New Jersey Devils: Travis Zajac’s Retirement Begins New Era

The New Jersey Devils are now beginning a brand new generation of hockey following the retirement of long-time center Travis Zajac. The 36-year-old center signed a one-day contract with the team so that he could retire with the club he played all but 27 games with. Let’s talk about what this means for the franchise as a whole.

Zajac is one of the greatest Devils of all time. There is absolutely no denying that. He is in the ranks of the five guys hanging from the rafters, while he will not be joining them up there it is important to note that is how he should be perceived by every fan of this team.

He has meant a bundle to New Jersey and it is awesome that he is staying with them in a development role. Zajac was the final player remaining from the “glory days”. He was still with the Devils through these long losing seasons. Only Adam Larsson (Seattle Kraken), Adam Henrique (Anaheim Ducks), Zach Parise, and Andy Greene (New York Islanders) remain in the NHL from that Stanley Cup Final team in 2012. But now let’s talk about what this retirement means for the future.

Zajac calling it quits means this is now the time to move forward and allow the young core to take over this current team. There is no more rebuilding. The time is now, stride forward and at the very least be in contention in March. This team now belongs to Devils captain Nico Hischier and star center Jack Hughes. The oldest player on the team is defenseman P.K. Subban at 32. The average age of this team is 25, which is absolutely incredible and screams a very bright future.

I do not believe any of this means the glory days are going to come back anytime soon or maybe ever. But it is not far-fetched to believe that this team will be contending for a cup in just 2-3 years’ time. Be patient Devils fans, it is coming. I guarantee it. Thank you Travis Zajac for everything you gave this organization and welcome aboard to the advisory staff for many years to come.