Ranking Most Painful New Jersey Devils Moments Of Last Decade
6. Nikita Kucherov hit on Sami Vatanen in Game 4
Losing that game and the series in 2018 against the Tampa Bay Lightning was heartbreaking. Still, it’s the hit on Sami Vatanen by Nikita Kucherov that genuinely irks this fanbase. At the end of the first period, Kucherov ran over Vatanen, but in doing so, he left his feet and made contact with only his head at full speed. Vatanen, the Devils’ best defenseman, would leave the game and not return for the rest of the series.
No suspension was assessed to Kucherov, nor a match penalty or minor penalty for that matter. He instead went on to score an empty netter in this game and the series-clinching goal in Game 5.
5. Any Ray Shero trade involving second rounders
One thing Ray Shero loved to do in his tenure was trade as many second-round picks as possible. In his time as Devils GM, he made five trades involving second-round picks, and none of them panned out the way you’d hope. His first of the five was a 2nd and 4th-round pick in exchange for Mirco Mueller, who is currently playing in the Swiss hockey league. The second rounder turned into Mario Ferraro, who is a very good defenseman for the Sharks.
Next and arguably the best trade was a 2nd and 3rd round pick for Capitals winger Marcus Johansson. When in the lineup, Johansson was a great contributor on offense, having scored 41 points in 77 games. Concussions, however, plagued him for most of his Devils tenure.
When the Devils were pushing for a playoff berth in 2018, Shero decided the Devils were going to be buyers at the deadline. He made a deal with the New York Rangers for the first time in franchise history. The Devils gave up a second-round pick and Yegor Rykov in exchange for Michael Grabner, who scored just five points in 21 games in his time with the Devils.
The summer of 2019 was the most exciting offseason in Devils’ history. There was a reason the Devils were the most popular dark horse bet to win the Stanley Cup. They went out and acquired a Norris Trophy winner in P.K. Subban and KHL MVP Nikita Gusev.
Hindsight, of course, is 20/20, and we now know neither of those trades went well. The Devils gave up two seconds and two prospects for Subban, who has been a shell of himself in New Jersey. As for Gusev, after his first season, a 2nd and a 3rd round pick for him was looking spectacular. Halfway through his second season, he was bought out.