Thanks for Playing: New Jersey Devils

We are almost to the end of Round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. By next Wednesday the field of teams will be reduced from 16 to 8. As each team is eliminated I want to take a look back at what went wrong in their series and where they go from here.

Today's Thanks for Playing feature team: The New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils finished 48-27-7 on the season, good enough for an Atlantic Division title and the number two seed in the Eastern Conference. Their opponent in the 1st Round was the Philadelphia Flyers who won five of six games from the Devils in the Regular Season

So what went wrong for the Devils? They got outworked by the Flyers. Philly's forwards were better. Their defense was better & Brian Boucher played better in goal for Philly than Martin Brodeur did in net for New Jersey.

The Devils came into Game 5 down 3 games to 1 and needed to win to keep their season alive. Instead they pretty much failed to show up and let the Flyers have their way with them. Flyers forward Ian Laperriere blocking a shot with his face showed how much more Philly wanted this series.

So where do the Devils go from here? They changed coaches last year, letting Brent Sutter leave to coach in Calgary and bringing in Jacques Lemaire fresh off of a stint in Minnesota coaching the Wild. I don't think coaching is the issue here. I think it is the makeup of the team.

Martin Brodeur will go down as one of if not the greatest goalie in the history of the NHL however it looks like he may be on the back end of his career. They still haven't replaced the void in leadership since Scott Stevens retired during the lockout. Patrik Elias & Jaime Langenbruner have both worn the "C" since Scott's retirement and while I think both are very good NHL players I don't think either one has that commanding presence that Stevens brought to the team.

The Devils have two key free agents this off-season. Forward Ilya Kovalchuk & Defenseman Paul Martin. Kovalchuk was acquired from Atlanta at the trade deadline and while the Devils didn't give up a kings ransom they did trade a couple nice players and probably wouldn't mind Kovalchuk sticking around for a couple more seasons since he brings a scoring presence to a team that isn't known for lighting up the scoreboard.

As for Martin, he is a puck moving defenseman and finding one of those is nearly impossible. (Wild fans who are reading this are nodding their head in agreement after watching Kim Johnsson try to fill that role for the last four years.) He is going to command a nice contract if he hits the free agent market on July 1st.

This Devils team looks to be slowly in transition from one of the elite teams in the league to just a team that is good enough to make the post-season and do little else. If I was the GM I would do everything I can to sign Martin and then worry about Kovalchuk. While they have no one else as dynamic as Kovalchuk they have enough depth up front to win without him. I don't think they have enough on the blue line to replace Martin.

These are not your father's New Jersey Devils. I don't expect GM Lou Lamoriello to sit pat and let everything be as it is. There will be changes in Jersey this summer. Whether it is for the better or worse time will tell.