Volume One: Health
As 1800's English critic and essayist, Leigh Hunt would say, "The groundwork for all happiness is good health." Since this Devils core had their breakout season in 2022-23’, that "groundwork" and happiness have been tougher to find than Amy Bradley. (If you don't get this reference and need a good true crime documentary to watch on Netflix, click this)
In 23’-24’ Dougie Hamilton had a season ending pectoral tear just 20 games into the campaign. Hamilton’s injury led to a string of others including; Jonas Siegenthaler, Timo Meier and Nico Hischier who all missed significant time. The nail in the coffin came with just 20 games left, when Jack Hughes was forced out with season ending shoulder surgery.
When the Devils entered this past season, both fans and the club alike had thought that most of the injury misfortune was out of the way, however it was not to be. Another season ending shoulder surgery for Jack Hughes with again, 20 games to play was the cherry on top for the playoffs bound Devils. A regular season slump was aided by more top players missing time, a spiral the Devils never fully recovered from as they limped into the post eason.
Ahhh the playoffs! A fresh slate! The playoffs welcomed the Devils with same story, in the short five game series Jersey saw injuries to 80% of their top six D-men. Jonathan Kovacevic, Luke Hughes, Brendan Dillon and Brett Pesce were all significantly banged up and or missed time. This forced the hand of NJ to play Simon Nemec(Thank God because he played his best hockey to date and nearly boosted his expectations back to where we had hoped on his draft day), Seamus Casey(high potential but his frame is not ready for NHL playoff hockey) and Dennis Cholowski(who unfortunately doesn’t belong in the NHL).
While we can’t dwell on the “what ifs” especially when it comes to injuries, we thankfully can look forward to a healthy future with this core. So let’s raise a glass and toast to the groundwork of good health in 2025-26’ for the New Jersey Devils. If it’s indeed a healthy one, it will indeed be a happy one!