New Jersey Devils Growth Is Evident As They Prepare For Postseason

The New Jersey Devils are coming off their worst game of the season, a 6-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. However, despite such a loss, last week was full of triumph and perseverance for the Devils. The only winning this team did last season was in the NHL Draft Lottery, their third win in history (counting the Adam Larsson win that got them fourth overall and started an absolutely intriguing trade tree).

This is a New Jersey Devils squad that’s riddled with youth with just a sprinkling of veteran players like Dougie Hamilton, Erik Haula, and the recent addition of Timo Meier. These guys know what it is like to deal with a long 82-game season before going into the playoffs. Yes, this team is filled with mainly young talented players who are learning to gain more experience, but having these leaders in the clubhouse were the key difference in beating The Rangers 3 of 4 times this season. This is likely the first-round matchup.

General Manager Tom Fitzgerald’s young core is being conditioned to play a blend of high speed, physical play. This squad is learning to play playoff hockey over the final two weeks of the regular season. Teams like the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins will show no mercy.

This team doesn’t create excuses. On more than one occasion, they show their true determination the very next game after a bad loss. New Jersey’s core is so young, talented, and primed to become the creme de la creme of the NHL. Having this maturation phase this season has kept this team levelheaded while they avoid getting ahead of themselves, whether it a positive or negative game outcome.

That New Jersey Devils team had a .384-win percentage last season. After that downward spiral season ended, the good fortunes commenced in the offseason. Fitzgerald and Lindy Ruff brought in Ryan McGill to coach the defense, Sergei Brylin as the assistant coach for the eye in the sky, and Andrew Brunette to be the second in command to Ruff while managing the offense and power play. Since that massive shakeup, this Devils team has won .675% of their games after bolstering the goalie crease with a trade to get Vitek Vanecek from the Washington Capitals.

The above graph you read by Megan Chayka goes to show you the efficiency and productivity of Tom Fitzgerald’s updated system with metrics like Goals for Per Game vs Goals Allowed Per Game. The numbers show how this team has grown. Take a minute and think about how well-handled ownership has been letting Fitzgerald hire the people he needed to make this team a winner.

Regardless of how successful the Devils do these playoffs they will have very many fruitful seasons and learning to gain more chemistry together in the short term and going onward to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup again. Tom Fitzgerald has so many great players to keep, extend, and move on from. Even though the New Jersey Devils don’t have a 1st round pick now they rely more historically 2-7 in recent drafts. The Devils find ways to find 1st round type players even without that 1st round pick in their back pocket.

Speaking of which, Timo Meier has absolutely been worth that trade value. Guys like Fabian Zetterlund, Nikita Okhotiuk, and Shakir Mukhamadullin fit the San Jose Sharks’ timeline better. Timo Meier has 9 points in 16 games played. He is just heating up to make the Devils a very dangerous team in the first round of the playoffs.