After 82 regular-season and five postseason games, one word has been repeatedly used to describe the New Jersey Devils in 2024-25.
Average.
Veteran forward Erik Haula was the first to make this assessment during player exit interviews.
"If we are being honest here, as a team, as an organization, we just had an average year," he said. "Making the playoffs should be expected for our group. Losing the first round in five (games) is not what we want. I call it an average year."
The Devils concluded the regular season with a 42-33-7 record for 91 points and third in the Metropolitan Division. The club limped into the postseason with a 2-4-0 record in April and a point percentage of .333%.
After winning 24 of their first 40 games, the wheels came off after the Christmas break, with injuries adding salt to the wound.
Goatlender Jacob Markstrom sustained an MCL sprain against the Boston Bruins in late January that caused him to miss 11 games. Weeks later, in early February, defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler suffered a lower-body injury that caused him to miss the rest of the regular season (27 games).
Star forward Jack Hughes sustained another shoulder injury on Mar. 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Three days later, the organization announced the center had a successful surgery at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado.
The Devils' play from January to April was, in part, reflective of losing their starting goaltender, top defensive defenseman, and top forward.
"When I look at it, we finished 16 out of 32 teams in the regular season (in the standings)," Keefe said. "That is average, and we are not here to be average. We want to be better. We will get better individually, collectively, myself as a coach. Our players individually will have to continue to improve so we can get that level of sustainability that is required to compete in the league."
"It Was A Good Year"
When the Devils hired Sheldon Keefe as their next head coach, one of the first goals to achieve was to return to the playoffs. A goal that was ultimately achieved.
"When we brought Sheldon on board, the goal was to create a standard that playoffs are a year-in, year-out thing," Fitzgerald said. "When you look back, yeah, it was disappointing being knocked out in five games. But when you look at the big picture, there is still a lot of growth for this team. But we are not going to kick to the curb making the playoffs as a subpar season because it wasn't. It was a goal of ours right from the get-go."
"If I reflect on where we were a year ago coming in here, for me, I really wanted to work to establish a foundation that we could build upon to be a consistent contender in the playoffs, and making the playoffs consistently, and then building out our game from there and giving us every chance to compete for a Stanley Cup," Keefe said. "When I look back, if I am looking at the positive part of it, there is a foundation here now. There is an expectation in terms of what the standard is, not just to make the playoffs, but all the things that go into it to be a team that can compete in the playoffs."
While the first step in the process was accomplished, no one, including the general manager, head coach, or players, regarded the season as a success at their media availabilities.
"Looking back, it was a good year. Now, was it a great year? No," Fitzgerald said. "It was disappointing that we got knocked out in five games, but the fun part is to start to build around what we have created here."
What Is Next For The Devils?
The quote that left the biggest impression came from New Jersey's general manager.
"We have got a lot of decisions to make on certain players, whether we bring guys back, trade players," Fitzgerald said. "We won't be coming back with the same group, I can tell you that, because it wasn't good enough."
The Devils' unrestricted free agents include: Jake Allen, Nathan Bastian, Dennis Cholowski, Justin Dowling, Brian Dumoulin, Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong, and Tomas Tatar. The team's restricted free agents are Luke Hughes, Cody Glass, and Nolan Foote.
There are clear holes in New Jersey's roster that need to be addressed, and with that quote, there is an expectation that changes will come over the next few months.
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