New Jersey Devils: When Is Enough Enough?

The New Jersey Devils lost back to back games this past weekend and in their last ten have one win and three in the last 17. Monday is exactly one month since the Devils beat a team not from Philadelphia. The playoffs are completely out of the picture as the team prepares to take their Christmas break.

Currently, the team is tied for 25th in the league and is tied with the mighty Buffalo Sabres who are restarting a rebuild with very little talent and are two points ahead of the expansion Seattle Kraken. A team that is probably over achieving and destined for a bottom three finish with the roster they were given.

The powerplay once again let in a shorthanded goal. If they allow two more, they will have allowed as many shorthanded goals as they have scored power play goals. They could be pushing for an NHL record by the end of the year.

This team is going nowhere this season. The team and GM Tom Fitzgerald had what should have been a fantastic offseason, probably the best in the NHL.

Dougie Hamilton is a legit #1 defender and a top ten guy in the entire league at his position. Ryan Graves had the best +/- in the NHL, is a huge frame that can move, and hit while playing top minutes on a top team in Colorado. To help Mackenzie Blackwood, they added Jonathan Bernier who surprisingly had decent numbers as a starter, great for a backup, and better than even Big Mack had.

So in summery this team added an entire high end top pairing to their defense, a high end 1b goalie and still is 29th in the league for goals against. On top of all the youth getting older and supposed to be better this team made some good offensive additions as well.

Tomas Tatar is a legit top 6 player and probably even a top liner. Jimmy Vesey might not be what he once was, but with 8 points in 30 games he has been a good addition. They also had Dawson Mercer come out of no where and are riding a resurgent season from Andreas Johnsson.

Yet, this team is still 21st in goals for in the NHL with two top six players and a good fourth liner who is contributing in a big way for his role. This team’s powerplay is also sitting 29th in the league despite all the high end picks, offensive additions and a top five powerplay defensemen in the NHL.

This team is in dangerous territory and how this coaching staff is still employed is just beyond understanding. The building was sold out and rocking early but is half empty every night and even when the team scores, it is noticeably quieter as if everyone knows the team wont win. The team is making more and more ridiculous bad and soft plays like last season now and the effort level is dropping. This team can not afford to take anymore losses despite the playoffs being gone because they have no clue how to win consistently as an organization anymore enough that I will use a term that I hate in sports.

This organization has a losing culture. If they don’t turn it around this year and do end up with a high draft pick again this is serious enough that they will have to start another rebuild. No more excuses, no more failure it is time for wins.