Sometimes in life you need to be brought down to Earth in order to grow. Coming off of a year where the New Jersey Devils made the playoffs for the first time since 2017, the 2023-2024 season for the team in red and black was a major disappointment. In a season filled with injuries, blown leads, and inconsistent goalie play, the team from Newark certainly took a step back in their hopes of becoming a perennial playoff contender.
Although this last season was disheartening, the results certainly laid the blueprint for the moves the front office needed to make heading into next season. The Devils already have the star power on the roster to compete with any team in the league, now New Jersey is focused on adding a starting goaltender and playoff tested players in order to make a deep run.
After an aggressive first 2 weeks of the offseason, let’s take a look at the major changes that the New Jersey Devils’ front office has addressed so far.
Head Coaching
Following the firing of Lindy Ruff and the decision not to retain interim head coach Travis Greene, the Devils needed to hire a new leader that can propel the team forward and create long term success. And in the midst of the NHL playoffs, New Jersey announced the signing of Sheldon Keefe to be the next head coach.
Keefe, following 5 seasons leading the Toronto Maple Leafs, will be taking over the reins for a New Jersey roster that is filled with top talent that any coach would want to lead. During his 5 year tenure, the Leafs were able to put up over 100 points in 3 seasons and 77 points in the Covid shortened 2020 year.
Although Keefe led them to excellent regular seasons, Toronto never achieved postseason success under his guidance. Through his 5 seasons with the team, they made it out of the first round only once. The Leafs front office were quick to blame Keefe for the lack of playoff success. However, many fans and analysts have voiced that the roster was never made to compete in the playoffs.
New Jersey is hoping that Keefe can form a strong bond with the young Devils core that includes Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Dougie Hamilton. Combining that core with the emergence of Šimon Nemec and Luke Hughes, the Devils have the foundation to not only compete this coming season, but for many years to come.
Keefe must be on cloud 9 coming to New Jersey, pairing a young talented roster with a much more relaxed media presence compared to Toronto. He hopes to make this his permanent stay and prove he has what it takes to lead a team on a deep playoff run.
Goaltending
For a team that was once known for elite goalie play, the Devils have certainly lacked consistency in the crease over the last 6 years. New Jersey had hopes that Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid could be the duo to build around and take them on deep playoff runs year in and year out.
Unfortunately, some plans do not work out the way they are intended too. Following a season of inconsistency and underperformance at the goalie position, Tom Fitzgerald had to be aggressive in acquiring a net minder that is capable of making big saves in key games, and he’s done just that.
On June 20th, the New Jersey Devils announced a major trade which sent defender Kevin Bahl and a 2025 1st round pick to Calgary in exchange for former all-star Jacob Markstrom. Coming off a year where the former first round pick had an impressive .905% SV and 2.78 GAA on a weak Calgary team, adding Markstrom was a MAJOR addition for the Devils playoff hopes. Standing at 6’6, the Swedish national has been an elite goalie going back 10 years and will certainly provide this current Devils team with a huge boost in security at the net front.
Following the trade, Markstrom will have 2 years left on his 6-year contract and has a cap hit of $4,125,000 over his final 2 years. New Jersey feels that Markstrom will give them a shot at competing over these next 2 years, but there is a concern over his age. Being 34 years old, time may not be on his side; but the Devils certainly feel confident that the newly acquired goaltender will give them a real shot at competing for a Stanley Cup sooner rather than later.
Defending
The 2023-2024 New Jersey Devils were proof that you can have all the talent in the world but if you can’t win at the blue line then you will never be able to compete. So far this offseason, Tom Fitzgerald has made a barrage of moves by bringing in 4 new defensemen – Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, Jonathan Kovacevic, and Colton White.
Although not a flashy move, Pesce will prove to be the marquee signing of this offseason and provide a huge boost the Devils blue line. As an upgrade to former Devil John Marino, the former Carolina Hurricane brings a defensive first approach to New Jersey that they desperately needed. Pesce will slide right in as a top 4 pairing at the blue line.
Meanwhile, the addition of Brenden Dillon will provide New Jersey with the physicality they’ve been lacking on the defensive end for years now. Standing at 6’4, Dillon is another defensive first blue liner who is known for his tough style of play and mature presence in the back end.
The defense now has a well balanced core of Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler, Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, Luke Hughes, and Šimon Nemec. They will be a tough group that can provide an offensive spark and can defend at a high level, something that New Jersey has been missing since the glory days of Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko, and Scott Niedermayer. As the old saying goes, offense wins games, defense wins championships.
Everything is Coming Together
The New Jersey Devils fans have to be feeling confident with the moves Tom Fitzgerald has made so far this offseason. Along with the major acquisitions at goalie and defense, the front office added key depth pieces at forward including the return of both Stefan Noesen and Tomas Tatar, as well as trading for former Golden Knight Paul Cotter.
Combining these veteran depth pieces alongside the electrifying youth that are currently on the roster, the expectations for the coming season are going to be very high, as many are projecting the Devils to be Stanley Cup contenders. If the Devils can somehow find a way to avoid major injuries this coming season, do not be surprised to see the New Jersey Devils making a major push down the stretch and being a legit threat in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Keefe made it to the 2nd round once and Markstrom has two years left on his contract. Otherwise good article.