New Jersey Devils' veteran leadership will be essential in trying times

Adding leadership was one of the main priorities this offseason for the New Jersey Devils. Players with an extensive history in the NHL can go a long way. We saw this on full display when the Devils brought in Ondrej Palat, Erik Haula, and Brenden Smith before the 2022-23 season. As a result, the Devils had a historic 52-win season. It never hurts for a team to add more locker room experience. Once July rolled around, the Devils added Stefan Noesen, Tomas Tatar, Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, and 2023 Stanley Cup champion Paul Cotter.

All those players have been in the league for many years and have seen a decent amount of playoff action. Devils should already be familiar with Noesen and Tatar's track record.

"When they bring in vets, a lot of it is you [the player] respect who they bring in and what they've done in their careers...I've kind of been around these guys. They know who I am, I've been in the organization. I'd say that I carry a bit more weight than a normal vet coming in...I think they've [front office] done a great job of bringing in some good vets, and hopefully [we] can build off this."

The main message this season is "taking accountability" and head coach Sheldon Keefe made that abundantly clear. The importance of expectations, accountability, and leadership seems to be uniform amongst the new guys in the locker room.

"I've been through ups and downs. My first three years we [the Hurricanes] weren't very good. I kind of know what it takes to be a good team, make the playoffs, and win in the playoffs. I'm just trying to provide a stable presence back there [on defense] and do what I can to help the fellas win."

"I'm not gonna sit here and say I'm a big rah-rah [person] and talk after every period. There are different ways that guys can be leaders...I like to just, first and foremost, lead by example, and all I can really be is Brenden Dillon. If I come in and try to be somebody else, you can tell pretty easily when someone's being fake or phony... I was fortunate to have in San Jose some of the best in Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, and Brett Burns be able to show me as a young player in this league what leadership was like. All of those guys led in different ways...82 games is a long time, and you're going to have your highs and lows and some adversity in there...Those honest conversations in our game I feel like usually brings out the best [in someone]."

The main players are right now in Czechia gearing up for the start of the season against Lindy Ruff and the Buffalo Sabres. Currently, the Devils only have one preseason win and people are already starting to grow concerned. This was bound to happen due to a new head coach and the amount of changes they made to their roster. This is why you add veteran leaders because they can help weather the storm during tough times.