better product on the ice for Devils fans returning to arenas, mission accomplished. This is a much better team, it’s a team that is more fun, and the fans will be much happier with the product now and moving forward.