NEWARK, N.J. -- Changes are imminent for the New Jersey Devils, even after they were able to establish a strong foundation in qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
"We've got a lot of decisions to make on certain players whether we bring guys back, trade players (but) we won't be coming back with the same group (in 2025-26)," Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said during his end-of-season press conference on Thursday. "I can tell you that because it wasn't good enough."
The Devils were eliminated from the playoffs in five games by the Carolina Hurricanes in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series. Injuries to key players played a part, but coach Sheldon Keefe didn't make any excuses.
"There's an expectation in terms of what the standard is now and it's not just making the playoffs but all the things that go into it and be a team that can compete in the playoffs," Keefe said. "We showed an inability to sustain our game and that's the hardest thing to do in the League ... sustain the game year over year throughout a season.
"With injuries, you hope you get luck, but you got to hope that your culture is your foundation, and your depth can carry you through."
The Devils were without their most prolific offensive weapon to begin the playoffs when center Jack Hughes was ruled out for the remainder of the season after having shoulder surgery on March 5. Despite missing 20 games, he still finished second on the team with 70 points (27 goals, 43 assists) in 62 regular-season games.
"Jack knows the work that's ahead of him this summer and where he needs to go strength-wise," Fitzgerald said. "There's a process to that and he's been going through it as we've seen his body mature from his first year (in 2019-20). It's probably easy to say, 'I don't worry about it' but injuries are a funny thing. You just sometimes have bad luck."
Even before Hughes' injury, the Devils couldn't generate much traction following the holiday break and struggled mightily down the stretch.
New Jersey was 23-11-3 (49 points; .662 points percentage) and ranked fourth in the NHL on Dec. 23. They were 19-22-4 (42 points; .467) and ranked 27th over the final 45 regular-season games.
"That stretch of time before Christmas was a great indication of what we're capable of doing and what we wanted to look like," Keefe said. "There's a foundation here now but we finished 16 out of 32 teams in the regular season. That's average and we're not here to be average. We have to continue to improve that level of sustainability that's required."
The Devils finished as the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan Division, eight points behind the Hurricanes.
"Was it a great year? No, it was disappointing," Fitzgerald said. "We got knocked out in five games, but the fun part is to start to build around what we've created here."
The Devils have eight pending unrestricted free agents: forwards Tomas Tatar, Nathan Bastian, Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong and Justin Dowling, defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Dennis Cholowski, and goalie Jake Allen.
Fitzgerald was asked if he intends to reach out to any restricted free agents this summer to perhaps provide addition scoring depth up front.
"(Restricted) free agency is a tool to improve your team but you need the cap space and strategically target players knowing full well there's no way a team can match because they don't have the cap space," Fitzgerald said. "I think the most important part of the offer sheet is the player has to want to move. He's got to want to come to your team, so there's that period where you can talk to restricted free agents, but they probably have to initiate themselves."
In addition to Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and defenseman Luke Hughes each had shoulder surgery on May 5; each is expected to be ready for training camp.
Bratt had three points (one goal, two assists) and averaged 23:23 of ice time in five playoff games after leading the Devils with an NHL career-high 88 points (21 goals, 67 assists) in 81 regular-season games. Luke Hughes, who can become an RFA on July 1, was injured in Game 1 against the Hurricanes.
Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic, who sustained a knee injury in the first period of Game 3, had surgery on Thursday and is not expected to be ready for camp.
Fitzgerald said he's going to do all he can to improve the roster.
"When I look back and see the first half, when we were holding teams under 20 shots, that's impressive, but we never won more than three games in a row (all season)," Fitzgerald said. "These are areas where we've got to find answers. I like our group, but my job is to continue to better the group."
