What Can the Devils Ultimately Take from This Carolina Series?

The Devils battled hard in Game 5 but fell short and now their season has come to an end. But there are things they can take from this going forward.

There’s a saying that failure is the best teacher.

We are human, after all. All of us have had failures, setbacks, and other disappointments throughout our lives. It’s what you learn from each one that ultimately comes to define you as a person and makes us who we are.

Unfortunately, and as expected, the Devils came up short in the postseason, losing Game 5-4 in double OT last night and losing the series four games to one.

It’s not all that surprising in the sense that we talked last week about how the Devils effort was simply not good enough, and a lot of those critiques then wound up defining the series. The Devils were too slow against a Carolina team that outskated them. The Devils lost the special teams battle in lopsided fashion. Mistake after mistake piled up, culminating in the Dawson Mercer double-minor penalty and the ensuing Carolina power play that ultimately ended New Jersey’s season.

So where does that leave the Devils? A disappointing second half of the season that put a sour taste in a lot of people’s mouths and a gentleman’s sweep in the first round.

What a waste of time only to lose in the first round, right?

Far from it.

I know there were a lot of comments in the comments section around the deadline that, while I’m paraphrasing, went something like this.

“Why bother adding? The team is missing Jack Hughes. The team isn’t good enough. They should be selling, not buying. They’re not good enough to do anything in the playoffs even if they get there. They’re not winning a Cup this year, so why bother?”

I couldn’t disagree with that sentiment more.

Losing in the playoffs is something that happens to every playoff team except one every year, so it was certainly plausible the Devils would be one-and-done as was the case. But teams in playoff position shouldn’t just punt on the season either because things look bad at the time. And things certainly looked bad at the time with Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton suffering injuries in consecutive games.

There have been plenty of teams in NHL history that experienced years of losing in the playoffs before winning. Ask the Florida Panthers. Ask the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ask the Colorado Avalanche or the Washington Capitals or the St. Louis Blues or Vegas Golden Knights. Teams that lost in the playoffs year after year after year before finally learning what it took to win. Heck, go ask the Devils teams of the 90s and early 00s. Those teams had plenty of playoff heartbreak when they weren’t winning the Cup.

That experience is invaluable and is something that you just can’t buy, even if you bring “rings into the room” from outside teams. It shouldn’t be dismissed or hand-waved as insignificant. So in that respect, while I’m disappointed the Devils struggled for much of the second half and lost this series in five games, I’m glad the group at least got to experience that. I’m not throwing a parade for this group for simply making the playoffs, but they at least managed to put the stink of the 2023-24 season behind them and accomplished that as a group. It’s a start.

But what else can they take away from this brief playoff run?

This is Hard, But So Is Anything Worth Fighting For

Every Devils player should look in the mirror and say the following to themselves after the Game 5 loss.

“This is hard. And I have to work harder.”

Carolina is a very difficult team to play against, especially in a best-of-seven playoff series setting. In a series against a team like that, you have to be on top of your game right from puck drop. And when you have a chance to put the foot to the throat and finish them off, you damn well better do so or it will come back to bite you. You can’t give teams life and energy when they have none. You can’t make things easier for them.

The Devils didn’t do that, which is a big part of the reason why they’re now going home for the summer.

Giving up a goal 2:24 into Game 1 or 0:52 into Game 4 and immediately trying to dig yourself out of a hole isn’t being ready from puck drop.

Blowing a 3-0 lead to lose Game 5 in the fashion the Devils did is something the Devils players will have to stew over all summer. It happened. There’s no hiding from it or excusing it, and every player played a part in it. The Devils managed the early successes of Game 5 poorly. They had their chance to bury Carolina in Game 5 and at least force a Game 6 back in Newark. They couldn’t get the job done. They have to own that.

Accept it, and acknowledge that it happened. Then learn from it so it doesn’t happen again. It’s not enough to get better as a player physically on the ice. The players have to get better “between the ears” as well. And losing an elimination game in the fashion they did should be the wakeup call for just how difficult this actually is.

Carolina has had far more playoff failures with their group than the Devils have with theirs. They’ve been there before. They started Game 1 on time. They started Game 4 on time. They knew when to dial it up and as the overtime periods played out in Game 5, it was apparent they had far more left in the tank than the Devils did.

I’m not saying Carolina is the be-all, end-all for what hockey teams should be this time of year. We’re talking about a franchise where this iteration hasn’t even been able to get past the Conference Final, let alone win a Stanley Cup. But they’re battle tested. They know what it takes. And they learned enough from their past failures to know that good enough isn’t good enough. They had to get better. They had to work harder. And yeah, there’s a little chicanery slash gamesmanship slash veteran savvy at play as well. Carolina has been there before plenty of times and knows first hand how difficult this is, and believe me, it’s really hard to win hockey games this time of year.

The Devils got a taste of that when they lost to Carolina two years, and they got a second helping of that this year. Carolina has made things very hard for them. Tough.

Do something about it. Be better. It’s not gonna get easier in future years.

The Devils Core Is Worth Building Around….But They Need Help

If there’s one thing the Devils shouldn’t do this summer, its panic and decide it’s time to “break up the core”.

The core hasn’t been the problem this season, and they weren’t the problem in this series.

Timo Meier was arguably the Devils best forward in this series, which shouldn’t be a surprise as he was arguably one of their best forwards in the Rangers series two years ago despite failing to register a point. This time around, he did. But he also got under Carolina’s skin with his physicality and heavy game. He looked like the player the Devils envisioned they were getting when they made the trade two years ago. Granted, I would like to see Meier spend his summer watching Matthew Tkachuk tape and take another step in that regard by emulating #19’s game, but he wasn’t the problem.

Nico Hischier led by example, led the Devils in goal scoring, and left it all out on the ice. He’s the most complete player the Devils have. He’s not part of the problem. Jesper Bratt has a fine series despite having to carry a washed up Erik Haula and “not a center” Dawson Mercer on his line. He’s not part of the problem.

The one “yeah, but” is they’re all a part of the PP unit that went 0-15 in the series.

There’s no excusing that. The Devils lost the series in part because they got obliterated at special teams. Although I’d also point out this is where the loss of Luke Hughes for most of this series loomed large. This is where the loss of Jack Hughes loomed larger.

The impact of their losses was also felt on rush chances, which makes sense. The Hughes brothers are two of the better skaters on the team. Luke is one of the best skaters in the league among defensemen.

You don’t think having a couple of difference makers like the Hughes brothers wouldn’t make a difference in a series like this? Where a couple of power play goals here or there, with a unit that featured both of them throughout most of the year, might be the difference between a win or a loss? Where an odd man rush that leads to a goal could’ve been the difference? Where their speed could present a challenge for Carolina if they get caught flat-footed? I’m not saying the Devils win the series given their other issues with the roster, but its probably still going on.

The Hughes brothers are not part of the problem, and were sorely missed this series.

Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for most of the forward group outside of those guys.

I will say that I thought Ondrej Palat had a solid series and one of Sheldon Keefe’s best decisions this series was stapling him to the Hischier-Meier line. Palat battles hard along the walls and picked up a few assists for his efforts. I don’t think that alone is worth his $6M AAV the next two years, but in the grand scheme of things, he was fine.

But this is a bottom six that needs an overhaul this summer in the worst way.

Chris was right a few days ago when he wrote the Top Six wasn’t the problem and how much of an issue the Bottom Six was. Where I disagree with him is that the Devils have no combination of forwards on the current roster that can form a cohesive bottom six unit. There’s no identity there. It’s a mish-mosh of parts that simply don’t work together. And calling upon the Mike Hardmans and Brian Halonens of the world wasn’t gonna fix it.

Compare that to the Carolina team they just played where the Jordan Staal line has an identity, and when that line isn’t the third line, they have former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall on that line. Or the Florida Panthers who have an actual third line center in Anton Lundell and BRAD MARCHAND on their third line. Or the Golden Knights who have a battle-tested third line of Barbashev-Roy-Smith….all players who have hoisted the Cup for them.

Meanwhile, the Devils have Paul Cotter-Cody Glass-Stefan Noesen on their third line and Tomas Tatar-Justin Dowling-Nate Bastian on their fourth.

Are you kidding me?

At least half of those names that I just wrote should never play another game for this franchise again if they’re serious about taking that next step. And let’s just leave it at this….I can see why Cody Glass has been on four NHL teams before the age of 26. I can see why Vegas didn’t play Cotter in the playoffs in years prior.

Star players will always get scrutinized, but no hockey team is winning with what is effectively a two-line team at best (and that’s before injuries take their toll on the blueline, which they did for the Devils). If teams could win solely on their superstar players level of talent, the Oilers and Maple Leafs would be dueling it out for the Cup every year. There’s a reason why those teams haven’t won. Sidney Crosby would have more than 3 Cups and Alex Ovechkin would have more than 1 despite being the two best players since the turn of the century. I’m not saying the Devils star players are on their level, but I am illustrating the point of how you need more than just sheer talent to win. You need that depth and the Devils just didn’t have that among their forward group.

The Devils core isn’t the problem. But a decent chunk of the forward group is and will need to be addressed this summer.

Give Up On Simon Nemec At Your Own Risk / The Devils Need to Find a Way to Keep Brian Dumoulin

I will lump Nemec and Dumoulin together because I thought both of them did about as good a job as one could reasonably expect given the circumstances.

Game winning goal aside, Nemec didn’t wilt under the pressures of playoff hockey, which is very impressive for a young player who had far more downs than ups this year. Nemec can hold his head high and feel good about his playoff run, having that confidence to build off of it going into his age 21 season next year.

I know we talked a lot at the trade deadline about Nemec’s future, particularly after the Johnathan Kovacevic extension was announced, but if I were Tom Fitzgerald, I would be very careful in regards to giving up on Nemec, or using him as a trade chip for the forward the Devils need.

I’ll also say this, and its something I rarely say on these forums, usually because my takes are pristine and excellent.

I was wrong on Brian Dumoulin.

I did not like the Dumoulin trade when it was announced. Not because I thought he couldn’t help, but because he wasn’t addressing what the Devils needed. But as it turned out, he was exactly what the Devils needed.

The Devils needed a minutes-munching defenseman who could play tough minutes and they got exactly that in Dumoulin. 36:24 in Game 3. 37:19 in Game 5. He was thrown into a very tough position given the status of the Devils blueline this series and more than held his own. This series is probably an actual sweep for Carolina without him. He’s a gamer, he’s a guy who can play on my team anyday, and I see why Tom Fitzgerald wanted him at the deadline.

I don’t know how the Devils blueline is going to shape up next season. Brenden Dillon is signed through 2027. Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler are signed through 2028. Kovacevic and Brett Pesce are signed through 2030. Luke Hughes is going nowhere, and I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the Hughes triforce being completed after the Canucks parted ways with Rick Tocchet today and Quinn couldn’t be reached when Jim Rutherford reached out to break the news. Maybe because Quinn was in New York at the Knicks game last night, but who’s to say?

It might not be feasible to keep Simon Nemec and/or Brian Dumoulin for very different reasons. But man, I’d really like to try.

Tough Questions Need To Be Asked With Respected Veterans

I’ve already talked about the need for the Devils to trim the fat and cut the dead weight this summer, so I’ll be brief here. I think the last big takeaway is that a few noteworthy players may or may not have just played their final games as a member of the New Jersey Devils.

In the case of the bottom six, which we already discussed, most of those players will be unrestricted free agents. And I don’t see any reason to bring back guys like Tatar, Bastian, Dowling, Curtis Lazar, or Daniel Sprong. But there are other players under contract for next year and beyond that Fitzgerald will need to make a decision on, in regards to whether or not they still fit what the Devils are trying to build.

I already talked about Palat and while I thought he was solid in this series, solid isn’t good enough when you’re on the books for $6M AAV and you are what you are at this stage of your career. He has a 10-team trade list starting next season, but a NMC as well, so Fitzgerald can’t pull a Chris Drury and threaten to put Palat on waivers like Drury did with Barclay Goodrow. He also can’t do that with Dougie Hamilton, who has a $9M AAV with 3 years left.

Erik Haula has one year left at $3.15M and can only block trades to six teams so is his time up in New Jersey? What about Dawson Mercer, who has two years left at $4M before hitting RFA again, but his development has plateaued? Does he have another level to gain? What about Stefan Noesen, who cooled off in the second half? He has two years left at $2.75M and can block trades to all but 10 teams this summer. Never mind the waste of money that is Kurtis MacDermid, who has two years left at $1.15M.

The Devils aren’t going to have a ton of salary cap flexibility this summer, especially once the Luke Hughes contract is done. But they do have some flexibility. The question is whether or not Tom Fitzgerald is honest with his assessment of the bottom six and what they brought this year, and whether or not he’s willing to play the bad cop and find a way to move a player or two who might not want to be moved at this point to open up valuable cap space.

This isn’t unfixable. But it does take some work.

Final Thoughts

Aside from Game 1, I didn’t think Carolina dominated the series by any means. I didn’t think the Devils showed that they don’t belong. I do think they were outmatched, partly because of injuries, partly because of some bad decisions by Tom Fitzgerald when it comes to roster construction. But I don’t think this series was unwinnable. There were opportunities to win games in this series. The better, more experienced team found a way to win, and it wasn’t New Jersey.

That said, Fitzgerald, Keefe, and the players have work to do going forward if they want to put this behind them.

Carolina isn’t going anywhere, I would guess the Rangers bounce back to some extent, and while Washington might take a step back, they still look like a solid playoff team. And as long as the NHL insists on their dumb divisional playoff format for a bracket challenge nobody asked for, these are the teams the Devils will need to get through to get to where they want to go.

Fitzgerald needs to find a way to build a deeper team and add speed and skill to a lineup that gave too much of that away since 2023 in an effort to build a heavier hockey team. I’m not saying he was wrong to go in that direction….we all know how soft last year’s team was. But he needs to find the right balance. Keefe needs to find a way to make the pieces work instead of just throwing his hands up when the bottom six stinks. It’s his job to maximize what he has and while he can’t squeeze blood from a stone, I wouldn’t say he maximized what he had either.

I give the players credit for battling hard and giving it everything they had in Game 5 with the season on the line. Guys like Pesce and Siegenthaler in particular were nowhere near 100% and battled. But we saw that battling alone isn’t enough. Not when the other team is deeper than you. Faster than you. Has better structure than you. The players have to be better to get where they want to go, and that’s a lesson they need to take from their second playoff series loss to this Carolina team in the last three years. Losing sucks. Losing in the playoffs sucks even more. Use it as fuel, build off of it, and be better for it tomorrow after your failures today.