The 2017-18 New Jersey Devils season saw what could essentially be dubbed “The Tale of Two Travis Zajacs.” It started of course with the summer pectoral injury that required surgery, and Zajac seemingly coming back too early, both in terms of estimated timeline and his play on the ice. Fans said it all from “Zajac looks done” to discussion of regretting his extension signed in 2012, and to be fair with a meager 2 goals in his first 20 games, it was becoming harder and harder to justify Travis’ value aside from his defense.
Things got slightly better on December 30th when he had his first multi-point game of that season against the Washington Capitals; what followed was a revival.