New Jersey Devils Following Tampa Bay Lightning Playoff Blueprint

The New Jersey Devils had a regular season go about as well as it could have, but the playoffs are not going as planned. This is something that recent teams in past history have gone through and two of which eventually won the Stanley Cup. Teams building for success can have a fair amount of trouble in the early going of the NHL playoffs. This will be a blueprint that GM Tom Fitzgerald would need to look at to help bolster a young group of veterans and rookies. There are some similarities in this blueprint.

Tampa Bay’s Blueprint

During the lockout-shortened 2013 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning finished with just 18 wins in 48 games, a .417 Win%. The next season, the Lightning ended the season with 101 points, finishing second in the division.

Does that sound familiar? It’s very similar to the 2022-23 New Jersey Devils. In 2014, Tampa Bay would then lose in the first round to the Montreal Canadiens in a sweep. The following season Tampa Bay lost in the Stanley Cup Final under Coach Jon Cooper. The following season they lost the Eastern Conference Finals. It took a lot of lumps in the playoffs to get to where they are now, including that first year where they got swept.

How did they get there? Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Steven Stamkos were pieces from that 2013-14 team that the team decided to build around. The Lightning made minor additions or more under-the-radar additions that suited their core star players. In 2015-16, Andrei Vasilevskiy was brought up after he was a first-round pick in 2012. 2017-18 Vasilevskiy hit his stride and got his rhythm set in the playoffs and fell short in 2018-19 in the first round before winning the Stanley Cup twice in a row, winning the Eastern Conference Championship for a third straight season last year.

Interpretation

Whether it be Nico Daws or Akira Schmid for the New Jersey Devils, there are a lot of core pieces in place while they are learning from failure in the playoffs. If Vitek Vanecek is not the answer there’s enough youth in the system to feel confident in net. A young netminder with athleticism, poise, and composure can help spark trust in his team’s defense.

Like the Lightning, the Devils need to keep finding draft-day steals. The Devils have been stockpiling pieces like Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Bratt. Now they are core pieces that play different roles. Players such as  Josh Filmon, Seamus Casey, and Tyler Brennan can turn into those draft-day steals that add skill, depth, and dynamic options. Fans are looking forward to the day they join the ever-growing superpower in the Garden State of Hockey.

Making key trades and signings at opportune times is where the Devils can maximize their potential. Tampa Bay traded for Mikhail Sergachev, added Ryan McDonagh, and made the move for Luke Schenn, amongst many others. This adds an extra dynamic that moved that team past the last few rounds of the playoffs, where grit, defense, offense, and dynamic goaltending finally fell into synchronization. Tom Fitzgerald needs to take notice of this for the near and long term in his playbook.

Explanation

As Tom Fitzgerald keeps making offseason improvements, it will only add to the talent pool the Devils built through drafting and development. More veterans with playoff experience can help push the locked in stars that were high draft picks. Luke and Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Dougie Hamilton, and Simon Nemec will eventually help this team get through the tougher grind of the playoffs.

The coaching situation is still up in the air. Lindy Ruff is the head coach right now, but the Devils brought in Andrew Brunette  Another factor depends on what Tom Fitzgerald does with Miles Wood, Mackenzie Blackwood, and Damon Severson, who have contracts ending in the offseason. Nemec and Luke Hughes will inevitably take over the roles of playing defense near and long term. Nolan Foote or an off-season acquisition will likely replace Miles Wood.

Conclusion

The Devils’ upper brass stays the course keeping up with the drafting and developing flowing that pipeline. Pre-season becomes even harder for external competition, and a possible unforeseen player steps in. A goalie like Akira Schmid could possibly push Vanecek for the starting role.

Fitzgerald needs his coaching staff to help make the team play a hybrid of a speed-transition game and a sneaky tight stronger forechecking game that can translate into the NHL playoffs on top of success in the regular season. It may take between two and five seasons before reaching the Stanley Cup, but once this team gets into that part of that growth phase, this Devils team will be very amazing to watch.