Special Teams
Perhaps the one big problem that ruined this series for the Devils was their special teams, more specifically, their power play. While their penalty kill, for the most part, was pretty good, even though the discipline didn’t help much, the power play was the absolute worst we have ever seen the Devils have. Part of it was due to Jack Hughes not being there.
Still, the constant use of Dougie Hamilton on the first power-play unit, along with a few other factors, ruined whatever attempt the Devils had at capitalizing on the advantage. While the Canes did have one of the best penalty kill units in the NHL, it's still not an excuse for Jeremy Colliton to try to change anything to get them at least one goal. The total stats for the Devils' power play were 0/16 in the series. It’s just not good enough, and it's something the Devils should look at in the offseason.
Bottom Six Forwards
The Devils' bottom six this season was really bad at times. Guys like Tomas Tatar, Nathan Bastian, and Justin Dowling have done nothing for the team in this postseason whatsoever. Cody Glass, Paul Cotter, and Stefan Noesen had lost all of their scoring ability when the series began, and none of them got any better against the Canes' top lines.
It should’ve been Tom Fitzgerald’s biggest get at the trade deadline, and all he got was one player, and he didn’t bother to find any other solutions. Fitzgerald, this offseason, if he remains the GM, needs to take his time finding new bottom-six players who can remain consistent throughout the year and help take the pressure off the top lines for the team.
This series should be a learning lesson to the team, and we are still proud of them, no matter what.