The New Jersey Devils are famously one of the youngest teams in the league. Their stars are all in the 20-24-year-old age range. Jack Hughes is 21 years old. Nico Hischier is the eldest statesman of the young group, with six years of experience under his belt. He started as a teenager, so he’s still so young. 12 lineup regulars are 25 years of age or younger.
However, the Devils did a good job of adding some veterans. This offseason, Tom Fitzgerald signed Ondrej Palat. He was just in three-straight Stanley Cup Finals, winning two rings. He doesn’t need another Stanley Cup. We’re sure he’d like one, but that’s not what were talking about here.
We are looking into the players who have the desire to prove something, and the only way to do that is with a Cup ring. Hughes and Hischier have years to win Stanley Cups. The veterans on this team might be looking at their best chance.
Some veterans want to extinguish past demons. Others have been with this team so long, and they finally want to see the fruits of their labor. Also, there are the players that multiple teams gave up on, but now he has a chance to prove them wrong with a team that’s more than happy to have him.
4 Devils Who Need Lord Stanley’s Cup: 1. Dougie Hamilton
Dougie Hamilton made the playoffs with three different teams prior to signing with the Devils. He left the Carolina Hurricanes, where he made the playoffs for three straight seasons, to jump onto the blueline of an upstart team. It was a risk because there was no guarantee the Devils were going to hit. Look at last season. Look at teams like Detroit or Vancouver or Ottawa. They could get there, but they might not.
The Devils hit in a huge way. They are the second seed in the Metropolitan Division, and they are playing the rival New York Rangers in the first round. Hamilton is the team’s top defenseman, and he could prove that the Bruins, Flames, and especially the Hurricanes were wrong to give up on him. He’s an incredibly important member of this team, and he can go a long way with a ring on his finger.