After the New Jersey Devils exit from the 2018 NHL Playoffs, Devils fans (and hopefully staff) were forced to take a long, hard look at the team. While the team has a bonafide superstar in Taylor Hall, a surprising amount of forward depth and (should he continue his rebound from the postseason) a #1 goalie, the eye test reveals one key problem:
The defense just isn’t good enough.
Scott Stevens. Scott Niedermayer. Ken Daneyko. Brian Rafalski. All great NHL defensemen who have played for Jersey’s Team; suffice to say the Devils could have used one of them against the Tampa Bay Lightning; alas, father time has caught up to all of them, and New Jersey will need to find some good soldiers who may not be the same caliber of any of those names, but certainly more serviceable than John Moore and Ben Lovejoy.