April Fool’s Day: Top 3 NHL teams that fooled us all in 2020
1. New Jersey Devils
What I thought: Many had the New Jersey Devils as serious contenders in the Eastern Conference. My optimism was a bit lower than that, but I still thought they had a good chance of earning a postseason spot. Ultimately, I had this to say in my preview.
"The playoffs are a realistic goal for the Devils. If everything goes right for them, they could easily make the postseason. But unless the Islanders fall off (which is entirely possible), I don’t see it happening."
Why I was wrong: Almost nothing went right for the Devils this season. Rookie goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood has been remarkable in 2020, but his slow start coincided with his team’s slow start. This led to the Devils going six games before getting their first win and they left October with a 2-5-3 record.
They lost 17 of their first 26 games before firing head coach John Hynes. But by then, it was too late to save their season. Maybe if they fired Hynes earlier, they could have rebounded. But Hynes wasn’t the right coach for the team, and the Devils took too long to figure that out.
I thought P.K. Subban would bounce back big time this season. It turns out he did not. Maybe Subban is experiencing regression already. Subban is no longer the dynamic defenseman he was with the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators. That hurt the Devils a lot.
Finally, it’s safe to say that just about everyone was wrong about Jack Hughes. I thought he could be a Calder Trophy contender. However, Hughes’ rookie campaign has been quiet unimpressive. If it’s over, he’ll have the 30th-fewest points per game of any rookie teenage forward drafted in the first-round in the salary cap era (minimum 50 games).
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It gets even worse when you compare his numbers to those of other first overall picks. Hughes had the least productive season of any first overall pick in the salary cap era. Yes, that includes Aaron Ekblad, who’s a defenseman. I’m not saying Hughes is a bust, but the Devils need him to be a lot better next season if they want to make the playoffs.