This is about one of the 15 teams who wasn't so lucky.
How They Finished:
48-28-6 102 Points 4th in Atlantic Division, 6th in Eastern Conference. Lost in Stanley Cup Finals to Los Angeles.
What Went Wrong:
You probably think I'm going to say the five minute boarding major committed by forward Steve Bernier is what cost New Jersey the Stanley Cup.
That penalty cost the Devils Game 6. What cost them the series was losing the first two games in overtime on home ice.
If you recall Los Angeles won Game 1 on a breakaway goal by Anze Kopitar. That scoring opportunity was created when two Devils went toward Kings forward Justin Williams, who had possession of the puck.
Williams was able to make a pass by both of them to Kopitar who beat Martin Brodeur for the game winner.
In Game 2 it was a bad line change which led to the game winning goal as Kings forward Jeff Carter was able to skate around, maintaining possession of the puck until he was able to shoot, beating Brodeur for the game winner.
Just think, if New Jersey was able to win both games in overtime they would have won the series in five games. Even a split at home would have forced a seventh game.
Instead because of two miscues Los Angeles was able to take the first two games of the series. When the Kings won Game 3 it became too big of a hole for the Devils to climb out of.
I applaud New Jersey for making it into a series but once again we found out how hard it is to rally from down 3-0 in a series.
Where Do They Go From Here:
To answer that question you need to focus on two players, Martin Brodeur and Zach Parise.
Brodeur turned 40 just last month. At a time when some people thought his best days were behind him Marty was able to turn back the clock and lead his team back to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Brodeur is a unrestricted free agent this summer. Before anyone who is a fan of an NHL team with a goaltending problem starts dreaming of having Marty between the pipes I'm just going to stop you right now.
There is only one place Marty will play next year and that will be in New Jersey. The question is if he wants to play.
Brodeur has won three Stanley Cups and played in five finals. He has won the Vezina four times and the Jennings Trophy five times and he has the most wins of any goaltender in NHL history.
What Brodeur has to decide is does he still want to play. After falling two wins short I could see him coming back for another shot at his 4th Stanley Cup. I could also see him calling it a career after everything he's done.
There are a lot of things that will determine whether Brodeur comes back for another year. One of those things will be the status of team captain Zach Parise.
In case you have been living under a rock for the last few months Parise is the prize this year on the free agent market.
GM Lou Lamariello had a chance to trade Parise at the deadline but decided to hold on to him and make a run at the Stanley Cup. While New Jersey didn't win the cup Lamariello hunch was right on as they made it to the finals.
Now Lamariello has to try and re-sign Parise. I'll be surprised if he does it before July 1st as UFA's that are this close usually test the market.
New Jersey does have a projected $28 million dollars of cap space to work with. The problem is the squabbles that have gone on within the ownership group may take the Devils out of the Parise sweepstakes before it starts.
With Ilya Kovalchuk making just over $6.6 million for the next 13 years New Jersey might not be able to get into a bidding war with other teams once Parise hits the market.
The good news if you are a Devils fan is the emergence of rookie Adam Henrique this past season.
Henrique established himself as a Calder candidate finishing with 16 goals and 35 assist during the season. In the playoffs he finished with five goals and eight assist with two of those goals being game winners to clinch playoff series against Florida and New York.
Henrique has the makings of a star and will be a great player for the Devils to build around should Parise leave.
As for the rest of the team the only free agent I see New Jersey making a push to keep is Bryce Salvador. Salvador had nine points in 82 games during the regular season (0G, 9A) but had 14 points in 24 playoff games (4G, 10A)
His performance in the playoffs drove up his asking price but being a 36 year old defenseman New Jersey should be able to bring him back at a reasonable salary. The rest of the free agents on the Devils roster are hit or miss as to which ones will return and which ones will leave.
New Jersey surprised a lot of people by making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. Playing in the toughest division in the NHL I'll be shocked if the Devils return to the finals next year.
Especially if Parise and Brodeur aren't back.
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