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Heading into the off-season, priority No. 1 for the New Jersey Devils was upgrading on defense.
Fast forward a few months and the only addition of note was Mirco Mueller, an unproven player who spent the majority of last season in the AHL.
The Devils obviously like Mueller a lot -- they wouldn't have traded a 2nd rounder and a pick swap in the 4th round otherwise -- but even if he's as good as they hope, I very much doubt he'll step in and play top-4 minutes right away, let alone find any success if he did.
There's reason to be more excited about this Devils team -- they added some skilled pieces up front and Cory Schneider should bounce back -- but I just can't see them having success if they don't make a big addition to their defense prior to the season.
I really like Damon Severson but Andy Greene is showing signs of age, Ben Lovejoy is way out of his depths playing a top-3 role (he averaged almost 21 minutes per game last season), and John Moore is what he is. That's...not a good top-4.
Who do the Devils have that is going to challenge any of those guys? The hope is Steve Santini can one day develop into a top-4 defenseman but the jump from 16 minutes to 19-20 on a nightly basis is a big one, especially when facing stacked Metro teams, and the stars that come with it, all the time. Michael Kapla isn't ready for big minutes, nor is Mueller.
As it stands, the top-4 is probably going to be identical to the one the Devils iced last season.
That defense, if you recall, was so bad during one stretch the Devils, a team that features one of the league's better goaltenders, was a *lock* to allow three goals or more every night. That defense is a big reason the Devils finished 29th in wins and tied for 28th in points.
And it looks like the Devils may have to run it back.
There's still time for Ray Shero to get something done but, if he doesn't, the 2017-18 season will probably be another long one.
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