While it is a part of any NHL season, with expectations so high for the New Jersey Devils, any injuries that they eventually occur will need to be overcome.
Let’s be real right from the outset here: injuries are a part of any sport. Hockey isn’t going to be an exception, especially when considering the high amount of contact and the wear of a full season. Now even with that preamble, injuries can be worked around and overcome, despite their inevitability. That will be the goal in 2024-25 for the New Jersey Devils.
Part of the lack of success in 2023-24 can be attributed to all of the injuries. Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Timo Meier, all integral pieces of the Devils’ forward corps, missed at least 10 games each. Dougie Hamilton only appeared in 20 before going on the injured list for the remainder of the season. Supporting case members such as Ondrej Palat, Nathan Bastian, and Jonas Siegenthaler also saw differing amounts of season lost from injuries. The team also had Nico Daws out until December from the summer before, and Nolan Foote only saw four games while recovering from an offseason injury.
While it is true that every team suffers injuries, not all injuries are equal. Losing a star obviously hurts a lot more than losing a role player. In the Devils case, the general struggles that the team and certain players were having were compounded by key pieces of the team going down with injuries. The defense already had to try to overcome the loss of Hamilton; when another regular player goes down on the top of that and the group as a whole it struggling, along with pretty much every goalie behind them, the points start slipping away quicker and quicker.
The goal for the Devils this season is exactly what the title says; make sure the injuries that do occur do not affect the end result. The Devils need to have a better season in 2024-25 than 2023-24; it’s an obvious statement, but one that looms over the team even now prior to anyone even reporting for training camp. That means that if someone goes down, someone else needs to step up. If an important piece goes down, the next player up may not bring the same skill set; however, they need to bring whatever they are best at, fit in with the team’s system and perform in a way that nets a positive result. It sounds simple, I know, and yet last season the team was unable to do so.
The organization is banking on the additions made in the offseason can help to stabilize some positions that were unstable last season. If said positions do find more even ground than what was experienced last year, then even when injuries occur, it shouldn’t be as impactful on the team as a whole. This would allow the “next player up” mentality to be more effective, as players wouldn’t have to worry about the added pressure of their position already being considered a “weakness” either by fans, opposing teams, or both. The hope now for fans and the team has to be that they have shorn up the areas of struggle; if not, we might see the same concerns (and lack of results) arise, and that could spell other changes next summer.
Playoffs is the goal; injuries can’t be allowed to compound that. Let’s keep that in mind as training camp and the preseason quickly approach.
Now I would like to hear your thoughts on overcoming the eventual injury bug for the New Jersey Devils; do you agree that the end result needs to be success no matter what happens along the way? Are you concerned over certain players possibly missing time again? Is there a point in your mind where a certain amount if injuries becomes insurmountable? Do you foresee a campaign with only minor injuries for the Devils after how many player games were lost last season? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!