The 2019-20 New Jersey Devils were never a win-now team

With the firing of head coach John Hynes on Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils have solidified what we already knew: this team was never going to win now without a change.

The New Jersey Devils fired head coach John Hynes on Tuesday, a move that was expected given how poorly the team has played over the first two months of the season. On Monday, the Devils were run over by the Buffalo Sabres 7-1 in an embarrassing effort from a team that was incredibly indifferent from puck drop.

The Devils, quite frankly, seemed disinterested and unmotivated to play inspiring hockey for most of the season under Hynes. After their loss to the Sabres on Monday, the Devils dropped to second-last in the NHL with a 9-13-4 record in 26 games. Their 22 points on the season put them 10 points out of a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, effectively shutting them out of playoff contention two months into the season.

This was not how the Devils’ 2019-20 season was supposed to go. In the offseason, the Devils snagged Jack Hughes as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, their second first overall pick in three years. In 2017, New Jersey fell in the draft lottery to grab Nico Hischier No. 1 overall, handing the Devils two major pieces with whom they could build around.

Add in 2018 Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall, 2013 Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban, and veteran winger Wayne Simmonds, the Devils — on paper — were set to contend with the league’s best.

Instead, this season, the Devils have been one of the NHL’s worst teams. New Jersey waived veteran netminder Cory Schneider in mid-November amid a sub-par season and are likely going to lose Hall — a top-five scorer for the team over the last three seasons — via a trade or in free agency in the summer.

In the offseason, the Devils’ main weakness coming into 2019-20 was the status of their netminders. Schneider had been in decline over the past five seasons, not at all looking like the .927 save percentage goaltender he was in Vancouver at the start of his career. MacKenzie Blackwood, the Devils’ backup this year, is a 23-year-old rookie who has not played more than 23 games in a season. New Jersey traded for Louis Domingue at the beginning of November, but he never played above 40 games a season in his career, of which his highest save percentage was .914 in 2017-18.

Devils’ general manager Ray Shero was seemingly content with leaving the team’s goaltending as it was for the year, not at all concerned with how flimsy this house of cards was at its core. This year, the Devils have a combined .882 save percentage between their three netminders, the second-worst in the NHL behind the Detroit Red Wings, according to Hockey Reference.

Even the Devils’ offensive additions that were touted before the season began have run dry. Hall has 21 points in 26 games. Hughes has 11 points in 24 games. Hischier has just four goals in 24 games, and was hurt earlier in the season. Subban has added just five points on defense for the struggling Devils. Veterans Kyle Palmieri and Blake Coleman have nine goals each.

In total, no one on the Devils this season has yet to hit double digits in goals.

Hynes will end his Devils’ career with a 150-159-45 record and just one playoff appearance in four full seasons and change in New Jersey. The Devils, for all the shrewd, splashy moves they made over the summer, did not fix their problems in net nor added enough offensive depth to bolster their young talent.

Change was needed for the Devils this season. The team had been disinterested after losing their first six games of the season and never looked like a coherent group out on the ice throughout much of the year under Hynes. The playoffs are no longer in the realm of possibility for New Jersey, and likely never were this season given the team’s weaknesses on their roster.

Though a postseason run is unlikely, the Devils are set up for a quick turnaround should they play their cards right. Trading Hall before the deadline for prospects and draft picks is the best move the Devils can make in the short term. Given their standing this season, a high first round pick is likely in their future next summer, and the team has two No. 1 overall centers they can build around for the seasons to come.

Adding reliable goaltending and more offensive depth should be the key for the Devils going forward. This season may be a wash in New Jersey, but the Devils can quickly right the ship in the coming years with a bit of planning to get them back on track.