Changes Continue In Jersey

There had been some level of expectation in Jersey this season. High draft picks the last couple of years. It looked like things were on pace for the Devils to really make some noise in the East this year. Turns out that wasn't even close to being the case. Somebody had to take the blame for what's been wrong with the Devils this year, who sit last in the Metro division. First, John Hynes was shown the door on December 3rd, replaced by Alain Nasreddine. Now, it's general manager Ray Shero who was just shown the door, being replaced by Tom Fitzgerald.

Lets back track for one second. There had been a lot of promise for the Devils coming into this season. They had the first overall pick in the June draft, using it to select Jack Hughes. Him and Nico Hischier are the two guys the Devils have taken at #1 overall in the draft in the last three years (as a matter of fact the only two times in franchise history that they've had the first overall pick). To go along with that, the team still had Taylor Hall, who won MVP and helped the Devils reach the playoffs in 2017. Jersey wanted to build on it and did so. P.K. Subban, and Wayne Simmonds were signed to free agent contracts over the summer. Then the team went out and acquired former KHL scoring champ Nikita Gusev from the Vegas Golden Knights.

It looked like the Devils were poised to get back on track and start heading back in the right direction again. That never materialized. In fact the wheels fell off. Jersey has the worst record in the Metro division at 17-21-7, for 41 points. This coming off a 3-1 win over the Lightning last night, hours after Shero was let go as GM. The only team in the Eastern Conference that has a worse record then the Devils and that's the Detroit Red Wings. Somebody has had to take the fall for this and it cost both john Hynes and ray Shero their jobs.

Lets face it, the team was hoping to capitalize of Taylor Hall's big year two years ago, and by bringing in all this talent to surround him, it was in the hope that he would sign a long term deal and stay put in New Jersey. Didn't happen and they dealt him to Arizona for, what I feel, was a little less than what he was worth. Nobody is clicking on offense. Three guys have double digits in goals right now. Kyle Palmieri leads the way with 16 goals and 31 points. Blake Coleman is second on the team with 15 goals and Nico Hischier has 12. That's it for double digit goal scorers for the Devils.

There's no consistency on this team. There had been solid expectations for this team to start trending upward, but it has fallen way short of that. They failed to try and impress Hall enough to keep him around, although there still a chance he could sign back in Jersey once free agency opens up next summer. Its been rough going for the boys in Jersey, trying to put together a winning formula. Ray Shero had a little over four years to try and put this thing together, but it didn't really work out. That's why he was shown the door. Maybe interim General Manager Tom Fitzgerald and Martin Brodeur, who became an advisor to and on hockey operations after Shero was let go.

It's kind of sad to see how far the Devils had fallen, considering there had, at one time, been stability in the positions of General Manager and coach. now it's a bit up in the air. One thing is for sure, the team is trying to get it back on track. Shero did an OK job, but it wasn't up to expectations and somebody had to take the fall for this season going the way it has.