3 New Jersey Devils Players Who Need to Bounce Back in 2024-25

2. John Marino

The Devils figured there would be growing pains with changes to their defense between 2022-23 and 2023-24. Amid those changes, they counted on John Marino and Jonas Siegenthaler to be their strongest defensive defensemen. That didn’t happen. Both players had terrible seasons. Marino was a trusted stay-at-home defenseman for the Devils in 2022-23, but for most of the 2023-24 season, he looked like an entirely different player. 

Marino put up some offense this season with 25 points, but the shutdown defense he provided the year before was nowhere to be found. The hockey IQ, the feel for the game that he previously displayed, was just gone. There were moments where he seemed to find it again, but those moments were fleeting.

At first, we thought he missed Ryan Graves as his partner and just needed some time to adjust. We wondered if he just had a bad start to the season. But then we wondered what on earth happened to Marino. Was he hurt? Did he underachieve what he's capable of in his second season with the Devils or did he overachieve in his first season? Perhaps it’s both.

Whatever happened this season, Marino has a lot to prove next season. The Devils need him to be a steady, reliable force in the defensive zone. Can he recapture the magic of his first season with the team? If not, the Devils could look to move him, especially with Seamus Casey in their future.