The New Jersey Devils’ problems last season went well beyond one bad goalie or a quiet stretch from the forwards. The bigger issue was that a defense built to be a strength simply didn’t hold up, and Brett Pesce ended up right in the middle of that collapse.
Injuries played a major role. Jonas Siegenthaler and Brenden Dillon were the only regulars on the blue line to get through the season untouched, each appearing in 82 games.
Everyone else missed meaningful time. Johnny Kovacevic spent the first half of the year coming back from a torn ACL in the playoffs the season before.
Luke Hughes dealt with multiple shoulder injuries in what became a lost season. Dougie Hamilton missed time, and Simon Nemec did too.
Pesce’s season was especially frustrating. He got hurt in October after blocking a shot, then later picked up a lower-body injury in March. The result was a version of Pesce that didn’t look much like the healthy player the Devils expected.
The numbers tell the story. Pesce was on the ice for 26 goals against at even strength, and he was on the ice for just 15 5v5 goals.
That 15-goal mark is the lowest for any defenseman who played at least 500 minutes at 5v5 last season. Fifteen goals over an entire season.
That’s a big part of why the Devils’ blue line was such a problem. It wasn’t only that the defense wasn’t stopping enough.
It also wasn’t giving the offense anything. That matters, especially for a team that already has Dillon, Siegenthaler, and Kovacevic as defense-first options.
Pesce can’t be that kind of player, too.
If New Jersey gets a better Pesce next season, it could matter a lot. The Devils are going to need goals, especially with their three-goalie situation.
Their defense has to live up to the contracts attached to it. Pesce has mostly been given a pass, but next season he needs to be better.
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Devils Fans Finally Got The Streaming Change They Wanted
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What makes the decision tricky is the larger direction of the roster. New Jersey can choose to trust a veteran-heavy rotation and lean on team defense, which has become a more workable path around the league, or it can keep chasing a true star goaltender if the right name becomes available. The Devils are at the point where the answer in net may depend as much on what else they add to the lineup as on the goalies already in the room. [Read more 🡒]
Quinn Hughes' Next Month Could Change Everything For Devils Fans
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What makes the situation more delicate is how little substantive progress has surfaced as the new season draws near, leaving the Wild to balance urgency against patience. The next stretch should bring more clarity on where Hughes fits in Minnesotas future, and it also keeps open the possibility that the conversation around him could shift well beyond this season. [Read more 🡒]