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The New Jersey Devils have been one of the best franchises in hockey over the last 20 years. Since 1995, the Devils have been to the Stanley Cup Finals a total of five times, winning three of them. The only team with that many in that span is the team they beat for their first championship, the Detroit Red Wings. That is what makes their most recent run so sad.
With a loss to the Boston Bruins on Sunday, the Devils were officially eliminated from the playoffs. Since making it to the Cup back in 2012, this team just can’t make it work. This season marks three in a row that they aren’t in the postseason. The last time that has happened was from 1985-87. Yeah, it has been that long. This is a winning franchise that has forgotten how to win.
Lou Lamoriello will always be considered one of the best GMs in hockey history, but he needs to go about this offseason differently. They have their goalie for the foreseeable future. They have the defensive pieces to win on a nightly basis. They need to find scoring.
Despite spending big money on extensions for Cory Schneider, Adam Henrique and Andy Greene, on top of signing Mike Cammalleri in free agency, the Devils still could have up to $20 million in cap space, depending on where the salary cap ends up. They need to spend a majority of that money on forwards, if not all of it.
They have plenty of defensemen signed through the next few seasons. Some will work out, some won’t, but they have enough talent there that they don’t need to seek free agency help at that position. Cammalleri was everything the Devils could have asked for and more. Sometimes, free agency does help. They lost some of their best forwards through free agency, including Zach Parise and David Clarkson. They need to do the opposite and acquire big names in free agency.
This team should not be as bad as they have been, but they just cannot put the puck in the net with any consistency. They need to find players who can. They aren’t known as the team that makes a splash in free agency, but they need to be this season. No more Jordin Tootoos or other cheap tryouts. It is time to pay for a sure thing.
Nick Villano is the New Jersey Devils writer for Rant Sports. He also adds to the site’s NBA, MLB and NFL content. You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your Google circle.
