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New Jersey Devils: 2017-18 needs to be a Playoff Season

By John Franklin

Mar 28, 2017; Newark, NJ, USA; Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save against New Jersey Devils left wing Taylor Hall (9) during the shootout at Prudential Center. The Jets won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 28, 2017; Newark, NJ, USA; Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save against New Jersey Devils left wing Taylor Hall (9) during the shootout at Prudential Center. The Jets won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports /
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New Jersey Devils hockey is the definition of disappointment in recent years. The boys in red have to put up or shut up next season.

New Jersey Devils and underwhelming are two terms that go hand in hand, especially over the last six years.

Flashback to 2011: the Devils fall just short of coming back against the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Final. It looks like the future is bright for New Jersey, until superstar Ilya Kovalchuck left for the KHL, and captain Zach Parise hopped on the first plane to Minnesota.

Come back to present times, and the New Jersey Devils are still feeling the pain from the scar that those players left.

Growing up a Devils fan in the early 2000s was great. The best goal tender in NHL history in Martin Brodeur, superstars offensively and defensively, and a solid coaching staff. Now, the Devils are young, but enough talk about a rebuild.

The rebuild is done.

The end of the rebuild was trading for Taylor Hall. This team should be contending for a playoff spot next season, and if they aren’t, that will spell trouble for an already struggling franchise.

The Devils are usually a top contender to enter the playoffs year in and year out. Growing up, it felt like they always had a chance to capture Lord Stanley’s Cup, but now it’s painful to even turn on a game.

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This “rebuilding” talk is sickening. A team once synonymous with success is now a perennial letdown.

Devils fans are growing impatient, and they have the right to do so. The New Jersey Devils are one of the NHL’s sideshow attractions, and that is unacceptable.

Get back to the days where guys like Patrick Elias, and Scott Gomez were running the show. Get back to the Devils hockey that won three Stanley Cups. The rebuild is over, now go out and win more than 28 games.

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