Should struggling NJ Devils make a splash or stay the course?

Abbey Mastracco | NHL Writer

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Devils and the natives are getting restless.

There seems to be a misconception about the Devils this season. Somewhere along the line, people seemed to think this was a team that was going to contend this season. Never mind that many of the preseason predictions had New Jersey missing the playoffs.

But the 4-0-0 start and the hope that the prospects would produce may have left a few people daydreaming of banners being raised.

But as the cold weather sets in, so too does the reality that this team is toward the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings. The Devils are 8-9-2 as opposed to 11-5-3 at this point last season. The same problems remain: There is still too much reliance on the top line, the blue line is thin and no one knows whether or not Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid are true No. 1 goalies. Schneider gets no offensive support, Kinkaid has had bad play in front of him.

This is a team that has talent, but not as much as others seem to right now. Coach John Hynes is an exceptional motivator who gets the most out of his players but hey have to outwork their opponents for all 60 minutes of every game and that’s an exhausting way to play at times.

So, fans are going back a few months to July, or at least the ones who seem to find my email inbox. Devils faithful want to know, why didn’t general manager Ray Shero make any moves to improve the depth of the hockey club over the summer?

It’s a tired question and the answer is simple: Free agency is not the way to build a hockey team in the era of the hard salary cap.

It was a thin free agent class. John Tavares was not coming to New Jersey.

The Devils kicked the tires on New Jersey native James van Riemsdyk, but he wanted to play in Philadelphia. There were a few other players they inquired about as well, but in the end, the Devils were smart to avoid handing out big long-term contracts to mediocre free agents, especially since they’re coming up on contract extensions for Taylor Hall and Nico Hischier, the team’s two most prized players.

Shero’s plan has been to build the organization from within and he has the full support of ownership to execute that plan. And he has done a good job of restocking the pipeline. But the problem now is that they have Hall and Hischier who want to win and some prospects who aren’t quite panning out. They’re in a tough spot because one or two upgrades could make all the difference.

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So, what now? The Devils have the cap space to make a big, splashy move and take on a contract of maybe another defenseman out of Anaheim (Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen have skated together in the past, though Josh Manson would be the more appealing candidate), or even a depth scoring piece (would the Kings part with Tyler Toffoli?).

They could even try and show William Nylander an offer sheet, but I don’t think that’s a route they want to take.

The problem is, the Devils don’t have a ton of NHL-ready prospects that would net a big return. Maybe you could shop Nick Lappin, who has a scoring touch, or hope that Pavel Zacha’s hot play continues but I also don’t think they’re ready to give on up their 2015 first-round pick.

What the club does have is draft picks. New Jersey has picks in all but one round (third) of the 2019 draft and all picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts as of right now. But for a team trying to build from within, those draft picks are valuable.

So, the answer is, stay the course. The Devils have had some success with prospects like Brett Seney and Joey Anderson and Zacha is still only 21, so he could just be slower to develop. Should they be looking for an upgrade via a trade? Yes, it’s clear there is a talent gap when they play top teams and we all know Shero isn’t afraid to trade a franchise name in an effort to improve the product.

The Devils might be in a tough spot with an inability to play consistent hockey on a nightly basis and a thin farm system but the answer is not to panic and tank for Jack Hughes. It’s far too early for that.

Be patient, sports fans. Good things are coming, they just may not come tomorrow.