Last Season

Where were you when New Jersey Devils fans saw their franchise shaken to its foundations?

Lou Lamoriello, ruler of all he surveyed since 1987 with the Devils, left the team for the Toronto Maple Leafs in July 2015, two months after stepping aside as general manager in favor of Ray Shero. (And, obviously, stepping down as one-third of their coaching staff.) “Lou Lamoriello created and defined what it meant to be a New Jersey Devil,” said owner Josh Harris, in an understatement.

But it was time for something new, something different. Shero hired John Hynes from the Pittsburgh Penguins’ AHL team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, becoming the youngest coach in the NHL at 40 and generally being like a little pitbull in look and comportment.

The Devils finished 38-36-8 (84 points) under Hynes, threatening a playoff seed for a bit before falling off and finishing 12th in the conference. Their offense was putrid (184 goals) and their possession stats were second-worst in the NHL (thanks, Patrick Roy) at a 46.17 Corsi percentage. But the team produced two 30-goal scorers in Kyle Palmieri, who was one of Shero’s first moves, and Adam Henrique, establishing a career high. Their third-leading scorer was Lee Stempniak with 16 goals, before his deadline trade to Boston.

But the story of the season for the Devils was Cory Schneider, who was 27-25-6 with a .924 save percentage and a 2.15 goals-against average. And probably should have been the starter for Team USA in the World Cup, but that’s another blog post…

2015-16 Season, In One Picture

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Did They Get Better, Worse, Or Are They About The Same?

Um, yeah, better.

The Taylor Hall Trade – all caps, which is what we do for the big deals – is the Devils’ most significant move for an offensive player since the Ilya Kovalchuk Trade, the difference being that Hall is just 24 years old. He has 132 goals in 381 games in the NHL, on some rather putrid Edmonton Oilers teams. One assumes he’ll play with Henrique, who was a junior hockey teammate, and this could be a lethal combination.

Will they miss Adam Larsson? Of course. He was a steady top four defenseman, and getting better each season. But other than goal, the Devils’ best position of strength from which to deal was from the blue line. And if Shero passed up a 1-for-1 deal with Larsson for Hall, he would have been our greatest argument for mandatory drug testing of general managers.

The Devils added Ben Lovejoy to that blueline after he won a Stanley Cup with the Penguins, for 3 years and $8 million; as well as veteran Kyle Quincey for one year.

Up front, the Devils added some grunts. Veteran Vernon Fiddler signed for one year; ditto Beau Bennett, formerly of the Penguins. Luke Gazdic (Oilers) was also added.

As of this writing, the future of one significant name was unclear: Patrik Elias, an unrestricted free agent. The 40 year old with 408 career goals was limited to 16 games last season.

Five Most Fascinating Players

1 – Taylor Hall

Obviously. He enters this season with a Rexall Place-sized chip on his shoulder after the Oilers traded him, feeling like he had enduring during the down years and now won’t be there if they turn the corner. Is that going to be the motivation for a career year in Jersey? Perhaps.

2 – Pavel Zacha

The big (6-3) prospect at center for the Devils spent most of last season with the Sarnia Sting. Are they going to give the 19-year-old more seasoning, or is Zacha going to make the jump to the NHL and a significant offensive role this season?

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