Though it's been said that you don't know what the Stanley Cup Playoffs are like, til you've lived the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Which might mean, as the NHL's playoffs are upon us, there's even more value in Wayne Gretzky. That experience, which includes five Stanley Cup...
One more. One more sleep, one more decision, a formality at that. Most of all, once more the 2020-21 Devils will play. The 2000-01 team, which won 48 games, had 12 ties and three overtime defeats, remains atop as the only 110+ point team in the franchise's history....
Less than 24 hours after the boldest of bold statements, and the spotlight still shining brightly on the Blueshirts, they pounced yet again, firing Team President and Alternate Governor, John Davidson and General Manager, Jeff Gorton. The move, which has not been...
There's direct and there's the New York Rangers statement on Tuesday. Capitals forward, Tom Wilson, who took repeated shots to the back of the head at New York's Pavel Buchnevich in the second period of Monday's contest at Madison Square Garden. Artemi Panarin, who...
Saturday marked the ninth-straight regulation loss for the Devils and their 13th loss in their last 15 games decided in 60. It's sunk the Devils to 30th in the National Hockey League and are only safeguarded from last in the league by the lowly (yet as of late, pesky)...
By now, you undoubtedly know that the Devils found a deal they liked for Kyle Palmieri and after deciding not to waive his no-move clause at last year's deadline, Travis Zajac did so to facilitate a move. And if you were still in denial that the veteran Devs are now...
We've seen the Devils youth movement shine. All season long, it's been the single bit of good news. Ty Smith, Yegor Sharangovich, Janne Kuokkanen, Mikhail Maltsev. Another step in the right direction for 19-year-old, Jack Hughes and sophomore, Mackenzie Blackwood has...
Within an hour after publishing my last story--because isn't that the way it always goes--in which I discussed Devils winger, Kyle Palmieri's future, the clarity I suggested was coming sooner than later. One precautionary-based scratch on Sunday later, and we all know...
Just eight days until the NHL trade deadline. And with revisions to ease the quarantine period for US-Canadian transactions, GMs are free to act with business as usual. That is, awaiting the next domino to fall. Perhaps within single-digit hours before the deadline....
The Devils struggles following their two-week COVID-19 shutdown, which included a stretch of 10 regulation losses in 14 games, might ultimately be where they lost too much ground to stay afloat in the tough East division. But winners of four of their last five and 26...
As the Devils truck along with the final 29 games of their season, the emphasis looks to be on its collection of youngsters navigating their way through the league. Which is to say, it might not look all that different from the first 27 games. Six players under 24...
The Devils are in a three-way tie for the second-fewest points this season. The Devils have eight players on the roster eligible for free agency and another two on the taxi squad and in the AHL with 100+ games on their NHL career resumes. You do the math. New Jersey...
With the Devils and Penguins set to face each other for the first time this season, Pittsburgh, a veteran-heavy club will get their first look at the young New Jersey squad, complete with eight lineup regulars under the age of 24. On Tuesday, it was Yegor...
If the assumption is that the Devils, 8-11-3 in 22 games, are more likely than not to be spectators to playoff-implicating games and the postseason itself, then Tuesday's point was more so a learned and lived experience that anything else. Given the season-long...
You might have to call that one a clunker--a dud, even. A fast and attacking start that should have reflected more so in the score, but ultimately came unglued. But if you knew any better you'd call it familiar. The Devils 6-1 thumping at home to the Rangers on...
It's hard to remember the last time a newly-named captain has started his tenure with the 'C' so unlucky. But that appears to be the case for Nico Hischier. The 22-year-old, Swiss-born center, who was named to be the Devils' 12th captain in franchise history and...
Take a glance at the NHL point-leaders the morning after a 12th victory and you won't find a New York Islander among the top-10. Or, 20. Or, 30. In fact, you'd have to go down to the 14-way tie for 12th in the league. Thirty-one players have more points than Mat...
No, the third time wasn't the charm. And no, the Caps didn't give them everything they could. Far from it in fact. But for a team that's emerged as the class of the East, it didn't really matter. Washington's big four up front--Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J....
If you followed some of the lead-up to the Devils win in Buffalo on Thursday, snapping a streak of three-straight regulation losses, then it seemed inevitable that Pavel Zacha was going to score a big goal. Within a span of three days and during their home-and-home...
As far as returns go, it's hard to remember one with more glamour than Nico Hischier's. Not only did the 22-year-old, Swiss-born, first overall pick by the Devils in 2017--the team's first-ever top selection since arriving to the state--make a surprise return to the...
Assessment time is coming for NHL teams. By the weekend, most will have already played 30 percent of its regular season and perhaps, given the COVID-related struggles across the league, the reality of sub-56 game seasons could start to set in. The Devils have a busy...
If the byproduct of a condensed season with play limited to the same six to seven opponents, is that by the third meeting--you'll be sick of their faces coming at you in the corner or in front of the net, allow me to re-introduce one Matthew Tkachuk. For the Calgary...
Absent a poor showing in Boston a week ago, not many outside the East division have reason to be upset about a Flyer-less schedule this season. Entering this year, there was plenty of reason for optimism that this group, a well-built combination of productive youth...
At the moment, there's positive news on the early returns for the Devils' rather long-awaited season. At the five-game benchmark, which most certainly is a benchmark in a condensed, uncertain-to-finish 56-contest season, you have, at least, a base comprehension of...
Whether it was the pre-season trade request or, a rather candid head coach speaking out about his star player. It could have harkened back to the first round of last year's bubble that saw coach and center verbally jawing at each other on the bench. Whatever it was,...
Long-term memory need not apply. Not this season, anyway. Bruce Cassidy said his team would address the pair of goalie interference infractions taken by Miles Wood in Thursday's meeting. Offering his interpretation of that, Kevan Miller scrapped with Wood just 19...
Making their return to the ice for the first time in 10 months, the Devils looked like a team that hadn't been on the ice for 10 months. For 12 Devils, Thursday's meeting with the Bruins was their first lick of competitive action since the NHL paused the 19-20 season...
The 2020-21 season is officially underway. The five-game opening night showing on Wednesday offered a glimpse into some of the burning questions you might have been asking yourself since the Lightning hoisted the Cup back in the summer/fall (who even remembers months...
On the eve of the opening of camp around parts of the league with the rest not far behind, there's reason for excitement as the 2020-21 season is upon us. There's still a long way to go on the execution and (fingers crossed) completion of a regular season and...
It was one year ago today that Taylor Hall, the first Devil in the franchise's history to capture a Hart Trophy as league MVP, was dealt from yet-again struggling New Jersey to the surprisingly-in contention Coyotes. For the Devils, it was just the second of the...
