New Jersey Devils: 5 burning questions heading into the 2019-20 season

The New Jersey Devils have a lot of questions to answer as the 2019-20 NHL season approaches.

The New Jersey Devils are heading into one of the most crucial seasons of their franchise’s history with elite left wing Taylor Hall having one year left on his contract and not many scorers coming up to replace his output.

With that in mind, the club has made quite a few additions this offseason that could propel them back into the playoffs. This could quite possibly lead Hall to sign a long-term deal. While those are big issues for the present and future of this club, fans who have been around this team for a long time remember the glory days of the Devils’ and the wait to have a contender again couldn’t come sooner.

Here are five burning questions Devils fans may be asking heading into the season.

5. Will Cory Schneider ever be Cory Schneider again?

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It wasn’t that long ago when Cory Schneider was considered one of the best goalies in the world. After posting a .924% save percentage and a 2.15 GAA in the 2015/16 season, he regressed to a .908% save percentage and a 2.82 GAA the very next season. This trend has continued.

Something happened with Schenider where his stats fell off the map and he looked like a shell of his former self. Turns out that “something” was a hip injury that wasn’t taken care of by surgery until almost a year and a half after it was injured.

According to the On the Devils’ All-Access Podcast, Schneider said the issue dated back to the 2016-17 season, and he played through it until the end of 2017-18.

“It was something that had kind of cropped maybe a year and a half ago, a season and a half ago. It’s just something that nags and it there, but you don’t ever feel like it’s bad enough that you need to sit out for six months, because there’s no real good time to do it, unfortunately.”

The injury that plagued him even to this day with Cory only playing 26 games while getting pulled three times.

While it does seem to be the end for Cory Schneider as an elite goalie in the NHL rankings, maybe a healthy season is all it will take to bring him back to even half of what he was. In a tandem with Mackenzie Blackwood this year, there could be a 44-38 game split between the two netminders which could prove to be the rest and perfect workload for Schneider.

For comparison look at Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin or Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss.  At the age of 33, it gets harder for players to have a comeback season as they get older, but who doesn’t like a good comeback story.

With a healthy hip and a lowered workload, look for Schneider to put up league average numbers while helping rookie netminder Blackwood out by pushing him to become better. Sort of like Roberto Luongo did from Schneider’s Vancouver days.

3. What Wayne Simmonds are the Devils getting?

Signing a deal with the Devil never sounds like a good idea. For Wayne Simmonds, this could be his only saving grace. After spending the last eight seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and a short stint with the Nashville Predators, Simmonds signed a one year, $5 million prove-it deal with the Devils.

The question is, what Wayne Simmonds will the Devils get? Will they get the Rugged power forward that will get you 25-30 goals and make a life for the other teams best players miserable? Or are will they get the Wayne Simmonds of the last couple years that has gotten injured and has been a defensive liability?

The likelihood that Simmonds returns to his 30 goals and 55 points average is very low. When power forwards like him get to 31 years old, their health becomes a major issue. Simmonds used to be a player that made his mark in the league by hitting everything that moves and scoring ugly goals in the front of the net. Continuing that style of play breaks a players body down.

While he did play 79 games last season, he wasn’t very effective in his regular role. Simmonds only got 30 points split between the Flyers and Predators. With only three points in the 17 games with the Predators in the regular season, he went on to have no points in two postseason games before leaving the first round with an injury in Game 2. Suffice to say he did not have a great time with the Predators that lead other teams to maybe stay away.

Heading into the 2019/20 season Simmonds will be looking to get a fresh start of sorts on a team that will need him to score more than the 17 goals he put up last year. The Devils were one of the lowest clicking power-play teams in the league averaging a lowly 17.7 percent good for 11th worst in the NHL.

If Simmonds can cement himself in front of the net and clear bodies for point men like Subban and Will Butcher to get pucks through, he can easily get himself back to 50 points and possibly a long term deal with the club.

2. Can Subban lead the Devils Defense? 

It’s been a minute since P.K. Subban was the best defender on an NHL team. The former Norris Trophy winner has been on one of the best defenses in the NHL the last couple years in Nashville. Subban is now heading to the Devils, who need his defense to help the offense.

Last season saw his points drop to the lowest of his career. Ultimately left the Preds’ with no choice but to trade Subban’s contract, which had become too expensive at $9 million per year.

With last season behind him, he has already embraced the Devils community with his cheery persona and social media tactics. For Subban, the pressure of being the number one guy is something he will relish in. But can he be the one to lead them?

A healthy season out of Sami Vatanen, who could possibly be his partner, might lead to one of the best offensive pairings in the league. Along with other blueliners like Will Butcher and Damon Severson pushing Andy Greene to the third-pairing role he needs to be in, the Devils’ could have one of the most sneaky good defensive squads of the 2019/20 season.

A big part of it relies on Subban’s ability to be a difference-maker.  If all things go right for him, the Devils could have their first Norris Trophy winner since Scott Niedermayer, who was also 30 when he won in 2004.

1. Is Jack Hughes ready for stardom?

When you get drafted 1st overall in the NHL the hype for you to be a superstar the next year will always be there. The question for Jack Hughes heading into his rookie season isn’t if he is going to be a superstar. It’s a matter of when he will be one.

With comparisons to Patrick Kane and having a 112 point output in only 50 games with the USDP,  Hughes could theoretically slot in as their top-line center alongside Taylor Hall. This would move Nico Hischier to the second line with Palmieri, providing the Devils with a two-line scoring punch they haven’t had since Parise and Kovalchuk were on the team.

Either way, Hughes will get every opportunity to take a top-six forward spot on this team if he is ready. If he isn’t, this shouldn’t be seen as he’s a bust. He will always be compared to his cross-river rival Kappo Kakko. But with Kakko being a winger and Hughes being a center, it’s a lot harder to master the whole ice versus just one side.

So even if Kakko ends up with more points, Hughes could still end up being the better player because of the ability to be great on both sides of the ice. It should be a fun 2019/20 season for the Devils if this rookie can live up to his billing.