Last of Lou: Lamoriello’s New Jersey Devils Fingerprints In Their Final Days

Lou Lamoriello was in charge of the New Jersey Devils for what seemed to be eons. In reality, he was in the Garden State for 28 years. His fingerprints were all over three Stanley Cup championships and many years of success. Towards the latter years of his run with the Devils, his magic touch faded. Drafts did not churn out the results as they used to. Trades did not work out as well as previous ones, especially at the Trade Deadline. His free-agency pickups seemed desperate at best.

The players Lamoriello brought in faded away with time. Patrik Elias retired. Adam Henrique and Adam Larsson were traded. Mike Cammalleri and Cory Schneider were bought out. Lamoriello’s last “involved” first-round pick Pavel Zacha was dealt this past offseason. Looking at the organizational overhaul that the team endured, only three connections to Lou Lamoriello remain.

Mackenzie Blackwood. Damon Severson. Miles Wood.

Starting with Blackwood, he is a story of what could have been. In 2015, the Devils selected Blackwood in the second round with the 42nd overall pick. Now, the 2015 NHL Draft should have an asterisk next to it regarding the Devils’ picks. Although Ray Shero was the general manager at the time. However, it is implied that Lamoriello and his right-hand man David Conte still ran this draft. Lamoriello gave away his job as general manager in May. with the draft in June, a month of prep for Shero does not make sense to have his hands fully in the process.

In the 2018-19 season, the Devils’ goalie tandem was Keith Kinkaid and Schneider. Kinkaid had just come off a remarkable 2017-18 season in which he led the Devils to the playoffs while Schneider dealt with injuries. In the 2018-19 season, Kinkaid very much did not repeat his success. So, Blackwood was called in to make his debut. Ignoring one nine-goal against thrashing, he thrived in 23 games at the NHL level.

There were points during his career where Blackwood looked like he’d be steeped in a Metropolitan Division rivalry with Ilya Sorokin, Igor Shesterkin, and Carter Hart. Since then, it has been nothing but disappointment. Taking out his rookie season, Blackwood has a 3.01 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. Those are just barely average numbers.

It is not Blackwood’s numbers that are frustrating. They could be so much better if he were not so prone to seemingly letting in a very bad goal in every other game.

Blackwood is in the final year of his contract. While he is scheduled to be a restricted free agent at the end of the year, it is very hard to see Blackwood with the Devils beyond this season. With a strong season performance by Vitek Vanacek and the emergence of Akira Schmid, it is very easy to say Blackwood has played his last game in a Devils uniform.

His last Devils performance will end up being a four-goal-on-11-shots stinker. Then, Akira Schmid came in to replace him and then stopped everything he saw en route to a victory. Vanacek and Schmid are the duo of the future. Blackwood is the odd man out, and his Devils tenure will be summed up with the phrase: “What could have been?”.

Miles Wood is a pending unrestricted free agent this offseason. He was selected in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL Draft. Wood eventually went to Boston College for one year before surprisingly signing after his freshman season. Lamoriello brought Wood in because of his speed and tenacity on the ice. He would split time between the Devils and their then-AHL affiliate, the Albany Devils.

Wood was always an up-and-down player as a member of the Red and Black. He was always fast. However, his carelessness in taking penalties put his team at a major disadvantage. He had more than 80 penalty minutes in each of his first three seasons. He was not an offensive threat either, chipping in what he could as a fourth-liner.

Wood’s Devils career has been marred with injuries and healthy scratches. He missed almost the entire 2021-22 season with a hip injury. This past season, it seemed like he turned a corner. The BMW line of Wood, Michael McLeod, and Nate Bastian found their stride in October. Bastian got hurt, and Wood seemingly fell off a cliff. At one point, Wood only scored one goal in a 33-game stretch.

Current Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald acquired Curtis Lazar, another fourth-line type player who has two more years on his contract after this current season. Head coach Lindy Ruff scratched Wood for Games 3 and 4 against the New York Rangers after Wood took an offensive zone penalty in the first two games. Lazar was his direct replacement, and that likely means the end of Wood.

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The last is Damon Severson, the longest-tenured Devils player. Severson was taken in the second round, 60th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. Severson played with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL for the next couple of seasons before jumping to the NHL and exploding onto the scene. He would become a steady presence on the Devils’ blueline for the next few seasons.

Severson gets a bad rap from fans due to his mistakes. Not because he makes many of them but because of how bad those mistakes are. From defending odd-man rushes horrifically, scoring on Blackwood himself, and just being out of position, it is easy to see why Severson is disliked. However, he has been an underrated force for the Devils for the better part of a decade. Severson has played 647 games for the Devils and holds a special place along with Miles Wood.

Severson and Wood are the last New Jersey Devils to play with Patrik Elias. Like Wood, Severson is in the last year of his contract and is preparing to be an unrestricted free agent. With Simon Nemec in the pipeline, Luke Hughes being able to play the left and right side, and Dougie Hamilton and John Marino on the right-hand side for the foreseeable future, Severson seems to be the odd man out. Severson deserves to be with the Devils when they finally accomplish their dreams, however, that seems incredibly unlikely.

Severson has been with the Devils throughout the beginning of the rebuild. Sometimes being the best player the Devils have had. If Severson stays, it will most likely be only for a short period of time. While that is pure speculation, it is difficult to pencil in Severson in the everyday roster in the future.

With all of this being said, the last remaining connections of Lou Lamoriello to the New Jersey Devils have a very good chance of being cut when this season is over. If any of them have any chance of coming back, it would seemingly be Severson. But the chances of it happening do not seem to be high. With these three most likely out the door, it would truly mark the end of an era.